Chapter 184 Forced Interrogation at the Door
The next day when I arrived at the office, I felt the sales department employees were looking at me differently.
These people were huddled together talking, but when I showed up, they quickly scattered, afraid to make eye contact with me.
One or two people would be one thing, but everywhere I went, I saw the same scene.
My heart sank. I had a vague feeling it was related to what happened with Ivan yesterday.
As soon as I opened my office door and walked in, York rushed in like lightning.
"Helena, what's going on? What did you do to Ivan? Why is everyone saying Ivan is your sugar baby?"
"It can't be that ridiculous, can it?"
I was so shocked I could barely speak. How could there be such an absurd rumor?
"Yesterday Lyndon saw me and Ivan shopping together. My face got dirty, and Ivan helped wipe it off. It shouldn't have turned into something this ridiculous, right?"
York nodded hard. "It really is that ridiculous!"
"Some colleagues are even secretly guessing whether Ivan or Mr. Lancaster is your true love!"
York continued indignantly, "What's even worse is that some female colleagues are quietly discussing how to persuade you to date both Ivan and Mr. Lancaster at the same time."
"That's so ridiculous!"
I was speechless.
Turns out Ivan was the biggest obstacle testing my relationship with Atlas.
"What should we do? Do you want to come forward and clarify Ivan's real identity?"
Hearing York's suggestion, I shook my head directly.
Ivan said from the beginning he came to the company to gain experience and wouldn't allow his identity to be revealed.
Now that he's established himself in the company, if his identity were revealed, he'd win over even more colleagues' hearts, making it even harder to get rid of him.
Could yesterday's incident have been intentional on Ivan's part?
The more I thought about it, the more alarmed I became.
Carefully recalling Ivan's behavior throughout, everything seemed so effortless, without anything out of place.
Thinking of this, I asked, "Why was Lyndon at Starlight Avenue yesterday?"
At this, York tugged hard at his head, thought for a moment and said, "Because there's a big client at Starlight Avenue. It was arranged days ago for Lyndon to go sign the contract."
So Lyndon's appearance there - Ivan might have known about it?
But yesterday's destination was my spontaneous decision. I was driving, and Ivan just sat quietly without objecting.
Could he have gone with the flow?
Not stopping me, but not deliberately guiding me either, and only when we got there and he noticed Lyndon did he deliberately act intimate with me?
What benefit could he get from causing this misunderstanding?
My heart tightened, and I suddenly realized - he was giving me a difficult problem.
He wanted to see whether I'd reveal his identity. If I did, he'd be the one receiving everyone's attention. If I didn't, I'd be stuck in a difficult position.
On one side was my relationship with Atlas, on the other side were the growing rumors about him.
But Ivan underestimated me. It's just a small rumor - what harm could it do to me!
As for him, if it really was intentional, his scheming is quite sinister.
"Just as I said, if his intentions are malicious, he'll eventually show his flaws."
I gave a cold laugh and looked at York. "Ignore these rumors. Keep watching Ivan closely. I refuse to believe we can't find his weak spot!"
"Yes, Ms. Lockwood!"
York said with some concern, "But what about these rumors? What if Mr. Lancaster finds out?"
I shook my head. "It's fine. They're just rumors. They'll die down in a few days."
What I didn't expect was that after a few days, the rumors didn't fade away. Instead, they grew even stronger.
Even the Lancaster family heard about it and came directly to confront me.
This time it was Yvonne who asked to meet me. The moment I got the call I was surprised, but thinking of Zane still in prison, I immediately understood - Yvonne probably wasn't just dropping by to see me.
Arriving at the coffee shop downstairs, I immediately spotted Amy and Yvonne.
The moment they saw me, Amy quickly stood up to pull out a chair for me. "Helena, Mom and I were shopping and ended up near your company building. We thought about going up to see you, but worried about disturbing your work, so we asked you to come for coffee instead."
Amy continued apologetically, "Helena, I didn't disturb you, did I?"
I shook my head. After sitting down, I looked at them both. "No, I'm just surprised. This isn't exactly the city center - how did you end up shopping here?"
Amy glanced at me, hesitating, then quickly lowered her head to hide her expression by drinking coffee.
Seeing her reaction, my curiosity was piqued. I laughed lightly. "You're not here because of Zane, are you?"
"Yes, and no."
After Amy said this, she looked hesitantly at Yvonne.
Yvonne couldn't hold back any longer. She slammed her palm on the table and shouted at me, "Helena, I never thought you'd be so fickle! When you and Knox hadn't even broken up yet, you were getting involved with Atlas. And now that you're with Atlas, there are rumors about you keeping a sugar baby?"
"You're shameless! What do you take the Lockwood family for?"
Her words stunned me for a moment, and I immediately thought of the rumors about me and Ivan at the company.
I didn't expect them to reach the Lancaster family's ears so quickly. So today Yvonne was here representing the Lancaster family to warn me and break up Atlas and me?
Thinking of this, I gave a cold laugh. "This is a private matter between Atlas and me. What does it have to do with you?"
As soon as I said this, Yvonne's expression changed instantly. She pointed at me and shouted, "Helena, is this how you treat your elders?"
"I'm Atlas's stepmother after all. If I don't approve of this match, don't even think about marrying into the Lancaster family."
"Fine, then should I call Atlas over so you can say that to his face?"
At my words, Yvonne became furious. "Don't think that just because Atlas protects you, you can do whatever you want!"
"If he wants to smoothly take over the Lancaster family business, he can't marry a woman with such a tainted reputation."
"So Helena, a woman like you should leave sooner rather than later, before things get ugly for everyone. You don't want to be blamed for this, do you?"