“That won’t be necessary, considering that there’s nothing else to say between us.” Myra wiped her face with her sleeve. The sight of Lyla and Sean being all lovey-dovey was a sore sight for eyes.
Somewhere near them, a waiter opened the door to the cafeteria, while the manager greeted the four people who came through flatteringly, “Allow me to offer my sincerest of greetings, Mr. Hart, Mr. Windrow, Mr. Renaud, and Mr. Samson. What brings you?”
The four men before him represented the four most prestigious families in Bradfort City. Having worked his way up to his position as manager, the man knew who they were, which was why he wanted to make sure he didn’t cross them by offering his best services.
The four men were none other than Tony Hart and his friends. As soon as they entered the cafeteria, their handsome looks and extraordinary temperament garnered the attention of all the customers. Given their graceful movements, it wasn’t hard to surmise that they were of noble birth. However, aside from one man who seemed to be more easygoing, the rest of them wore a look of indifference, so nobody dared approach them. Instead, they were all left admiring them from afar.
Elliot was in a good mood, seeing that Tony offered to buy them some coffee. He waved his hand at the waiter who approached them. “You can safely ignore us and resume your respective tasks. We’re merely dropping by to have a cup of coffee.”
“No problem at all. Allow us to show you to the best room.” The manager was all smiles.
“That won’t be necessary,” the man in the lead said casually. He was in a suit and leather shoes, his appearance marking him as one of the elites in society. With a morose look on his face, he told the manager after glancing at a certain spot in the cafeteria, “We’ll sit in a corner at the public space.”
The rest of his friends were startled by his decision. “Tony, we never sat in open spaces like this…” Elliot reminded him. None of them understood why he would choose to sit there when he decided to buy them coffee. With all the women around them, sitting in the public meant that they would be the center of attention. But as soon as Tony glanced at him, Elliot shuddered before scrambling to pull out a chair and sat down on it. However, he let out a cry of surprise when he just sat down.
“What’s the matter?” Philip asked. Elliot quickly averted his gaze while trying to stop the rest of them from looking, but it was too late. All three of them glanced in the direction that Elliot was looking at, only to see Myra, who had been close to Tony as of late, standing by the bamboos. However, she seemed to be in some sort of trouble, for her face was as pale as paper, her slim figure and expression betraying how uncomfortable and painful she was feeling. Meanwhile, standing across from her were two other people.
All four of them knew who Myra was, so they recognized the man in front of her, who was currently holding onto another woman, as her husband, the president of Chase Group.
Judging from the situation…
Philip and Lucas exchanged a glance, suddenly understanding the reason that Tony requested to make a stop at the tiny cafeteria.
“Ahem! Tony, I know you like Turkish coffee, so why don’t we have the waiter serve that?” Elliot feared that Tony might just step in to interfere, but everybody knew it wasn’t the appropriate time to do so. Although he tried his best to get his friend’s attention, it didn’t seem to be working. Meanwhile, Tony was still staring in Myra’s direction with a calm gaze that betrayed a hint of menace.
“I… I didn’t even tell you that Myra was the one who slapped me.” Lyla began tugging on Sean after a brief pause. “Sean, you shouldn’t be blaming her. We were just horsing around.” Her body was still trembling with what Sean perceived as fear toward Myra. Lifting her head, she looked him in the eye. At the same time, she was biting so hard on her delicate lip that she nearly drew blood. “Sean, it’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have come to meet with Myra, so let’s go! No, not us, but me. I’ll go. Y-You can stay here with Myra…” With that, she tried to pry herself away from Sean, her frail physique nearly toppling over from the exertion.
“Enough!” Sean pulled her closer than ever while making sure that she had her back to Myra. With a morose look that showcased his hatred toward Myra, he spat, “Myra, I won’t look into what happened just now, so you’d better get the f*ck out of here before I change my mind!”
Upon hearing that, Myra shuddered. Did he just swear at me? So this is how different Lyla and I are to him. While observing Lyla, she couldn’t help but let out a chuckle before speaking up in a melancholic tone. “You never believed in me, so I wonder why I am naive enough to think that you might, for once, do just that.”
While glancing at Lyla, she shook her head with a wistful smile on her face. “I don’t even know what I have done to incite in you such hatred toward me! But Sean Chase, I had been nothing but supportive when you were at your lowest, so why won’t you trust me, even if it’s just this once? Back then, I even met up with Lyla!” She pointed at the woman who was trembling in his arms. “I wanted to persuade her to stay for your sake, but she didn’t want to because you were in such abject poverty! Instead, she found herself a rich man! I was the one who was willing to stand by you! Yet, you’re now willing to chase me away for her sake, and over those tricks that she pulled!” Myra wanted to laugh, which she did, but her broken laughter was absolutely horrendous.
On the other hand, Lyla was weeping with even more sorrow. “Myra, I know you love Sean, so I am not to criticize you by deploying such tactics to keep him. However, nobody said I was unwilling to stay by him when he was in poverty! I never thought of leaving him behind, and I always planned on coming back to him! If it wasn’t for you and Mrs. Chase, you—” Lyla’s body froze before she shut her mouth. All of a sudden, she began tugging on Sean’s sleeve with a look of sorrow on her face. “Sean, I did leave you back then. No matter my circumstances, I left you, so I deserve this. I won’t shirk my responsibility. If you wish to be with Myra, I… I… I will give you my blessings…”
With that, she tried to pry herself away from him, but he pulled her even closer. “Just leave me alone, Sean. My reputation is tarnished anyway…” Once again, she was trembling. “I should leave Bradfort City. I should never have returned in the first place…”
Lyla’s acting was so flawless that not even Myra could criticize.
“As I said, get the f*ck out of my sight!” While still holding onto Lyla tightly, Sean whipped his head around. His face contorted with anger when he looked at the photos that were scattered all over the floor. Then, he looked at Myra with a deadly stare. “Myra, how dare you assault Lyla! You are a cruel woman who betrayed me with your duplicity!” He wore a cold and ruthless expression on his face.
“Sean, calm down…” Lyla was sobbing in his arms while trying to placate him by caressing his chest.
Meanwhile, Myra was staring with misted eyes at their unpretentious sweet interaction in bafflement. I might have made a mistake after all. I shouldn’t have married a man who never loved me! I shouldn’t have assumed that he might fall for me! She was trembling so violently that she could topple over any moment, but she forced herself to plant her feet in the ground.
