Chapter 461 Too Conspicuous
The employees of the Percy Group had a private group chat separate from their work chat, where colleagues from key departments occasionally discussed company benefits.
Since Nolan was in the group, it usually stayed quiet.
But today, after an employee accidentally posted a few photos, the group chat buzzed with activity, as if they had forgotten Nolan was there.
The photos, taken just minutes earlier, showed a handsome man and a beautiful woman holding hands, with a timestamp in the corner.
Employee 1: [Oh my God, am I seeing this right? Is that Mr. Percy? Who's the woman next to him?]
Employee 2: [She looks familiar, but I don't think I should say.]
Employee 3: [I think I know what you mean.]
...
Claire scrolled through her phone rapidly, her eyes nearly popping out. If she didn't know both people in the photo, she would have thought it was a magazine cover.
It was Diana.
There was no way she could be mistaken. If Stella and Diana looked somewhat alike, the woman in the photo was a spitting image of the deceased Diana.
Claire quickly remembered the woman who had visited the company a few days ago.
She opened her photo album and compared the two pictures.
Although the previous photo didn't show the woman's face, their body shapes and walking postures were identical.
Taking a deep breath, Claire put her phone away.
Next to her, Abigail was also shocked and asked Nolan, who responded with a meaningful look, prompting her to stay silent.
Nolan had been considering whether to stop the group chat, but then he thought if Charles wanted to keep Diana hidden, he wouldn't have taken that route.
Clearly, Charles wanted to be seen.
With that in mind, Nolan cleared his throat and reminded everyone, "Get back to work. Mr. Percy is coming up. Don't ask too many questions later."
He then returned to his desk to organize the documents he needed to deliver.
Abigail, though curious, glanced at the time and decided to continue working. Claire, however, kept her eyes fixed on the elevator.
She had a suspicion, but she needed to see it with her own eyes to confirm it.
The electronic clock on her desk ticked loudly, adding to the tension.
As Charles' voice echoed from around the corner, Claire instinctively gripped the clock, her heart pounding.
"If you're bored, you can go see your friends."
Charles walked forward, holding Diana's hand without looking around.
Diana wrinkled her nose. Since getting out of the car, Charles had been holding her hand, and they had conspicuously walked past the front desk and taken the public elevator.
Ten minutes ago, Diana had watched as a group of office workers, upon seeing Charles, automatically made way for them in the elevator.
It was too conspicuous.
Even Diana, usually shameless, felt embarrassed and wanted to cover her face.
If Charles hadn't been holding her hand, she would have hidden.
"I get it. Can you walk faster? Why not use the private elevator instead of taking this long route?"
Diana whispered, walking quickly with her head down.
From others' perspectives, it looked like she was the one pulling Charles along.
They passed by Nolan and the others without a glance and quickly entered the CEO's office.
As the door closed, Abigail was the first to speak.
"Nolan, what's going on? The woman next to Mr. Percy..."
Realizing her voice was too loud, she quickly covered her mouth and whispered, "Is she a ghost or what?"
Even after five years, Abigail hadn't forgotten Diana's face. The woman just now wasn't just similar; she was identical.
Nolan, who had been pretending not to notice, finally looked up at Abigail's question.
He pursed his lips and, after a moment of thought, decided to play dumb. "Mr. Percy will explain everything. You'll know then. Just focus on your work."
Abigail's curiosity was piqued, and she couldn't concentrate on work. She went over to Nolan's desk, pleading for answers.
Meanwhile, Claire quietly left her desk.
In the hallway, Claire anxiously pulled out her phone.
Her hands were shaking so much that the touchscreen was barely responsive.
Finally, she found the contact and pressed the call button.
The phone rang for a long time before it was answered.
Before the other person could speak, Claire urgently asked, "Is Diana still alive?"
A mocking laugh came from the other end, followed by a woman's disdainful voice, "You figured it out, huh?"
"You knew all along? Why didn't you tell me?"
Realizing the other person wasn't surprised, Claire felt a surge of anger.
She had shown Elise the photo last time; Elise must have known then. Why didn't she warn her?
Elise, knowing Claire would eventually come to her, felt amused by her frantic tone.
She smirked and retorted, "Did you really need me to spell it out? I thought you were all-knowing."
Their last conversation had ended badly, so Elise had no reason to be friendly.
Claire knew Elise was still upset, but she couldn't bring herself to apologize.
Instead, she stiffly said, "Aunt Elise, our interests align now. Otherwise, you wouldn't have taken my call. So let's not argue."
Elise's interest was piqued, but she didn't show it. She casually replied, "We'll handle it as we did before. That woman is incredibly lucky to have survived so many times."
Elise's voice grew bitter.
Claire echoed her sentiment, "She really is hard to get rid of, even in death."
"Did you just see her today?"
Elise's sudden question caught Claire off guard. She nodded, "I couldn't find her before. Charles brought her to the company today."
"The company? Is she working there?"
"Probably not. She was just brought in today."
Claire didn't understand why Elise was asking, but she answered truthfully.
"Have you seen the child?"
Elise smiled, tracing circles on her desk with her fingers.
"Child? What child?"
Claire felt a sense of crisis. She didn't know the child's identity from that day.
"You don't know?" Elise laughed, mocking her ignorance.
Claire, frustrated and anxious, paced back and forth, switching the phone to her other hand. "Tell me! Who is that child?"
Elise ignored her rudeness and directly said, "That child is likely the supposedly dead illegitimate son."
"Impossible! That's not possible!"
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