Chapter 197: Clearing Up the Misunderstanding
Brenda turned around, and our eyes met.
The moment our gazes locked, the arrogance on her face instantly froze. Her eyes shrank sharply—she was clearly afraid of me.
She shuffled her feet and turned to run outside. I sneered and gave Adrian a look. Adrian stepped forward and grabbed Brenda's arm with quick, ruthless precision. Brenda was thrown to the ground, landing in front of me.
She anxiously tried to get up, but Adrian pressed down on her shoulder.
"I just got here, why are you running?" I looked down at her from above. "Long time no see. Don't you want to catch up with me?"
"No, no, no!" Brenda's hands were shaking, even her voice was trembling. "Isabella, please let me go! I was just passing by here by chance."
"Do you think I'm that easy to fool?" I scoffed. "Speak up. What are you really here for?"
Brenda clutched the strap of her handbag tightly, her eyes darting around nervously.
"I'll tell you!" Jacqueline raised her hand, pointing at Brenda. "This bitch deliberately provoked and humiliated Julie! She said she and Gale were together for years, and even if they broke up, Gale would always have her in his heart! She also said Julie doesn't even count as a latecomer—she's just her replacement!"
I stared coldly at Brenda. "You're so good at making things up, why don't you become a screenwriter?"
Brenda quickly protested, "I didn't! I... I didn't say that!"
Jacqueline pulled out her phone. "I recorded it! Bet you didn't expect that."
She pressed play, and a sharp, arrogant voice came from the phone, matching Jacqueline's account word for word.
Brenda's protest was already weak, and now she couldn't say anything at all.
I told Adrian to watch her, then walked over to Julie, taking both her hands and carefully explaining, "Julie, don't believe what Brenda says. Gale really doesn't like her! Even if they had an engagement before, Gale was so busy he didn't have time to spend with Brenda. Don't overestimate their relationship, and don't underestimate what you and Gale have."
Julie slowly curved her lips. "Okay, I understand." But her smile was forced, and there was lingering sadness in her eyes.
I turned to look at Brenda, raising my hand to have Adrian teach her a lesson.
"You still don't understand what 'behaving yourself' means. Looks like the lesson I gave you last time wasn't enough!"
"No!" Brenda curled up in fear, covering her head with both hands—completely different from her arrogant demeanor just moments ago.
Julie suddenly grabbed me. "Don't hit her."
I thought she was being soft-hearted, and worried she might think my use of violence was too crude. I hesitated, thinking maybe I should let Brenda go for now and deal with her somewhere else later.
Jacqueline frowned, disagreeing. "Julie, don't be soft-hearted. If you don't teach this kind of person a good lesson, she'll keep bothering you."
"I'm not being soft-hearted." Julie lowered her voice, unusually calm. "Hitting someone here would look bad. If customers see it, it'll affect business and reputation. Let's go to the back office."
She paused, a sharp, cold glint flashing at the corner of her mouth. "Close the door. People outside won't be able to see or hear clearly."
I was stunned for a moment, then smiled.
"Adrian, did you hear that? Do it."
"Yes!" Adrian grabbed Brenda by the hair and dragged her into the store manager's office. Julie walked in last and locked the door behind her.
The last bit of hope drained from Brenda's face, leaving her deathly pale with fear.
I didn't waste words with Brenda and slapped her twice across the face. Julie stopped me, saying, "Let me."
So Jacqueline and I walked to the side. Loud slapping sounds came from the corner. I glanced over a few times but didn't pay much attention, chatting with Jacqueline about Marcus instead. "Marcus is on a mission. He won't be in Starstream City for a while. Are you living alone? Why don't you move next to my villa? Marcus's house is empty—no one's living there."
The usually bold Jacqueline showed a rare shy expression. "Marcus said he'll be back in about a month. I'm living alone, but Mom and Dad gave me lots of bodyguards, so I'm safe."
I nodded, not insisting.
A few minutes later, Julie came over shaking her hand, looking much brighter. She smiled and said, "That felt great!"
"What exactly did she do?" I'd been curious about why Gale and Julie fought.
Julie lowered her lashes, silent for a moment, then sighed softly and handed me her phone. "See for yourself."
It turned out that after Brenda failed to scam money last time, she'd been unwilling to give up and had been secretly harassing Julie like crazy.
Sending messages and calling every day, occasionally sending intimate-looking photos from when she was dating Gale or seemingly close chat records, along with emotional paragraphs of text.
Julie had a strong personality and a clear head. At first, she didn't take what Brenda sent seriously because she didn't believe it and didn't care. She didn't tell Gale because she didn't want to suspect him over small things.
But Brenda's harassment kept escalating. Julie gradually found it annoying. Unable to stand the harassment, she blocked Brenda, but when Brenda realized she was blocked, she'd change numbers and continue harassing her. If Julie ignored her, she'd harass Julie's coworkers.
The more I learned about what happened, the angrier I got!
"Julie, you should have told Gale earlier."
Julie's eyes grew slightly moist. "I was going to, but..."
But when she was on a date with Gale, she accidentally discovered that Gale had also received messages from Brenda.
Gale normally never hid his phone from Julie, not worried about her hearing or seeing anything confidential. But this time, when the notification sound went off, he instinctively turned his phone face-down on the table. When Julie alertly asked whose message it was, Gale stammered and tried to brush it off, refusing to show Julie his phone. Julie knew it must be Brenda.
"What did you send to Gale? How dare you harass Gale?" I dragged Brenda out from the corner, angrily demanding answers.
At the same time, I directly labeled her contacting Gale as harassment. I believed that as long as Gale's eyes weren't blind and his brain was still working, he couldn't possibly get back together with Brenda!
Brenda gasped in pain and immediately came clean. "I didn't keep harassing Gale. I wouldn't dare! If I sent him more than three messages, he'd definitely have someone warn me. So I harassed Julie for a while first, then had someone follow Julie. When she was on a date with Gale, that's when I'd send messages to Gale."
What she sent to Gale was similar to what she sent Julie. Gale wasn't being shady—he was afraid Julie would get angry or hurt if she saw it, so he instinctively tried to hide it, which ended up making Julie suspicious.
"So that's what happened?" Julie was stunned.
"Didn't Gale explain to you? Hasn't he contacted you these past few days?" I asked.
Julie shook her head. "I was really angry that day. I told Gale not to contact me."
I couldn't help being speechless. "So Gale really didn't contact you? Is he an idiot!"
Feeling both helpless and annoyed, I wanted to call Gale. Julie grabbed my hand. "Bella, I'm the one who misunderstood Gale. I'll call him!"
The gloom and anxiety that had been lingering in her eyes were replaced by bright warmth and determination. I had a feeling she and Gale would make up soon, so I smiled and put down my phone.
Julie couldn't wait to call Gale. With the misunderstanding cleared up, her eyes and brows were full of joy and sweetness.
I figured this call wouldn't end anytime soon, so I had someone take Brenda back to be kept under strict watch. Then Jacqueline and I went shopping, got beauty treatments, and even did an escape room. We played to our hearts' content before I went home.
The house was very quiet, with an indescribable loneliness lingering in my heart.
I took out my phone and opened my chat with Lucas. Still no new messages.
I laughed self-mockingly, a wave of bitterness rising in my eyes.