Gossip Girl Reborn by Darlene Nunez
Chapter 4

Chapter 4 Cover Up

Hannah hadn’t anticipated Alexander to really embarrass her on the spot, and her face turned ashen. She pursed her lips, looking aggrieved and pitiful as she cast a resentful look at Alexander, seemingly accusing him of being a heartbreaker.

Joseph was absolutely livid on behalf of his beloved. “You’re really going this far? It’s nothing less than an insult to Ms. Gates’ dignity!”

When faced with Alexander’s suddenly icy demeanor and frosty gaze, Joseph couldn’t help but lose his temper. He snapped, “If you can’t replace any evidence, you owe Ms. Gates an apology.”

Although the others didn’t voice their thoughts, their expressions clearly conveyed their discontent.

This incident had already garnered the attention of everyone in the corporation, with numerous executives gathering around.

After all, a highly skilled talent like Hannah was indeed quite important to the company.

They also thought that Alexander had lost his mind. After all, everyone within their circle knew that Alexander could do without Isabella, his wife, who was nothing but trouble and of no value. However, he absolutely couldn’t do without Hannah.

However, Isabella suspected that they only gathered around for the gossip.

It was pretty obvious judging from their curious, nosy gazes.

After all, one of the women involved was Alexander’s wife in name, and the other was Hannah, who had been working under Alexander for some time despite his known indifference toward women.

People were probably so interested in the spectacle that they were placing bets on this battle.

Isabella, who had always been a mere spectator, never expected to become the subject of attention.

Turns out I’m the joker in this story!

With a gaze filled with resentment, Isabella could only glare fiercely at Alexander, who had his back facing her.

Alexander stood tall and straight, seemingly oblivious to Isabella’s resentment, but in reality, he was annoyed by her constant nagging.

Has she always been like this?

Soon, the results of the investigation were revealed.

Without a doubt, there was absolutely no suspicion.

In a triumphant tone, Joseph asked, “Well? Alexander, are you still planning to cover up for Isabella?”

Alexander felt Isabella’s gaze boring into him.

“Mr. Alexander, now do you believe me?” Hannah pleaded, her eyes brimming with tears, as if she could burst into tears any second.

Lowering his gaze, Alexander glanced briefly at his phone before raising his eyes to meet Hannah’s.

In an instant, Hannah felt an inexplicable sense of foreboding from the cold gaze he directed at her.

Everyone initially thought the matter was settled, but they were surprised to see Alexander turn to look at the big screen behind him, not even bothering to waste his breath on Hannah.

Puzzled, they followed his gaze to the screen, only to see that a different surveillance footage had suddenly replaced the previous one.

The moment the video started playing, many identified the familiar backdrop of Joseph’s office entrance. Onscreen, Hannah was shown entering Joseph’s office.

Everyone was confused. What an unexpected twist!

Hannah’s expression was the only one that changed among everyone present. A chill ran down her spine and spread through her limbs as her pupils constricted in dread.

Pointing at the screen, Joseph snapped, “Alexander, what on earth are you up to? Why are you showing the surveillance footage of Ms. Gates delivering documents?”

Alexander paid him no mind, simply watching the video with a cold, detached gaze.

Meanwhile, the cunning Hector had mixed feelings upon seeing the time on the surveillance footage.

His face turned ashen in an instant when he saw his son exit the office and leave Hannah behind.

Before long, Hannah left, and Joseph returned cheerfully with a fruit platter in his hands, throwing a temper tantrum when he didn’t see Hannah.

Everyone was utterly perplexed when they suddenly saw a screen recording of someone operating a computer pop up on the display.

Surprisingly, the desktop wallpaper of the computer was a picture of Hannah.

The onlookers shot a look at Joseph, while Hector was almost p*ssed to death.

Joseph was livid with embarrassment, stomping his foot. “Alexander, did you send someone to mess with my computer?”

Indeed, a technician had cracked Joseph’s computer password, attempting to recover all the deleted email correspondence records.

Immediately after Joseph finished yelling, he noticed Hannah staggering, almost losing her balance.

Joseph, concerned, hadn’t noticed the problem yet, while Hector was struggling to contain his fury.

Many people present seemed to grasp a certain possibility. The air seemed to freeze, and pin-drop silence ensued. It was so quiet that one could hear almost hear each other’s heartbeats.

Until the email containing the confidential files was restored, the interface significantly zoomed in on the time it was sent.

The onlookers compared the time stamp with the one recorded in the surveillance footage.

Almost everyone could discern the truth, except for a certain someone.

Joseph stared at the screen for a moment before immediately lashing out at Alexander. “You must have lost your mind! How can you fabricate such a video to slander Ms. Gates just to cover up for Isabella?”

Before he could even finish yelling, he was silenced by a Hector, who smacked him on the back of his head.

Joseph lost his balance and fell to the ground from the impact, exclaiming, “Dad!”

“Just shut up!” After saying that, Hector quickly turned to Alexander and the other executives, explaining, “You all saw it. My son has nothing to do with this matter! He was merely used! He’s a dumb*ss!”

At this point, he had no choice but to admit that his son was an utter fool.

If he didn’t make it clear that Joseph had nothing to do with it, the latter could potentially be suspected of conspiring with Hannah. He’d never be able to clear his name if that happened.

“Ms. Gates, you’re evil! You used my son, and even framed Mrs. Quirk! What did Mr. Alexander do to deserve such betrayal from you?” Hector exclaimed, wishing he could dig up some juicy gossip to divert everyone’s attention from the matter.

Everyone’s gazes fell on Hannah.

Some were shocked, some were in disbelief, while some were furious.

The assistants in the CEO’s office, in particular, were quivering in anger, their eyes bloodshot. Not long ago, they had confidently vouched for Hannah, taking her side and accusing Isabella.

As the truth was revealed, they were so mortified they wished the ground would swallow them up.

Given Mr. Alexander’s temperament, he’d undoubtedly fire us. Ms. Gates has doomed us all!

However, they no longer dared to utter a single word and could only try their best to make themselves as inconspicuous as possible.

At this point, Hannah’s face was drained of all color, her breathing quick and shallow as she trembled.

Looking at Alexander in despair, she was still reluctant to give up. “Alexander, I didn’t—”

“Ms. Palmer is your cousin’s wife, isn’t she? You colluded with her to frame Isabella, right?” Alexander’s words were akin to the final straw that broke the camel’s back.

Everyone gasped in surprise.

“How did you… Don’t tell me you’ve known all along…” Hannah was utterly devastated.

The onlookers looked at Alexander in shock as well. After all, no one could have predicted such a twist.

Meanwhile, Isabella had been in a daze since the video was played.

Though she had seen the whole truth, she was still surprised by Alexander’s perceptiveness.

It wasn’t until Winona was mentioned that Isabella finally snapped out of her trance.

Does Alexander know Winona’s identity all along? Is that why he suspected Ms. Gates? But how did Joseph get involved?

Hector was puzzled, too, wondering how his son ended up getting involved.

Alexander cast a glance at the stunned Isabella. I can’t possibly tell them I found out from Isabella’s inner thoughts, can’t I?

He went on, “Let’s set that aside for now. Once you’re on the radar as a suspect, of course we’ll have to comb through every bit of surveillance footage with your face on it. Every electronic gadget you’ve laid hands on will be investigated, too.”

Hannah didn’t bother deleting the surveillance footage that could potentially serve as evidence. This was the flaw that Isabella pointed out.