The Ex-Wife They Begged To Keep - Chapter 99: Chapter 99

"After you left Victor, your life's been going downhill. Nobody wants you now, so what's wrong with me posting those pictures?" Eliza said with a sneer.
She added, "Maybe someone will see how pretty you are in that photo and actually pay to keep you around. You might end up with a better life because of it. Really, you should be thanking me."
'How can someone be this shameless?' Serena thought.
Serena stood up and looked down at Eliza, anger flashing in her eyes. But Eliza deliberately stuck out her pregnant belly and gave Serena a mocking smile. "What, you want to hit me? Are you trying to kill me and Victor's baby?"
Of course Serena wouldn't do that. She was angry, but she wasn't stupid. She definitely didn't want to give Eliza an excuse to go to the hospital. Instead, she just looked down at her with a hint of pity.
"Eliza, aren't you tired of this?" Serena said softly.
A crack appeared in Eliza's confident expression as Serena continued, "You schemed and plotted to get me out of the picture, thinking you'd get everything you wanted. And now, you're using these pathetic little tricks that can't even touch me."
With every word Serena spoke, Eliza's face got darker and uglier.
Serena shook her head. "You're pathetic. In the end, you'll get nothing."
"How dare you talk down to me like that, Serena!" Eliza's face twisted with rage as she shot up from her chair, raising her hand to slap Serena.
But before the blow could land, a man appeared beside them and grabbed Eliza's wrist, using her own momentum to push her aside.
"Are you okay?" Graham turned to Serena. He hadn't expected to run into this scene when he came by to drop off some documents.
Serena's lips had gone pale, but she shook her head and gave him a gentle look. "Thanks, Graham. I'm fine."
When Eliza saw Serena and Graham chatting right in front of her, she let out a harsh laugh.
"What's in it for you to help her? Do you even know what kind of person Serena is? She's having an affair with some old man, and you're still standing up for her. This is ridiculous."
Graham had only stepped in to help her, so Serena frowned, wanting to tell Eliza to stop making wild accusations. But then, she caught sight of another figure approaching from down the hall and decided to keep quiet.
"Ellie, what are you doing here?" Victor's voice suddenly cut through the tension.
Panic flashed in Eliza's eyes. 'How did he show up out of nowhere?' she thought.
Victor took one look at the scene and immediately knew Eliza had gotten into another argument with Serena. But when his eyes landed on Serena, his gaze lingered on her face with obvious longing.
Victor had been looking for any sign that Serena was miserable after leaving him, but he froze when he actually saw her.
Her cheeks were rosy and healthy, and she still had that graceful, elegant look about her—warm and gentle like autumn sunlight. 'She's doing better without me,' Victor thought, and the realization hit him hard.
Victor couldn't stand to face her anymore, so he frowned and grabbed Eliza's arm with clear disapproval. "You're pregnant. You shouldn't be running around everywhere. Let me take you home."
After the two of them left, Graham turned to look at Serena. "Want me to drive you back to the office? That guy just now... He's your ex-husband?"
Serena looked a little surprised, and Graham felt awkward explaining himself. "I saw your file when you started working with us, so I know some things. But your ex-husband doesn't seem like a good guy. You should stop thinking about him."
Serena nodded, her eyes crinkling as she smiled, "People have to move forward. I'm not thinking about him anymore."
Graham suddenly felt embarrassed and didn't say anything else. He just drove Serena back to the company.
When Serena and Graham walked into the office, they could immediately tell something was wrong in the design department. The atmosphere was tense and uncomfortable.
Serena had been fitting in well with the team lately, so she wasn't used to this kind of tension. She stood there feeling confused when Graham strode over with a frown. "What's going on here?" he asked.
Ashley immediately stood up and shot Serena a sideways glance before speaking, "Our proposal that we just finished yesterday got leaked. The competitor company already put out their official announcement, and it's word for word identical to what we wrote."
Graham's face darkened when he heard this. The whole team had worked overtime for two weeks straight to put that proposal together, and now their rival had just stolen it. Forget about the financial loss—everyone's two weeks of hard work had just gone down the drain.
Serena stood next to Graham and noticed Ashley kept glancing in her direction. She got a bad feeling about where this was heading.
Sure enough, Ashley stepped forward and pointed right at her. "Everyone here put their blood, sweat, and tears into this proposal, but Serena joined us later and wasn't part of the original team.
"She's the most suspicious person here. She's the one who could have stolen our work and sold it to the competition."
Ashley's finger was pointed straight at Serena, and her confident tone made several people in the room start to believe her accusations.
Graham's face darkened. "You can't just throw around accusations like that without proof. Serena has no reason to do something like this."
Serena had already suspected Ashley might come after her, but she hadn't done anything wrong. But she seemed to catch some confident look in Ashley's eyes, like she was holding all the cards.
"Well, if we just check Serena's computer, we'll know for sure, won't we?" Ashley shot back, clearly annoyed.
She pointed an accusatory finger at Graham. "We've all been working with you for years, Graham. Serena's obviously the most suspicious one here. Why do you always defend her?"
That one comment instantly put both Graham and Serena in the hot seat. Everyone suddenly remembered they'd just walked in together from outside.
Serena couldn't let Graham get dragged into this. This whole mess had nothing to do with him.
"Serena, open up your computer and let us check it. If there's nothing there, I'll apologize," Ashley pressed, her tone aggressive and demanding.
Serena frowned as she glanced at her computer. She had a gut feeling there might actually be something on there, something that shouldn't be. Otherwise, Ashley wouldn't be pushing this hard. If everyone saw it, she'd never be able to clear her name.
Back at Glonia, Serena had already been trapped in a similar mess because of planted evidence. 'Is it happening all over again?' she thought.
"I don't agree to let you search my computer. There's personal stuff on there, and you have no right to look through it," Serena said coldly. But Ashley immediately pounced on her response, claiming it was proof of her guilt.