Second Chance: Marrying into Wealth Chapter 153

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, my curiosity piqued.

Paula rolled her eyes. "The fact that Alan had the nerve to act that way with you right off the bat, and not even in his own company, should tell you what a shameless womanizer he is. A jerk like that, in his own company? Who knows how he treats the female employees there."

"From what I hear, he's had at least five rumored girlfriends. When Ophelia first met him, they hooked up right away. She knew exactly what kind of man he was, yet she still had the nerve to come looking for you." Paula's disdain for Ophelia was obvious.

"But does she not remember how she climbed the ladder herself? Even if she went to Alan's female employees who had affairs with him, they probably wouldn't listen. After all, she set a good example for them to follow." I couldn't help but join in the criticism.

Paula chuckled. "Melinda, you're so sharp. When she went to confront those women, that's exactly how they responded. She was so furious that her surgically enhanced face almost twisted."

"Wait, she had plastic surgery?" I hadn't noticed; it looked so natural.

Paula gave a knowing look. "Just some minor tweaks, you know! It takes a lot of money to maintain, or else the face falls apart quickly. She had a good base to start with, but in our circle, men are never short of beautiful women. One either has to stand out in looks or be very cunning. If one has both, then they're a formidable woman. She had some smarts, or Alan wouldn't have divorced his ex-wife and split the assets to be with her."

"But if Alan went through all that trouble to be with her, it must have been true love. Why is he still chasing after other women?" I was puzzled.

Paula, despite never having been in a relationship herself, was a great teacher when it came to these matters. Probably because she was a divorce lawyer and did a lot of PR work, she saw a lot of these situations and understood them well.

"It's the thrill of the new! For someone like Alan, who has plenty of money and has done it all, life is about seeking fun and novelty. Feelings are fleeting. What seemed like passionate love at first might just have been the thrill of the moment. Once the novelty wears off and reason takes over, those impulsive actions might become what he despises the most. And Ophelia, to climb up, must have been very gentle and considerate. She wouldn't dare trouble Alan, so she only dares to trouble those women, not realizing that the man is the real culprit."

I agreed wholeheartedly. Mistresses were detestable, but the man who couldn't control his urges was even worse.

Often, public opinion focused on the mistress and the wife, while the man who actually did wrong got overlooked. For someone like Alan, I thought his ex-wife was smart to cut her losses and divorce him.

But it made me curious about Alan's ex-wife. "How did Alan's ex-wife manage to get a divorce? You said she got a lot of assets. Would Alan really be willing to give that up? And Ophelia was with Alan at the time, right? She was after his money, so why would she let Alan give up so much?"

"You reminded me, I didn't handle that case. It was another top divorce lawyer, Celestia, who I wanted to introduce to you. There must be some inside story. I'll look into it."

"Great! Let me know what you find out!" I agreed.

Given how Ophelia was acting, I had a feeling she wasn't done causing trouble for me. And with rumors about me seducing Alan, I sensed there was more to come.

Paula seemed to think the same. She didn't chat much longer and probably went to contact Celestia.

My hunch was right. Ophelia and her husband had more tricks up their sleeves, and they acted quickly.

But I didn't expect it to be Una. When she deliberately chose a crowded place to kneel in front of me, I was momentarily stunned.

"Melinda, please, help me!" Una's kneeling, combined with her tearful plea, quickly drew a crowd.

I glared at her. "Get up. What are you trying to do?"

Was she trying to embarrass me or threaten me? But I was wrong. She was even more malicious than I thought.

She cried even harder, refusing to stand, "Melinda, I won't get up unless you agree to help me. You're the only one who can. And I'm in this mess because of you. You owe me this."

I laughed coldly, no longer trying to pull her up. "What do you mean, because of me? Fine, tell me, what did I do to make you slander me like this?"

Paula was right; Una was ungrateful.

Una had the nerve to cry, "Please, just have some pity on me! I genuinely wanted to be friends with you, but because of our friendship, I lost my job. Isn't that your fault? I'm an orphan who finally graduated and got a good job at a big company, but now I've lost it because of you. Shouldn't you take responsibility?"

"Responsibility?" I sneered, "And how exactly should I take responsibility?"

I saw a flash in Una's eyes before she said, "Just go apologize to the CEO's wife at Quantum Dynamics Corporation and beg her to let me have my job back. Then I'll forgive you, and we can still be friends."

"Apologize? What did I do wrong? Why should I apologize to Ophelia?" I was almost certain now that Una was being used by Ophelia to make me look bad.

But I didn't expect Una to hate me this much. She kept saying we were friends, but her actions were those of an enemy.

"How are you not wrong? It's your fault. You seduced Mr. Alan Bennett, and Mrs. Ophelia Bennett got mad. Since I'm your friend, she took it out on me, and I lost my job. But Mrs. Ophelia Bennett is magnanimous. If you apologize, she might forgive you and me too."

"I'm just an ordinary person trying to make a living. I don't have your looks and figure. I keep my head down, but because of your shameless seduction, people think I'm the same. Shouldn't you take responsibility for that?" Una's sharp words put me in a very awkward position, accusing me of things I hadn't done.

And because of her accusations, people around us started whispering and pointing at me.