Chapter 148

Chapter 148

“Take it.”

“But I …” She was holding her purse in her left hand and her laptop bag on the right, so she couldn’t spare a hand to hold the umbrella.

Leslie didn’t say a word and simply took the bags from her, before shoving the umbrella into her hand.

Despite his cold exterior, he was very considerate.

Smiling, Aurelia said, “Thank you.”

However, when they opened the umbrella, the two of them froze under the sun.

On the outside, it looked like an ordinary black umbrella. However, there was a picture of a muscular man on the inside of the umbrella.

Leslie narrowed his eyes and started wondering where Daniel hired all these strange people from.

“I borrowed it from someone.” He cleared his throat and urged, “Let’s go.”

“Okay.” Aurelia suppressed her laughter and glanced at the muscular man on the inside of the umbrella.

When both Leslie and she got drenched in the bathroom, she noticed that he had a muscular build as well, though not as exaggerated as the picture on the umbrella.

Recalling how the wet shirt outlined his abs, she felt her blood rushing to her head.

“Aurelia.”

“Huh? Yeah?” She snapped out of it.

“You are about to bump into the tree,” Leslie said with resignation. “What are you thinking?”

“Nothing.” She shook her head and glanced at the umbrella guiltily.

He glanced at it as well and realization dawned on her. “How naughty.”

“Naughty? What does he mean?” Aurelia thought. Not daring to ask him about it, she picked up her

pace.

They found a simple restaurant near the building and ordered two–set meals. Aurelia discreetly glanced at the prices and they were reasonable.

She finally understood why Leslie had chosen this somewhat distant restaurant despite passing by many others under such hot weather.

He knew she probably didn’t have much money.

Before the food arrived, Leslie casually rolled up his shirt sleeves, a move that seemed effortless yet exuded a casual sense of beauty. This instantly caught the attention of the surrounding office workers.

“What’s wrong with the computer?” he asked.

Chapter 148

2/2

“It’s just…the files are gone.” Aurelia hesitated. Not wanting to trouble Leslie, she refrained from mentioning that she had been schemed against.

Little did she know that Leslie had overheard it all outside her hospital room yesterday.

He took a sip of water. “Were they deleted by someone?”

Aurelia looked surprised. “How did you know? Can you recover them? They are quite important.”

“It won’t be hard.”

“Thank you.” Aurelia breathed a sigh of relief.

“But even if you bring back the restored files, what’s the point?” he asked.

“Well…” Aurelia hadn’t thought that far because she just wanted to prove her innocence.

“They can still claim forgery. Unless you have a foolproof solution, it will be a never–ending problem. Sometimes avoiding trouble doesn’t mean trouble won’t find you. Instead of dodging trouble, it’s better to resolve it. The same thing applies to troublesome people.”

Leslie’s voice was calm, but each word weighed heavily on Aurelia’s heart. It felt like the fog before her was gradually lifting, and many things became clear.

Her problem wasn’t plagiarism. It was Kimberly.

Besides resolving the plagiarism issue, she should also address Kimberly.

She considered herself a person who didn’t seek trouble, so she would draw the line when faced with provocation.

She didn’t want to make things too ugly since they were colleagues. However, not everyone appreciated this approach. Seth and Millie were perfect examples of someone who took advantage of her restraint.

Kimberly was also one of those people who thought Aurelia wouldn’t resist due to her humble background, so she behaved recklessly.

Had Aurelia drawn the line with Kimberly right from the start, Kimberly would never have dared to plot against her so ruthlessly.

Since things had come to this point, talking wouldn’t change anything.

Aurelia frowned, feeling down. “You’re right. Whatever I do now is useless. It’s my own fault.”

Leslie looked at her and said in a deep voice, “Is it going to kill you to ask for my help?”

Aurelia fell into silence and thought, “Huh?“