hapter 7
Just after landing.
Missed calls kept popping up.
Message notifications rang continuously.
(You turned off your phone?]
Did you forget what you promised me? I don’t allow you to travel alone with a man!)
[What’s your relationship with that guy? Is he really just a coworker?]
[Do I even matter to you? Have you ever respected me?]
The barrage of messages had stopped two hours ago.
Piper had also sent messages–two photos.
One showed intertwined fingers, the other showed Knox sleeping.
They were sent an hour ago.
I blocked Knox and pinned Piper’s chat to the top, and saved all her messages, posts, and the previous video as evidence.
Then I focused completely on work.
After collaborating for nearly two weeks, to my surprise, Ethan was much more capable than I had imagined.
He hardly seemed like a fresh college graduate.
He jogged over with a stack of documents, his attitude humble: “Riley, sorry to bother you, but could you check if I did this part correctly?”
I carefully reviewed it, then said flatly: “Ethan, you’re already writing better than me. Why do you keep asking for my opinion?”
Then Ethan scratched his head sheepishly: “Am I that obvious? Riley, I want to pursue you.”
Being a woman who had been through marriage, I didn’t take such words too seriously. I simply picked up my coffee, took a small sip, and said flatly. “You should know I’m married.”
He looked at me earnestly: “But you’re preparing for a divorce,”
“I understand. I won’t do anything until you’re divorced.”
“But Riley, when you’re free again, could you consider me first…”
A blush crept across his fair face, and though his eyes showed a hint of shyness, he maintained steady eye contact.
My heart suddenly skipped a beat, somewhat moved by the young man’s sincerity.
I looked away, feeling slightly uncomfortable: “We’ll talk about it later.”
Though I hadn’t given a definite answer, Ethan’s eyes lit up.
In the days that followed, we were both busy with work and never mentioned the matter again.
But I could still fool his enantanna
Chapter 7
That day, someone with ulterior motives photographed Ethan and me having coffee and posted it online.
The photo was taken from an angle that made it look like we were kissing.
The headline was eye–catching: “GLOBAL GROUP’S HEIR’S OVERSEAS GIRLFRIEND EXPOSED!”
Ethan found me, looking extremely apologetic: “I’m so sorry, Riley. I’ve dragged you into this. I didn’t mean to hide my status from you.”
“My dad wanted me to work anonymously at the entry level for experience, but I never thought those paparazzi would be so ruthless.”
I shook my head: “It’s fine. I don’t mind.”
Honestly, I really didn’t care much.
As an ordinary person, this would barely affect my life. And the photo only showed half of my face–anyone who didn’t know me well probably wouldn’t recognize me.
Just as I finished speaking, a call came in from an unknown number: “Riley, where the hell are you?!”
“That woman in the news is you, isn’t it? No one knows your face better than I do.”
“You’re actually cheating on me overseas?!”
Chapter 8
Chapter 8
