"George…" Holley darted an embarrassed glance at Charles. She felt her unease sticking around. She knew that she had caused some trouble, and George carrying on like that wouldn't go well. She didn't want Charles to talk about it. Pulling one of George's sleeves, she murmured, "George, stop it. Let's go."
Though she kept her voice low, Charles still heard all of it. He had no intention of letting Holley leave. She still owed him. "Go?" His tone was full of derision. "We still have things to discuss. I can't let you go just yet."
As Charles wouldn't let her go, she again attempted to convince him to let her leave, so that George wouldn't get wind of what she had done. "Mr. Lu, I've said everything I wanted to say. Keeping this going is a giant waste of time. Go home and console your cute wife. Bet she misses you a lot."
"Honey, what's going on here?" George asked with a frown on his face. He was so concerned about his beloved Holley that even if Charles stopped, he'd still make sure she wasn't bullied and all the facts would come out.
All he could tell was that Charles was mad at Holley, but he didn't know why.
"George, just pipe down. Tell you when we're back home." Holley tried to persuade this insistent man to give it up. She didn't really care about how Sheryl was now, or whether Charles would forgive her. All she wanted right now was to leave this place.
"No," Charles jeered, "I think Mr. Han would be very interested in what was going on. It's not a small thing. Go on, tell him.
Tell him how Chuck beat you. You can't just let him go like that." Charles tried to trigger George's curiosity—and his anger.
With George around, Charles knew she wouldn't be able to just run off so easily. He was determined to reveal everything to George, so that he would understand that the person behind all the trouble was his beloved wife, not Charles. Holley crossed the line. He had to let George know that if anything like that ever happened again, no one would be be able to save her, not George, not anyone else.
"Can someone tell me what's actually going on?" With growing impatience, George continued, "I need to know. What happened? Tell me."
"Stop asking," Holley cut him off. She was hesitant to unveil the truth. How could she tell the man who loved her so much that she had hired Charles' wife as a call girl for Chuck to enjoy without telling him who Sheryl actually was?
"Why? What are you hiding?" There was still no answer from Holley. Obviously angry, George continued to press her, "I'm on your side. But I can't defend you if I don't know what he's talking about."
"I…" Holley forced a bitter smile on her face, and accepted her fate.
"Since Miss Ye won't tell you, allow me," Charles offered. Objectively, impassively, Charles described the entire event to the man who was dying to know what had happened, without adding or hiding anything to his favor. At last, Charles posed the question to George, "Mr. Han, if you were me, what would you do? I'm asking you."
"Is this true?" George started to believe Charles' words, but still, turned to his love to make sure this wasn't a lie.
Holley, however, just lowered her head to avoid eye contact. With her silence, she already told George everything he needed to know.
Taking a deep breath, he now felt embarrassed for having confonted Charles like that.
If he were Charles, he would have gone much further than the wronged man before him—maybe even kill her.
But now… All he could do was apologize.
Suppressing his temper that roared inside him, he turned humble and made his sincere apology. "Mr. Lu, I'm so sorry for the misunderstanding, but I think this was accidental. I don't think she meant to hurt your wife. She's not that cruel..."
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