Before Merlin Bradley could finish her sentence, Vera Wave had already unfolded the newspaper in her hand. Upon seeing the large, bold font, her eyebrows shot up.

"That’s right, that’s right! The journalists are just making stuff up. Vera, you... you mustn’t believe it. How could our boss possibly do that? Everyone agrees, right?"

"Exactly, it’s impossible!"

"When did the big boss ever have a thing for Irene Spencer?"

...

Everyone around hurriedly chimed in, their eyes all fixed on Vera.

By now, Vera had taken her phone out of her bag. Seeing the contact name "Headline" on the screen, she quickly answered the call.

"Kris Cooper?"

At the mention of this name, everyone perked up their ears.

However, Vera didn’t give them a chance to gossip. Clutching the newspaper, she walked to her office, opened the door, and began speaking into the receiver as she went inside.

"I’ve seen your news!"

On the other end of the line, Kris Cooper chuckled mischievously.

"And what are your thoughts?"

As everyone strained to eavesdrop, Vera entered her office and firmly shut the door behind her. She casually tossed the newspaper onto her desk and took a seat.

She pouted. "I’m upset!"

"Shall I bring you something delicious when I get back?"

"I want Begonia Cake, Takahashi Waffles, five-spice beans from the City God Temple, steamed soup dumplings from Nanxiang, crab shell pastries..." Vera rattled off a long list of delicacies, not even pausing for breath before adding, "Double portions of everything!"

"Okay." The man’s laughter came through, then his voice turned serious. "You’re not really mad, are you?"

A small smile touched her lips, though her tone feigned slight annoyance. "Consider yourself lucky. Otherwise, you’ll be in for it when you get back!"

"Crepe?" he teased over the phone.

Vera giggled. "Have you eaten breakfast yet?"

"I wouldn’t dare eat before reporting to my wife."

"Then go eat. I have to get to work."

"You didn’t throw up this morning, did you?"

"No, don’t worry, I’m feeling great."

"The journalists will probably be looking for you soon. Tell the driver to pick you up directly from the parking lot to save you the hassle."

"You focus on your work; I’ll handle things here."

Vera hung up nonchalantly, placed the phone on her desk, straightened her posture, and eyed the picture of Irene Spencer in the newspaper. She casually picked up the newspaper, intending to toss it into the trash can, but then reconsidered. She took out a pair of scissors, cut Kris Cooper’s photo from the paper, admired it for a moment, and then casually discarded the rest into the trash can.

She turned on her computer. While waiting for it to boot up, she took out her phone, opened Facebook, and quickly began typing.

"@Kris Cooper, hubby, you look rather handsome in that photo."

Then, she snapped a picture of the cut-out news photo of Kris Cooper and posted it along with her message.

Once the post was up, she put her phone back on the desk and cast a sideways glance at "Irene Spencer" in the trash can.

Seriously, if you’re going to stoop so low, at least use your brain. Do you really think everyone’s as dumb as you?

Vera knew Kris Cooper well. That man might be a flirtatious talker, but his heart had always been clean. If he were truly interested in Irene Spencer, they would have slept together countless times over the years. Besides, just last night, they had video-chatted for a long time, only ending the call around eleven o’clock because Vera couldn’t keep her eyes open any longer. The news report even said Irene Spencer returned to her hotel at half-past ten. She was chatting with Kris Cooper at that exact time. Unless he could be in two places at once, there was no way he could have been in bed with another woman while video-chatting with her.