Throughout the meal, James kept trying to toast Hannah, his intentions obvious, but Samuel intercepted every attempt.


    Jamesined to Hannah about it several times, but she just smiled and said nothing.


    This annoyed James immensely, and when others at the table startedughing at him, he felt he was losing face.


    After lunch, James offered to drive Hannah back.


    "Mr. Woods, you''re too kind, but there''s no need. I''ll be taking her back. Why don''t you give some of the others a ride?"


    Samuel said, taking Hannah''s wrist and leading her to their car.


    "Wow, James, you''re in a great mood today, offering us a ride! Let''s go, let''s go!"


    A group of colleagues swarmed his car, giving him no chance to refuse.


    He was furious. Damn that Hannah and Samuel!


    That afternoon, in thepany breakroom.


    "Why do you think Hannahnded this project? It''s because she already slept with our boss before she got here."


    James had gathered a few people in the breakroom, whispering that he had some gossip about Hannah.


    "And today at lunch, Hannah was with us, but then she disappeared. The next thing I know, she''s getting out of the boss'' car. Who knows what they were up to?"


    James'' words stunned the people around him. They looked at him in disbelief.


    He crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow with a look of smug confidence. "Are you serious?"


    "Yeah, and her family is well-connected, isn''t it? I doubt she''d need to do something like that."


    "Are you sure you saw correctly? You can''t just spread rumors like that."


    “So what if she has connections? Hannah was only recently reunited with her family, and it''s obvious they don''t like her. If they did, they would''ve brought her back to their ownpany by now instead of letting her work for someone else They clearly resent her She''s desperate to prove herself, so she resorts to this. Besides, I know what I saw."


    His exnation made a twisted sort of sense, and the people around him slowly started to believe him.


    Suddenly, James sighed dramatically, pressing a hand to his forehead. "Hannah tried to sleep with me at first, too, but I turned her down. I''m just not that kind of person."


    "What?"


    "No way!"


    "Aren''t you just saying that because you''re bitter she rejected you? Like sour grapes?"


    While some might have believed his first story sleeping your way to the top wasn''t unheard of-the im that she had tried to sleep with him was much harder to swallow. What could she possibly gain from that?


    “She''ll crawl into bed with anyone who can offer her the slightest advantage. You shouldn''t underestimate her," he insisted.


    "After I rejected her, she went for the


    boss. She''s probably badmouthing me to him right now. I''m probably going to be in trouble soon, all because of her backstabbing. It''s not fair that people like me who, work hard get undermined by those who take shortcuts.”


    Who


    Seeing that everyone now seemed to believe him, he couldn''t help but smile.