Chapter 179: Going to Work
"What do you mean by that? You want Zane to apologize to Helena?"
Yvonne was furious. "Forget about it!"
"Fine, if he won't apologize, then we're leaving. Helena, let's go."
Atlas grabbed my hand and started heading for the door.
Seeing us about to leave, Yvonne panicked behind us. "Stop! Who said you could leave?"
Atlas didn't even look back and walked straight out of the hospital room with me.
Behind us came Yvonne's crying and shouting. Once we were far enough away, Atlas looked at me and said, "Helena, what are you planning to do?"
"About Zane?" I tilted my head to look at him.
"Yes. This is my fault for not being more careful. I never thought he'd have the nerve to try to hurt you. I won't let him off easy."
Seeing Atlas's dark expression, I knew he was truly angry.
In that case.
"Then let him spend some time in jail to clear his head."
A jerk like that won't reflect on his actions unless he learns a hard lesson.
"Okay!"
Atlas agreed and squeezed my hand tighter.
"I'll take care of it. Just wait for news."
Atlas led me outside, and once we got in the car, he said, "I'll take you home first. As for Zane, I'll let him recover in the hospital for now. Once he's healed, I'll send him to prison."
Hearing this, I chuckled softly. "Alright, I'll leave it to you then."
When I got home, I saw the light still on in Dad's study and pushed the door open.
"Why aren't you asleep yet?"
Seeing it was me, Henry looked up and waved me over. "Why are you back so late?"
I deliberately hid what happened tonight and glossed over it. "Nothing much, I just went out for a drive with Quincy."
"You've really grown up, now you're keeping things from me too."
Hearing this, Henry snorted with displeasure. "Don't think I don't know what happened tonight."
I was a bit surprised. "Dad, you already know?"
Henry huffed heavily. "They said you hit someone, and the complaint calls came straight to me. How could I not know?"
No need to guess—the call must have come from the Lancaster family.
Thinking of this, I smiled and said, "So Dad, what did you tell them?"
"I said I know my own daughter. She wouldn't easily resort to violence unless she was pushed into a corner with no way out."
After Henry finished, he stared at me seriously. "So what really happened? Aren't you going to tell me?"
There was no hiding it anymore, so I told him everything that happened.
After hearing it, Henry was furious.
"The Lancaster family is going too far! Do they really think my daughter can be bullied by anyone?"
"No, this can't just end like this."
Before he could pull out his phone, I pressed down on his hand. "Dad, don't worry. Atlas will handle it."
Henry looked up at me. "I trust Atlas too, but Zane is his brother after all. Can he really be that ruthless?"
"Whether he can be ruthless or not, we'll have to see."
At this point, I moved my hand away and blinked. "But this is actually a good chance to test him, isn't it? Aren't you curious to see what he'll do in the end, Dad?"
Hearing my words, Henry slowly withdrew his hand, his face showing an indulgent smile. "Fine, we'll do as you say. But if Atlas really can't be ruthless, then I'll step in."
"Though at that point, your relationship will be over."
"Dad."
Hearing this, I said coquettishly, "You really don't have faith in Atlas?"
"It's not that I don't have faith in him."
Henry shook his head. "I just don't want you to get hurt again. Last time with the Pemberton family, your mom and I misjudged the situation. This time we'll be more careful and pick a man for you who only has eyes for you."
"Dad's overthinking it. Atlas really respects me, and he keeps his private life clean. He's not that kind of person."
Seeing me defend Atlas, Henry said with displeasure, "I only said one thing and you want to praise Atlas ten times. Whether he's really as you say depends on his performance!"
"If he performs poorly, break up immediately!"
Seeing Henry's firm attitude, I didn't dare persuade him further. I could only pray silently in my heart, hoping Atlas could withstand this test!
The next day when I got to the company, I saw a crowd gathered around the sales department.
"What's going on?"
Hearing my voice, my colleagues quickly dispersed and greeted me with smiles. "Ms. Lockwood is here."
"Good morning, Ms. Lockwood. The new colleague bought coffee for everyone. Would you like a cup?"
A colleague pointed to the coffee on the desk, and only then did I see clearly that the person surrounded in the middle was Ivan.
"You—"
Just as I started to speak, he quickly interrupted me and bowed deeply. "Hello, Ms. Lockwood. My name is Ivan. It's my first day at work. Please take care of me."
After speaking, he picked up a coffee from the desk and pressed it into my hands without giving me a chance to refuse. "Iced Americano, no sugar. I hope Ms. Lockwood likes it."
He winked at me, signaling me to drink it quickly.
I looked at the coffee in my hand and nodded at him calmly. "Great, welcome. Work hard, and if you have any questions, feel free to ask."
Then I looked around and saw quite a few colleagues already chatting while drinking their coffee.
It seemed that in a short time after arriving, Ivan had won over quite a few colleagues' favor.
My probing gaze fell on him, but I saw his expression was natural, without any awkwardness, his eyes frank as he let me observe him.
Looking at his clear eyes, I quickly withdrew my scrutinizing gaze, and at the same time felt some self-reproach. Could I really be paranoid? Ivan had been fine from the start—why did I find him so disagreeable?
I shook my head, pushing all these thoughts out of my mind, and smiled. "Work hard. I'll head back to my office now."
"Okay, Ms. Lockwood."
Ivan bowed slightly with a smile, watching me leave.
After entering my office, I stood by the one-way glass window looking out. Ivan really was popular.
In such a short time, he'd already blended in with everyone. Watching him in the center of the crowd, chatting and laughing, I felt uncomfortable.
I hoped Ivan was different from John and the others.
All morning I was distracted at work, my gaze unconsciously drifting outside. But I saw Ivan just sitting quietly at his workstation, sometimes asking people around him about work matters. There was nothing wrong with his behavior.
Seeing this, my heart grew increasingly uneasy.