“Speak of the devil! The simpleton is here!” Florence had barely finished her sentence when a group of three came in through the doors of Saffron Restaurant. It was none other than Dustin, Dahlia, and Julie.
“Terrence Stone!” Julie’s eyes swept the place once she entered. She quickly spotted Terrence in the private room and stormed over angrily.
“Julie, hear me out!” Terrence was just about to explain himself with an awkward smile on his face when, without any prior warning, Julie slapped him across the face. Caught off guard, he cupped his cheek with his hand, unable to react.
“Why are you being so aggressive, Julie?” Victoria reprimanded her immediately.
“Why are you defending him, Mom? Did he not deserve that?” Beside herself with anger, Julie saw nothing wrong with her actions. He deserved that slap very much for cheating her money and taking advantage of her feelings for him.
“You’re mistaken! Terrence isn’t a swindler!” Victoria swiftly pulled Julie aside.
“He’s not a swindler? Well, if he isn’t a swindler, are you implying that I’m the liar? Has something gotten into you, Mom? Why are you defending him? Julie’s fury was unabated.
“Don’t jump to conclusions. Listen to me, I’ll tell you everything…” Without any room for hesitation, Victoria explained to Julie in detail everything that Terrence had told them earlier. She made the whole thing sound so reasonable and made Terrence out to be the most considerate person, convincing Julie with her genuine and sincere words. When paired with Terrence’s miserable expression, Julie could not help but be convinced.
“What? So Terrence is innocent? I was wrong in hitting him, then?” Julie was convinced by the story that Victoria told her and quickly realized that she was wrong.
“Exactly! You acted too impulsively. Quick, apologize to Terrence!” Victoria instructed her.
“I’m sorry, Terrence; I didn’t mean to do that. Does it still hurt? Here, I’ll rub the pain away.” Julie’s attitude took a 180–degree turn, and she apologized gently.
“Don’t worry about it. I was the one who did not tell you the full story, that’s why you thought I
was a swindler.” Terrence forced a smile.
“You should have told me earlier how things were We can always face problems together. It hurts
me to see you in such turmoil,” Julie said emotionally as she clasped Terrence’s hand in her own.
Dustin was left speechless when he saw how lovey–dovey they were acting. Were these people dimwits? How could they be fooled by Terrence with just a few words? Too ashamed to meet them? Went around borrowing money from others just to pay them back? How could anyone buy such garbage?
Dustin thought, “No wonder they were swindled.”
How else would Terrence be able to trick them if it weren’t for them being such foolish people? At the thought of that, Dustin took a glance at Dahlia beside him and noticed that she had a doubtful and wary expression. It seemed like she did not believe a single word Terrence said.
1/2
“Alright, alright. Now that we have got everything straight, we’re all still family,” Victoria said. Joyfully. She was pleased with Terrence as a person. He was a promising young man who was very considerate. She deemed him a good catch for her daughter.
“Ah, right. Terrence suddenly turned to Dustin. “Dustin, I heard from Victoria that they sold the abandoned construction site to you. Is that true?”
“It is What about it?” Dustin did nothing to hide the fact that he’d bought the land.
“That’s great.” Terrence heaved a sigh of relief. Then, with a smile on his face, he said, “I don’t like taking advantage of others. Since I was the one who brought this problem upon all of you, I can’t continue to let you bear the loss. I’ll purchase the piece of land from you at the original price that you bought it for.”
“You’ll purchase it?” Julie’s face fell when she heard that. In a hushed tone, she whispered, ” Terrence, have you lost your mind? It wasn’t easy selling off that trashy piece of land! Why are you even buying it back? Why would you bring such loss upon yourself?”
“You shouldn’t say that, Julie!” Terrence put on a righteous facade. “Dustin is my friend. Since something as bad as this has happened, we cannot take advantage of him! We must be righteous and hold fast to our principles!”
“But-” Julie was about to retort, but Terrence waved her off. “Say no more. A real man must stand up for his actions. We should not lose our principles just for a little benefit!”
With Terrence’s little righteous speech, almost everyone looked at him with admiration. Especially Julie, who looked at him like he had a halo over his head.
