Chapter 127: Chapter 127

Seeing her, the two male guests looked her up and down, a hint of amazement in their eyes, "Since you’re the owner of this shop, alright, tell us how you plan to compensate?"

The male guest speaking pointed to the white lotion on his black short-sleeve shirt.

"Lucy, don’t talk too much to that shameless guy, he’s here to cause trouble. Mary was washing his hair, and he still groped her."

"Groped? What are you saying, my scalp was itchy, she couldn’t find the spot, shouldn’t I use my head to point it out to her?"

Upon hearing this, Lucy walked straight to the bar counter, pulled up the surveillance footage, and zoomed in to take a look.

After watching the footage, she walked up to the man coldly and said, "Apologize to my employee."

"Apologize, my ass," the man said arrogantly, "Your shop should apologize to me."

"James, you’re right, he’s indeed causing trouble." Lucy said to Robert, "Hit him, and keep hitting until he apologizes."

With her words, Robert had no more reservations.

The two men couldn’t stand up against one Robert.

Eventually, they reported themselves as the victims to the police.

But the police didn’t arrest Robert and Lucy, instead, they arrested the two men for causing a disturbance.

Mary went to the police station, gave her statement, and received an apology from them.

Returning to the shop, she went to the bar counter and said to Lucy, "Lucy, I’m sorry for causing trouble at the shop."

Lucy was surprised, "How is it causing trouble? It’s right to defend your proper rights. Let’s go upstairs for dinner."

She nodded and went upstairs.

In the third-floor kitchen, only James Foster was there.

"Thank me for what, I didn’t do anything." James replied without even lifting his head.

"Thank you for supporting me."

"I’d do the same for anyone, it’s no big deal, how can our employees be bullied in our shop?" James’s tone was casual and relaxed.

She served him a bowl of soup, "Lucy is really a good boss, I’ve worked many jobs before, never seen a boss as easygoing as her."

"She’s naturally good, I’ve known her for twenty years, do I need you to tell me that?"

Hearing this, Mary wasn’t upset, she sat down, picked up her chopsticks, and started eating.

"Do you still dislike me?"

To her, James actually had quite a bit of resentment.

Though she had her reasons for deceiving him, that behavior made him resentful, plus, if that night Lucy hadn’t met Jacob Green, we wouldn’t have the happy ending now; he always felt guilty because he was implicated while delivering clothes, losing his dignity—a debt he could never repay.

Moreover, Lucy was like family to him.

So towards Mary, James couldn’t treat her like an ordinary employee, at least not with a friendly attitude.

Never mind having any thoughts about this girl, no, James felt completely indifferent towards her in any romantic sense.

"Don’t dislike, don’t like, just indifferent."

This answer made Mary feel a bit uncomfortable inside, she knew she brought it upon herself, but still couldn’t help feeling a bit lost.

The two ceased their conversation.

After eating, James washed his dishes and then left the kitchen.

Upon coming downstairs, he saw Lucy checking accounts, he walked up and hugged her shoulder, "Why? Won’t your family let you have dinner at home?"

"My legs are mine, what can he do if he disagrees?"

James chuckled, tilted his head to observe her intently, "Did you have a fight?" ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ novel⸺fire.net

"You definitely had a fight."

"I said we didn’t," Lucy remained expressionless.

"Who knows you better than I do?" James’s voice lowered, "Don’t try to hide it from me, what happened exactly?"

Lucy finally raised her eyes to look at him, "Want to know?"

Lucy also wanted someone to talk to, so she went to the private room with James, chatting over tea.

After briefly explaining the situation, James was surprised, "Charles is actually interested in you? Even knowing you’re married?"

"Yes, though I know Jacob likely figured it out, I don’t want to explain it to him in detail, knowing his temperament—even if explained at that time—the thorn remains, he’ll surely refuse to let me meet Charles again, but to be honest, Charles is very gentlemanly and someone I think could be a friend; moreover he’s about to get married soon, no reason to break ties because of this."

"Hard for him not to overthink, but are you planning to let him stay uneasy over this?"

"Since he thinks I’m treating Charles as a backup, let him think what he will, if I truly considered Charles a backup, I certainly wouldn’t have said what I did during the meal."

"What would you say then?"

Lucy drank a sip of tea, "Charles, you are a charming man, but unfortunately, I’m already married. Though you say you can wait for me, how can I let you wait? If only you declared your feelings earlier, maybe I would have chosen you."

As soon as she said that, they heard Robert’s voice from outside, "Why not go in? Lucy is inside."

Lucy and James exchanged a glance, both rose to open the door, seeing Jacob’s fleeting shadow.

Robert was puzzled, "Why did he leave right after arriving?"

"This is bad." James felt like dying, "Did he hear the part you said just now?"

"Clearly, he did." Lucy seemed calm because she wasn’t hiding anything, "He probably just arrived, didn’t hear our previous words, otherwise he wouldn’t have turned and left."

"Why are you still standing there, hurry up and catch up to explain."

"It’s impossible to explain now, might as well forget it. I’m staying in Mia’s old room tonight, not going back home." Lucy said.

"By the way, James, your package." Robert handed the letter to James.

James opened it, finding it’s Charles’s wedding invitation, Lucy glanced, it’s identical to the one sent to Jacob.

The reason for inviting James, he understood well, it was due to him being Lucy’s closest friend.

Jacob was about to explode with anger.

On his way back, he kept thinking she’d definitely call to explain, but he wouldn’t listen.

However, he became even angrier when she didn’t call at all.

By ten at night, she still hadn’t returned.

He sat alone in his room, drinking wine, becoming more sober as he drank.

Every now and then he picked up his phone to check, but the screen showed nothing.

Never had he felt so miserable, at this moment he felt deeply troubled.