My Mirror Image

Chapter 189

A myriad of thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of her phone. Candice checked and saw it

was Yana calling.

She wanted to step outside to answer, but the lights in the room went off. Her poor eyesight made

her hesitant to move, so she had to answer Yana’s call right there.

“Come clean! Where are you now?” Yana’s spirited voice suddenly came through.

Candice hesitated, “I’m outside.”

“Oh,” Yana replied then continued asking. “Are you with Hanley? We’ve been calling him nonstop,

both me and Ryan, but he hasn’t picked up any of our calls! We need to talk to him urgently.”

“I’m not with him,” Candice replied.

“That’s odd,” Yana said, “Then why isn’t he answering? We’ve called him several times. Hey, do

you know where he went?”

Candice furrowed her brows; Hanley wasn’t the type to intentionally ignore calls. “Maybe he’s

busy now.”

Although she said so, she couldn’t help but recall Hanley’s solemn tone when he mentioned that

Chad wouldn’t help earlier that morning. She rarely heard him speak in such a manner. However,

absorbed in her own emotions at that moment, she hadn’t paid much attention to him.

After ending the call with Yana, as Candice was about to call Hanley, she heard Alex’s dispassionate

voice, “You care a lot about him?”

Her phone screen remained on the contact list. Alex then casually asked, “What’s the progress?*

He was referring to Hanley.

Candice lowered her eyebrows and remained silent. She had explained many times to Alex about

Hanley, but he never listened. What she wanted to know now was what she should do to satisfy

Alex and get his help for her grandfather.

Seeing her silence, Alex sneered quietly, then suddenly pushed a glass of wine toward her with a

lifted chin, looking proud, “Do I need to teach you what to do?”

His tone was cold as he said, “Do you know what happens when you act foolishly in the end?”

Candice was taken aback, and then realized that Alex was warning her about her grandfather’s

situation.

+15 BONOS

She looked at the glass Alex had pushed forward, remained silent for a moment, and then picked up a

bottle of wine nearby. She poured a glass for him.

In fact, understanding bar etiquette was essential in business settings. Candice remembered how she

knew nothing about these rules when she followed Alex to socialize back then. He had taught her bit by

bit.

She carried the glass and placed it in front of Alex but accidentally brushed against the nearby

bottle, causing the liquid in the glass to sway.

She held the glass out to Alex and was about to speak when she saw him, expressionless, pour

the contents directly into the trash bin.

In a casual tone with a touch of mockery, he said. “You can’t even pour a glass of wine properly?”

His voice wasn’t loud, but due to the brief silence in the room, others heard his words. All eyes

tumed to look, curious about the situation.

A few pairs of eyes fixed on Candice, making her face pale despite her resilience. But thinking of her

grandfather, she lowered her eyelashes, masking her emotions, and picked up the wine bottle again.

Then, putting in her effort, she poured another glass for Alex

Alex glanced at the glass but didn’t take it.

Suddenly, Sieg’s playful voice echoed, teasing Alex. “Alex, seems like you’re here to flaunt to the

boys? Bringing someone to pour drinks especially for you?”

Afterward, Sieg looked at Candice, his tone more mocking, “Ms. Renault, since you’ve picked up the

bottle, why not pour a drink for us? It’s a handy task.”

He seemed to be asking for her opinion, but in reality, he was just informing Candice.

Many knew about the conflict between Sieg and Candice, so inevitably, they joined in watching the

scene as if waiting for a show. “Candice is the Chief Secretary of Aether Corporation. I’ve never had a

drink poured by a Chief Secretary before.”

“Didn’t she resign? Her own mother came to reprimand her.”

“So what? She was the former Chief Secretary of Aether Corporation. This is quite entertaining!”

The whispers from the surrounding people fell into Candice’s ears, making her feel like a clown.

Ridiculed and made fun of by everyone. And the ringleader was sitting calmly on the sofa. observing

her.

Sieg raised an eyebrow. “Alex, are you really this petty? You won’t even let your former secretary pour

drinks for us?”

Alex remained expressionless, his voice cold, “She hasn’t completely resigned yet.” Content bel0ngs to Nôvel(D)r/a/ma.Org.

He was telling them that Candice wasn’t his former secretary.

+15 BONOS

Sieg didn’t mind that and instead, turned to look at Candice, his words dripping with malice, “Ms.

Renault must have poured drinks for many people before, can’t believe she’s unable to do it now.”

Candice couldn’t help trembling. The room was dimly lit, making it hard for her to see Alex’s

expression, yet she could sense he intended to humiliate her.

He clearly knew that when Candice had just joined Aether Corporation, due to a boss’s ill Intentions,

she had been asked to pour drinks for a difficult client and had almost been treated as an accomplice

to indecency. Although it hadn’t succeeded, that boss had spread rumors, leading to Candice being

labeled as such privately for a long time.

She had been quite young at the time, how could she not feel hurt and distressed by those words?

Almost every night, she would hide in her room, shedding tears in solitude. Moreover, when Joe

learned about this incident later, it had greatly affected his health.

Someone once said the easiest way to ruin a girl is through baseless rumors. Candice bore the weight

of that reputation and isolated herself from everyone.

So, even to this day, she was unwilling to bring up that incident. It was a period of time she didn’t want

to revisit.

Yet here was Alex, so blatantly using her deepest scar to humiliate her once again.

The surrounding crowd kept cheering. Candice looked at Alex, suppressing the bitterness in her heart,

and asked him, “Is this what you wanted to see?”

Did he want to see her ridiculed, degraded, and treated as an accomplice to indecency? Would that

make him happy? Would he be satisfied?

Alex seemed about to say something, but before he could, Candice nodded to herself and muttered,

“Fine. Since Mr. Elysian has requested it, I have no right to refuse.”

With that said, she picked up the bottle and walked up to Sieg, pouring his glass first, pretending to be

composed as she said, “Mr. Frowler, have a drink.”

Sieg raised an eyebrow, feeling no qualms. Instead, he observed Candice’s expression, adding a bit

more contempt to his, scanning the liquid in the glass, and pulling his lips into a smirk as he drawled,

“Apologies, I don’t drink this.”

Clearly, he intended to embarrass her.

+15 BONOS

Candice closed her eyes for a moment, about to speak, when she heard Alex’s toneless voice.”

Candice.”