Within ten minutes, the picture set off a frenzy once again.
"Wow! This Lucia is really something! She has a different man around her every day."
"Yes! This girl seems to be keeping a low profile! I never thought…"
"I thought she was crazy about Mr.Adams.
Why did she change her target?"
All sorts of gossip came pouring in the WeChat group and it wouldn’t go away for a while.
Lucia and Baron were on their way to the restaurant when their phones kept ringing almost
simultaneously.
Lucia took out her phone and saw various group messages.
She clicked on them and saw without surprise that they were all about her and Baron.
Baron, who was next to her, looked at his phone and quickly realized what was going on.
He frowned and said softly, "Lucia, don’t listen to them.
People in the company just love gossip!"
At his words, Lucia curled her lips into a smile.
"It’s okay, I don’t care."
What she cared about was whether August would be implicated because of her.
Now that she was in the middle of all the gossip with another màn, the rumors about her and August
would slowly fade away.
It was a good thing from another point of view.
Next to her, Baron was relieved to see that she looked calm and unruffled.
Soon, they arrived at the restaurant.
Baron had booked a table in a niche Western restaurant.
It had floor-to-ceiling glass windows, little flashing light bulbs, and little bouquets of flowers on the
tables, making it a nice atmosphere, perfect for dates.
Lucia sat down and looked around.
She found that most of the customers around them were couples and felt extremely uncomfortable all
of a sudden.
"Look and see what you want to eat."
Lucia glanced at the menu Baron handed over.
"You can order."
Upon hearing this, Baron didn’t push her and thoughtfully ordered before handing the menu back to the
waiter.
When the waiter left, Baron poured Lucia a glass of lemonade and said softly, "Lucia, I know there have
been 1 some rumors in the company recently.
Actually, I don’t think that you need to take it to heart.
It won’t be long before no one remembers such things."
Hearing his words, Lucia smiled at him.
"I know.
Thank you for comforting me."
She had met Baron when they played games as a team at the company sports day, and she could see
that Baron was a nice man, sunny and kind.
Now he was comforting her sincerely, Baron nodded.
"That’s good.
Anyway, if you get into any trouble, you can ask me for help."
"Yeah, I will."
The two of them chatted for a short time before the food was all served.
Lucia kept her head down and ate without saying much.
Suddenly, Baron said, "Lucia, I’m curious.
What type of man do you like?"
Lucia tilted her head and thought about his question before she almost said subconsciously, "Someone
nice to me, and independent, knowing his own mind."
A smile spread across Baron’s face as he listened, nodding his head in agreement.
"Pretty good."
With that, he looked at Lucia and asked softly, "Do you want to know what type of girl I like? Lucia, who
was drinking her water, paused and asked casually, following his words, "What type?"
"Cute and kind."
With that.
Baron slowly put down the fork in his hand and stared unblinkingly at Lucia across the table.
"Actually, the one I like is…"
Lucia raised her eyes and met Baron’s.
She suddenly tensed up.
She could almost guess what he was going to say next, and it was the very thing she feared and
dreaded the most.
She had never been interested in Baron since the beginning, and now she would have to reject him if
he confessed his feelings.
Baron was nervous too.
He swallowed and tried to reorganize his words.
"Lucia, I think you can see that I like…"
"Buzz."
Just then, her phone on the table vibrated, interrupting what Baron was about to say.
Lucia sighed in secret relief and said quickly.
"Excuse me."
2 With that, she picked up the phone and when she looked down, she was dumbfounded, seeing the
name of August flashing on the screen.
It was August! Why was he suddenly calling her at this moment? Lucia, who had been relieved just
now, felt terribly nervous again all of a sudden.
She took a deep breath, pretended to be calm and answered it.
"Hello?"
The man’s deep voice came through.
"How are you doing these days?"
It was the first time he had ever called her since he left.
Lucia had mixed feelings, but she said in a seemingly calm voice, "Pretty good."
There was a brief silence at the other end for two seconds, followed by the man’s voice coming again.
"Well, I’ll be back in a few days.
Wait for me."
His words were like something invisible and magical.
For some reason, Lucia’s heart beat faster.
She hmmed, said nothing more, and hung up the phone in a hurry.
When she looked up, she saw Baron staring at her across the table in confusion.
"Lucia, what’s wrong?"
"No-nothing."
Lucia looked at him and felt a pang of guilt at the bottom of her heart.
She was even more distraught at the thought of what Baron had been trying to say earlier.
"I need to use the restroom.
You can eat without me."
With that, she got up and walked quickly to the restroom.
Meanwhile, August, who was sitting on the couch, glanced at his phone and subconsciously frowned.
It was the first time anyone had dared to hang up on him.
The interface of the call disappeared to reveal what he had been looking at earlier.
It was a picture of Lucia and Baron walking side by side.
Lucia ran to the restroom with her heart pounding.
She couldn’t go on with the dinner, let alone face Baron’s confession, because the only reason she was
willing to have dinner with him was to use him as a shield.
A deep sense of guilt came over her and she bit her lip, knowing that she could no longer face Baron or
continue to use him.
She came out of the restroom and left from the back door of the restaurant.
Outside the restaurant, Lucia hailed a taxi and told the driver the address of the villa.
Only then did she feel a little better slowly.
She picked up her phone and sent a text message to Baron apologizing, but she just apologized
without explaining exactly why.
3 Soon after that, Baron texted back.
"It’s okay.
Just go home and we’ll get together again sometime."
When she saw the message, Lucia breathed a sigh of relief.
In retrospect, she shouldn’t have taken advantage of Baron in the first place, but she’d come to her
senses and saved the day before things got worse.
The reality, however, was much worse than she had imagined.
The next day, Lucia went to work as usual, but as soon as she arrived at the department, a colleague
mocked and sarcastically said to her, "Lucia, they say you went out on a date with Baron from the
finance department yesterday?"
Listening to her colleague’s sarcastic tone, Lucia pretended she didn’t hear anything and kept
photocopying documents.
Another colleague next to her giggled and teased.
"What a date! I heard that Lucia simply left Baron there alone without finishing the dinner!"
’Hearing this, Lucia paused abruptly as she organized the papers, a surge of anger welling up inside
her.
How did they know? Did Baron tell someone about what had happened last night?Within ten minutes,
the picture set off a frenzy once again.
"Wow! This Lucia is really something! She has a different man around her every day."
"Yes! This girl seems to be keeping a low profile! I never thought…"
"I thought she was crazy about Mr.Adams.
Why did she change her target?"
All sorts of gossip came pouring in the WeChat group and it wouldn’t go away for a while.
Lucia and Baron were on their way to the restaurant when their phones kept ringing almost
simultaneously.
Lucia took out her phone and saw various group messages.
She clicked on them and saw without surprise that they were all about her and Baron.
Baron, who was next to her, looked at his phone and quickly realized what was going on.
He frowned and said softly, "Lucia, don’t listen to them.
People in the company just love gossip!"
At his words, Lucia curled her lips into a smile.
"It’s okay, I don’t care."
What she cared about was whether August would be implicated because of her.
Now that she was in the middle of all the gossip with another màn, the rumors about her and August
would slowly fade away.
It was a good thing from another point of view.
Next to her, Baron was relieved to see that she looked calm and unruffled.
Soon, they arrived at the restaurant.
Baron had booked a table in a niche Western restaurant.
It had floor-to-ceiling glass windows, little flashing 4 light bulbs, and little bouquets of flowers on the
tables, making it a nice atmosphere, perfect for dates.
Lucia sat down and looked around.
She found that most of the customers around them were couples and felt extremely uncomfortable all
of a sudden.
"Look and see what you want to eat."
Lucia glanced at the menu Baron handed over.
"You can order."
Upon hearing this, Baron didn’t push her and thoughtfully ordered before handing the menu back to the
waiter.
When the waiter left, Baron poured Lucia a glass of lemonade and said softly, "Lucia, I know there have
been some rumors in the company recently.
Actually, I don’t think that you need to take it to heart.
It won’t be long before no one remembers such things."
Hearing his words, Lucia smiled at him.
"I know.
Thank you for comforting me."
She had met Baron when they played games as a team at the company sports day, and she could see
that Baron was a nice man, sunny and kind.
Now he was comforting her sincerely, Baron nodded.
"That’s good.
Anyway, if you get into any trouble, you can ask me for help."
"Yeah, I will."
The two of them chatted for a short time before the food was all served.
Lucia kept her head down and ate without saying much.
Suddenly, Baron said, "Lucia, I’m curious.
What type of man do you like?"
Lucia tilted her head and thought about his question before she almost said subconsciously, "Someone
nice to me, and independent, knowing his own mind."
A smile spread across Baron’s face as he listened, nodding his head in agreement.
"Pretty good."
With that, he looked at Lucia and asked softly, "Do you want to know what type of girl I like? Lucia, who
was drinking her water, paused and asked casually, following his words, "What type?"
"Cute and kind."
Baron slowly put down the fork in his hand and stared unblinkingly at Lucia across the table.
5 "Actually, the one I like is…"
Lucia raised her eyes and met Baron’s.
She suddenly tensed up.
She could almost guess what he was going to say next, and it was the very thing she feared and
dreaded the most.
She had never been interested in Baron since the beginning, and now she would have to reject him if
he confessed his feelings.
Baron was nervous too.
He swallowed and tried to reorganize his words.
"Lucia, I think you can see that I like…"
"Buzz."
Just then, her phone on the table vibrated, interrupting what Baron was about to say.
Lucia sighed in secret relief and said quickly.
"Excuse me."
With that, she picked up the phone and when she looked down, she was dumbfounded, seeing the
name of August flashing on the screen.
It was August! Why was he suddenly calling her at this moment? Lucia, who had been relieved just
now, felt terribly nervous again all of a sudden.
She took a deep breath, pretended to be calm and answered it.
"Hello?"
The man’s deep voice came through.
"How are you doing these days?"
It was the first time he had ever called her since he left.
Lucia had mixed feelings, but she said in a seemingly calm voice, "Pretty good."
There was a brief silence at the other end for two seconds, followed by the man’s voice coming again.
"Well, I’ll be back in a few days.
Wait for me."
His words were like something invisible and magical.
For some reason, Lucia’s heart beat faster.
She hmmed, said nothing more, and hung up the phone in a hurry.
When she looked up, she saw Baron staring at her across the table in confusion.
"Lucia, what’s wrong?"
"No-nothing."
Lucia looked at him and felt a pang of guilt at the bottom of her heart.
She was even more distraught at the thought of what Baron had been trying to say earlier.
"I need to use the restroom.
You can eat without me."
With that, she got up and walked quickly to the restroom.
Meanwhile, August, who was sitting on the couch, glanced at his phone and subconsciously frowned.
It was the first time anyone had dared to hang up on him.
The interface of the call disappeared to reveal what he had been looking at earlier.
It was a picture of Lucia and Baron walking side by side.
Lucia ran to the restroom with her heart pounding.
6 She couldn’t go on with the dinner, let alone face Baron’s confession, because the only reason she
was willing to have dinner with him was to use him as a shield.
A deep sense of guilt came over her and she bit her lip, knowing that she could no longer face Baron or
continue to use him.
She came out of the restroom and left from the back door of the restaurant.
Outside the restaurant, Lucia hailed a taxi and told the driver the address of the villa.
Only then did she feel a little better slowly.
She picked up her phone and sent a text message to Baron apologizing, but she just apologized
without explaining exactly why.
Soon after that, Baron texted back.
"It’s okay.
Just go home and we’ll get together again sometime."
When she saw the message, Lucia breathed a sigh of relief.
In retrospect, she shouldn’t have taken advantage of Baron in the first place, but she’d come to her
senses and saved the day before things got worse.
The reality, however, was much worse than she had imagined.
The next day, Lucia went to work as usual, but as soon as she arrived at the department, a colleague
mocked and sarcastically said to her, "Lucia, they say you went out on a date with Baron from the
finance department yesterday?"
Listening to her colleague’s sarcastic tone, Lucia pretended she didn’t hear anything and kept
photocopying documents.
Another colleague next to her giggled and teased.
"What a date! I heard that Lucia simply left Baron there alone without finishing the dinner!"
’Hearing this, Lucia paused abruptly as she organized the papers, a surge of anger welling up inside
her.
How did they know? Did Baron tell someone about what had happened last night?
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