A Love Trap novel Chapter 13

Making her way through, Ashley sensed that there was something odd in the way some of her colleagues looked at her. They seemed to be eyeing her indifferently as if she was walking with a speck of dirt in the face.

With a baffled look, she headed towards her desk. 'What's going on in here? I just took a few days off. Why are they acting so weird?' she thought, rubbing her chin pensively.

But she didn't give much thought about that. Ever since she had been hired, her colleagues had questioned her capability and had been hostile to her. Thus their unusual stares were not new to her, and she had been used to it somehow.

"Is that her? I heard that she started harassing Mr. Luo since college. What a shameless girl!" a girl in her late twenties started as she cast Ashley a scornful glance.

"But she doesn't look like a bad person," another girl who was just new in the company responded gingerly.

"You're too naive. You can't judge a person by her appearance," the first girl returned with her head low and her voice in a whisper.

"Don't be fooled by her looks. You're just saying that because you're young and innocent. Sometimes, people pretend to be nice in front of you, but the truth is they are stabbing you in the back. Who knows?" she continued to gossip.

"She is young and could have a good prospect. I don't understand why she chose to be a third party," the second girl remarked with a frown.

"Exactly, if I were in her place, I wouldn't do that. But fortunately, Mr. Luo is engaged to Lena," the first girl responded with widened eyes.

Getting excited with their gossip, the new girl was about to say something but she caught sight of Ashley coming in.

Pretending to be busy with something, the new girl coughed and nudged the first girl to stop her from speaking.

"What are you doing? I still have something to say. Ashley tried to steal another woman's boyfriend, but she doesn't admit it," the girl snapped impatiently.

Worried that Ashley might hear them, the second girl put on a worried look. 'Please stop talking. Ashley is behind you. You're playing with fire, ' she murmured in her heart.

"G... Good morning, Ashley," the girl greeted Ashley anxiously as she dropped her head.

Alarmed by her greeting, the girl who had spoken ill of Ashley shut up immediately and her face turned pale with fear.

Feeling guilty of talking behind her back, the girl let Ashley pass by her and rolled her eyes at the girl. "Why didn't you tell me that Ashley was here?

I said so many bad things about her. Did she hear everything I said? What if she speaks ill of me in front of Mr. Luo? I might lose my job," she expressed her frustrations silently with an exasperated expression.

Being equally guilty as well, the second girl winked at her and speaked to her in an inaudible voice, "I reminded you. You ignored that and continued talking."

At that point, the girl who had been caught by Ashley wore a dejected expression. With her head low in embarrassment, she turned around and walked away.

The other gossip girl also found an excuse and retreated to her own desk.

With a mocking smile forming on her lips, Ashley fluttered her heavy eyelashes and held her head high up. She finally understood why they looked at her that way.

For reasons unknown to her, she realized that she had been set up.

She was certain that Lena had spread the rumors.

Besides, she couldn't think of any other aside from Lena who could do it. After all, she was known for framing others.

As soon as Ashley went up to her desk and sat down, a lovely girl came rushing to her on her rolling chair.

"Cheer up, Ashley. I don't believe the rumors spreading around here. I know that you're not that sort of person. They are lying," with her hands firmly placed on the desk, Fiona Xia said earnestly as she stared into Ashley's eyes.

"What makes you think I am not that kind of person they said? What if they are telling the truth?" Ashley countered tentatively with a slight smile.

"I have faith in you. I know you. You would never do that," Fiona Xia replied firmly without a second thought, her voice a little louder this time.

Far from everyone's knowledge, Fiona Xia was an intern who had worked in the company for only a month. And she was a junior student in a university.