Chapter 184: Chapter 184 Something wrong
How... how dare this bitch?!
She couldn’t believe it. “Lana, you... you actually dared to hit me?!”
Alana replied coldly, “Yes, not only do I dare to hit you, but if you ever dare to spread rumors and slander my name again, I’ll beat you up!”
Danielle trembled with rage.
She retorted defiantly, “You know fully well that I’m not spreading baseless rumors!”
Alana curled her lips. “What do I know? You’re the one claiming I’m having an affair with Manager Cole. So it’s not baseless? Then do you have any proof? If you have no proof, just shut your mouth!”
Danielle couldn’t help but retort, “But everyone saw you and Manager Cole getting all touchy-feely in the elevator, and what happened in the staff cafeteria!”
Alana retorted, “So what? What does that prove?”
Danielle choked on her words.
What does that prove?
She had no idea what it meant; she just felt their relationship wasn’t normal.
Alana looked at everyone and said calmly, “Let me state this again: I have a boyfriend. My interaction with Manager Cole is strictly. I don’t care what you think or say behind my back, but don’t bring it up to my face! If I hear anything...” Alana looked at Danielle. “...you’ll end up just like her.”
With that, she snatched the bag from Danielle’s hand while Danielle wasn’t looking. Danielle clutched her swollen cheek, she was so furious she nearly stomped her foot.
Seeing Danielle’s anger, Carla couldn’t help but interject, “Danielle, I have to speak up for Alana. At the staff cafeteria this afternoon, it was Manager Cole who was making advances toward Alana the whole time. He offered her a bottle of milk, but she refused. He even picked up a chicken drumstick for her, but she didn’t even touch it, she just packed up her plate and left.”
“Rather than saying Alana’s the one going after him, it’s more accurate to say that Manager Cole has a crush on her and wants to pursue her. But Alana draws clear boundaries and has made her refusal very clear.”
Danielle clenched her teeth in frustration. “That bitch is just being dramatic!”
“Huh?!” Carla looked puzzled. “What are you talking about? She’s not as cheap as you, is she?”
Danielle shot Song Dandan a glare. She’d been in the cafeteria at lunchtime, how could she not have seen that Manager Cole was the one who’d gone out of his way to get close to Alana?
She just couldn’t stand it, which is why she had provoked Alana a little. Besides, she had a little crush on Manager Cole and was even thinking of pursuing him. But Alana beat her to it.
She never would have thought Manager Cole would be interested in a woman like Alana. She really didn’t get it, what was so great about Alana that both of them are into her?
First it was Manager Dane, and now Manager Cole...
***********
Alana held the bag, furrowing her brow. Mr. Cole?
After much hesitation, she picked up the bag and knocked on Cole’s office door. If Cole did send it, she hoped he would stop making such misleading gestures.
Cole called out, “Come in.”
Alana pushed the door open and strode directly to Cole’s desk, setting the bag she was holding down on it.
Cole glanced at the bag, then looked up at Alana, his tone gentle.
“Lana, what’s the matter?”
Alana looked at him with her almond-shaped eyes, asking uncertainly, “Did you send these?”
Cole looked up at Alana, his tone tinged with a hint of testing, “Does it matter to you whether I gave them to you or not?”
Her eyes were clear as she replied earnestly, “If you gave them to me, I hope you won’t give me anything else next time. Because it would lead to misunderstandings, people might think we have some secret relationship. Also, I have a boyfriend. I uphold my virtue as a committed woman and don’t want to have any connection with other men.”
Hearing this, Cole clenched his fists involuntarily, a surge of pent-up frustration rising in his chest.
He stared at her. “What if... it wasn’t from me?”
Alana gave a faint smile. “It’s even better if it wasn’t from you. Then I don’t have to return these to you. I can just throw them in the trash.”
With that, right in front of Cole, she tossed the bag of brown sugar ginger soup, along with the donkey-hide gelatin cakes and all the other tonics meant to boost qi and blood, straight into the trash can.
She let it go without a second thought.
Cole felt a tightness in his throat, a lump forming there.
She actually... really threw it away...
Alana gave a faint smile. “Since you didn’t give it to me, I’ve kept you from your business.” She nodded slightly, about to leave.
Cole couldn’t help but speak up, “Wait.”
Alana turned back. “Is there something else, Manager Cole?”
Cole took a deep breath. The intense gloom in his eyes dissipated, and he returned to his usual calm and composed demeanor. “I have a business dinner around seven tonight. You’ll accompany me.”
Alana pursed her lips. She recalled that he did indeed have a business dinner tonight, and as his assistant, accompanying him was part of her duties.
She nodded. “Okay.”
*********
Back at her desk, Alana immediately picked up her phone to let Stephan know.
Alana: [Just letting my boyfriend know: I have a business dinner at 7 p.m., so he doesn’t need to pick me up after work.]
After sending it, she even found herself looking forward to his reply.
She even found herself imagining what
expression he’d have when he received her
message.
Would he be disappointed?
Or would he be angry?
Hey, hey, hey, Lana, you’re overthinking this.
Alana shook her head and was about to put her phone down.
The screen lit up, he’d replied.
Stephan: [Okay.]
Alana raised an eyebrow. That was a bit of a short reply.
She pouted, finding it hard to understand him right now.
**********
In the Hudson Group office.
Stephan had just turned down an evening social engagement with Vance and was getting ready to pick up Alana after work, planning to cook her a romantic candlelit dinner.
After all, ever since she cooked for him last time, he’d been thinking about making her a proper dinner.
As a qualified and excellent boyfriend, he couldn’t just enjoy his girlfriend’s kindness, he had to learn to repay her a thousandfold.
Where could you find a man like him, who goes out of his way to think of his girlfriend?
Alana, you’re in for a real treat!
A smug smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. But then, he received a message saying she had to attend a business dinner that evening.
Stephan’s mood crashed.
He furrowed his brow. “She just said she was going to a business dinner, but didn’t even bother to specify who she was going with?”He paused for a moment. “Never mind. I trust her and it’s already pretty good
that she told me this much.”
He shouldn’t be too overbearing.
After a moment’s thought, he replied with a simple “Okay.”
He felt a little down, after all, his little bunny had work tonight and didn’t need him to be with her.
“It’s fine, it’s fine.”
“It’s just work. No matter how important work is, could it ever be more important than me?”
“Work takes weekends off, but her boyfriend is available every day, so her boyfriend is more important.”
It felt as if he was trying to cheer himself up, the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.
Vance, who was in the middle of reporting to Stephan, heard the CEO muttering to
himself and was puzzled. “Ahem, CEO, what are you saying?”
Stephan raised his eyes to look at Vance, his expression calm. “Did I say anything?”
Vance blinked. “You said ‘Work takes weekends off, but her boyfriend is available every day, so her boyfriend is more important.’ What does that mean?”
Stephan raised the corner of his mouth slightly. “Vance, it’s hard to explain it to a single guy like you.”
Was there something wrong with being single?!
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