Chapter 94 The First Person I Fell in Love With
The plane touched down smoothly. I hadn't told Edward my flight number, so I had Lila come pick me up instead.
Dragging my suitcase behind me, I walked out of the airport terminal. From a distance, I spotted Lila waving eagerly. "Diana, over here!" She walked over and grabbed my suitcase.
As soon as we met, she pulled me into a tight hug and asked, "Diana, how was 'The Ends of the Earth'? Did you enjoy your honeymoon?"
I shared my experiences at 'The Ends of the Earth' with her, but I left out the part about that night with the lawyer from Astoria.
Seeing me alone, Lila looked puzzled. "Where's Edward? Why are you back by yourself?"
A hint of embarrassment crossed my face. "Edward came back a few days earlier. I stayed a bit longer on my own."
Lila's eyes widened in disbelief. "What? How could Edward leave you there and come back first? That's just wrong!"
I shook my head. "He didn't have a choice. There have been some nasty rumors about me online lately. He came back early to deal with them. I have no idea how things are going now."
Lila gave me a sympathetic look and tried to comfort me. "Diana, I've seen some of the stuff online. I know it's all lies. Don't let it get to you. But honestly, it's better if you don't read them."
I reassured her instead. "It's okay. I already know. Theo is helping me handle it. I don't think it will affect my court sessions."
Lila gently patted my shoulder. "That's good. Come on, let me treat you to a big meal to welcome you back!"
But I had other plans. "Lila, I have some urgent matters to attend to tonight. Next time, when I'm free, I'll treat you to a big meal."
I handed over the gifts I had prepared for the colleagues to her. Seeing the pile of gifts, she couldn't help but laugh. "You're always so thoughtful, bringing so many gifts for your colleagues."
I smiled and said, "Everyone takes good care of me. This is just a small token of my appreciation. Lila, could you please take these gifts back to the law firm for me?" Lila readily agreed.
After saying goodbye to Lila, I hailed a taxi and headed straight for the Cooper Group. I had one reason for coming today: Theo. In my heart, Theo was someone I could trust. He had always respected me and helped me a lot.
Sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows onto the wooden desk in the spacious and bright CEO's office. Even though I had been traveling abroad recently, Theo kept me updated on the progress of domestic public relations every day. So even though I was in a foreign country, I was aware of what was happening back home. Of course, Theo might not know about Edward's return, so he never mentioned Edward to me.
"Here's a summary of the online rumors during this period." Theo placed a thick stack of documents on my desk.
I nodded slightly and started flipping through them. The sound of pages turning was particularly clear in the quiet office. Suddenly, an ID named "First Love" caught my eye.
"The content posted by this person is quite different from what other netizens have posted." Looking at her posts, I felt a sense of familiarity but couldn't tell if I knew her.
Standing in front of the desk, Theo sighed after hearing what I said, "Ms. Cooper, your intuition is spot on. This person is none other than Edward's sister."
"You mean Anne? Are you sure?" I looked up, surprise flickering in my eyes.
Theo nodded solemnly, his gaze steady. "Yes, we've been monitoring this IP address for a while. It's definitely her."
He paused before continuing. "But here's the interesting part. She was posting a lot for a while, then there were two days when she didn't post anything at all. After that, her posts became sporadic."
When I heard this, a bad feeling surged in my gut. I looked closely at the dates Anne posted. The two days she went silent were exactly when Edward returned. My grip tightened around the folder, and a wave of anger rose within me. Edward, so this was how you handled my matters!
Anger boiled inside me. I never expected Edward to be pulling these sneaky moves with Anne behind my back.
In front of Theo, I couldn't afford to lose my temper. I forced myself to stay calm, took a deep breath, and closed the folder. My voice trembled on the edge of fury, but I managed to keep it steady as I said, "There's nothing more for you here now. Go ahead with your work."
Theo seemed to sense something was off. His lips twitched as if he wanted to say something, but he wisely refrained. He just bowed and quietly left the CEO's office.
Left alone in the office, I could no longer suppress my anger and slammed the folder onto the desk. I sat in the chair Mia used to like and started going through the online rumors again.
Edward, what on earth were you doing? Why were you treating me like this? I kept questioning in my heart. I felt betrayed, filled with disappointment and pain. I recalled the moments with Edward, the trust and sweetness that now seemed so ironic. I sat in the chair, staring blankly out the window.
After carefully browsing through the online comments, I noticed a thought-provoking phenomenon: most people online were divided into two extremes. Most netizens didn't have any real malice towards me. They were like a bunch of emotionally driven kids, venting their anger on me because they felt sorry for Eric.
They might just be following the trend or acting out of momentary indignation. Deep down, they probably didn't really want to hurt me. However, amidst the chaotic voices, every word from Anne was like a sharp arrow aimed directly at me, full of malice and aggression, with no hint of subtlety or disguise.
Unlike the emotionally driven netizens, her purpose seemed very clear: to hurt me, to put me in a difficult position, even at the expense of the Howard family's interests. I couldn't understand why she was doing this to me. Was it just because of Edward? I was deeply confused and pained. I tried to find some clues in her words, something that could explain her behavior, but I found nothing.
Now I finally understood why the public relations department couldn't suppress these online rumors.
My fingers lightly traced the documents. "So it's you, Anne. Let's see how you want to play this game."
I looked up at the clock on the wall. At this time, Edward and Anne should not be home yet. I planned to go back to the Howard Villa to get some case materials. For now, I would stay in the small apartment Mason had prepared for me. It would be better for Edward and me to stay apart for a while.
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