Chapter 71: Chapter 71: Showing Off to the Rightful Owner

### Chapter 71: Bragging to the Real Deal

Lydia Thorne strode into the office area, the triumphant look still lingering in her eyes. A few colleagues who enjoyed sucking up to her immediately gathered around.

Sonny was the first to lean in, his voice low but brimming with excitement. "President Thorne~ We saw you from upstairs! You were talking to Mr. Hawthorne downstairs! That’s Ethan Hawthorne, the business tycoon from Kingsland! Did you two know each other before?"

Ron gestured excitedly, phone still in hand. "Yeah, yeah! I even zoomed in with my phone to get a better look. I saw the wedding ring on Mr. Hawthorne’s hand. Could it be that you two are..."

She winked suggestively, her unfinished sentence leaving much to the imagination.

Lydia’s heart skipped a beat as a brilliant idea took shape.

A perfectly crafted blush appeared on her face. She lowered her gaze, tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, and spoke in a soft voice tinged with a hint of reluctant helplessness. "Oh, dear. You saw..."

She let out a soft sigh, as if forced to share a sweet burden, and lowered her voice. "He... his identity is rather special. We’ve always been very low-key, not wanting to attract too much attention."

She skillfully avoided any specific titles, yet her words dripped with suggestive intimacy.

"Oh my god! President Thorne! Don’t tell me you and Mr. Hawthorne are..." Sonny covered his mouth, the envy in his eyes nearly spilling over.

Ron was so excited he was practically incoherent. "I knew it! That vibe! That chemistry! There’s no way that’s a normal relationship! This is like a real-life billionaire romance!"

Lydia neither confirmed nor denied it.

She simply pressed her lips together, lowered her eyes, and, with a posture of silent admission, basked in the crowd’s envious and curious gazes, as if tacitly confirming their most dramatic suspicions.

Lydia then deftly changed the subject. "By the way, Ron, did you take a picture just now?"

Thinking she was about to be reprimanded for invading her privacy, Ron quickly explained, "Don’t worry, Vice President Thorne, I know the rules. I’ll delete it right now..."

"Don’t delete it!"

Lydia stopped her at once, then broke into a nostalgic, appreciative smile. "Even though it was just a candid shot from a chance encounter, the angle looks pretty good. I’d like to keep it."

As she spoke, she took out her phone with a friendly tone. "Here, let me add you on WeChat. You can send the photo to me."

Ron was stunned and flattered. "Really? That’s great! Last time, you said your private WeChat was too precious for employees to add you."

Sonny immediately jumped in. "You and Mr. Hawthorne seem so close, Vice President Thorne. Can I add you too?"

Lydia expertly pulled up her QR code. "Of course, add me! Both of you!"

She lowered her head to accept the friend requests, then smiled blissfully as she looked at the photo they sent—blurry from being enlarged, but perfectly framing her and Ethan Hawthorne.

While Lydia was still savoring the photo, Sonny had already slipped into the breakroom, eager to share the earth-shattering gossip with the other girls in the company.

"You’ll never guess! President Thorne and Ethan Hawthorne are married!" Sonny whispered, unable to hide his excitement. "Ron took a picture of Mr. Hawthorne dropping President Thorne off at work this morning... and he was wearing a wedding ring!"

As he spoke, he failed to notice Coco, who was making coffee nearby, suddenly freeze.

"For real?" Leo exclaimed. "How is there no news about Ethan Hawthorne getting married?"

"It’s absolutely true! President Thorne admitted it herself but said she wants to keep it private," Sonny swore. "But don’t you dare tell anyone..."

Coco silently put down her coffee cup and walked quickly toward Maxine Rhodes’s office.

She gently pushed the door open and saw Maxine smiling sweetly at her phone.

"Maxine!" Coco said, her expression complicated. "There’s some ridiculous gossip going around, and I think you need to hear it..."

Maxine looked up from her documents. "What is it?"

Coco lowered her voice. "I heard Sonny and the others saying that Lydia Thorne and Mr. Hawthorne are married! They’re saying he dropped her off this morning and made a point to show her his wedding ring!"

Maxine: ?

Just as Maxine was about to respond, there was a knock on the office door. Lydia Thorne walked in with a folder, her face grim.

"Director Rhodes," she said, slapping a project proposal on the desk. "What is the meaning of this plan? Why wasn’t the core data reported to me in advance?"

Maxine stood up calmly. "Vice President Thorne, all key data is in the encrypted file in Appendix Three. As per procedure, the password was sent to your email at the same time you received the file. Are you sure you didn’t receive it?"

Lydia’s face stiffened. She hadn’t, in fact, read the email carefully, but she quickly found a new line of attack. "Even if the data is there, this budget is severely overblown. Last week’s department meeting explicitly called for cost control. Weren’t you listening?"

Maxine pulled up another signed document, her tone perfectly even. "This budget was drafted according to the ’Project Upgrade Plan’ that you signed and approved last month. If you wish to adjust the budget now, we’ll need to reconvene the project review committee to assess the risks of downgrading."

With one sentence, she had clearly pushed all responsibility and consequences right back to Lydia.

Lydia was left completely speechless. Only now did she realize that Maxine Rhodes had flawlessly arranged every detail, leaving her, a vice president, unable to gain any advantage over her own subordinate. ’How is this possible?’

She stared at Maxine’s unruffled face as a surge of malicious anger, mixed with a desperate need to prove herself, shot through her.

She suddenly let out a sneer, crossing her arms and leaning against the desk. Her tone turned passive-aggressive. "Director Rhodes, your work ethic is commendable. However, in the workplace, especially in our circle, just burying your head in work is far from enough."

She paused, then added with pointed emphasis, "Connections and resources—that’s what really matters."

Lydia elegantly brushed her hair back from her ear and lifted her chin at Maxine. "Do you want to know what Ethan specifically told me this morning?"

Coco, who was organizing files nearby, looked up at the perfect moment and played along. "Wow, Vice President Thorne, you’re amazing! A man like Mr. Hawthorne tells you secrets? What did he say?"

The question was music to Lydia’s ears. A delicate blush immediately appeared on her face, and her eyes flickered away for a moment before she scolded Coco playfully, "Oh, I can’t just tell anyone something like that~"

She gently twirled a lock of hair around her finger, her voice growing even softer. "Ethan... he hates it when I talk about our private life."

As she spoke, she deliberately touched her reddened earlobe, looking completely lost in a sweet memory.

Coco immediately clasped her hands to her chest in a show of pure adoration, but her tone held a hidden edge. "Vice President Thorne, you’re so lucky! But..."

She lowered her voice in feigned concern. "Mr. Hawthorne values his privacy so much. If he found out you were talking about this at the office, wouldn’t he be angry?"

Lydia’s expression faltered for a second before she forced herself to look composed. "Ethan... why would he be angry with me? Our relationship is much closer than you can imagine."

Coco nodded vigorously. "Of course! But I heard that Mr. Hawthorne really hates it when people spread rumors about his private affairs. There was this one starlet who tried to ride his coattails, and in the end..."

She cut herself off at just the right moment, leaving a tantalizing silence in her wake.

Lydia pursed her lips into a faint smile and gazed out the window. "Some things... are better felt than said."

She drew her gaze back and gave Maxine a meaningful look. "So, Director Rhodes, while career advancement is important, a woman’s ultimate success still depends on who’s standing beside her. Wouldn’t you agree?"