Lizzie looked at Norma calmly, giving her no hints.
Norma met Lizzie’s eyes and somehow felt a bit more at case.
Norma kept cursing as she was taken away, still saying it was Johanna who told her to do it. Her voice grew weaker and finally disappeared.
The Equinox Research Institute always felt intimidating to outsiders. Most people naturally feared this place.
But Lizzie knew one thing they didn’t. Unless someone tried to play dirty, this was one of the few places where rules and fairness mattered.
She glanced at the murmuring crowd and curled her lips.
Today’s mess had cracked Johanna’s mask. No matter how hard Theron tried to cover for her, it wouldn’t hold up any-
more.
Johanna also heard the whispers. Her body swayed like a candle about to go out.
Every word felt like a knife cutting straight through her. Her carefully built image shattered in a single day.
It hurt so much she could barely stand.
Theron had been watching her. Seeing her like that, he quickly reached out to support her.
His touch was restrained. It was just a friendly gesture, nothing more.
But right now, everything was under the spotlight. Johanna had hinted multiple times that she and Theron were more than just friends.
People didn’t know before what Theron felt about the two women.
But after he proposed to Lizzie in public today, those old hints made Johanna look sneaky.
Even if their move seemed proper, it was enough to make others talk.
Lizzie caught people’s weird looks at Theron and Johanna. That suspicion in their eyes made her lips curl into a cold smile.
She was crushed by gossip in her last life. She knew better than anyone how vicious rumors could be.
“Colton.”
She tilted her head to look at Colton. “Go find Glenna and wait for me outside. I’ll finish up here and meet you.‘
Colton didn’t want to leave her alone. To him, Theron wasn’t a protector anymore. Instead, he was someone who
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Chapter 24 She Caught Them Talking Behind Her Back
might hurt Lizzie.
But Colton trusted Lizzie and nodded hard.
“Okay.” Colton ran out of the lab.
Lizzie took a deep breath, adjusted her wheelchair, and started slowly heading toward Anton’s office.
Theron finally noticed the strange looks coming from the crowd.
Those stares felt like needles in his back and Johanna’s.
He frowned and shrugged slightly when glancing over at Johanna.
Johanna was practically leaning on him. Her face was pale like she could faint any second.
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She noticed Lizzie following Anton and bit her lip. She couldn’t let Norma and Lizzie talk freely in front of Anton.
She pretended to look better.
“I’m okay now, Mr. Howland. I’m sorry. A widow’s always a target. I’ve caused you trouble.” Her head stayed down, and her eyes were red. She looked like someone trying hard to stay strong through it all.
Theron frowned even more.
She was a widow and was no longer protected since her husband died for Theron. Why couldn’t Lizzie understand
that?
“Let’s go talk to Mr. Hatfield too. I saw Lizzie go in that direction.” Her voice gave away her urgency. She needed to get there before Lizzie and Norma started talking.
She was worried her tone sounded too rushed, so she tried to soften it. “I’m not saying I don’t trust her. It’s just… With everything that happened today, my reputation is ruined. If I lose this job, I won’t be able to make it…”
She still leaned on Theron’s shoulder and trembled slightly. It looked like she could collapse at any moment.
Theron looked at her with a concerned face.
“Are you sure you can keep going?”
Johanna nodded slightly.
“No problem.”
He didn’t say anything else and helped her toward Anton’s office.
Once they left, the quiet crowd exploded.
They kept gossiping.
“Do you think something is going on between Mr. Howland and Johanna?”
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Chapter 24 She Caught Them Talking Behind Her Back
“It surely looks like it. Did you see how she was leaning on him? She was practically glued to his side.”
“Poor Lizzie. Her fiancé is almost stolen by someone.”
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They used to complain that Lizzie didn’t have the education to work at the lab. But no one could accept their fiancé getting so close to another woman.
No one could tolerate that kind of thing.
“I used to think Lizzie was just a bit dramatic. But now? Mr. Howland and Johanna don’t look innocent at all.”
“Be quiet. Don’t let Mr. Howland hear you.”
Adrienne’s face sank as she heard the gossip.
She couldn’t stand anyone speåking badly about Johanna.
“What are you talking about?”
Adrienne shouted.
“Hanna’s the only one who deserves Mr. Howland!”
People around her gave her weird glances and started walking away.
They didn’t want to argue with her. This wasn’t their business, but they knew what they saw. They weren’t blind.
Adrienne watched them leave and got furious. She stomped her foot hard.
She swore to help Johanna and get Lizzie kicked out of Equinox Research Laboratory.
Meanwhile, Johanna was rushing to Anton’s office. In her hurry, she twisted her ankle and nearly fell.
Theron caught her just in time.
“Slow down,” he said, clearly worried.
Johanna kept her head down. Tears streamed down her face.
She said in a low and shaky voice, “I was just worried… I didn’t mean to doubt Lizzie… But after what she did today, I’m really afraid. What if I lose my job? What’ll happen to my child?”
She kept sobbing. Her voice got softer and softer, barely a whisper.
She sounded like sharing her fears. But her real goal was to make Theron wonder if Lizzie was trying to take revenge and cost her the job.
Theron’s frown deepened.
“Lizzie is not like that,” he said.
He still believed in Lizzie.
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Chapter 24 She Caught Them Talking Behind Her Back
Johanna bit her lip hard. Did Theron still trust Lizzie that much?
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Norma must have been brought in by Lizzie. How else could a nobody from the countryside get in here?
Still, none of that showed on Johanna’s face. “I trust her too,” she said softly. “But she hasn’t been acting like herself lately. I’m just … worried.”
Theron pressed his lips together. Something about Lizzie today was off.
Theron got agitated as he remembered the look in Lizzie’s cold, determined eyes.
A flicker of doubt crept into his mind. Was Lizzie getting out of control? Would she go so far as to hurt Johanna?
As the thought crossed his mind, they saw Lizzie right outside Anton’s office. She was looking straight at them with a half–smile.
She caught them talking behind her back.
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