The following week, Janet took precautions to avoid running into I, but I kept on hinting at her from time to time. One morning, she went to the convenience store downstairs to buy some coffee. As she waited in line, two women glanced at her and started whispering to each other. "Isn't that the woman from the design department who hooks up with me?". "Yeah, I think so!". Janet overheard their loud whispering and frowned deeply. "What are you two talking about?”. The two women were shocked by her sudden confrontation. They quickly shook their heads and smiled embarrassedly. “Nothing, nothing. We mistook you for someone else, that’s all. But that wasn’t the last Janet heard of this. She soon realized that someone from the design department must have spread. unpleasant rumors about her and I. And those rumors spread II wildfire. Some colleagues who used to be nice to Janet even started to keep their distance from her. Previously, Janet was viewed as a well-mannered, kind young woman in the design department. But now that someone had spoken ill of Janet behind her back, people began to view her in a different light. It was Pamela who had first shown hostility towards her. Ever since I announced that he woul d select Janet’s design, Pamela had been hostile to Janet to her face. So Janet suspected t hat Pamela was the on e started the rumors. And sure enough, upon careful but quie t observation, she found that it was i ndeed Pamela who was gossiping around. Pamela had even made a g roup chat with many coll eagues from the company. That was where she shared her made-up rumors about Janet

One day, during lunch break , Janet went to the tea roo m and took a bottle of soda. On her way o ut, she saw P amela nearby. Janet paused for a second and just left. Pamela glanced at her mischievously then whispered to the colleague next to her, " I heard Lind went to a hotel with Mr. Lyman . last nig ht. "What? No way! Didn't he have a meeting in the office until very late last night? I do n’t know why she Ils him though. He’s such a . je rk . The colleague shook her he ad and sighed. She had thought that Janet wa s a beautiful girl and that s he was way out of I’s league. "Of course she doesn't like him. She’s ju st using him because he’s her immediate s upervisor. Some women would do anything to . get promoted, am I right? I wouldn’t be su rprised if she used to be a married man’s mistress when she was in college. I’ve heard . a lot about her ‘frivolous’ life in college. She just doesn’t care abou t her reputation. That’s her style. As Pamela spoke, she sipped from he r water calmly, as though she knew a ll about what she was talking about. "What? What happened to her when she was in coll ege? Tell me everything!" . The colleague l eaned in closer towards Pamela. "What're you two whi spering about over he re? Let me join you!" . Apparently, Janet had come back a nd was leaning against the door, smiling sweetly at the two women

"Wh-what? Nothing. We were just talking about some go ssip we heard on the news. Pamela was taken aback when Janet sud denly spoke. She was so surprised that she stammered and her face turned red. With a gentle smile, Janet straightened h er back and strode over to Pamela. She pick ed up the phone that was lying on the desk . and h eld i t up. "Really? I just c ame back to get m y phone, you see. She unlocked the phone and glanced at it, then feign ed a surprised expression. "Oh, my God! I'm so sorry. The recorder w as turned on this whole time. Oh, I know! Let's listen to what you said just now!" . Alook of horror flashed on Pamela’s fa ce. She had no idea that the phone was recording their conversation just now. Janet turned up the volume of h er phone so that everyone in the tea room could hear it clearly. In the recording, Pam ela's voice could be heard loud and clear. It also so unded hars h and mean. All eyes were on her now. "What? I never did anything you claimed here. But you described it so vividly. How about we confront Mr. Lyman face to face?" . After the recording stop ped, Janet sneered. Pamel a had made everything up