My Possessive CEO: Trembling in His Arms-Chapter 196: Don’t Yell at Her or Scold Her

The news of Old General Yates’s passing was something Renee Winslow saw online, splashed across the front page.

When she saw the name, she wasn’t quite sure, so she messaged Jack Yates.

[The Old General Yates in the news, is that your grandfather?]

After she sent the message, it took more than three hours before Jack replied, simply and coldly, with one word.

[Yes]

Not even a single punctuation mark.

It was only at this moment that Renee truly understood just how powerful Jack’s background was.

She had always known Jack came from an extraordinary family, but exactly how extraordinary, she’d never had a concrete idea. There was never any info online.

Once, her curiosity got the better of her and she searched online, but all she found was that Jack was the CEO of Starkwood Group—nothing else. Not even a single photo appeared.

Now, learning about Jack’s true identity, Renee felt the gap between them was even wider.

It was a gulf she could never cross, no matter how hard she tried.

Honestly, this was the sort of moment when she shouldn’t have messaged Jack at all. With Old General Yates gone, she had no right, no reason to offer condolences.

She wasn’t unaware how much the Yateses disliked her.

But no matter what, the old man was Jack’s grandfather. She could ignore what the family thought, but she couldn’t ignore Jack’s feelings.

After hesitating for a long time, she sent Jack another message.

[My condolences.]

Then sent: [Old General Yates is watching from above—he’d never want you to grieve too much. The departed are gone, the living must go on. Take care of yourself.]

Jack didn’t reply to her message, as she’d expected.

He must be busy right now—not replying was completely normal.

Renee got busy herself. School started in September, and she’d be a senior. The college required everyone to intern during the first semester, and turn in an internship certificate after returning for the second semester.

Of course, she didn’t have to actually intern—Jack could just write her a certificate if needed.

But she didn’t want to cheat. More importantly, she wanted to challenge herself for real.

Her major was Chinese language, so all the jobs she could get were clerical—editor at a publishing house or newspaper, or doing administrative work for corporations or government offices.

But print media was dying out now, editor jobs were hard to get, and government positions even harder.

Browsing the job sites, Renee realized the only positions matching her major were secretarial ones.

So she filled out a resume, took it seriously, and threw it out far and wide to all the corporations hiring secretaries.

Coincidentally, she sent one to a new subsidiary under Starkwood Group that had just been set up to handle overseas markets and export business, currently managed by Ian Lynch.

The new company had a bunch of openings, including secretary.

Hiring was technically HR’s job.

That day Ian Lynch happened to be free, came by Human Resources, and casually flipped through the resumes, and there she was—Renee Winslow.

He pulled Renee’s resume out, and went over to call Jack Yates.

Even dealing with his grandfather’s funeral at home, Jack’s phone was on twenty-four seven.

So when Ian called, Jack answered soon after.

"Jack," Ian said quietly, "I’ve got Renee’s resume over here."

Jack sounded steady: "What position did she apply for?"

Ian: "Sales Director’s secretary."

Jack’s voice turned cold as he instructed: "Tell her to come in for an interview tomorrow. Make sure everything goes by the book, don’t let anyone think she’s getting special treatment. And let Cody Cole know—ask him to be patient, not to yell at her or curse her out."

Cody Cole was the new company’s sales director, transferred from headquarters. A real smiling tiger—ruthless at work, sharp in negotiations. Even Ian admired his tactics.

The only problem was Cody’s bad temper; plenty of girls working under him had been reduced to tears by his scolding.

But Renee wasn’t just anyone—she was Jack’s sweetheart. Ian thought, if Cody found out about the relationship, he wouldn’t dare even raise his voice at her.

He felt Jack’s reminder was totally unnecessary, almost wanted to laugh, but this wasn’t the time, so he held it in and replied by the book: "Okay."

After agreeing, he added, "Jack, why not have Renee work at headquarters as your executive secretary?"

Jack replied blandly: "You can’t mix personal and professional matters. She doesn’t have the experience to be my secretary."

Ian thought: If Renee, who hadn’t even graduated college yet, couldn’t be executive secretary, did she really have what it took to be sales director’s secretary?

Never mind her qualifications—even if she had them, she’d have to quit after a few months to go back to school, which meant they’d need to rehire anyway. Wasn’t that just making trouble for Cody?

Of course, he couldn’t say all that out loud. The company belonged to Jack, after all; what could he do? Better just to follow orders.

"Okay," he agreed quickly, then asked, "After the interview, do we tell her what’s really going on?"

Jack: "No. Best if she doesn’t see you. Keep her resume out of circulation. Let the companies who’ve already downloaded her resume know not to call her."

Ian: "Okay." Then asked, "When’s the funeral?"

Jack: "Day after tomorrow."

Ian: "Then I’ll drop by that day."

Jack: "Don’t worry. Work comes first."

Ian: "It won’t take long."

Before hanging up, Ian, almost against his better judgment, asked, "Jack, does Renee know?"

On the line, there was a fleeting silence.

Jack answered, his voice low, "Mm."

Ian: "So, so, will she..."

Jack: "She’s not coming."

That single ’She’s not coming’ stopped Ian from saying anything more.

Ian didn’t press further; Jack didn’t elaborate.

Truth be told, there was nothing to ask. With Old General Yates gone, Renee would definitely stay away—she didn’t have the right to go.

-

Before sending out resumes, Renee had already prepared herself for not finding any job that fit her major.

Jobs were hard to find now, especially clerical ones. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Never mind not having graduated yet or being just an intern—even newly graduated students struggled to find relevant jobs.

A lot of STEM students couldn’t get jobs matching their majors—how much harder would it be for a pure liberal arts student like her?

She’d applied for secretarial work just on a whim, but she’d managed to "hit" something.

The day after submitting her resumes, Renee got interview notices from two companies.

One was Starlight Media, an entertainment firm looking for an administrative secretary.

The other was W&J, a foreign trade company, hiring a secretary for the sales director.

Renee remembered clearly—she hadn’t applied to Starlight Media and had no idea why they called her for an interview.

She had applied to W&J, though, since she’d seen it was a new company, recently established, figuring the odds there would be better.

Aside from those two, no other companies contacted her for interviews.

Even with just two, she was happy.

She wanted to tell Jack about her interviews, but given his situation right now, she held back.

He was at home dealing with a funeral; if she excitedly said she had interviews—how would that look?

Still, she couldn’t just stop job hunting because of Old General Yates’s death.

After all, Yates family business wasn’t really her concern—whatever happened there, her own life had to go on.

Getting up that morning, Renee wore a mature long dress and heels, hoping to make herself look a bit older.

She compared the interview times and addresses and decided to go to Starlight Media first, then W&J Trading.

-

The West Second Ring Road, Tower A.

Sydney Thorne walked up to the HR supervisor and quietly asked, "Is Renee Winslow here yet?"

The recruitment supervisor stood up at once, answering respectfully, "She said she’ll be here in two minutes."

Sydney nodded, "Interview her in Conference Room Three when she arrives."

Recruitment Supervisor: "Okay."