Chapter 76 Already Rotten
"Do you need my help? Why do you always act like you're so important?"
Emily was speechless, almost rolling her eyes.
James's face darkened, his gaze fixed on Harold. "So, the guy you like is him, or the one next to him, or both?"
As soon as he finished speaking, a fist landed heavily on his face.
James's face swelled up instantly.
Aaron grabbed James by the collar, ready to punch him again.
"I've put up with you for too long. I've wanted to punch you for ages. How can someone like you deserve to be Emily's fiancé? I've never seen a fiancé who would accuse his fiancée of such things. You're trash!"
Aaron's anger grew, his fist raised high again.
James couldn't move his hands, so he couldn't fight back.
Seeing that Aaron was about to punch him again.
"Aaron, don't dirty your hands for him!"
Emily stopped Aaron, not out of pity for James, but simply because she didn't want Aaron, such a gentle person, to dirty his hands because of James.
After all, Harold was still around.
In the future, they would work together more, and she didn't want to ruin Aaron's image in Harold's eyes.
Aaron, being stopped, looked at Emily with a bit of grievance.
But meeting Emily's gaze, he obediently let go of James.
Aaron might have misunderstood, but for the narcissistic James, it only made things worse.
"Emily, you really do care about me. If that's the case, why are you doing all this? Just to get my attention?"
James seemed to be lost in his own world, talking to himself.
Harold, listening to the conversation, guessed the original relationship between James and Emily.
But James seemed blind and oblivious, having Emily but not cherishing her, and even slandering such an excellent person.
"Ms. Johnson, aren't you going to introduce this gentleman? Your fiancé?"
Harold had a gossipy look on his face. Despite being punched by James, he didn't seem to hold it against Emily.
After all, he was an innocent bystander.
Emily first looked apologetically at Mr. Rogers. "Mr. Rogers, I'm sorry for making you laugh. He is my fiancé, well, ex-fiancé. We have called off the engagement."
"Emily, I didn't agree. Who said we called off the engagement?"
James shamelessly played the rogue.
He probably thought Emily was trying to declare herself single in front of Harold to get his attention.
Wait a minute!
James suddenly realized something. Could this Harold be the investor he was looking for?
His eyes flickered with realization and regret.
He seemed to have acted impulsively.
It was all Emily's fault. If she hadn't been so willful and childish, he wouldn't have done this.
Bianca was more understanding. Why couldn't Emily learn from Bianca? She had already shed her past as a scavenger, so why was she still so wild and untamed?
James changed his previously aggressive demeanor towards Mr. Rogers, trying to smile as friendly as possible.
"Mr. Rogers, I apologize. Your actions just now made me misunderstand, and I acted impulsively. It wasn't intentional against you."
James was good at shirking responsibility.
Harold looked at the suddenly changing James with a half-smile.
He vaguely guessed that James had recognized his identity.
He had seen many people who trampled on the low and flattered the high, and he didn't get closer because of it.
"Really? I don't mind. A man can take a punch. But Ms. Johnson, such a delicate beauty, being misunderstood by her fiancé—no, ex-fiancé—must be hurt both physically and mentally."
Harold's words, calling Emily a beauty, made James's suppressed anger rise again.
He clenched his fists and turned his anger towards Aaron.
"Emily, you keep saying you're innocent, but this friend of yours hit me for no reason. As men, we know what men think. And why do you think he's good to you? Besides your young body, what else do you have?"
This time, it was Emily who slapped him hard.
"You think everyone is as dirty-minded as you? My friend and I met Mr. Rogers to discuss business, and you judge with such filthy thoughts!"
Emily usually didn't bother with James.
In her previous life, she was betrayed, but she remembered their childhood friendship and didn't think of revenge.
In this life, she had stepped aside to let him be, without any intention of revenge.
But this James, really, she didn't know when he had become like this, always provoking her.
"Good hit, Emily! You shouldn't be soft-hearted with such a bad man!" Aaron cheered, seeing Emily hit James. It seemed she was really ready to let go, and he was happy about it.
James, being slapped in front of Harold, lost face.
He glared at Aaron and said to Harold, "Mr. Rogers, you saw it. They are working together. As a man, seeing my fiancée like this, how could I not be angry? She says the engagement is off, but she's just saying that out of spite."
Harold teased, "Explaining this to an outsider like me might not be appropriate, right? By the way, Ms. Johnson, what's his status?"
James frowned, not understanding what Harold meant by asking about his status.
Emily, however, sensed Harold's mischievousness.
James's sudden change in attitude towards Harold was probably because he had realized Harold's identity and wanted to please him for cooperation.
So, she deliberately said, "This gentleman is the recently found heir of Ascend Global Group."
James was dissatisfied with Emily's introduction.
What did she mean by "recently found"?
If Harold asked a bit more, would she tell him that he was once part of the slums?
That was the past he least wanted to mention, his embarrassment.
He hadn't mentioned it for so long, and Emily, who cared the most, knew about their shared hardship. Now, she was picking at his scars in front of an outsider.
"Shut up!"
James couldn't control his anger anymore and shouted coldly.
He was eager to save face in front of Harold.
"Mr. Rogers, don't listen to her. She's been upset with me lately and is saying these things on purpose. I'm now the manager at Ascend Global Group, in charge of business. I hope to work with you in the future."
James smiled as he spoke.
Aaron wouldn't let James have the chance.
He sneered, "Mr. Rogers, don't be fooled by this bad man. Emily called off the engagement not just because of a quarrel, but because he repeatedly hurt her for another woman. Who would dare to cooperate with such a liar?"
"Aaron, do you think you're a good person? Emily is just foolish, being sold by you and still helping you count the money!" James retorted.
"What did you say? When did I sell out Emily? Which eye of yours saw that?"
Aaron was so angry at James's words that he laughed, coldly questioning him.
"Didn't you? Look at this place. She's just come of age, and you bring her here to drink. If that's not selling her out, what is?"
"James, you bastard!"
Emily couldn't hold back anymore. She pulled out the silver needle from James's arm and stabbed it into his pain point.
His cry of pain echoed through the slightly open door and reached Bianca, who was eavesdropping outside.