The Ex-Wife They Begged To Keep - Chapter 153: Chapter 153

"Sorry, does being caught between us like this make things awkward for you?" Keith had noticed Serena's mood shift. He just wasn't sure what to say about it.
"It's fine. I just think your attitude's been a little strange, but it's not really bothering me." Serena's expression softened.
She continued, "It takes time to accept someone new. I don't know why you don't like Tiana, but we've known each other for so long and come this far together. Keith, I'm willing to trust you and give you time."
The hospital lights cast a gentle glow across Serena's face. She was always understanding, like she could accept anything.
For a moment, Keith almost wanted to tell her everything. But then Serena reached out with her gentle hands and linked her arm through his.
She said, "Let's not talk about this anymore. Didn't we say we'd grab dinner? Let's just find a restaurant nearby. Consider it making up for before."
"Sure." Keith nodded.
Her warm hands pulled him forward, and his bad mood somehow melted away. Keith couldn't help but smile slightly as he followed Serena out of the hospital.
They arrived at the restaurant at dinner, and all the private rooms were already taken. So Serena and Keith followed the server to a corner table instead.
But as soon as they rounded the corner, they spotted a familiar group at a nearby table.
Nicole and a few coworkers she hung out with, plus Winnie, were sitting on the other side.
Before Keith could react, Serena quickly pulled him back out of sight.
"What's wrong?" Keith asked.
Serena shook her head and carefully pointed toward the table, mouthing silently. "Winnie's there."
After what had happened today, if everyone found out about her relationship with Keith, even the most reasonable situation would suddenly look suspicious. People would start making up all kinds of stories.
Serena didn't want to deal with that mess.
Keith understood what she was thinking. He honestly didn't care if people discovered his relationship with Serena. Still, he wouldn't push it since this was what she wanted.
"Hey, isn't that Serena?" Even though Serena turned around quickly, a sharp-eyed coworker still spotted her.
When Winnie looked up and caught sight of Serena's profile, she recognized her instantly, after all the hatred she'd built up over the past few weeks. She jumped to her feet immediately.
"Wait, is that a guy with her? Maybe she's got a guilty conscience and brought her sugar daddy because she's too scared to face us." Winnie's voice dripped with malice.
She refused to believe that someone as young and pretty as Serena could be competent. Serena could have reached her current position at Brannon Creative Group by relying on a man.
Nicole was eager to stir up drama and quickly egged Winnie on. "That's gotta be it! Why else would she run off the second she saw us? Serena's definitely hiding something!"
The other coworkers had gotten along fine with Nicole, but they'd also worked with Serena for a while now. Sure, there'd been rumors here and there, but facts had proven those stories wrong.
Plus, everyone had seen Serena's actual skills firsthand, so they tried to calm things down. "She probably just doesn't want to mix work with her personal time. It's fine, let's just keep eating."
But Winnie wouldn't let it go. She grabbed her phone and stood up. "Well, there's only one way to find out. I'll be right back."
With that, Winnie headed straight for the door to chase after them.
Meanwhile, Serena and Keith had already left the restaurant. Keith turned to get the car while Winnie came out just in time to glimpse Serena with some guy's back.
Winnie immediately whipped out her phone, snapped a photo, and left with a satisfied smirk.
Keith drove back to pick up Serena. She'd already made a reservation and was waiting for him, looking embarrassed when their eyes met.
Keith shook his head with a wry smile. "Am I that much of an embarrassment? So what if Winnie was there? We're a normal couple. Nobody can say anything about that."
Serena bit her lip, knowing her panicked reaction earlier might have made Keith feel like she was ashamed of him.
She said, "The office is full of gossips right now. If someone gets dirt on us, it'll be trouble. Plus, I don't want people saying you're playing favorites with me."
They'd worked ten times harder than anyone else to get where they were today. But if Winnie and Nicole saw them together, they'd use it to stir up drama.
Seeing how serious Serena looked, Keith couldn't help but laugh. "Don't worry about it. I'm not gonna get mad at you over something like that. I'm just kidding. Don't let it get to you."
Serena knew the truth, but honesty was the foundation of any relationship. If they kept hiding things, it would only cause problems later. They shared a knowing smile and got in the car.
Everything seemed to go smoothly until the next morning at work, when Serena noticed her colleagues giving her strange looks.
"Well, well. Looks like someone finally got caught red-handed. You know exactly what you did," Nicole said with a sneer, while Winnie stood beside her with an equally hostile expression.
A colleague close to Serena couldn't stand it and immediately jumped to her defense.
"Watch your mouth. Even if that photo you posted in the group chat is real, so what? Can't Seri have a social life?"
After all these rumors kept popping up, people had been suspicious of Serena at first. But now, with the story changing so many times, no one believed the gossip anymore.
The other colleague said, "Yeah, the guy in the photo looks like he's our age. Serena's beautiful, young, and capable—of course, people would want to date her. What's wrong with that?"
Someone chimed in, "Nicole, you're just mad you didn't get promoted to team leader, so you keep picking on Serena. It's pretty obvious."
Nicole's face darkened when she realized everyone was seeing through her this time. She slammed her hand on the table and pointed at Winnie. "I'm not the one saying this, and I didn't take the photo. Ms. Banks saw Serena with that man herself."
"That's right!" Winnie said coldly. "And the car he was driving was expensive. It's way out of a regular employee's budget."