67 The Kind Boss

Edward had practically stuffed Sara in his car to get her away from the bar.

"Tell the driver your address." He commanded. She did as he asked. For a few minutes an awkward silence hung between them.

"Thank you. For your help back there. He was getting to be more than I could handle." She said.

"No, he WAS more than you could handle. How often does that happen?" Edward asked.

"I get men making passes at me almost every night. A few who try to touch a couple of times a week. Men like the one tonight every few months." She confessed.

Edward felt rage. He thought to himself, what if he had died and Mia lived? What if she had to make her living being harassed by men everyday? Sara's fiancé had been from a family of wealth and prestigious background. Had he lived, no doubt Sara would have lived a pampered life.

His emotions, other than grief for Mia, weren't something he spent a lot of time examining. Now however, he found himself deeply affected by this woman. Maybe it was because she carried a similar pain. Maybe because he knew she struggled to raise her daughter. Whatever the reason, he felt a deep urge to protect her, to help her.

"When you arrive home take a good rest. Report to my office in the morning at 8:00 AM." He told her abruptly.

"Is that when my interview is?" Sara asked.

"That's when you start work. You are not to work in that bar again. Your salary will amply provide for you and your daughter." He told her.

She raised her eyebrows.

"Has anyone ever told you that you can be rather bossy?" She asked.

He chocked in surprise. No, as a matter of fact, no one had the guts to speak so freely with him.

"No. No one dares." He answered in a formidable voice.

"Ah. Well then, I'll take it as a compliment that I dare to." She said in a forthright tone.

He stared at her. Then he chuckled.

"I suppose anyone who dares to slap Wendell Chung with the force that you used would also have the guts to call me bossy." Edward said.

"You hit him harder than me!" She exclaimed.

"Yes, but he's my business rival and I have the physical and financial ability to go up against him and win. You are lacking in both, which is why I forced you to leave and why I don't want you back there. He's a lecherous jerk with a penchant for revenge." Edward held nothing back.

"Why haven't you gone to the Zhou family for help in the past. You were their daughter-in-law and have their grandchild. They wouldn't have left you outside." Edward had wondered about this.

"Until very recently they didn't know I had given birth to James's child. We parted in anger at his funeral. Only just now have we reconciled. I had pride and didn't want to ask. Now they want to help me but now I struggle not wanting to be a burden to them." Sara said.

"I doubt they'd see it that way. They only want to do for you what their son would've done. What he would want them to do for you. But what of your own family?" He asked suddenly.

"I grew up in a state orphanage. My way out was a scholarship for college. That was where James and I met. He majored in business and minored in music. Music was my major but James had a gift that surpassed the other students. It's a shame he never was able to use it." Sara seemed to be talking to herself rather than him. She sighed deeply.

"If he could see me now I'd be so ashamed." She said sadly.

"Why?" He was genuinely surprised.

"Until Bella started school I had to work at night so that I could watch her in the day. There weren't many job choices that fit my college major at night. I took the jobs available but I wish I could've made him proud." Her words faded away sadly.

Edward felt a lump in his throat. Other than Mia's death he hadn't cried since childhood. Now he fought to maintain composure.

He lifted her chin to look him in the eye.

"Sara, I don't see a shameful woman when I see you. I see a woman of strength who has done the best she could to raise her daughter. But let me ease some of the weight you bare by helping you with a job where you are safe." He told her.

"I take back what I said. You aren't bossy really. You are kind." She said.

He wasn't often called kind either, but he chose not to correct her.