Chapter 648
“I heard a waitress here had previously fallen down the stairs for no reason, and she is still lying in the hospital now.”
“It’s horrible! How did that happen?”
“It was said that it was an accident. But I don’t believe it. How could she fall by herself for no reason at all? Someone must have pushed her, right?”
Natalie listened to their conversation in silence and noticed the colors draining from Vivian’s face. She also looked a little absent-minded.
The gossip was getting increasingly intense, and everyone was speculating about what had happened.
Suddenly, Vivian pounded the table and stood up. She looked at them coldly and scolded, “Why are you gossiping about this at the company’s party? It really ruins my appetite.”
Everyone was shocked by Vivian’s sudden outburst, but they didn’t dare to argue because her position was higher than theirs. The short hair woman muttered to herself begrudgingly, “Mrs. Larson isn’t even complaining. What right does she have to scold us?”
“Suck it up. It’s best to avoid trouble,” another colleague whispered, and everyone ate in silence.
Natalie glanced at Vivian’s exasperated look and said gently, “It’s after working hours now. It’s not a big deal to discuss something other than work. Sit down and enjoy the meal.”
“I was just afraid their gossip may affect others’ appetite.”
Vivian smiled faintly before sitting down awkwardly to continue eating. She knew the waitress who had been pushed downstairs was still ina coma.
The waitress’ family had brought her home to take care of her. She would never appear in front of Vivian again for the rest of her life.
Vivian didn’t worry about being discovered, but now she was a little disturbed by these female colleagues’ words.
Brandon was walking over to their table after finishing a discussion about some business with several shareholders when he heard the ruckus. He placed his hand on Natalie’s shoulder and whispered, “Is everything alright? What just happened?”
“It’s nothing. We were just having a heated discussion,” Natalie replied with a faint smile.
Suddenly, she remembered the wine she had prepared and said excitedly, “Brandon and I have brought several bottles of good wine today. I’ll get the waiters to bring them over. Let’s get drunk today””
Everyone cheered and expressed their gratitude.
Only Vivian remained expressionless.
For some reason, she felt increasingly uneasy.
Soon, a waiter came and opened the wine bottles.
Suddenly, someone nudged Vivian’s arm and whispered, “Vivian, look! Wasn’t this the waitress from the previous dinner party?”
Vivian frowned as she glanced up at the waitress. Her eyes instantly widened in shock.
“It is her…”
Vivian muttered, her voice trembling. She was horrified to see the waitress wearing a mask that looked very similar to the one who had been seriously injured.
Wasn’t the waitress supposed to be lying at home unconscious? What was she doing here?
Vivian felt a chill down her spine. She was in a daze as she gripped her wine glass tightly.
Suddenly, a crack resounded across the room and everyone at the table turned te see what happened.
They saw Vivian’s glass shattered on the floor and red wine spilling everywhere.
The waitress hurriedly handed Vivian a new glass and began cleaning up the mess.
Meanwhile, Natalie, who was talking to Brandon, jerked her head and looked at Vivian in surprise.
“Vivian, are you okay? Is there something wrong?” she asked concernedly.
“I’m fine. I knocked the glass over by accident. Please, don’t worry and continue eating,” Vivian said sheepishly as she forced a smile. She took a deep breath and sneaked another look at the waitress again.
The waitress’ eyes looked exactly like the one she pushed down the stairs.
However, it was difficult to confirm her identity as the waitress was wearing a mask.
Vivian couldn’t be sure.
The waitress was refilling Vivian’s wine glass.
When Vivian took her glass back, her eyes met the waitress’ by coincidence, and the waitress’ gaze instantly made her hair stand.
“I’m sorry, Mr.and Mrs. Larson. I’m not feeling well. Please excuse me. I think I need to go back and rest,” Vivian said anxiously as she stood up in a hurry.
Neither Brandon nor Natalie persuaded her to stay.
Natalie only said concemedly, “Okay, stay safe.”
Vivian nodded, took her bag and left in a hurry.
The other colleagues continued enjoying their meal and bursting into laughter from time to time.
Vivian could even vaguely hear a colleague saying, “Mrs. Larson, it’s best to stay away from Vivian. She is actually very scheming.”
“It’s okay. I don’t often visit the company anyway,”
Natalie’s voice was soft.
Vivian gritted her teeth as she continued walking out of the restaurant. She didn’t expect her colleagues to side with Natalie and speak ill of her.
The hatred in her heart grew. She wished she had a knife and could stab it through Natalie’s chest right now.
Meanwhile, the waiters continued dishing up food to the table and she couldn’t eat anymore.
However, Natalie was bloated, and she couldn’t eat anymore. So she decided to stroll in the garden at the back of the restaurant. While she was strolling casually, a man suddenly grabbed her hand from behind.
Shocked, she turned around, and to her relief, it was Brandon.
Brandon held her hand and asked softly, “Why did you want to have dinner in this restaurant tonight and even have me gather all our employees?”
“I have my own plans,” Natalie replied with a smile.
She gazed into Brandon’s eyes and continued, “I got my mother to help me investigate something. Here’s what she found.”
Natalie opened a file on her phone and handed it to Brandon.
Brandon skimmed through the information and asked thoughtfully, “Is Vivian related to the waitress who was injured last time?”
“I suspect that Vivian was the one who pushed the waitress down the stairs. My mother said that Vivian had gone to the hospital multiple times to check on the waitress. I suspected Vivian because I happened to find a video of a couple’s proposal in the Newden Hotel on the day of the incident. In the video, Vivian and the waitress were seen walking towards he staircase one after another. Soon after, the tragedy occurred,” Natalie replied seriously.
She then took her phone back from Brandon and continued, “This waitress must know Vivian’s secret. If not, Vivian wouldn’t have tried to get rid of her.”
Brandon caressed Natalie’s hair and sighed.
“You are right. It seems you don’t need my help anymore.”
“Of course, I can’t always rely on you,”
Natalie joked as she held on tightly to Brandon’s hand, locking at him with her bright shining eyes.
Brandon’s heart softened.
He looked at Natalie and asked, “So you want to find out why Vivian wanted to kill that waitress?”
Natalie’s eyes twinkled as she replied, “Well, I think I already know the answer.”
Brandon raised his eyebrows and waited for her answer.
“Have you forgotten?”
Natalie sighed. She pretended to be angry and shook off Brandon’s hand. She then crossed her arms and said, “Last time, you mistakenly thought Derek and I were going to a hotel room upstairs because of the room card the waitress gave us. You were so mad at me. I’m guessing that Vivian was trying to sow discord between us.”
“I wasn’t mad at you. It was my default look. You know that I look like that when I don’t smile,”
Brandon coaxed Natalie hurriedly as he held her in his arms. He was adamant in admitting that he was angry at that time. He believed he had a good temper.
Natalie felt helpless against Brandon’s embrace and continued her explanation, “Most likely, Vivian couldn’t stop the waitress from ratting her out. That’s why she wanted to shut her up for good.”
Brandon remained unsurprised by Natalie’s analysis. He processed the information and replied thoughtfully, “Vivian is a scheming woman. She is capable of anything when provoked.”
“But what I don’t understand is, even if the waitress threatened to tell her secrets, this wasn’t really a big deal. Why would Vivian want to kill the waitress just because of that? It’s too crazy,” Natalie said seriously.
She used to like Vivian but now, she thought Vivian was scary.
“She’s just like Charis. She wants everyone to think that she is perfect. Sadly, no one is perfect in the world. The world would be boring is everyone is perfect,”
Brandon said with a smile as he rustled Natalie’s hair.
