Realizing his blunder, he quickly turned the tables on Autumn, using his skills as an actor. "It's you who have been lying! You never mentioned you were married when we got together. Shame on you!" he declared, glaring at the woman with an added effect. Turning to Charles, he added, "Married women tend to seduce men. You'll be better off distancing yourself from women like her, or you'll end up being cuckolded."
Shocked, Autumn burst out, "Stop talking such nonsense!"
She could feel her face heating up. Autumn was horrified that a man she hardly knew could say such cruel things about her.
She struggled for composure, feeling uncomfortable.
"I don't know you at all, " she told Roger. "How could you say those things about me?"
Trying to defend herself, she then turned to Charles to plead for understanding.
However, she was totally unaware that Charles had witnessed the entire encounter between them without being noticed. This gave him a pretty good idea about Autumn and Roger's real relation.
"Women are flirtatious. I was 'Honey' when we were in bed. But the moment the affair is found out, she's quick to disassociate herself from me!" Roger said as he proceeded to further embarrass Autumn, noting her discomfort. Turning to Charles, he tried to explain, "Bro, I really didn't know she was married. If I did, I would never have hooked up with her!" Then he added, "Let me give you a piece of advice if you want to avoid another scandal in the future... divorce her."
"Damn you! I'm going to kill you!" Autumn shrieked.
She wanted to get her hands on Roger just to teach the jackass a lesson. But Charles quickly kept her from lunging at the insensitive man.
Instead, he hugged Autumn tight and gently said, "Calm down. You don't want to rise to his bait."
"I don't care, " she sputtered. "I really want to get my hands on him."
A good reputation is crucial to a woman's social life. What Roger did and said was not only cruel, but truly disgraceful.
Charles felt slightly awkward with Autumn's outburst. "Don't worry. I'm on your side, " he said, holding her tighter as he tried to comfort her.
Autumn might have considered herself fortunate to have married a man like Charles who was willing to protect her. She may have even believed that he was willing to help her deal with unpleasant situations, such as this one involving Roger.
But she chose to ignore Charles' comforting gestures and pushed him away. She looked at him with a cold smile and said, "You? You weren't by my side when I needed you the most!"
Still fuming, she spat, "Now you're saying you're on my side? Does that make any sense?"
Last night's dream had left Autumn distraught. And since her emotional turmoil was far from being resolved, she could not bring herself to be comforted by Charles, despite his ministrations.
"Autumn…" Charles moved to touch her.
He frowned slightly when she remained quiet. "I know you're angry with me. Let's just go home and talk about it, okay?"
She quickly answered, "There's no need to talk about it."
With a sad smile, Autumn said, "I don't think we have much to say to each other anyway. Besides, I'm busy."
Roger, who quietly stood in the sidelines, thought it was the perfect time to make his exit without being noticed by the fighting couple. But just as he was leaving, Director Zhang passed by. When he saw Roger, he pointed at the actor and blurted, "You!
What are you doing here? Your scene is next. Hurry up!"
Relieved at being able to escape, he answered quickly, "Okay, okay. I'm going."
Just as he thought he was free, Charles barked, "Stop! Where do you think you're going?"
Director Zhang heard Charles and turned around. He recognized Charles and the man's expression unnerved him, so he hurriedly walked up to him. "Ah, Mr. Lu!" he said trying to mask his nerves. "It's been a while since we saw each other. How are you?"
The director smiled slightly, adding, "How are things going with you?"
He considered Charles his God of Wealth and tried his best to please the man and avoid offending him.
Director Zhang held Charles in such high regard; he never dared say no to the man.
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