A Love Trap
Chapter 313 Leave The Rumor Be

Ashley's eyes were fixed on Kelly. "What do you think, Miss Mo?"

Seeing Ashley's pale face and her inability to articulate earlier, Kelly didn't think highly of her. She doubted Amaia's taste in friends.

However, what Ashley said later really impressed her.

Kelly looked at her for a while. Ashley was about to give up when she suddenly said, "Okay, I will believe you just this once. I hope you don't let me down."

Ashley replied, "Thank you Miss Mo! You will not regret this!"

"All right, you may go."

With Kelly's permission, Ashley nodded and walked out.

As Kelly watched her go, she remembered that Ashley was brought into the business by Johnny. He had said that Ashley had a friend in a high position in the company. He told Kelly to take special care of her.

Kelly disliked people who took shortcuts in life. And everyone knew this about her. She was already irked about hiring Ashley under such conditions. There was no way that Kelly was going out of her way to help Ashley out.

If Kelly was being honest, she liked Ashley's attitude. Even though Ashley had taken a shortcut, unlike Sylvia, she worked diligently.

Kelly hoped Johnny didn't lie about Ashley's background. Or, she would fire her no matter what.

The second Ashley walked back to her desk, Amaia came over. Grabbing Ashley's hand, she asked, "So, what happened? Are you going to be okay, Ash?"

Ashley replied, "I am fine!"

Amaia nodded. "I knew you would be. Kelly is a good boss and we have a pretty good relationship with her. She would not fire you just like that!"

Ashley smiled back at her and nodded.

Sylvia heard their conversation. She clenched her fist and bit her lip in frustration.

She couldn't understand how Ashley could be okay. After everything that happened, Sylvia couldn't come up with an explanation why Kelly hadn't fired Ashley yet.

Of what she knew about Kelly, her boss would have fired her immediately.

Sylvia suspected that someone in the company was protecting Ashley. However, she had no clue that that person would be in such a high position that even Kelly was afraid to challenge him or her.

"Ash...Ashley, I believe you too! I know you are not that kind of a girl. Don't worry about what they say," said a male co-worker.

When Ashley was about to get back to her work, another cute male co-worker who had a desk next to hers started a conversation with her.

Ashley recalled that he had doubted her abilities when she had just joined this department. However, his views seemed to have changed.

His name was Evan Li. He wore glasses and was about six feet tall. He was quite handsome.

Ashley was surprised to hear this comment from him. She took a moment to recover from the shock before replying, "Thank you!"

"You...you are welcome," he said shyly. It seemed that Ashley's appreciation embarrassed him. His face turned a tinge of red instantly. After muttering something awkwardly, he turned away.

Amaia looked at Evan Li first and then at Ashley. She stifled a giggle.

The Luo Group couldn't compete with such a big corporation. The Lu Group definitely had better office management. Even though everyone had heard what happened to Ashley, nobody dared to discuss it in public.

Outside the CEO's office, Johnny knocked on the door and waited. A stern voice came from inside, and he walked in.

Andrew was seated on his chair, looking at some papers. He was too absorbed to look at his assistant.

Johnny wondered if Andrew would be able to keep his cool when he heard the rumor about Ashley.

"Mr. Lu, I have news for you. It's about Miss Mu," Johnny started tentatively.

Andrew was not happy about the interruption. He was about to reprimand Johnny, but he stopped when he heard Ashley's name.

Johnny sneered inside, 'I already saw the impatience in your eyes. Don't think I don't know what you were about to say.'

"Is she okay? What happened to her?" Andrew asked.

Johnny responded, "I didn't know how Lena and her family did it but everyone in the company knows what happened that day. There is a rumor going on in the company that Miss Mu caused her sister's miscarriage because she was into her sister's boyfriend. This rumor is not good for Miss Mu's reputation or the Lu Group's, for that matter."

Johnny took a deep breath and continued, "Mr. Lu, should we squash it?"

Johnny looked at Andrew with uncertainty as his boss was still reading the paper.

Andrew finally raised his head to look at Johnny and asked, "Does Raymond look better than me?"

Johnny was a bit confused with this question. However, he replied, "I don't think so." He thought, 'Mr. Lu, you are the most handsome man in J City. Even a man could fall for you. I don't think there ever was a doubt about that.

Why are you asking this? Come on! That has nothing to do with Miss Mu. Could we please talk about Miss Mu instead?'

Andrew threw another question at him, "Is he richer than me?"

Johnny was baffled but replied obediently, "No, he isn't." Johnny didn't know why he even asked such a question. Andrew was the CEO of the Lu Group. He was the next successor of the Lu family. No one had more money than him. "OK. Since he is not better than me in any way, why did Ashley like him?"

Andrew mumbled.

Johnny didn't know what to say to him. But he finally understood why Andrew was asking all these weird questions.

He coughed to draw his boss's attention. "Mr. Lu, should we stop the rumor? Right now, the situation is not very good for Miss Mu."

In the past, Andrew would have taken immediate action to solve the problem for Ashley. However, Johnny was not so sure now.

He didn't know what happened.

Andrew replied, "Leave it be."

Johnny was shocked to hear this from Andrew. He couldn't believe his boss had just instructed him to leave the rumor be.

His eyes widened. He was gaping at Andrew in disbelief.

Andrew glanced at him and asked, "Anything else? Do you have anything else to report?"

Johnny replied, "No, sir."

Then, he walked out of the office. Johnny still didn't know why he was acting so strange. He didn't understand why Andrew suddenly changed his attitude towards Ashley.

In the hospital, Lena had also heard about the rumor. She was furious. If she could, she would rip the rumor-monger to pieces.

Her goal was to become Andrew's wife. She didn't want the public to know about her past. Being with Raymond and having his baby was the last thing Lena wanted others to know.

In a fit of rage, she broke everything she could in the room. However, her anger didn't subside.

She had a very beautiful albeit unrealistic dream. On one hand, she wanted to sue Ashley and destroy her life. And on the other hand, she wanted hide from everyone, the fact that she had lost her virginity to Raymond. She was greedy. But it was nearly impossible to have it all.

Lena's dream was too good to be true.

Raymond walked in and saw the mess in the room. He looked over at Lena, who was lying in the bed with a blank expression.

After her miscarriage, Cora had asked Raymond to take care of her in the hospital and he readily agreed.

He felt that it was his fault for not being able to take care of Lena and their baby.

He put down the plate of food in his hand and walked to her. He asked in a soft voice, "Lena, what's going on? Are you feeling okay? Are you in pain? I will go get the doctor for you."☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐