Josephine hadn’t accepted even one gift that Luke gave her throughout the time he pursued her, and neither did she ever give any suggestive remarks. Luke had been one-sidedly pursuing her all this while.
“Although Josephine and I have only known each other for a few days, my love for her is no less than yours. You should back off!” Ethan warned Luke.
“Why should I?” Luke immediately blew his top. He was still reluctant to give up on Josephine and her grandfather’s connections. He couldn’t just let go, considering how his company needed those connections to build up its network.
This happened to be something about Luke that Ethan had seen through. “It seems to me you’re not in love with Josephine. You have your eyes on her grandfather’s authority and connections, huh? Someone like you does not deserve to love Josephine.”
Luke was completely triggered by Ethan’s words. He suddenly roared, “Ethan Quarles, this is my territory. You’d better not mess with me, or I will make life a living hell for you!”
Josephine was taken aback by how Luke suddenly threatened Ethan, and she quickly tried to persuade Luke to calm down. “How am I supposed to stay calm? I’ve been pursuing you for a year, and now someone else got in the way and took you away from me! Do look like a pushover?!” I need to teach him a lesson! he thought.
Seeing how agitated Luke was, Josephine took a deep breath and insisted, “Luke, it doesn’t matter who came first. I was the one who fell for Ethan and actively pursued him. It has nothing to do with him.”
Josephine’s words seemed to have stabbed Luke right where it hurt. It felt like he had lost his sanity at this very moment as his dignity as a man was trampled on. No matter what, he knew he needed to vent his anger toward Ethan. His fists were already clenched as he stared at Josephine with an unwilling gaze. “Josephine, do you really like him that much?”
It was obvious that Luke had lost his temper after being embarrassed. He was also no longer patient or polite toward Josephine. She firmly answered him, “Yes, I love him.”
Suddenly, Josephine was roughly shoved by Luke, whose clenched fist was already swinging at Ethan’s face. When he raised his fist, Josephine, who had been pushed aside, almost instinctively pushed back. Luke couldn’t stop his punch in time.
Bam! The fist socked Josephine straight on the cheek, hurting her so badly that she fell back into Ethan’s arms. Ethan wanted to protect Josephine, but his hand was a second too late. As he tightly hugged the woman, he sent Luke flying when he kicked out with his long leg. However, the corner of Josephine’s mouth was already torn. as it started bleeding as she lay against his chest.
Josephine!” Ethan’s heart was broken as he called out to her. He wanted nothing more than to punch himself across the face when he saw the blood trickle from her mouth.
Meanwhile, Luke got up and started panicking. He didn’t expect to hit Josephine in the face. He finally came back to his senses when he saw the pale woman drenched in cold sweat, leaning against Ethan’s chest with blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. “Joey, I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”
He tried to approach her, only to hear the other man angrily yell at him. “F*ck off! Stay away from her!” Ethan’s gaze shot at Luke like a sharp knife, and he protected Josephine in his arms with his torso so that Luke wouldn’t hurt her anymore. Josephine’s cheek hurt so badly that she couldn’t speak, but still, she uttered in a hoarse voice, “Let’s go.”
“Josephine, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to do that. I wasn’t trying to hit you.” Luke finally realized that he and Josephine couldn’t even be friends after his punch.
She glanced back at him. “Luke, I know you didn’t hit me on purpose. I willingly took the punch on his behalf.” Ethan’s eyes narrowed when he heard that.
“Don’t ever do something so stupid again,” he grunted as he held her close. His heart ached for her. Josephine tried to put on a smile, but the movement tugged on her injury, making her hiss in pain.
“Alright, stop talking. I’ll take you to the hospital.” Ethan helped her out of the private room after saying that. Luke was left to blame himself. He truly did love Josephine, but he no longer had the right to seek her hand.
