It was not the first time Alicia experienced this. At this point, it was as if she had been transported back to the school cafeteria days of yesteryears. Because of Nicholas's reputation, her classmates were wary of her in high school. Not to mention that her best friend, Cynthia Duff, was a bold girl with a crush on Nicholas. As such, she became Alicia's patron saint. If this had happened before, she wouldn't have had to do anything but give a look, and Cynthia would have just helped her get rid of the people., Back then, when Alicia first entered the college canteen, she faced a similar situation. At that time, many students from other courses were also queuing up to peek at her. Still, she wasn't very mature back then. When she got tired of being pestered by others, she would get angry and chase them out. As a result, she ended up with the title 'Princess Unapproachable', ranking first on the hard-to-chase list. Although her reputation was ruined at the time, at least she had a peaceful college life., She didn't mind being watched by others, but she would get upset if people surrounded her every day, disrupting her meals and schedules., But now that she thought about it, she believed it was a blessing to be looked up to! Either way, it was an affirmation and a compliment to her., As she looked at the men in uniform before her, all smiling at her in a rather kind manner, Alicia returned the smiles politely and nodded.,

"Hello. My name is Alicia Blanchard, you can call me Alicia.

", Seemingly not expecting her to be so nice, the few men all visibly paused for a moment. The group of men then all gave their names one by one. Each one of them was excited, lining up and talking without stopping., Just then, Joel said,

"Miss Blanchard, not only are you beautiful, but you have a beautiful voice too! Since we're all colleagues, let's hang out. Miss Blanchard, can you give me your number?

"

"Miss Blanchard, you should give him your number!

",

"Yeah! Joel is a well-known figure in the sales department and in Soaver International as a whole. He's one of the best in sales! He's 28 years old, and he doesn't have a girlfriend yet. Not to mention that this is the first time he's this forward with a girl!

", The corners of Alicia's mouth twitched after hearing this. How could it be his first time when they were talking so smoothly and in such a tacit manner?, While Alicia was torn about giving him her number, it was her turn to grab her food. She smoothly changed the subject.

"Why don't we choose our food first? The scrambled eggs with tomatoes today seem great. There are even pork ribs too!

", Glancing around, Alicia chose two greens, a shredded pork dish, and a drumstick. As for the carbs, she chose rice. She also took a bowl of soup. As soon as she stepped out of the queue, blank stares were delivered before she could find a seat.,

"Her good looks definitely have benefits. Look at how she got a bigger share of the food than we did.

",

"Are there even spring onions in her shredded pork? It's all meat! She got most of the scrambled eggs too!

",

"You're right. Her drumstick is bigger than mine too. Isn't she afraid of eating too much?

", Unconsciously looking down, Alicia glanced at her plate. What were they talking about? Wasn't the food just fitting the compartments well? Was she to blame for that too?, She thought that only children could be bothered with such things. Unexpectedly..., Heh!,

"Whatever!

", Looking at her plate and sniffing the food, Alicia got ready to find a seat. She saw an empty seat and was just about to walk over when a glass of water landed on it with a thud. The next thing she knew, a woman placed an empty plate on the table., At that, Alicia couldn't help but feel a little annoyed., Even so, there was nothing anyone could do when something like this happened in a public place like a canteen. Therefore, she had to turn around and find another seat., There were individual tables for two and long rows of tables for four to eight people. Basically, all the seats were occupied, except some vacant seats at those occupied tables. However, she was new to the company and didn't know anyone well. She didn't know if anyone had taken the seat. Therefore, it was not easy for her to get a seat., For a long time, Alicia was looking for a seat while holding her tray. Of course, she wasn't the only one looking for a seat., Just as she noticed someone get up from their seat and walked over quickly, someone else took the seat. This time, it was a colleague from the same department as hers., At this point, the woman even waved her hand and shouted,

"Sam, over here! Please get me some soup. I'll eat with you.

", Helpless, Alicia could only turn around again..., Just then, one of the male colleagues who had just greeted her in the queue earlier suddenly waved and shouted,

"Miss Blanchard, why don't you sit here?

", With that, the man pointed to the empty seat opposite him, next to Joel., The five of them were sitting at a long table with ten seats in total, with two men occupying another end. Obviously, they were not in the same group. The three empty seats separated the party into two groups. Normally, these three seats would not have been filled by anyone else. After all, it would be overcrowded and cramped. Furthermore, no one would want to be so close to a stranger. In a company of this size, there were probably hundreds of people in the canteen. Not everyone here knew each other for sure., With all the men around the table, Alicia felt a bit uncomfortable., But, as she had been carrying her plate for a long time and hadn't found a suitable seat, she considered going over to sit down., No sooner had the thought crossed her mind that a voice reached her ears.,

"Is she the new one? What a fancy dresser! She looks like a vixen!

",

"She is outstanding. After all, she's hooked up with the men in the sales department so quickly!

",

"I wonder which senior she slept with. Oh, how do you think the management team will react when they find out about this? Will the president be charmed by her too?

",

"How is that possible? I heard that the president has a girlfriend and even brought her to the company before. She must be a heavenly goddess who doesn't seduce men and reeks of a vixen.

"

"Gosh, let's stay away from her! People like her are the best at pretending to be whiny and pathetic to win men's hearts.

", Alicia was in a tizzy as she heard all the barbs. She hadn't even done anything, and yet she was mistreated already!, What a misery! She couldn't even eat a meal in peace!, Pursing her lips, she mentally cursed Frederick from head to toe again. B*stard! It was all his fault!, Meanwhile, Frederick had just put down the phone in the office and realized that it was after lunchtime. Just as he got up, his secretary, Doris, walked in.,

"Mr. Clements, lunch is ready. Shall I bring it up?

" The canteen had already called several times, but she had not dared to enter when she heard voices inside the office.,

"It's fine. I'll be eating in Canteen No. 6.

",

"Huh?

", Looking up, Doris's eyes were full of disbelief.,

"Have someone bring the meal to the private room. I have something to talk to Chet about!

", As if something had dawned on her, Doris hurriedly nodded.

"Yes, Mr. Clements!

", But, why was Mr. Clements going to Canteen No.6 and not to Canteen No.8, which was close by? Doris couldn't wrap her head around this., Although her mind was still flickering with doubt, she stepped out of the way when she saw that Frederick had buttoned up his suit.

"I'll call Mr. Reynes right away.

",

"Mmm.

", Frederick was already out of the office as they spoke, and Doris followed him while she made the phone call., In the lift, the two met up just in time and then went to the canteen together. Chet was rather puzzled.

"What's so urgent?

", Why wasn't he even allowed to finish his meal?, Without even looking back, Frederick said calmly,

"Nothing. I just wanted to invite you to a meal.

" Frederick wanted to go take a look as well!,

"What?

", With a startled cry, Chet suddenly realized that the two of them were in Canteen No. 6 as it dawned on him. Gosh! What a dumb brain he had! What was he thinking about? There wasn't anything urgent! Why else could they be doing here?, As their eyes met, Chet swallowed his words with resignation. Frederick was his boss after all..., As soon as the trio appeared, it was as if a bomb was dropped on the canteen. All eyes simultaneously turned to the door, regardless of whether they were eating, playing on their phones, chatting, or queuing.,

"Wow! It's Mr. Clements!

",

"Mr. Clements and Mr. Reynes are actually here at Canteen No. 6? What day is it today? I must buy a lottery ticket after work.

",

"Oh, my goodness! He's so handsome. I didn't know Mr. Clements is so handsome. He looks so manly!

", Doris was half- confused as she followed along and listened to the conversation between the two. She had intended to settle Frederick's lunch before returning. But as soon as she stepped into the canteen and noticed the difference in her surroundings, she couldn't help but adjust the glasses on her nose., What was going on that day? When had the canteen become so crowded? Did everyone have a premonition that the president was coming here for lunch?, As Doris wondered, an icy gaze swept over. Following Frederick's line of sight, she saw Alicia who was still standing in a distance with her tray. With a glance, it instantly dawned on Doris.

"Let's head to private room number three!

", Frederick said before heading off to the side. Before stepping away, he gave Doris two seconds of obvious glances while Chet motioned at her., Taking the hint, Doris said,

"I'll get Miss Blanchard over there.

", Rushing over and grabbing a tray, Doris then strode over to Alicia.,

"Miss Blanchard! There are a lot of staff here today. Would you like to eat with me if you don't mind? I'm on my own. I have a regular seat and am worried about having no one to talk to.

", In fact, having just seen Frederick at the door, Alicia felt angry and aggrieved. However, she was more afraid of him coming over. If that happened, she would probably be the target all the more., Fortunately, she met Doris before. It was better to have her meal with a woman than a man. Indeed, she was worried about not having a suitable seat, not to mention that she didn't want to accept an invitation from a man. Hence, she nodded her head.,

"Please and thank you.

",

"Miss Blanchard, you're most welcome. I'll hurry up and get my food then!

", At that, the two of them headed off to one side of the aisle. As the queue was almost empty, Doris ordered two dishes, grabbed a bun, and quickly returned.,

"This way please.

", With that, the two walked toward the private room area at the side., The private room had a separate partition from the canteen. There were also many large and small rooms inside. The canteen was again abuzz with discussion as soon as the two disappeared behind the partition.,

"What is this woman's identity? Why does she seem to know the president's secretary? I heard that she was sent in by Mr. Reynes this morning too. Is that a coincidence?

",

"She just got lucky! It seems like they don't know each other. Didn't Mr. Clements and Mr. Reynes turn away without even looking at her? Could Miss Doris have only taken pity on her because she was alone without a seat?

",

"If I'd known, I'd have given her a seat and gone to stand. Maybe, I could have shared a table with the president!

",

"Get a facelift before you dream. Look how beautiful she is! She looks so slim, and her skin is so perfect that you can't even see her pores! Seriously, even I, a woman, can't help but feel sorry for her when she was standing there.

",

"Since you put it that way, I feel bad too. When I first came to work here, I almost couldn't stay either. At that time, I looked up at people. I always felt like I couldn't do anything right... I had low self-esteem and doubted myself. Luckily, I was average looking and didn't have so many people targeting me. Sometimes being beautiful can be a burden!

",

"Right? The prettier you look, the more the people of the same sex repel you. Would you like to be compared to her? One is more at ease with one's own kind, right?

",

"Yeah, right! Why go and set her off?

", Meanwhile, Doris smiled upon arrival at the private room.,

"Miss Blanchard, private room number three is just ahead. You can go in first. No one's here today, so make yourself at home. I'll head back and get some soup. I forgot that I can't eat spicy food because of my cold. I'll have to exchange dishes with someone.

", Search the website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.