Chapter 36 I Can Solve
Lucy chimed in from the side. "Aunt Audrey, an elder, got down on her knees to beg you, and you're still not satisfied? Jennifer, what more do you want from us? Are you trying to push Aunt Audrey to her death?"
Jennifer was so angry she almost cried. "You're the ones pushing me. Eugene nearly bankrupted my dad's company, and my dad is still in the hospital. When he made it impossible for me to go home and caused me to lose my job, why didn't he talk about sentiment then?"
Unfortunately, her voice wasn't loud enough to drown out Audrey's wailing. The onlookers still felt more sympathy for the kneeling Audrey. This Jennifer standing there looked gentle and pretty, but who knew she'd be so heartless—things had gotten this bad and she still wouldn't say something nice.
Jennifer was even hesitating whether to just agree first, since even if she did, Francis might not listen anyway.
Just then, Mia interrupted. "What are you doing to Jennifer? Let go!"
Thankfully, before coming to the dessert shop with Audrey, Jennifer had sent Mia a message.
Mia was a TV host—articulate with a loud voice, she'd never lost an argument. She strode over quickly and aggressively picked up the hot chocolate from the table, splashing it toward Audrey's face.
Audrey was just pretending to be pitiful, not actually stupid—she immediately let go of Jennifer's hand and dodged to the side. The hot chocolate only stained the hem of her clothes.
Lucy helped up the disheveled Audrey and glared at Mia. "Who are you? It's so rude at all."
Mia stood tall with her hands on her hips. She was half a head taller than Lucy, full of presence. "You bully my friend and I'm not allowed to fight back? That's ridiculous! A grown man cheating and using women to climb up the ladder for power—is that having manners? Now I know why Eugene is so shameless and despicable—his mom taught him well!"
Upon hearing her insult Eugene, Audrey's face immediately darkened. "Don't you dare talk about my son like that! My son is young and capable because of his own abilities, not because he relies on women!"
Mia burst into laughter. "Then does he dare break up with Aria? Relying on one woman, Aria, isn't enough for him. Now that he's in trouble, he's getting you all to pressure his ex-girlfriend Jennifer to help. If he needs women's help every day, why doesn't he just go sell himself? I'd advise Eugene that if he can't do his job well, he should change careers and become a male prostitute!"
"I'll tear your mouth apart!" Mia's words were too harsh. Audrey rushed forward to hit her. Mia grabbed her hand and pushed her back. "Not pretending to be pitiful anymore? If you bully Jennifer again, I'll spread Eugene's dirty business until everyone in Golden Harbor knows, and we'll see if the Clark family still wants a son-in-law like that."
Now Audrey was truly scared. She held back Lucy, who wanted to rush forward to avenge her, and said sternly, "Fine, you win. We're leaving."
Mia got rid of them and smoothed her hair, clearly pleased. Jennifer tried not to laugh, admiring her. "Mia, you're amazing. I could never come up with those words."
"I'm a TV host—arguing is my specialty." Mia raised her chin proudly. But Jennifer tugged at her arm and whispered to her, "Let's change places though."
Because of the earlier argument, everyone in the dessert shop was staring at them. Jennifer's face was getting a bit hot.
The two changed to a restaurant. In the quiet private room, Mia took a sip of juice and held Jennifer's hand, asking. "I came in such a hurry, I haven't asked you what actually happened? What does Eugene's work problems have to do with you?"
She knew Jennifer best—recently Eugene had made her work and life a complete mess. How could she possibly have the ability to go after Eugene?
Jennifer didn't know how to explain her relationship with Francis to her, so she could only hide it for now. She said hesitantly, "I'm not really sure either. As long as Eugene doesn't come looking for trouble, I don't want any connection with him."
Mia ate a small dessert and nodded with satisfaction. "You're right. Eugene is such a jerk—if you get involved with him again, you'll definitely have bad luck. I think that Aria is pretty unlucky. But she comes from a noble background; maybe she has unique taste and just likes that kind of jerk."
The food arrived. Mia pushed it in front of Jennifer while introducing it. "This restaurant's foie gras is pretty good quality, try it." Soon the two were immersed in the delicious food and didn't discuss this mood-killing topic anymore.
When Eugene saw Audrey come home with her clothes a bit disheveled, he casually asked about it.
Lucy immediately complained. "Eugene! It's all Jennifer's fault! Aunt Audrey and I went to beg her not to interfere with your work, and she actually made Aunt Audrey kneel, and even threw hot chocolate at people!"
Audrey looked dejected. "I'm sorry, Eugene. Even though I put down my dignity and knelt to beg her, she still didn't agree. She used to be so obedient, how did she change so fast?"
Before, Jennifer truly loved Eugene, so naturally she would be especially respectful to Audrey. As long as Audrey's requests weren't too excessive, she would satisfy them. But now she had seen through Eugene's false feelings and had no good feelings toward him, so naturally she wouldn't indulge Audrey anymore.
But Audrey found it hard to believe that Jennifer really didn't love Eugene anymore.
Eugene's face darkened, and he said seriously, "Who told you to go find her? I'll handle work matters myself, you don't need to make things worse."
He rarely lost his temper with Audrey like this. Audrey felt hurt and tears immediately welled up. "Eugene, I just felt bad about your situation and wanted to do what I could to help you." Lucy awkwardly wiped her tears on the side. She didn't dare talk back when Eugene was angry.
"Forget it, I shouldn't have talked about work in front of you." Eugene's tone softened as he began to comfort Audrey.
The next day, Aria asked Eugene to try new dishes, but Eugene didn't answer her calls three times in a row. Aria angrily called Eugene's secretary Callum.
Callum explained in a low voice. "Ms. Clark, Mr. Bailey didn't mean to not answer your calls. He's in the CEO's office getting chewed out right now."
Aria immediately asked what happened. Callum glanced at Eugene and said what he had prepared. "Ms. Clark, Mr. Bailey has been having a lot of problems at work recently. He wouldn't let me tell you. Please don't let him know I told you."
Aria naturally agreed right away.
Only then did Callum continue. "Mr. Bailey has lost several major clients recently, and developing new clients hasn't been going well either. He's been working overtime every day, going everywhere asking people for help, only to find out that Francis has been putting the word out that whoever does business with Eugene is going against him. I really don't know when Mr. Bailey offended someone as prestigious as Francis."
"How is that possible? I introduced Eugene to Francis before. Even if Francis doesn't help Eugene for my sake, he shouldn't make things difficult for him." Aria didn't understand.
Callum said, "This isn't exactly a secret in our circles. Ms. Clark, you know so many people—just ask around and you'll know."