Chapter 101 Rumors
Only Leopold understood the deeper meaning behind Caroline's words, and wasn't Leopold's response also for the sake of Caroline's deeper meaning?
He loved her gentle, healing smile and enjoyed hearing her softly call his name. The time they spent together became happy and wonderful, and before he knew it, their days had turned into the life he loved most.
After being outside for a while, Caroline took Leopold's arm, "Let's go, we'll sit for a bit then head back."
Leopold held her wrist and pushed open the door to the venue, letting her go in first.
The wedding venue was noisy with voices. A table near the door was particularly loud. They were discussing something and everyone burst into laughter. Just walking past, they actually heard Caroline's name mentioned, and what was said about her was even more offensive.
"Don't let her quiet appearance fool you. During those few months we lived together, we got along pretty well."
Someone egged him on, "What do you mean 'pretty well'? Give us the details."
"You know what I mean," as if to show how great he was, Atticus dropped an even more shocking piece of news, "She even had an abortion for me. Too bad though, it was a boy."
Before anyone could ask another question, Caroline stepped past Leopold to grab a glass from the table and splash it on him, but Leopold was faster. He grabbed Atticus by the collar and threw him to the ground.
Atticus fell hard. When he came to his senses and saw who was in front of him, his face went pale with fear, his mind exploding with a bang.
It happened so suddenly that everyone at the table was too shocked to react.
"Caroline." Atticus called out to her nervously.
Caroline said angrily, "You're a lawyer. You should know what consequences spreading rumors brings."
To avoid being laughed at by his colleagues present, he still tried to save face and stood up, saying:
"We can talk about this somewhere else."
What a slippery move, so vague that it was hard to tell what was true or false. Those who didn't know the truth might actually believe that something had really happened between Atticus and Caroline.
Leopold wouldn't allow anyone to damage Caroline's reputation. He grabbed Atticus by the collar and lifted him up, saying through gritted teeth:
"Whatever you have to say, say it right here."
Being choked by his collar, Atticus stood on his tiptoes and glanced at Caroline, "Caroline, this is a wedding. Are you sure you want to make a scene today?"
Caroline tugged at Leopold's sleeve from behind, signaling him to let go first.
The commotion here caught the attention of guests at two nearby tables. Everyone was wondering what was happening and started talking among themselves.
Leopold really didn't want to affect today's celebration, but he couldn't let Atticus off easily.
"If today wasn't a wedding, in any other setting, I wouldn't let you get away with this."
Atticus knew he was in the wrong and couldn't argue back, but the situation looked too bad and he couldn't find a way out.
Caroline knew some of Atticus's colleagues. In front of them, she asked:
"You're all lawyers. You understand better than me what responsibility comes with spreading rumors about someone. What happened today, how should I pursue this?"
Hearing about pursuing it, Atticus panicked. He looked at Caroline pleadingly, but her contemptuous look nearly stripped away the last layer of his pride, leaving him ashamed.
But for the sake of face, Atticus had to swallow his pride and beg quietly:
"Caroline, today is the Jones family's wedding. Don't ruin it for others. Our issue, can we talk about it somewhere else?"
While begging, Atticus anxiously looked around the venue, searching for the wedding hosts.
Everyone could see that Atticus had just been spreading rumors, but the two had indeed lived together for a while, so no one could prove whether anything had happened or not.
Caroline firmly refused, "None of you lawyers at this table have any suggestions, so I can only call the police."
"Caroline, there's a wedding going on here, and you want to call the police? Are you out of your mind?"
Caroline's anger flared, "You're the one who's out of your mind. You spread rumors about someone and you think you're right?"
Leopold noticed everyone in the venue was looking their way. He pulled Caroline behind him and said just one thing:
"Call the police."
He then pressed Atticus down onto a chair. When Atticus struggled to get up, Leopold gripped his shoulder firmly to control him, leaned down to his ear and said ominously to everyone at the table:
"Since you're all witnesses, you'll all need to give statements later." To remind them not to think about covering for Atticus, Leopold pointed at the camera overhead, "If you can't remember, that's fine. There's surveillance here, pointed right at your table."
Everyone at the table looked at each other. They were all lawyers, so naturally they knew the seriousness of giving false testimony.
Elysia was sitting at the first table, so naturally she didn't know what happened in the back until Caroline called her over. Only then did she hear about what happened from Caroline.
Hearing that Atticus had damaged Caroline's reputation, Elysia completely disregarded the setting and angrily slapped Atticus across the face.
The bride had originally thought it was just some rowdy fun over there, but it seemed more and more wrong, so she quickly called her father over. They were all colleagues from his law firm, so it would be better for him to step in.
The bride's father came to the table. Seeing everyone's unhappy faces, he asked Elysia, who had the highest seniority among the crowd. After all, she was also an important elder from the groom's family.
"Mrs. Tudor, everyone was eating fine. What's going on?"
Elysia said, "We were eating fine. As for what happened, you should ask your law firm colleagues."
"What's going on?" the bride's father asked Atticus, who was being restrained.
Atticus awkwardly licked his lips, glanced around, and said quietly, "It's nothing serious, just a misunderstanding. I drank too much and said some nonsense."
Caroline had seen right through Atticus. He cared too much about face. Unless she had something on him, he would never admit his mistake.
"Mom, I've already called the police."
"You called the police?" The bride's father looked at Caroline in surprise. "My family is holding a wedding today. Calling the police is really unlucky."
Leopold looked at Elysia. At this moment, they needed an elder to speak up and make their position clear. Elysia didn't disappoint him and said:
"What happened today concerns my daughter's reputation. Calling the police wasn't our intention either. We've caused you trouble. I'm sorry."
The police station responded quickly and arrived in five minutes.
To avoid disturbing others' meals, Leopold took Atticus out of the banquet hall. As for the others at the table, they were also invited to the lobby by Elysia.
Caroline, as the victim, went to the police station along with Atticus and his colleagues. After the police investigation and understanding of the whole process, through victim Caroline's account and witness testimony, they confirmed that actual harm had been done to Caroline's reputation. Atticus had a positive attitude about admitting guilt. He admitted that under the impulse of drinking, he deliberately fabricated false rumors about his relationship with Caroline, intentionally damaging her reputation. His real purpose was to vent his personal grudge. After police mediation, Atticus was willing to write an apology letter and publicly apologize to Caroline in front of everyone present. He was also willing to voluntarily compensate Caroline ten thousand dollars for damage to her reputation and asked for Caroline's forgiveness.
Caroline's goal was to let those who heard Atticus spread rumors know that Atticus was lying. As for the compensation, she didn't care about it, but he had to pay it.
After Caroline provided a letter of understanding, this money was donated to a charity foundation in front of everyone.
When facing rumors, we need to step out of the trap of proving ourselves and use legal means to protect ourselves.