Chapter 196 A Photo of a Hug
"Mr. Lockwood, Ms. Lockwood, hello."
Seeing us, Ivan greeted us quite openly.
Henry nodded without saying anything. I glanced over and asked, "What are you doing here?"
York jumped in to answer, "Ivan said he wanted to check on his client's goods in the workshop, so I came along with him."
"Any problems with the goods?"
Hearing my question, Ivan replied unhurriedly, "No, everything's normal."
After saying that, he turned to Henry, "Mr. Lockwood, we'll be going now."
With that, he pulled York away.
After seeing Ivan off, I called York to my office and started asking about Ivan's situation today.
It wasn't that I was overly suspicious, but his outstanding performance had far exceeded what you'd expect from a newcomer. Better safe than sorry.
"Him? Nothing unusual."
After hearing my question, York thought seriously for a moment before shaking his head.
I asked again, "The visit to check the goods—was that his idea too?"
"Yeah."
York nodded, "He seemed to be late today, but once he got to his workstation, he wanted to go to the workshop. I saw him and offered to go with him. When we got there, he checked things over, asked about the production schedule, and then we left. We ran into you and Mr. Lockwood on our way out."
The whole thing really didn't seem unusual.
"Okay, got it. Keep a careful eye on him. Don't let him catch on."
Seeing how serious I was, York quickly agreed.
Not long after he left, my phone buzzed. I opened it to find someone had sent me a photo from an unknown number. Something made me click on it anyway.
One glance and I sat up straight.
It was a photo of Atlas being hugged by a woman. I zoomed in and realized the woman was Nancy. Why would she and Atlas be hugging?
Looking more carefully, I could see it was at the airport exit. Was this taken secretly the day Atlas came back?
I thought back carefully. That day, Atlas had called me first, saying something came up and he wouldn't come see me, but then he suddenly showed up anyway.
Could this have something to do with Nancy?
I closed my phone and couldn't help pacing back and forth in my office. I trusted Atlas, but seeing such an intimate photo of them together still made my heart ache.
I picked up my phone wanting to call Atlas, but after thinking about it, I didn't dial.
I'm not someone who overthinks things, but this was about trust between partners. I knew I couldn't rashly accuse him directly, but if I just let it go without asking, this would keep bothering me.
In the end, I decided to go find Atlas and get to the bottom of it. And who was the person who took this photo?
They were able to send the photo precisely to my phone - was it to warn me, or to stir up trouble?
If I didn't get answers to these questions, I definitely wouldn't be able to rest easy. With this thought, I opened my office door and walked out.
Soon I drove to Atlas's company building. This was my first time visiting his company.
Inside, the receptionist smiled and greeted me, asking softly if I had an appointment. I said I wanted to see Atlas.
After hearing this, the receptionist was clearly surprised, but quickly recovered and made an internal call. Before long, Atlas came down from upstairs himself.
"Helena, what brings you here?"
Seeing his delighted expression that didn't seem fake, I smiled slightly and went up to him, "I was working nearby and realized I'd never been to your company, so I thought I'd come take a look."
"Welcome, welcome!"
Atlas said, reaching out his hand to me and pulling me upstairs.
Along the way, many people's gazes fell on me, some surprised, some envious. I looked around discreetly and concluded that Atlas's company had quite a few female employees, and probably even more who had crushes on him.
We soon arrived at Atlas's office. Opening the door, the black and white decor was simple and elegant, just like him.
After I sat down on the sofa, Atlas made me a cup of coffee, placed it in front of me, and sat down beside me.
"Be honest - did you miss me and come specially to see me?"
Hearing this, I smiled, "Yeah, I came specially to see if you're flirting with anyone else at the company."
Atlas spread his hands helplessly, "Then you better keep a close eye on me. After all, I'm so outstanding - it would be terrible if someone lured me away."
At this, we both laughed at the same time.
Atlas pulled me into his arms and planted a firm kiss on my lips.
He kept kissing until I begged for mercy before letting me go. After releasing me, his fingers traced back and forth across my face, "I really want to marry you and take you home right now!"
Seeing him like this, most of my doubts had already faded, but I still felt a bit uncomfortable inside. If I didn't clear up this question, it might become a barrier between Atlas and me. I had to get to the bottom of this.
But right now the atmosphere was intense, a romantic moment - not the right time.
With this thought, I smiled and pushed him away, sitting up properly, "Soon enough. If you have work to do, go ahead. I'm fine here, I'll just wait for you."
"You're here, what work could I possibly do? I'm not busy at all. I want to spend time with you!"
Just as Atlas finished speaking, there was a knock at the door. As I laughed softly, he sat up properly and called out, "Come in."
A young man soon entered. Atlas glanced at him and introduced him to me, "Benjamin."
Then looking at me, "Helena, my girlfriend."
I immediately remembered - last time when Atlas was on a business trip and I called, it was Benjamin who answered.
With this thought, I nodded slightly at him, "Benjamin, hello."
"Ms. Lockwood, hello."
Benjamin then turned to Atlas, "Mr. Lancaster, everyone for this morning's meeting has arrived. Will you head over now?"
Hearing this, Atlas slapped his forehead helplessly, "I forgot about this morning's meeting."
Then he looked at me apologetically, "Helena, I need to go to this meeting. Can you wait here for me? It'll be an hour at most and I'll be back."
I'm not the type to make unreasonable demands of my boyfriend. I nodded, "I have some things to handle anyway. You go ahead."
"Alright then. If you need anything, just ask Benjamin to help you. His office is right next door."
After giving these instructions, Atlas hurried off.
Only Benjamin and I were left in the office. This was actually a good chance to find out about the airport incident. With this thought, I asked him, "Benjamin, when you came back from that business trip with Atlas, did you return together?"
"Not exactly."
Benjamin replied, "That day Mr. Lancaster brought back a gift for Ms. Lockwood. I returned with the gift. After getting off the plane, I went back to the company, while the security company's people took the gift to find Mr. Lancaster."