CHAPTER 124: CHAPTER 124: YUNLONG, YUNLONG, THE TRUE DRAGON AMONG MEN

Upon hearing the word "again," Iris Crawford apprehensively raised an eyebrow. Behind her, Steven Rhodes looked blankly at Lachlan Wyatt, who appeared in front of him, "Isn’t this..."

That legendary... moody, eldest young master of the Wyatt Family!

Steven’s expression shifted, but he remained silent. Since Iris had no objections, he too had nothing to say, so he heard Lachlan Wyatt opposite them offer a sarcastic jab, "Why are you leaving work with your assistant? Is the assistant going to follow you home and take care of your daily life too?"

Iris burst out laughing and tugged on Steven’s collar from behind, "It’s not impossible, you know. I am missing a babysitter."

A male college student babysitter, now that would be thrilling.

Steven’s fair face turned beet red with embarrassment, "Iris, please stop teasing me..."

Lachlan imitated Steven’s tone, "Iris~ please stop teasing me..."

Steven simply shut his mouth, not saying another word.

Iris took a few steps toward Lachlan, and Steven watched her approach without moving, soon hearing Lachlan say, "Where does the assistant live? Should I give you a ride home?"

The passive-aggressive attitude was overwhelming. Iris truly felt she had underestimated Yvonne Jennings before; when it came to playing coy, Lachlan takes the cake!

Steven shook his head, "No, thanks, Young Master Wyatt, I’ll just take the subway back later."

With that, Steven waved at Iris, "Goodbye, Iris."

"Bye-bye."

Iris opened the door to the passenger seat of Lachlan’s car and slid in smoothly. The seat was still in the position she had previously adjusted to, perfect for Iris.

No one else was allowed to adjust the passenger seat in Lachlan’s car, except Iris.

Lachlan started the car with a disgruntled look, speeding away from the company entrance, leaving Steven with a whiff of exhaust. All the way until he dropped Iris home, Lachlan wore a lazy and irritated smile, "Did you specifically hire a male assistant to rile me up?"

"Would you really get upset?" Iris grabbed her bag and lightly patted Lachlan’s face, "It’s my brother who arranged it for me. What’s there to be upset about?"

"How can an ordinary young guy resist being with you day and night?"

Lachlan pulled Iris closer by the waist, mischief flickering in his eyes, "Won’t it be a scandalous office romance then?"

Iris pinched Lachlan’s waist, "Are you so anxious?"

"Don’t mess with me." Lachlan lowered his voice suddenly, her soft fingers brushing against the fabric of his shirt, nearly making him burn up. He licked his lips, restraining the urge to do something to Iris, "Taunt me like this, aren’t you afraid I’ll find someone too?"

"Go ahead." Iris scratched Lachlan’s chin, "Let’s see who can play the scoundrel better. I’m curious what you can find and how extravagant it’ll be."

Tsk.

Lachlan enjoys Iris’s feisty nature; what a shame if someone were to take her away.

With a hoarse voice, Lachlan stared at Iris with dark eyes, "Don’t let me find out something happened with that male assistant, or I’ll take care of him myself."

Iris just smiled slightly without responding, ending her playful teasing with Lachlan, and exited the car. Lachlan’s gaze followed her until her figure disappeared from his sight.

He thought of Steven, a mysterious smile playing on his lips.

My dear Miss Crawford, with your arrival, someone’s bound to lose their cool at the company.

******

On Iris Crawford’s second day in office, trouble already came looking for her.

As Iris’s assistant, Steven Rhodes even had some people targeting him, trying to extract any useful information from him.

Dealing with the challenges as they came, poor Steven, an intern, helped Iris fend off schemes like dismantling bridges after crossing... to the point where he needed to inspect even the pen he handed Iris to sign with, lest he be accused of saying she stole a colleague’s pen.

The workplace dynamics are truly unpredictable... Steven sighed after a busy morning, having blocked several people trying to make life difficult for Iris, standing at the office doorway.

He hadn’t had much rest when someone passed Iris’s office, and upon closer inspection, it was President Lewis.

Steven recalled the whispers among colleagues last time, that Iris had taken the position that should have been President Lewis’s according to experience as the executive director. It’s likely he’s unhappy about it.

Steven bowed his head politely, "President Lewis."

"New here?" President Lewis folded his hands behind his back, "And you are...?"

"I’m President Crawford’s intern assistant," Steven replied confidently, "If you need something, I can inform President Crawford for you."

Upon hearing the name Crawford, President Lewis immediately understood this was probably another spoiled relative of the Crawford Family who got in through connections—it really was a bunch of freeloaders! But he maintained a facade, bringing the hands hidden behind his back to the front, holding a box of chocolates which Steven noticed.

"Our department colleagues prepared this, saying I should personally deliver it to express honesty and congratulate the new president on their appointment."

Steven frowned at the exquisitely wrapped box of chocolates that President Lewis offered, and after a moment, he accepted it.

Not only did he accept it, but after President Lewis left, he knocked on the door and handed it to Iris.

Iris opened the box to find that inside, besides chocolates, was a thick layer of cash underneath...

She looked up at Steven, who stood with his back to her at the door. Iris cleared her throat, "Who gave this to you?"

"President Lewis." Steven Rhodes thought for a moment and replied, "The general manager of the department under you."

Iris Crawford wasn’t a fool; she naturally understood what this meant. However, she didn’t say she’d return it. She simply placed the gift box aside, tore open a chocolate, and popped it into her mouth, her gaze gradually deepening.

That evening, a rumor spread through the company without any prompting.

It was said that the newly arrived President Crawford had started accepting bribes just as she took office.

"Is it true?"

"It’s true, I snuck a peek. A colleague in the department was stuffing money into the box! That box wasn’t even sent back."

"Boldly accepting bribes... shouldn’t we report this to the company?"

A crowd stormed into Orion Crawford’s office, each speaking with conviction as if they had all witnessed the event firsthand. But upon entering, they saw Iris Crawford standing in Orion Crawford’s office, sitting there with her legs crossed, as if she had been waiting for them to make a fuss.

The group, led by President Lewis, was stunned.

They were here to report Iris Crawford for bribery. How could it be that Iris was one step ahead of them?

"What are you here for?" Iris Crawford stood with the posture of a female CEO, dressed in a business suit, exuding an air of wealth and poise. Her hair was pinned up, revealing a neat and trimmed neck, embodying efficiency and decisiveness. "So many of you, planning to resign together?"

Orion Crawford sat in the center, merely casting a casual glance at them, yet making others unable to act recklessly.

Clearing his throat, President Lewis stepped forward, "Well, we heard that someone... someone reported that the new president was taking bribes..."

Iris Crawford pointed to the box on Orion Crawford’s desk, filled with several thick stacks of cash, "Are you talking about this?"

President Lewis was startled, not expecting Iris to directly bring this to Orion Crawford. Initially, he intended to turn the tables, but Iris moved faster, potentially exonerating herself!

So, he averted his gaze, "I... I’m not aware of the specifics of the bribery, so when you mention this box, I’m not sure."

"This box was brought to me by Steven Rhodes, saying it was a gift from you." Iris clapped her hands, "I never expected it to be full of money when opened."

This method of probing was too rudimentary, she knew very well that if she accepted it, it would be spread around that she was taking bribes. It was all a setup, a trap for Iris to step into.

Such outdated tricks; Iris turned around and reported the cash-filled gift box to higher-ups. Even if they wanted to accuse Iris of taking bribes, Iris could still clear her name.

"Resorting to such tactics, no wonder you never made it to the president’s position."

Iris took the cash out of the box and threw it directly at President Lewis’s face, "I understand your bitterness over losing your position, but using this method to drag me down, you’ve truly lost your mind!"

President Lewis’s face turned pale, "It wasn’t me... I... I sent someone to buy this. I didn’t know it was full of money! Besides, if it was filled with money, you accepted it, so us reporting you for bribery isn’t wrong."

"Accept? I accepted it just waiting for you to come to my door!" Iris squinted and sneered, leveraging the situation to see what tricks these people were up to behind the scenes. Now, with Orion Crawford watching, this stack of cash dramatically falling to the ground was particularly ironic.

The open and secret struggles escalated to such an unbearable scene; now President Lewis was in a dilemma, thinking about finding a scapegoat, yet Iris stepped right on the cash, her gaze cold and more piercing than Orion Crawford’s, "Not focusing on working properly in the company, always thinking of such low tactics, it would embarrass our company if spread out!"

With this, the crowd, who initially planned to join forces to report Iris and see her in trouble, changed their expressions, some immediately turning the gun on themselves, saying, "Yeah! Initially, you didn’t like the new president and wanted to teach her a lesson!"

Society is such a treacherous place where people can betray anyone without hesitation.

Iris turned away expressionlessly, speaking to Orion Crawford, "Brother, I’ll leave this to you. I’m here just to prove my innocence because I knew someone would be uneasy and report me. I accepted it just to see who was lurking in the shadows. Now that President Lewis exposed himself, I now know his animosity towards me. Steven Rhodes, let’s go."

After saying this, Iris left, bumping hard into President Lewis’s shoulder as she passed by, lowering her voice with eyes coldly glinting, "I’ve investigated people in your department; you’re capable. Using such a method is despicable, cutting off your prospects, truly foolish. Don’t let me find out a second time."

President Lewis trembled violently, unable to think of anything to say before Iris had already gone.

This woman... He set a trap for her, and she still acknowledged his ability?

President Lewis’s expression changed repeatedly until the sound of a door slamming was heard, and Iris’s high heels clicked away into the distance.

She led Steven Rhodes to the break room, pretending to want a rest, and seized the opportunity when Steven wasn’t paying attention, pulling his tie to drag him into the break room.

With the door locked, before Steven could recover, the woman was already in front of him, pinning him against the wall.

However, facing her eyes, the icy gaze of Iris made Steven shiver.

She couldn’t possibly...

"Steven Rhodes." Iris spoke, the few words making him clench his fingers tightly, "How much did he pay you to do this? To hand that bribe gift box to me?"

Steven gritted his teeth, "Iris, what do you mean..."

"Don’t you think, I don’t know who you are?" Iris didn’t loosen her grip on his collar, "I’ve known since the moment I saw you."

Steven’s fair face was filled with shock!

After a long pause, the young man’s eyes filled with hatred, surprisingly beautiful in its intensity on his face, he said through gritted teeth, "If you knew, why keep me by your side?!"

"Because you’re capable." Iris’s voice remained unchanged, "I just wanted to give you a chance. Even if you deceive me, even if you hate me."

She had known who he was all along...

Steven’s heart trembled, his voice shaking, "Stop with the empty words!"