Chapter 65
I pressed my lips together lightly, not knowing how to respond.
I never expected Grandma Cooper to come find me and say these things, and even more surprisingly, she was willing to accept me even though she knew I was a material girl who broke up with Jason five years ago.
Fortunately, Grandma Cooper didn't press further.
She patted my hand and changed the subject. "It's lunchtime now, isn't it? Why don't you join me for a meal?"
"Okay." I nodded in agreement.
Since lunch break wasn't very long, I took Grandma Cooper to a nearby restaurant for a simple meal.
During lunch, Grandma Cooper kept talking to me.
If Jason did anything to upset me, I could give him a hard time however I wanted, and Grandma Cooper would back me up.
I was touched, but also felt somewhat guilty.
Grandma Cooper was really good to me, so good that I didn't know how to repay her.
I didn't want to rashly agree to get back together with Jason just because of Grandma Cooper.
Matters of the heart were never easy to figure out from the start.
After lunch, Grandma Cooper said she could go back by herself.
I looked around. There wasn't a single bodyguard or car in sight. I wasn't comfortable letting Grandma Cooper go home alone.
What if she accidentally fainted on the street again?
After seeing Grandma Cooper home, I drove back to the company.
As soon as I walked into the office building, Victoria rushed over furiously and splashed coffee all over me.
"Sue, you're pretty pleased with yourself, aren't you? Making me lose face like that - you must be thrilled!"
Victoria stared at me hard, speaking through gritted teeth.
"What kind of crazy person are you?" Before I could speak, Brian was already striding over with a dark expression.
He pulled me behind him and stood between Victoria and me.
"Security! Get her out of here. If you let just anyone in again, go to finance, get your paycheck, and get lost!" Brian's face was grim as he shouted sternly.
Several security guards immediately surrounded her.
Victoria completely ignored them, staring at me resentfully. "You think you've won? Jason's just playing around with you. When he gets tired of you, you'll be a woman nobody wants!"
My mood grew increasingly irritated.
Victoria's voice in my ear was particularly grating.
"What happens to me later is my business." I looked up calmly to meet Victoria's angry gaze and said, "Better than you anyway - you spend all day fantasizing, only to have your lies exposed on the spot and nearly get kicked out of the company."
"You!" Victoria's eyes widened.
"If I were you, I'd leave right now. Staying here only makes you look more foolish, nothing else."
I looked Victoria up and down and said, "Instead of wasting time making a scene with me, you'd be better off studying how to win Jason's heart."
My words were like stabbing a knife into her heart.
The murmuring around us grew louder.
Victoria clenched her teeth, finally glared at me resentfully, then turned and left quickly.
Only after her figure completely disappeared from view did I breathe a sigh of relief.
I never expected Victoria to be so crazy, running all the way to DT Corp just to splash coffee on me and yell at me.
"I'll take you to buy clothes." Brian frowned as he looked at the coffee stains on my clothes.
"No need, I can go myself."
Seeing Brian about to insist, I asked calmly, "I remember you have a meeting coming up."
Brian's expression stiffened, and in the end he said nothing, just looked at me deeply.
I drove to the mall, randomly bought an outfit, and changed into it right there.
I left the dirty clothes in the car for now. I'd try washing them when I got home to see if they'd come clean.
When I returned to the office, I clearly felt the atmosphere among my colleagues had become strange.
"Ms. Wilson, here's your coffee."
"Ms. Wilson, you must be tired today. I'll finish your remaining documents for you."
"Ms. Wilson..."
Colleagues who had been quite cold to me before were now showing me great care.
I was somewhat uncomfortable with their sudden enthusiasm and could only decline awkwardly.
I thought that would be the end of it.
Terry's secretary suddenly came to find me, saying, "Ms. Wilson, Mr. Terry Ethan wants to see you."
I stood up and followed the secretary nervously into Terry's office.
"Mr. Terry Ethan."
"Ms. Wilson, how's work been lately? Are you tired? How are you getting along with your colleagues?"
Terry sat in his executive chair, smiling at me.
This was the first time I'd seen Terry look so approachable.
"Everything's fine, thank you for your concern, Mr. Terry Ethan." I kept my head lowered and answered politely.
"You can tell me if there's anything you're not happy with. I remember you have a child?" Terry suddenly asked.
My heart tightened as I answered, "...Yes."
"It's not easy for a woman to raise a child alone. How about this - I'll have finance increase your salary a bit. Consider it our company's care for employees." After expressing his concern, Terry let me leave.
Coming out of the office, I felt particularly uncomfortable.
A salary increase should be a good thing, and having both leadership and colleagues treat me well should also be good.
But my feelings were complicated.
Because I knew very clearly that all the preferential treatment I was receiving now wasn't because of me, but because my relationship with Jason had been exposed, bringing all these benefits.
I didn't like it.
This was getting me too deeply entangled with Jason.
I never expected the news that I was Jason's secret crush to spread so quickly.
Even Lily heard about it and specially called.
"Sue..." Lily's voice sounded quite hesitant. "Have you and Jason gotten back together?"
"No." I sighed weakly and told her about Victoria.
Finally, I added, "That's what happened. I never expected Jason to drag me to confront Victoria in person, and I never expected the news to spread everywhere."
Lily said, "He wants you to feel secure, so he doesn't want the misunderstanding to deepen. What are you thinking now? Are you going to get back together?"
I didn't answer immediately, but fell silent.
Lily knew I was conflicted. She said, "Actually, I think Jason is pretty decent, and you do have feelings for him. You two really could try again."
"We'll see." I sighed.
By the time I got off work and went home, at least at home, no one would treat me differently because I was Jason's secret crush.
I soaked the coffee-stained clothes in a basin.
Jessica came over at some point, saw the dirty clothes, and asked, "Mommy, why is there so much coffee on your clothes?"
I touched her head and answered, "I accidentally bumped into someone."