Chapter 25


    The following week, Natalie took precautions to avoid running into Ike, but Ike kept on hinting at her


    from time to time.


    ConTEent bel0ngs to N?v(e)lD/rama(.)Org .


    One morning, she went to the convenience store downstairs to buy some coffee.


    As she waited in line, two women nced at her and started whispering to each other. “Isn’t that the


    woman from the design department who hooks up with Ike?”


    “Yeah, I think so!”


    Natalie overheard their loud whispering and frowned deeply. “What are you two talking about?”


    The two women were shocked by her sudden confrontation. They quickly shook their heads and smiled


    embarrassedly. “Nothing, nothing. We mistook you for someone else, that’s all.”


    But that wasn’t thest Natalie heard of this. She soon realized that someone from the design


    department must have spread unpleasant rumors about her and Ike.


    And those rumors spread like wildfire. Some colleagues who used to be nice to Natalie even started to


    keep their distance from her.


    Previously, Natalie was viewed as a well-mannered, kind young woman in the design department.


    But now that someone had spoken ill of Natalie behind her back, people began to view her in a


    different light.


    It was Pam who had first shown hostility towards her.


    Ever since Ike announced that he would select Natalie’s design, Pam had been hostile to Natalie to


    her face.


    So Natalie suspected that Pam was the one started the rumors.


    And sure enough, upon careful but quiet observation, she found that it was indeed Pam who was


    gossiping around.


    Pam had even made a group chat with many colleagues from thepany. That was where she


    shared her made-up rumors about Natalie.


    One day, during lunch break, Natalie went to the tea room and took a bottle of soda. On her way out,


    she saw Pam nearby. Natalie paused for a second and just left.


    Pam nced at her mischievously then whispered to the colleague next to her, “I heard Quinn went


    to a hotel with Mr. Lymanst night.”


    “What? No way! Didn’t he have a meeting in the office until verytest night? I don’t know why she


    likes him though. He’s such a jerk.” The colleague shook her head and sighed. She had thought that


    Natalie was a beautiful girl and that she was way out of Ike’s league.


    “Of course she doesn’t like him. She’s just using him because he’s her immediate supervisor. Some


    women would do anything to get promoted, am I right? I wouldn’t be surprised if she used to be a


    married man’s mistress when she was in college. I’ve heard a lot about her ‘frivolous’ life in college.


    She just doesn’t care about her reputation. That’s her style.”


    As Pam spoke, she sipped from her water calmly, as though she knew all about what she was


    talking about.


    “What? What happened to her when she was in college? Tell me everything!” The colleague leaned in


    closer towards Pam.


    “What’re you two whispering about over here? Let me join you!” Apparently, Natalie hade back


    and was leaning against the door, smiling sweetly at the two women.


    “Wh-what? Nothing. We were just talking about some gossip we heard on the news.” Pam was


    taken aback when Natalie suddenly spoke. She was so surprised that she stammered and her face


    turned red.


    With a gentle smile, Natalie straightened her back and strode over to Pam. She picked up the phone


    that was lying on the desk and held it up. “Really? I just came back to get my phone, you see.”


    She unlocked the phone and nced at it, then feigned a surprised expression. “Oh, my God! I’m so


    sorry. The recorder was turned on this whole time. Oh, I know! Let’s listen to what you said just now!”


    A look of horror shed on Pam’s face.


    She had no idea that the phone was recording their conversation just now.


    Natalie turned up the volume of her phone so that everyone in the tea room could hear it clearly.


    In the recording, Pam’s voice could be heard loud and clear. It also sounded harsh and mean. All


    eyes were on her now.


    “What? I never did anything you imed here. But you described it so vividly. How about we confront


    Mr. Lyman face to face?” After the recording stopped, Natalie sneered.


    Pam had made everything up.


    Pam eyed Natalie warily. She never would’ve thought that Natalie would dare to make a scene in


    public.


    “You lunatic! How dare you record me? I was having a private conversation with a colleague! This is an


    invasion of my privacy!” She was so anxious that her voice turned shrill. As she berated Natalie, she


    tried to grab the phone from her.


    But Natalie acted quick and dodged her advance. Looking at Pam sharply, she said, “You defamed


    me first. I’m going to call Mr. Lyman right now. We can confront each other in his presence.”


    Then she strode out of the tea room and went straight to the director’s office. She knocked on the door


    politely and announced, “Mr. Lyman, it’s Quinn.”


    Ike snickered, thinking that Natalie hade around so soon.


    “Come in. What’s up?” he asked, feigning a concerned expression.


    Natalie opened the door and smiled slightly. “Mr. Lyman, could youe out here please? There’s an


    emergency you need to deal with.”


    Was she actually asking him for help? Awesome!


    Ike cleared his throat and smiled greasily. “Of course!”


    He then followed Natalie out and found a group of people waiting outside his office.


    Pam was among them, looking nervous with eyes darting around and fists clenched tightly.


    “What happened?” Ike looked around him in confusion.


    “Mr. Lyman, somebody here has been spreading a rumor that we have an affair. She even went so far


    as to tell people that we went to a hotelst night.” Natalie’s voice was calm yet powerful. Everyone


    couldn’t help but look at her. As she spoke, she took out her phone and held it up. Noveloz


    In fact, Ike’s flirtatious hints were borderline harassment, which annoyed Natalie. She wanted to put a


    stop to this, so she took this as an opportunity to make him give up on her.


    After he listened to the recording, Ike’s expression immediately darkened.


    Now that Natalie had spoken out about him in public, his n to win her over suddenly seemed like


    wishful thinking. He never thought that Natalie, who seemed to be a meek push-over, was actually a


    tough, capable woman.


    He had no choice but to snort as though the rumor waspletely ridiculous. He cleared his throat


    loudly and announced, “Everything that was mentioned in the recording is purely unfounded. I had a


    meetingst night that ran all the way until midnight. If you don’t believe me, why don’t you ask my wife


    to testify? Quinn and I are not involved with each other except in matters regarding work.”


    The crowd immediately burst into whispers now that the rumor was dispelled.


    Since Ike even dared to mention his wife, it meant that there was really no affair between him and


    Natalie.


    With a serious look in his eyes, Ike pointed at Pam and frowned deeply. “Since you have so much


    extra time to gossip, why don’t you focus on work instead? If I hear that a rumor like this spreads again,


    I’m going to report it to thepany leader.”


    All the color drained from Pam’s face.


    She knew that she was doomed this time. No boss would ever tolerate a subordinate ndering his


    name.