Chapter 188 Can the dead compete with the living?
The people quickly shut up.
Miss Ford glanced at them.
She was previously in sales and did very well.
When Tony Potter transferred to the energy company, she, too, was promoted to the position of Vice President of Sales last year due to her outstanding performance.
Her relationship with Fiona hadn't been particularly friendly at the beginning, but years had passed.
She had always admired Fiona's abilities and regretted that she died young in a plane crash.
Over the years, watching Lilian step over what Fiona left behind to become Solomon's Vice President and maintaining an ambiguous relationship with Darwin made Miss Ford very upset.
She prided herself on being a good judge of character.
Lilian appeared congenial, but Miss Ford saw through her ruse, she would stoop to anything to close a deal, even poaching resources from her colleagues.
Miss Ford was certain that this woman was not a good person! She couldn't hold a candle to Fiona.
"That child must be around four or five years old. After Secretary Woods passed away, Mr. Solomon was seriously ill for more than half a year, right? It couldn't have been possible to conceive a child during that time, so it must have been before the death of Secretary Woods." Miss Ford sneered condescendingly, "It's common knowledge that Mr. Solomon publicly acknowledged the identity of Secretary Woods as his fiancée. If Lilian got pregnant with Mr. Solomon's child at that time, what else could she be if not a mistress?"
"You can't say that!" came a person in defense from Lilian's camp. "Everyone knows, the reason Fiona was with Mr. Solomon in the first place was because she looked like Miss Robbins, right? Now that the legitimate partner is back, the stand-in should get lost, shouldn't she?"
"Oh. A stand-in? Has Mr. Solomon acknowledged her?" Miss Ford mocked mercilessly, "Do you all remember how much Mr. Solomon relied on Secretary Woods when she was by his side? I won't even mention the flashy public announcements, but haven't you heard the story about the tie? After so many years, who has seen Mr. Solomon depending on Miss Robbins?"
"You..." Lilian supporter was flustered, her face flushing red with anger.
"A mistress is just a mistress, what's there to be proud of." Dropping this remark disdainfully, Miss Ford rolled her eyes, and with a commanding click of her high heels, she prepared to leave.
"Since when can the dead compete with the living?" Lilian's defendant retorted with a sneer.
Miss Ford's steps came to an abrupt halt.
She turned to look at the woman, then pulled out a voice recorder from her suit pocket, and walked back to her, "Come on, say it again."
The person's face stiffened, "Why should I?"
"You're scared, aren't you?" Miss Ford challenged, "I won't deceive you. Once I record this statement, I'll immediately email it to Mr. Solomon. You think Lilian is Mr. Solomon's favorite, right? Let's see if he fires you on the spot or not."
"Just because you hold a higher position doesn't give you the right to bully people!" The person had clearly backed down.
"Is this what you call bullying?" asked Miss Ford.
"Miss Ford." At this moment, Lilian's voice came from behind.
Like finding a pillar of support, Lilian's supporter quickly ran towards her.
"Miss Robbins, Miss Ford has been slandering you..."
Miss Ford was unphased and turned to face Lilian, "This is a normal discussion, not slander."
"Miss Ford, I don't know where I have offended you. Do you really need to target me this way?" Lilian looked visibly upset as if Miss Ford's treatment was a great injustice to her.
Rolling her eyes, Miss Ford couldn't be bothered to play along with Lilian's drama, "How would I dare target the boss's future wife?"
With that, she bypassed Lilian and walked away.
"That's too much!"
"Miss Ford has always been proud of her achievements, hardly putting anyone else at the company in her eyes. But I didn't expect her to be so audacious to even treat Miss Robbins like this..."
Once Miss Ford left, those who had been silent suddenly started to whisper and gossip among themselves.
Lilian responded with a gentle smile, "I heard she lost an important client, she's probably upset. Let's let it be, we all work for Solomon, and I'm not upset about it."
"Miss Robbins, you're just too nice. If it were me, I'd be calling Mr. Solomon to complain right now!" said the colleague who had been in conflict with Miss Ford.
Lilian responded with a smile, "Mr. Solomon is too busy for me to bother him with such small matters, it wouldn't be considerate. Alright, let's break it up and get back to work, everyone."
The crowd obediently dispersed.
Lilian remained standing, glancing back at the direction in which Miss Ford had left, her eyes brimming with resentment.
After all these years, there were still people in the company supporting Fiona.
Calling her a mistress?
Lilian found it ironic.
Did an understudy really think she could compete with her?
In the end, she's gone... With that thought, Chelsea's face flashed through her mind again. It can't be her... That's not possible... It's just a resemblance.
Lilian went straight to the President's office.
"Miss Robbins, Mr. Solomon is out at a meeting," Cassie said beaming.
"What about Chicago?" Lilian asked, as if she were quite familiar with Chicago.
"Ah?" Cassie took a moment to react, "Ah... Mr. Solomon took Chicago with him."
Lilian had investigated the child's background to no avail. The identities of the parents and family members were not public information.
Now, the child seemed to have completely latched onto Darwin.
She refused to believe this was something a child could do on her own!
Someone must be coaching her from behind the scenes!
At that moment, another girl from the President's office appeared with a cute candy box in hand.
"What's this?" Lilian asked, puzzled.
The girl replied, "Mr. Solomon's instructions, probably worried that next time Chicago comes, there won't be anything in the office that she can eat."
Lilian's complexion turned pale.
No matter how much she tried to find excuses and reasons for Darwin's behavior, his attentiveness to the child had already surpassed his usually indifferent nature toward everything else.
Lilian forced a smile, "Do you know what she comes to see Mr. Solomon for?"
Those who worked in the President's office were generally tight-lipped.
But Chicago's visit didn't seem to be a corporate secret.
"I'm not sure what it's about, but..." Cassie pondered, "When I was helping her tie her hair, Mr. Solomon did look after a little cat for her."
"A cat?" Lilian's expression grew even more perplexed.
Darwin didn't care for small animals.
"Yes." Cassie nodded, noticing Lilian's reaction.
"She's... rather cute." Lilian managed to maintain a smile. "Since Mr. Solomon isn't here, I'll be leaving now. Thank you for your efforts."
Lilian turned and left.
Cassie and the others exchanged glances. "I have a feeling that Miss Robbins isn't happy."
Lilian didn't return to her office, instead, she went straight to the garage and got into her car, sitting for a moment.
She took a cellphone out of the glove compartment and powered it on.
After a short while, several messages popped up.
Two of them were reports on Darwin's itinerary from the past few days.
"A golden wedding anniversary banquet?" Lilian frowned slightly.
Then, she noticed parentheses following the word 'banquet'.
Inside the parentheses were the names of key guests who had been invited.
At the end was written, 'Monsoon Investment Chelsea'.
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