“Miss Chen… Vice President Lin wants to see you.”

I donned a polite smile on my face as I glanced at the woman standing by the door. I was busy checking my resignation letter before Evan returned to work, but my mind kept drifting back to the image of Cedric in the tub last night. I couldn’t help it.

To add insult to injury, just this morning I walked in on him brushing his teeth, shirtless. Why couldn’t I stop thinking about him? I needed to focus on what I was doing here.

“The VP? Why would the VP want to see me, Mrs. Flor?” Mrs. Flor had been the VP’s secretary for years now. Since the VP had worked closely with Evan, I had become acquainted with Mrs. Flor as well.

“Hmmm. There’s been a lot of stuff lately and the President is not here. He probably wants your help.” The older woman walked inside my office and made sure to close the door before she approached my table. “The VP wants to see the best expert in the IT department without the President here… “Usually, Evan would be the one to summon me. Not the VP. Still, I could see her avoiding my gaze.

She was lying. While this would be the first time that the VP asked to see me without Evan, I could tell that she knew why. I decided not to ask any more questions. “It’s all right. Let me just print out this one document and then I’ll follow you to his office.” Since Evan was still enjoying his vacation, I wanted to take the opportunity and leave the company without seeing him.

After printing my resignation letter, I signed it and followed Mrs. Flor who was waiting for me outside of my office.

“Bella… I know this is none of my business but are you all right?”

“What do you mean?” I asked, confused. Mrs. Flor was an acquaintance, we smiled at each other, but we didn't go into asking anything outside of business. The woman was well known for being strict and stern. She was one of the older workers in the company and everyone, including me, respected her.

However, I never really thought of her as a friend.

Mrs. Flor, who was almost a foot shorter than me, lowered her voice. “I was just concerned. That’s all.”

“Concerned?” Now, this was interesting. I couldn’t help but wonder if there were rumors about me lately. “Concern about what?”

“You and the President.”

“Mr. Lin?” My suspicions grew. “What about the President and me?”

“Well… everyone knows how closely the President works with you but lately… someone posted in the company’s forum about you and the President.”

“Company Forum?” Was that the reason why I had been receiving some sharp gazes since I arrived this morning? Earlier, I kept on thinking about the bathroom scene, and I thought maybe people were staring at me because I couldn’t stop blushing.

“You should just check it after seeing the Vice President.” Mrs. Flor gave me a tight-lipped smile before she opened the glass door that would lead me to the VP’s office. “Sir, Miss Chen is here.”

“Hmmm… Miss Chen, please take a seat.”

Without lifting his head to look at me, the current Vice President of Lin Group, Mr. Andrew Lin, waved his hand and gestured for me to sit on the white L-shaped couch to his left. “Flor… give her something to drink,” he added.

“Yes, Sir.”

Seeing the VP this silent made me confused. Andrew Lin was Evan’s relative, and he was just like Evan. He was always smiling and warm, at least to me.

From what I knew, Vice President Lin wasn’t aware of my relationship with the President.

“Miss Chen… you should already know why I called you here?” After a few seconds, Mr. Lin stood and approached floor-to-ceiling glass walls behind his chair. He shoved his hand into his pockets. He had his back to me. “It’s about the rumor,” he added.

Those rumors also happened in the previous lifetime. “The rumor about your relationship with Evan.”

In my past life, I had a hunch that Evan was the one who spread the rumor to keep me in my place about marriage to him. Spreading negative rumors would surely make my co-workers who already think that I am trying to seduce the President, look down on me.

It was funny he was trying the same trick again in this lifetime. I tried not to think about the previous timeline anymore. It was almost irrelevant as everything was slowly changing before my eyes.

“I am planning to transfer you to a different office. Probably in Hong Kong.” Mr. Lin continued without sparing me another glance. “I already have the approval of the President. We wanted to stop the rumor as quickly as possible, and a transfer is the only solution. Don’t worry, you will be given an increase, transportation, and housing allowance, as well as your own team. After all, you are still a very capable IT expert.”

I hung my head. As someone who had been really close to Evan, I always knew how petty he was. If my guess was right, he was expecting me to beg him not to transfer me out of the office. What was he trying to do this time?

“What do you think, Miss Chen?”

“Vice President…” I stood next to him. “I think you are right.” I looked at the busy streets of Shanghai. “We need to end the rumors as soon as possible.”

“Hm?”

The surprise in the older man’s eyes made me wonder if Evan told him that I would probably beg? Now, this is an unexpected development.

“I said it is better to end the rumors now.” I grinned as I showed him the paper that I folded earlier.

“What is this?”

“My resignation letter.”

“What?” After reading the contents of the paper, Mr. Lin stared back at me. He must have noticed the determination in my eyes as he said, “A resignation letter… Bella… this is out of your character.”

“Vice President Lin, you’re right. But I am just trying to protect the President’s reputation. The rumors are harmful to his pristine name.”

“That— ahem— Indeed. I agree… the rumors are bad for him. But a resignation letter is too impulsive. Why don’t we discuss the transfer and…”

“Thank you for your consideration, Vice President.” I maintained the smile on my face. “But I have worked under the President for years now and I know how hardworking he has been. I can’t let it go to waste.” I didn’t hide the sarcasm in my voice.

As someone who worked closely with Evan, VP Lin saw that I was the one who did everything behind the scenes. It was all me.

I gave him a knowing look. “I already forwarded the same email to HR. Today is my last day of work.”