Chapter 161 An Unexpected Rise to Fame
The conference room slowly emptied as people trickled out.
"Mr. Solomon is clearly playing favorites with Lilian!" hissed a few who had voiced their concerns earlier.
"Not necessarily." said Henry, who had been mostly silent, smiling at several people nearby.
"Henry, you've been with Mr. Solomon for over seven years. Do you have a different opinion about what just happened?"
Henry replied with a chuckle, "Mr. Solomon is inscrutable; even I can't guess his intentions. But, do any of you really think Miss Robbins can compete with Chelsea?"
The group exchanged glances uncertainly.
Not waiting for a response, Henry grabbed his things and left.
Miss Chelsea's style was decisive and efficient, swift like a cutting blade.
Many seasoned veterans on Wall Street couldn't best her, and Lilian... He could admit that she had skills, but Chelsea was out of her league. Even compared to the former Secretary Woods, she fell short.
She was all about opportunism.
Had it not been for Mr. Solomon's name serving as her amulet, many wouldn't give her the time of day.
Gazing out the window at the splendid spring day, Henry reflected on how quickly five years had passed.
He and his former office colleagues had prayed many times for Secretary Woods, hoping she was at peace in heaven.
Thinking of this, Henry's eyes welled up with emotion.
Suddenly, his phone buzzed.
Expecting a work notification, he checked his phone only to find that the previously quiet group chat of his old office mates had come back to life.
Feeling puzzled, Henry saw that his former co-workers had moved on. Some had resigned to become full-time homemakers, others had switched to different banks, and some had transferred within Solomon itself.
In short, they weren't in the office anymore.
Henry himself had been promoted to Vice President, overseeing all of Solomon's aftermarket services.
He clicked on the group message, half-expecting it to be about someone's child needing a vote for something.
But instead, there was an image and some text.
"Can someone take a look at this? Doesn't this look like Secretary Woods?"
Below was a blurry image that appeared to be a screenshot from a video.
Henry opened the image.
Even through the slight blur, the familiar profile bore a striking resemblance to Secretary Woods as he remembered her.
"Where did this picture come from?" Henry typed quickly.
The instant reply in the group chat read, "Do you office folks not go online? This video has been trending on the internet for the past couple of days! The only reason it's so hot is that Mr. Solomon and Secretary Woods' keen-eyed fans recognized a lady who briefly appeared in the video, bearing a strong resemblance to Secretary Woods!"
But let's backtrack.
The day Fiona and her group went to the science museum, she had stepped aside to take a phone call.
At that time, a parenting blogger was visiting the science museum for the first time with their child and was recording a vlog. After filming, they shared the edited vlog across various platforms.
Perhaps it was the cherry blossoms outside, blazing like wildfire, their beauty too captivating to ignore.
While casually recording, the blogger inadvertently captured Fiona on camera.
After the video was posted online, it didn't take long for viewers to notice the incredibly stunning passerby featured in it. Someone in the comments section even isolated and shared a screenshot of her. The blogger, not realizing they had filmed such an attractive individual, responded to the comment, effectively pinning it to the top.
As more and more people saw the video, the discussion grew. At first, the conversations focused solely on the girl's beauty because, as we know, the internet has a short memory. What happened five months ago is often forgotten, and the same goes for someone who passed away five years earlier.
But gradually, people began to recognize Fiona. Screenshots were shared, and before long, discussions about Fiona resurfaced, along with an informative recap of the past events, including tales of a domineering CEO who would give up a fortune for a stand-in lover and images of Fiona's beauty, as well as her interactions with Darwin.
People are naturally drawn to beauty and engaging stories. And the romance between a wealthy CEO and an ordinary woman was just such a tale. As a result, the buzz around the video grew.
However, it was a mommy blogger who really sent the video's popularity soaring by uploading a segment declaring the couple's story as a tragic one. She added her own comment, "Finding out Miss Woods was a victim of a plane crash five years ago breaks my heart. I'm about to cry my eyes out!"
Within three to four hours, the video had surpassed a million likes. The comments were all along the lines of:
"If I am guilty of anything, let the law punish me, not make me a supporter of this couple!"
"My joy disappeared at 8:30 this morning..."
"Isn't anyone going to ask how the CEO is doing now?"
One reply read, "After Miss Woods' accident, he fell seriously ill and was hospitalized for more than half a year. Then recently I heard there's someone new. Just a few days ago, I read that he's getting married..."
"What!!?? Figures, a man will be a man..."
"But wait, search who he's going to marry, it will shock your entire family!"
"I just searched, even though there's not much left unblocked, but... can someone tell me if it's true that Darwin is marrying his first love, you know, the one who was Miss Woods' stand-in?"
Yet the video's popularity continued to climb, and by the next morning, likes had soared past two million.
It was at this point that Henry received the group message. The others in the chat sprang to life and joined the conversation:
"If you told me this is Secretary Woods, I'd believe it!"
"No way! Could Secretary Woods actually have a twin out there?"
"Hmm... actually, it could be believable if you say it's Lilian... Over the years, she really has come to resemble Secretary Woods quite a bit."
"That's a bob cut, Lilian has long straight black hair, doesn't she? And in terms of aura, Secretary Woods is on a whole other level than Lilian, right?"
The discussion among them was lively.
It didn't last long, though.
The mood in the group chat soon turned melancholic.
"It's been five years already, I still feel it's such a shame about Secretary Woods."
"I haven't met anyone better than her since..."
"Hey, it's been a while since we all caught up, right? How about we meet up this weekend?"
"Sounds good! The usual spot?"
"Yeah!"
With that, the group eagerly agreed on a time to meet up for the weekend.
Henry put away his phone.
He hesitated, wondering whether to go up to the president's office and talk to Mr. Solomon.
But... what then?
Mr. Solomon would surely go find this lady, wouldn't he?
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