Chapter 829

Debra had returned in a hurry, unaware of the rumors. Michael glanced at Ben and said, “Debra just got back. Let her settle in and get familiar with recent business. We’ll handle everything else later.”

Ben nodded. “Madam, there are too many eyes around here. Let’s head upstairs first.”

Debra noticed the nervous glances from the employees. Without saying anything, she followed Michael and Ben up to the office.

The moment Debra stepped inside, her eyes landed on the massive pile of paperwork stacked on her desk. She gasped, “Geeze! I’m sorry for putting you into this, Michael.”

Michael brushed it off, “No big deal, just a few simple contracts. All I had to do was sign.”

While he busied himself organizing the files, Debra turned to Ben. “Why are people avoiding me? What’s going on?”

Ben hesitated. “It’s about you and Mr. Andrew Potter.”

Debra was baffled. “What about us?”

Michael handed her a newspaper. Printed on the front page was a picture of her and Andrew entering the Potter Mansion together. It was from yesterday morning, meaning the story had broken just a day ago.

Debra scowled, wondering which tabloid covered the story like this. Michael explained, “Now everyone’s talking about you being a fickle woman. They think you ditched Marion for Andrew, and even that your divorce from Juan was because you had already found a new backer in Marion.”

Ben chimed in, “These are just baseless rumors from tabloid reporters. Mr. Andrew Potter had the papers pulled yesterday. Don’t worry, it won’t hurt your reputation.”

“My reputation couldn’t get any worse at this point,” Debra sighed, putting the paper down. “Did you find out which paper ran this story?”

Ben thought for a moment. “It seems to be from a relatively new agency in the eastern part of the city. It’s a startup, but they’ve been breaking a lot of scandals recently.”

“New Age?” Debra paused, thinking back. In her previous life, the news agency had gained popularity around this time. In an era dominated by new media, few people still read physical newspapers. New Age stood out by publishing big scoops. They had both an online and offline presence. Whenever their online news went viral, they would print special editions, promoting their collectible value. Even young people, who typically avoided newspapers, were hooked, and it became a trending sensation in no time.

Michael saw her smile. “You’ve been slandered, and you’re happy about it?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Debra shrugged. “Even the biggest news agency here couldn’t boost their sales like New Age has. I bet someone clever is pulling the strings behind the scenes.”

Michael and Ben exchanged confused glances. Any clever person would pick something other than a newspaper to make money.

Debra handed the paper to Michael and said, “I want to meet its owner. Set it up for me.”

Michael took it and laughed, “Come on, you’re the newly reinstated GM of the McKinney Group, even if you’re keeping a low profile. Is meeting such a small fry really…”