My Second Chance
Copyright© 2026 by BillMax
Chapter 20: Waiting to Be Slapped
Not long after her voice fell, two female employees walked out of the pantry, and upon meeting Claire at the door, they didn’t even dare to lift their heads, slinking back to their own desks like thieves.
Claire entered the pantry. “Thank you, Hannah.”
Hannah waved her hand. “We sisters don’t need to stand on ceremony. Besides, I despise those who gossip behind others’ backs the most. Even if it had nothing to do with you, I wouldn’t turn a blind eye.”
Claire poured her a cup of coffee and handed it over, asking, “Did you come here to find me?”
“Yes,” Hannah nodded. “I heard from the secretary that rumors about your husband being a construction worker are flying all over the place. It’s utter nonsense. Who started this rumor?”
Claire gave a bitter smile. “It’s not really a rumor. Marcus is indeed working as a construction worker right now.”
“What?”
Hannah thought she had heard wrong.
Are you kidding me? That domineering and unreasonable guy, who bullies my mother and gets away with punching Mr. Calloway, is a construction worker?
If he really were a construction worker, I’d do a handstand and eat spaghetti right here and now.
“It’s true.”
Claire recounted seeing Marcus unloading sand at the construction site, then said, “To be honest with you, I’m not the least embarrassed that he’s doing this. In fact, I’m a bit happy.
At the very least, it proves that he wasn’t lying to me, that he’s really trying to change for me and the child.”
Upon hearing about unloading sand, Hannah laughed.
Everything else might be uncertain, but the construction sites and the dump trucks that transport sand were all secured by me. If that bastard turned out to be a construction worker, it would be a real ghost sighting.
However, she thought that Marcus was intentionally letting Claire misunderstand, so she didn’t explain anything. Only patting Claire’s hand, she said, “Girl, many things aren’t as they seem to the eye.
I can tell you very responsibly, your husband is definitely not just a construction worker, at least not as simple as he appears.”
As she said this, she stood up. “All right, since the rumor doesn’t seem to affect you, I’ll head back to my office. We’ll go for French food tonight. It’s my treat.”
Claire stood to see her off. Reaching the door, Hannah suddenly turned around, furrowed her brows and asked, “Who went with you to the construction site today?”
“Just Minister Morgan and me.”
“That means the person spreading the rumors is him, huh.”
Hannah clenched her teeth in disgust. “I’d never have guessed the guy, who seems so presentable, turns out to be a gossiping queen behind the scenes. Utterly sickening.”
Claire chuckled. “Well, he didn’t tell any lies. Let’s drop it, please don’t be upset on my account. It’s not worth it.”
“You’re quite forgiving.”
Hannah shook her head. “Well, whatever the case, Felix Morgan is a mid-level executive at the company. Too many ties. Can’t do much without catching him red-handed.
But don’t just endure anything on your own. If someone at the company mistreats you, remember to tell me.”
“I will. Thank you, Hannah.”
“No problem. I’m off.”
Upon opening the door and leaving, Claire took a deep breath, feeling as though after two years of gloominess, her luck suddenly seemed much better.
Her husband had started to change. Her boss was understanding and kind. Work was busy, but everything was in good order.
Life had returned to fullness again, not just filled with exhaustion.
And all this seemed to have started from the moment she found out she was pregnant.
At that thought, Claire unconsciously looked down, gently stroking her belly, a maternal glow instinctive to every woman surfacing on her face.
“Little one, it was you who brought Mom this good fortune, wasn’t it?”
After settling the accounts with the truck drivers, Marcus found a water hose and was washing his face when suddenly a voice sounded beside him.
“Bro, what’s the price for your sand?”
Wiping his face, Marcus saw a short and plump middle-aged man with a receding hairline, wearing a wine-red polo shirt, dress pants and shoes, with a leather bag tucked under his armpit—a standard contractor’s attire.
“Oh? Is the boss interested in buying?” Marcus pulled out a tissue to dry his face.
The middle-aged man lit a cigarette, arrogantly gesturing around, and said, “This upcoming project here is mine. As long as the quality of the sand is good and the price is right, I can give you all future work.”
Hearing this, Marcus almost laughed.
Every profession has its own circles, and those who sell construction materials and the contractors belong to the same circle.
Especially those who operate in the same area—they all know each other’s faces, and each has their own established partners. Unless there’s a major change, it’s rare to switch partners. Otherwise it breaks the rules, making it difficult to stay in the business.
In other words, this middle-aged man was trying to play Marcus as a greenhorn, wanting to snatch up those ten thousand tons of sand on the cheap.
“Really? Then thanks a lot, boss.”
Marcus acted as if a pie had just fallen from the sky. “The price of the sand is negotiable. Just give whatever you think is fair.”
The middle-aged man’s eyes flashed with glee, pretending to ponder for a moment before saying, “I took a rough look just now. Your sand contains a bit too many impurities, barely passing in quality.
Looking at the current market price, I reckon it’s between one hundred twenty and one hundred forty.
How about this. Seeing you are so young and it’s not easy for you to work like this, I too started from where you are. I’ll give you the top price, one hundred forty per ton. How does that sound?
If you agree, I can give you a third as a deposit right now.”
Items with a market price of 170 were being offered a maximum of 140, and that too not even paid in one go.
Is this treating Marcus like a naïf? More like they were treating him like a fat pig ready for slaughter.
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