Free Web NovelChapter 33: Who Is The Real Third Party Here
This incident circulated quickly within the company. Even the security camera footage started spreading in the private group chats.
Yvonne was already furious but seeing this made her even more enraged.
Wendy, on the other hand, had finally stood up for herself today. There was a drastic improvement in her mood when she took off from work. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
Zen was a workaholic and was working overtime. Since Wendy had the key to her apartment, she went back first. The moment Zen came home from work, she planted a kiss on Wendy’s cheek happily. She said, "Oh dear, Wendy Stewart, you’ve done the community a great service. The entire company knows about what happened today, and everyone is talking about what a b*tch Yvonne is."
"They used to talk about me like that all the time," replied Wendy with a smile and a shake of her head. She found this to be pathetic and ridiculous at the same time.
"Hey, it’s all in the past, right?" Zen comforted Wendy, "Look, even the president decided to take your side today."
At this, Zen expressed more interest, "Wendy, tell me, is Michael starting to fall for you?"
Her words sounded like a joke to Wendy. Wendy pointed at herself, and then at her surroundings.
She said, "Do you know where I’m staying right now?"
"Ah..." Zen understood what Wendy meant. She thought, that’s true, Wendy arrived here late last night with a suitcase in her hand. If Michael is in love with her, why would she be at my place right now?
"Regardless of any of that, I still feel that Michael is treating you differently these days," said Zen with a doubtful expression on her face,
"When we ate together in the cafeteria, I felt like he looked jealous, just that he didn’t admit it. Speaking of it, I also think that the vice president is interested in you."
Wendy did not wish to talk about this. She understood the real reason why Christian was treating her like this. It was nothing to do with him liking her or not. She was just a pathetic pawn on their chessboard. Christian merely wanted to make use of her to get back at Michael, whereas Michael refused to relent to Christian.
"Let’s not talk about this anymore. I posted a new short video on TikTok today, do you want to see how it’s doing?" Wendy opened the app on her phone and showed Zen her latest upload.
Ever since Wendy posted her first video, she had been consistently editing more and posting them in her free time.
Zen watched the video and nodded. Satisfied, she said, "Just as I expected of my apprentice. It’s only been such a short while, but your editing skills have improved so much. Also, you are gradually regaining your design skills."
Zen then checked Wendy’s account and discovered that she had posted a dozen short videos and gained thousands of fans. Even though her popularity was not developing quite quickly enough to be considered exceptionally fast or viral, it was still an incredible feat for a new account.
Zen encouraged Wendy, saying, "Knowing you and your skills, I’m sure that many more people will become your fans once you get back to how you were at your peak. When that happens, you will have millions of fans, and once more people start paying attention to you, I’m sure that big corporations will start asking you to work with them. You can also do commercials and live broadcasts."
"I haven’t thought that far ahead yet. I just think it’s good to be able to pick up my design skills again and at the same time, film the entire process."
Putting aside the messy affairs related to Michael, Wendy felt that her current state of life was pretty good. Work was not too hectic, and she could focus on designing and video-editing after work. Every single day was fulfilling. She was no longer the same Wendy Stewart who spent all her time pining after Michael Lucas.
Zen patted her shoulder. "You can do it, you will definitely become the best and most beautiful designer in Lake City."
...
Yvonne did not feel discouraged after being defeated by Wendy. However, she was also not stupid, and she did not try to stir up any more trouble within the company for the time being.
She reported working on time every day. Even though she did not have much work to do, she still had to act like it. At the very least, she had to act like a qualified assistant. After the dust settled, she intended to buy gifts for the gossipmongers within the company.
That day, Wendy and Zen made plans to have lunch together at the cafeteria. When Wendy smelled the fish from Zen’s bowl, she could not help but retch.
"What’s wrong, Wendy?" Zen asked, feeling concerned.
Wendy waved her hand and replied, "Nothing, don’t worry."
Zen then had the realization that Wendy was probably going through morning sickness. As she had been too busy recently, she had not interacted as much with Wendy. Even though they stayed in the same apartment, Zen went out early and returned late at night. She only went home to sleep.
If not for the symptoms of Wendy’s morning sickness, Zen would have completely forgotten about her pregnancy. She looked around her surroundings and then whispered, "How long have you been feeling like this? Does it feel bad?"
When Wendy caught another whiff of the fish, she could not help but feel sick to her stomach again. Suddenly, someone stretched out his hand beside her, offering her a napkin. Wendy did not take it.
She looked up. It was Christian.
He had expressed his desire to have lunch with her earlier. Wendy told him that she had plans with Zen and left on her own. She did not expect Christian to show up here. This was a cafeteria, though. There was nothing wrong with him coming by.
When Zen saw Christian, she grew nervous that he would find out about Wendy’s condition. On her friend’s behalf, she quickly explained, "Mr. Lucas, I think Wendy developed some stomach problems from skipping her meals all the time in the past."
"Is that so?" Christian did not reveal his knowledge of Wendy’s pregnancy. Instead, he sat down before them.
Christian glanced at Zen, and with a smile on his face, said, "Why don’t you just get rid of the fish? Otherwise, you can also choose to eat at the adjacent table instead."
Zen was taken aback. She felt slightly dazed.
Wendy was retching more than she could control at this point. Covering her mouth, she got up and went to the washroom. Zen remained where she was awkward. Her face was flushed as she looked at Christian.
"Er... I’ll go check on Wendy," said Zen, and with that, she immediately got up and chased after her friend.
Wendy ran into the cubicle and retched several times into the toilet bowl. Even though she did not puke anything out, she felt miserable. Zen patted Wendy’s back. Her heart ached at the sight of Wendy suffering, and she said, "Wendy, have you told Michael about this?"
Wendy took a deep breath. She was now finally starting to feel better. With a shake of her head, she replied, "No, I didn’t tell him yet."
"Wendy, you hadn’t told Michael about this before because he didn’t use to care about you. But I feel that he’s starting to care more about you these days. Didn’t he take your side just a few days ago? He didn’t even defend Yvonne," said Zen. Even though she did not interact much with Michael, she could tell that there was a change in his attitude toward Wendy.
Wendy just shook her head. "Please stop trying to change my mind about this, I know what I’m doing."
After all, there were too many things that Zen did not know about. Things were not as simple as they seemed between her, Michael, and Christian.
Zen sighed. There was nothing more she could say. Suddenly reminded of Christian’s words from earlier, she asked, "Don’t tell me that the vice-president knows that you’re..."
She did not finish her sentence, but Wendy understood what she was trying to say. She nodded.
Zen suddenly felt that things were more complicated than she had believed. She thought, Wendy is pregnant with Michael’s child. Michael himself doesn’t know about this.
...
"These earrings look really good on you! I’m glad that I went out of my way to buy the latest design from this brand for you. Do you like them?"
"I do, of course I do. I’ve been eyeing these earrings for a long time now, but always found them too expensive. As you know, I’m just a normal employee within the HR department, so I could not bring myself to buy them. I did not expect us to have such similar taste, Miss Taylor."
"You always put so much effort into your work. I will talk to Michael in the future and have him boost your benefits. I can tell that you are one of the few people in this company who genuinely treats me as a friend. Ever since what happened that day, I know that many people have been talking about me behind my back."
Yvonne held Quinnly’s hand. Quinnly was the manager of the HR department. She sighed, and in a mock-sincere tone, said, "I hope you still believe in me, Quinnly."
"Of course, I do," Quinnly comforted Yvonne.
"Miss Taylor, you’re such a nice person, of course, I believe in you. Those other people are just too much. Doesn’t everyone know what kind of person Wendy Stewart is? I can’t believe they’re talking about you behind your back just because of that. Technically, you are the president’s girlfriend. Even if you hit Wendy Stewart, it was only because she had impure intentions and wanted to seduce Mr. Lucas. I really don’t know why the vice-president is so fond of her, either. The president saw through her innocent act and fired her, but the vice-president decided to bring her back. You’ve been very kind. If it were me, I would have wanted to burn her face with acid."
Yvonne felt very satisfied listening to Quinnly. However, she still put up an indignant front, saying, "I admit that I lost control of my emotions that day, but I was just too furious."
Yvonne was deliberate with her words so Quinnly would ask her follow-up questions.
"What exactly happened? Everyone’s just talking about how you struck Wendy, but nobody knows what exactly happened."
"Ah. It’s because I caught Wendy trying to seduce Michael. When I arrived at the company and saw her coming out from Michael’s office, I could not help myself. After all, I’ve been in love with Michael for so many years, but Wendy has never given up trying to seduce him. I was just too angry this time."
"I understand. I knew from the start that you’ve been misunderstood," said Quinnly as she patted the back of Yvonne’s hand. "I know it’s hard for you to step forward and explain yourself. Don’t worry, I’ll clear the air on your behalf."
This was exactly what Yvonne wanted to hear.
And this was all Zen had heard, but it was enough to make her furious. She had wanted to rush out several times to help speak on Wendy’s behalf, but Wendy kept holding her back. In the end, Zen found herself unable to continue to bear it.
"What nonsense are you spouting?" Zen’s face was filled with fury as she pointed at Yvonne’s nose. "Who is the real third party here, don’t you know it very well?"
Yvonne stared at Zen with hatred in her eyes. If they were not alone, she would have given Zen a slap. After all, there was no security camera in the washroom.
"Zen!" Wendy was afraid that Zen might reveal her relationship with Michael. She quickly stepped out of the cubicle to pull her friend back, saying, "Let’s go back to the cafeteria. "
"Wendy, you heard what they said, too. This shameless woman is still twisting the truth," said Zen, still trying to speak up for Wendy.
"This is not the first time she’s doing something like that, we just happened to hear it this time. Who knows how many more times it happened behind our backs?"
Wendy knew very well that all the scandals about her circulating within the company originated from Yvonne. Privately, Yvonne had said similar things countless times.
