The following week, Natalie took precautions to avoid running into Ike, but Ike kept on hinting at her from time to time.
One morning, she went to the convenience store downstairs to buy some coffee.
As she waited in line, two women glanced at her and started whispering to each other. âIsnât that the woman from the design department who hooks up with Ike?â
âYeah, I think so!â
Natalie overheard their loud whispering and frowned deeply. âWhat are you two talking about?â
The two women were shocked by her sudden confrontation. They quickly shook their heads and smiled embarrassedly. âNothing, nothing. We mistook you for someone else, thatâs all.â
But that wasnât the last Natalie heard of this. She soon realized that someone from the design department must have spread unpleasant rumors about her and Ike.
And those rumors spread like wildfire. Some colleagues who used to be nice to Natalie even started to keep their distance from her.
Previously, Natalie was viewed as a well-mannered, kind young woman in the design department.
But now that someone had spoken ill of Natalie behind her back, people began to view her in a different light.
It was Pamela who had first shown hostility towards her.
Ever since Ike announced that he would select Natalieâs design, Pamela had been hostile to Natalie to her face.
So Natalie suspected that Pamela was the one started the rumors.
And sure enough, upon careful but quiet observation, she found that it was indeed Pamela who was gossiping around.
Pamela had even made a group chat with many colleagues from the company. That was where she shared her made-up rumors about Natalie.
One day, during lunch break, Natalie went to the tea room and took a bottle of soda. On her way out, she saw Pamela nearby. Natalie paused for a second and just left.
Pamela glanced at her mischievously then whispered to the colleague next to her, âI heard Quinn went to a hotel with Mr. Lyman last night.â
âWhat? No way! Didnât he have a meeting in the office until very late last night? I donât know why she likes him though. Heâs such a jerk.â The colleague shook her head and sighed. She had thought that Natalie was a beautiful girl and that she was way out of Ikeâs league.
âOf course she doesnât like him. Sheâs just using him because heâs her immediate supervisor. Some women would do anything to get promoted, am I right? I wouldnât be surprised if she used to be a married manâs mistress when she was in college. Iâve heard a lot about her âfrivolousâ life in college.
She just doesnât care about her reputation. Thatâs her style.â
As Pamela spoke, she sipped from her water calmly, as though she knew all about what she was talking about.
âWhat? What happened to her when she was in college? Tell me everything!â The colleague leaned in closer towards Pamela.
âWhatâre you two whispering about over here? Let me join you!â Apparently, Natalie had come back and was leaning against the door, smiling sweetly at the two women.
âWh-what? Nothing. We were just talking about some gossip we heard on the news.â Pamela was taken aback when Natalie suddenly spoke. She was so surprised that she stammered and her face turned red.
With a gentle smile, Natalie straightened her back and strode over to Pamela. She picked up the phone that was lying on the desk and held it up.
âReally? I just came back to get my phone, you see.â
She unlocked the phone and glanced at it, then feigned a surprised expression. âOh, my God! Iâm so sorry. The recorder was turned on this whole time. Oh, I know! Letâs listen to what you said just now!â
A look of horror flashed on Pamelaâs face.
She had no idea that the phone was recording their conversation just now.
Natalie turned up the volume of her phone so that everyone in the tea room could hear it clearly.
In the recording, Pamelaâs voice could be heard loud and clear. It also sounded harsh and mean. All eyes were on her now.
âWhat? I never did anything you claimed here. But you described it so vividly. How about we confront Mr. Lyman face to face?â After the recording stopped, Natalie sneered.
Pamela had made everything up.
Pamela eyed Natalie warily. She never wouldâve thought that Natalie would dare to make a scene in public.
âYou lunatic! How dare you record me? I was having a private conversation with a colleague! This is an invasion of my privacy!â She was so anxious that her voice turned shrill. As she berated Natalie, she tried to grab the phone from her.
But Natalie acted quick and dodged her advance. Looking at Pamela sharply, she said, âYou defamed me first. Iâm going to call Mr. Lyman right now.
We can confront each other in his presence.â
Then she strode out of the tea room and went straight to the directorâs office. She knocked on the door politely and announced, âMr. Lyman, itâs Quinn.â
Ike snickered, thinking that Natalie had come around so soon.
âCome in. Whatâs up?â he asked, feigning a concerned expression.
Natalie opened the door and smiled slightly. âMr. Lyman, could you come out here please? Thereâs an emergency you need to deal with.â
Was she actually asking him for help? Awesome!
Ike cleared his throat and smiled greasily. âOf course!â
He then followed Natalie out and found a group of people waiting outside his office.
Pamela was among them, looking nervous with eyes darting around and fists clenched tightly.
âWhat happened?â Ike looked around him in confusion.
âMr. Lyman, somebody here has been spreading a rumor that we have an affair. She even went so far as to tell people that we went to a hotel last night.â Natalieâs voice was calm yet powerful. Everyone couldnât help but look at her. As she spoke, she took out her phone and held it up.
Noveloz.com In fact, Ikeâs flirtatious hints were borderline harassment, which annoyed Natalie. She wanted to put a stop to this, so she took this as an opportunity to make him give up on her.
After he listened to the recording, Ikeâs expression immediately darkened.
Now that Natalie had spoken out about him in public, his plan to win her over suddenly seemed like wishful thinking. He never thought that Natalie, who seemed to be a meek push-over, was actually a tough, capable woman.
He had no choice but to snort as though the rumor was completely ridiculous. He cleared his throat loudly and announced, âEverything that was mentioned in the recording is purely unfounded. I had a meeting last night that ran all the way until midnight. If you donât believe me, why donât you The Double Life of My Billionaire Husband ï¤Chapter 24 The Return Of His Unrivaled Ex-Wife (Joanna)
ï¤Chapter 1329 Meet My Brothers by Red Thirteen ï¤Chapter 1187 ask my wife to testify? Quinn and I are not involved with each other except in matters regarding work.â
The crowd immediately burst into whispers now that the rumor was dispelled.
Since Ike even dared to mention his wife, it meant that there was really no affair between him and Natalie.
With a serious look in his eyes, Ike pointed at Pamela and frowned deeply. âSince you have so much extra time to gossip, why donât you focus on work instead? If I hear that a rumor like this spreads again, Iâm going to report it to the company leader.â
All the color drained from Pamelaâs face.
She knew that she was doomed this time. No boss would ever tolerate a subordinate slandering his name.