Chapter 80 Has Alaric Already Divorced Ms. Stone?
Cordelia's eyes turned icy when Janet hung up on her. She took a deep breath and called the head of the Stone Group's PR team.
"Hey, Cordelia, don't worry. Ms. Stone's got everything under control. Just focus on getting better, okay? No need to stress."
Cordelia felt a bit more at ease hearing that. She got out of bed and soon received a message from Hannah. Hannah, always impatient, had sent a message cursing Janet out. To Hannah, Evelyn was like an idol. Seeing her idol dragged through the mud, Hannah was furious enough to want to strangle Janet.
Listening to Hannah's angry voice message, Cordelia rubbed her temples and tried to calm her down.
"It's not a big deal, Hannah. Don't get too worked up."
Hearing Cordelia's calm tone, Hannah managed to settle down a bit. But before heading to work, she couldn't help but curse Janet a few more times.
Cordelia listened to Hannah's message with a helpless smile, then got out of bed. Donald had gone to the Stone Group early in the morning to handle work matters for Evelyn.
Cordelia opened her bedroom door, using the wall for support as she made her way to the stairs. When she reached the stairs, she saw Alaric sitting on the sofa, reading a magazine. She paused for a moment. Alaric heard the noise, put down the magazine, stood up, and looked at her.
"Awake?"
Cordelia frowned slightly as he walked toward her, her emotions stirring.
"Mr. Hughes, you seem to have a lot of free time lately."
Alaric's expression remained unchanged as he walked over to her, offering his hand for support.
"Yeah."
"Does your foot still hurt?"
Cordelia bit her lip, "What do you think?"
Hearing this, Alaric bent down and lifted her pant leg to check. Her ankle was still swollen and bruised, with no signs of improvement. His eyes darkened.
"I brought some ointment for you, it works well."
Hearing their conversation, Allegra came out of the dining room.
"Cordelia, you're awake?"
Cordelia nodded.
Noticing that Cordelia didn't want to interact with Alaric much, Allegra quickly stepped forward to support her. Cordelia brushed off Alaric's hand and took Allegra's, letting her help her downstairs. Alaric wasn't annoyed by her actions and followed behind them.
Allegra had prepared breakfast and helped Cordelia to the dining room. Cordelia sat down. Alaric naturally walked in and sat across from her. Cordelia took a deep breath, looking at him with a cold expression.
"Mr. Hughes, if you're so free, why not deal with those online rumors?"
Allegra served breakfast to Cordelia and then to Alaric as well. Despite her dislike for Alaric, seeing him massage Cordelia's foot the day before softened her attitude a bit.
"Evelyn doesn't want me to handle it."
Cordelia sneered, "Aren't you afraid my sister will ruin your first love?"
Cordelia knew Evelyn's personality well. Because of Janet's revelations, Evelyn was being attacked by everyone. When the truth came out, all the insults would inevitably fall back on Janet.
He didn't respond to her question.
Seeing Cordelia eating cauliflower, Alaric transferred the cauliflower from his plate to hers. Cordelia glanced at the additional cauliflower and smiled.
"Do you think I like cauliflower?"
"Don't you?" Alaric looked at her, curious.
Cordelia immediately picked the cauliflower out and placed it on the table. "No, I don't."
She had always preferred spicy food. If it weren't for her pregnancy and injury, Allegra wouldn't have prepared such bland food for her.
Alaric mistakenly thought she liked it. They had lived together for three years, and Alaric didn't understand her at all, or rather, he never tried to.
Cordelia sighed, feeling a tightness in her chest. She looked at Alaric and said softly, "Mr. Hughes, I don't know why, but seeing you now just annoys me."
Her voice was light, and she showed no expression after speaking.
Alaric sat quietly, frowning slightly, his eyes calm as he looked at her. Cordelia suppressed her irritation, finished breakfast, and stood up.
Allegra quickly helped her upstairs. Alaric sat in the dining room for a while, and by the time Allegra came down, he had left.
His breakfast was barely touched. Being spoken to so coldly by Cordelia must have been painful. Allegra sighed and cleaned up the dining room.
Online rumors continued to spread. Bruce was labeled as the third party, with rumors that he often visited Evelyn's office for over an hour, during which no one could disturb them. Sebastian forwarded a post to their group chat.
Sebastian: [Curious what Bruce does in Ms. Stone's office for over an hour?]
Jack: [What else? Doing what they like. But it's unfair for Bruce to be misrepresented as the third party.]
Sebastian: [I asked my sister about Ms. Stone's situation. She said Ms. Stone is currently single, so Bruce isn't her boyfriend. No wonder she's handling it coldly.]
Bruce: [Sebastian, do you want to be removed from the group again?]
Sebastian fell silent.
Seeing the rumors about Alaric and Evelyn online made Bruce furious. Yet neither Alaric nor Evelyn clarified the situation. His social media was flooded with comments from nosy netizens.
Bruce logged out of the group chat and checked his social media, where a comment was pinned to the top.
[Can Bruce share tips on becoming the third party in Ms. Stone and Alaric's relationship?]
Seeing Julian's teasing comment, and thinking of Evelyn's indifference to the rumors, Bruce gritted his teeth and replied.
[I'm good in bed.]
Soon, this comment and reply were screenshotted by netizens. Cordelia saw the online discourse getting more skewed and couldn't help but rub her temples.
When Donald came home from work, he didn't look happy. Even though the online rumors were false, as a father, he couldn't stand seeing his daughter slandered.
Under Donald's insistence, the Stone Group's PR department released a statement. It simply stated that Evelyn was single and there was no infidelity.
Seeing the statement, Janet scrutinized it and then called Julian to inquire.
"Julian, has Alaric divorced Ms. Stone?"