Chapter 32
Chapter 32
"I like it. Help me put it on." Arthur didn't even spare the tie a glance. His focus was solely on Lucy, scrutinizing any change in her expression.
Lizbeth's eyes lit up, and she blushed. "Okay, I'll help you put it on!"
That was the first time Arthur had said he liked her gift!
She walked behind the desk carefully and stooped to help Arthur put on the blue checkered necktie.
That was the first time she ever got so close to Arthur, so close that she could see the pores on his face. She was so nervous that she almost stopped breathing!
Lucy glanced at the tie and smiled mockingly.
Arthur obviously liked solid colors only, but he had said he liked the checkered tie. It seemed like the person he loved got special treatment!
Watching them was too painful, so she stepped back and turned around to look out of the window.
If it wasn't because she had something to ask of Arthur, she would have left right away!
Seeing how indifferent she was, Arthur's chest felt heavy, and the tie around his neck was making it hard to breathe.
He took off the tie and flung it onto the desk. "I have things to discuss with Lucy. Lizbeth, leave us!"
"...Huh?" At the sudden buzzkill, Lizbeth couldn't believe her ears.
But Arthur hated Lucy so much. What did he have to discuss with her alone?
Arthur put a hand to his forehead and repeated impatiently, "Leave us for now."
"Oh—" Lizbeth glared at Lucy furiously and stalked out reluctantly on her high heels.
She had finally gotten close to Arthur, but that b*tch, Lucy, had to ruin their intimacy!
Actually, Lucy didn't want to stay there at all and Lizbeth's perfume was choking her. "Arthur, just tell me directly. What can I do to make you let the Pate Group off the hook?"
"Do you really care about Maddox that much?" Arthur was green with envy. Maddox wasn't as handsome as he was, nor as rich as he was, nor as tall as he was. Lucy must have gone blind!
Lucy didn't say anything, but her firm gaze reflected her resolution.
"What a lucky guy Maddox is!" For the first time in his life, Arthur was jealous of another man. "Sign it!"
He took out a document he had prepared way earlier and flung it down in front of her.
Lucy picked up the document and scanned through it. The gist of it was mostly to reconcile with Arthur and obey him.
It was a totally unfair agreement!
Her gaze was lowered and her hand which was holding the document was trembling. She had lived a free and happy life for five years. Did she really have to relive her past nightmare?
However, Maddox was innocent, and the Pate Group should not have to suffer!
"I'll give you half a day to consider it. Give me your answer by midnight." Seeing her conflicted expression, Arthur started to feel scared... scared that she would turn him down.
After that, he headed outside, but when he reached the door, he remembered that it was his territory.
"Get out!" His voice was cold and stiff as he tried to hide his anxiety.
With a heavy heart, Lucy didn't notice his unusual behavior at all. She said okay and walked outside at once, for fear that she would regret it in the next second.
Watching her flee, Arthur felt as though his heart was being ripped apart. It hurt so badly that he couldn't breathe. © 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.
He had always lied to himself that she still loved him and cared about him, but in reality, she didn't even want to spend another second with him!
Buzz—
His phone vibrated.
It was a text from Chad.
"Arthur, have you won Lucy over? I helped you so much, so don't you think you should reward me? It doesn't have to be too grand. I just want that bottle of wine in your collection. I'm not greedy!"
With a stormy look, Arthur typed a reply.
"Okay, wait for me."
Two hours later, in the Taekwondo club.
"Stop, stop, stop, I admit defeat!"
"Ouch! Arthur, let go! It f*cking hurts!"
"Arthur, Mr. Johnson, you're murdering your buddy... Ouch!"
After being abused one-sidedly for two hours, Chad lay on the ground and couldn't even get up.
His handsome face was unscathed, but his body was filled with bruises. It hurt even to look!
Arthur looked down at him and said coldly, "Get up!"
"I can't get up!" Chad rolled aside and buried his head in his hands. "Arthur, I gave you such a great idea and contributed so much. You can't beat me up like this!"
The moment he finished his sentence, Arthur executed a perfect shoulder throw and flung Chad to the ground——but this time, with him landing face-first.
Chad wished he was dead.
What had he done to provoke Arthur?!
Was he the one to blame if his idea didn't work? … Well, maybe a little.
"Sir, wipe your sweat and drink some water." Arthur's assistant, Max, handed Arthur a white towel and a bottle of mineral water.
Arthur wiped his sweat, hung the towel over his neck, and twisted the cap off the bottle. He downed half of it.
Chad swallowed and whined, "Arthur, I want some water too! I'm thirsty!"
"Thirsty?" Arthur raised his eyebrows with the bottle in hand. As Chad was nodding enthusiastically, he tossed it into the trashcan. "Too bad, there's no more!"
None of Chad's stupid ideas worked!
Chad was speechless.
In the end, the Taekwondo club's staff couldn't bear to see their boss in such a pitiful state, so they handed him a bottle of water.
However, Chad was acting up that day. "I don't want your water, I only want Arthur's! Arthur, I'm so thirsty. Your best buddy Chad is about to die from thirst!"
While saying that, he rolled around on the floor and coincidentally stopped at Arthur's feet.
Arthur kicked him away in disgust and sat down on the chair that had been readied for him long ago.
The staff were speechless.
They thought, "Boss, even if you die of thirst, it's your own doing! For real!"
Seeing that Arthur was ignoring him for real and didn't care if he really died of thirst, Chad finally got up and accepted the bottle of water from his staff. He took a few gulps.
"My phone." Arthur forced himself not to think about Lucy, but the more he forced himself not to, the more he thought about her. He hated himself for being so lame, but he really couldn't control himself.
Max handed Arthur's phone to him respectfully.
"Arthur." Chad approached him warily with a smile. "You already beat me up and scolded me, so you're not angry anymore, are you?"
He looked...weirdly handsome with that frigid look! Chad felt jealous!
Arthur snorted and pushed his face away. "Do you want to spar again?"
"No!" Chad backed off quickly and looked at him warily. He didn't want to get beaten up again!
Arthur didn't want to bother about him at all. His gaze was fixed on his phone, awaiting Lucy's reply.
At not receiving her call, he couldn't help but go through all his social media inboxes to see if she had replied somewhere else.
However, she hadn't!