Chapter 18 I Am a Man
Seeing that the young man had already taken out his phone, ready to add her on WhatsApp, Caroline threw out a more mind-blowing "surprise" – or rather, shock.
Caroline lowered her voice, mimicking the man's tone, "You've got it wrong. I'm a man too."
"What?" He jumped back, startled.
But what came next almost made Caroline lose her composure.
The young man looked her up and down, then raised his phone again and said, "That works for me too."
Caroline froze. Young people these days were way too adventurous.
She'd thought she would scare him off, but ended up trapping herself instead.
She had no choice but to refuse again, telling an enormous lie, "My husband will be here any minute. He wouldn't be happy about this."
"You're married? Well, bye then."
This tactic seemed more effective, successfully sending him away.
Caroline took out her phone again to call Erica, which rang for quite a while before being answered.
"Caroline, I was just about to call you. I can't make it tonight."
Caroline raised an eyebrow. "You can't bail on me like this. What happened?"
Erica explained, "I got into a fender bender not far from my neighborhood."
Caroline immediately tensed. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Erica assured her. "Just some paint scratched off my front bumper, but the other car's door got dented."
"I'll come to you. Wait for me," Caroline offered.
"Don't come, it's too far. The police are on their way." Erica lived on the east side of Seaside City, while the bar was on the far west.
"What a hassle. Do they need to involve the police? Can't you just do a quick insurance claim?"
Erica let out a derisive snort. "Don't even get me started. The other driver won't accept full responsibility. I was driving normally, but he claims I didn't yield to him. I've never met someone so unreasonable."
Hearing Erica's description, Caroline worried the other party might be difficult to deal with and insisted on going over.
"Caroline, please don't come. Holden just got off work, and he'll be here any minute. With him around, I'll be fine."
Erica's brother, Holden Morris, was a lawyer. With him on the scene, there would definitely be no problem.
After hanging up, Caroline prepared to pay and leave. Just as she stood up, the young man from earlier blocked her path again, this time with two friends who appeared a few years older than him.
"I heard you're a man?" One of them asked.
Caroline, having already paid, had no intention of lingering. She ignored them and tried to walk around.
"Wait a minute," another man grabbed Caroline's arm, pulling her toward a dimly lit hallway. "Don't go."
The young man, emboldened by his numerical advantage, revealed his true nature and began hurling vulgar comments at Caroline. "Let me feel what a fake penis feels like."
Caroline was about to cry for help when she saw the hand reaching for her being grabbed by the wrist and yanked away.
"What do you think you're doing?" Leopold positioned Caroline behind him protectively.
The young man sneered, "What's wrong with getting to know her?"
Leopold's face darkened. "Who are you? Why would she need to know you?"
"People come to bars to have fun, right? If she's not here to play, why come to a bar?" The young man shot back at Leopold. "You're here for fun too, aren't you? Are you her husband?"
Leopold fell into contemplative silence.
Caroline felt mortified, wishing the ground would open up and swallow her.
"If you're out having fun, don't pretend to be innocent."
"Who are you calling pretentious!" Leopold clenched his fist.
Worried that Leopold might be at a disadvantage if a fight broke out, Caroline quickly grabbed his arm and urged, "Let's just go."
Leopold relaxed his grip, giving Caroline a reassuring look. With an intimidating presence, he warned, "Your dirty mind makes you see filth everywhere. Keep talking trash, and someone will teach you a lesson."
Customers from two nearby tables and the bar staff had noticed the commotion around Caroline. Both groups converged simultaneously, instantly outnumbering the three harassers.
"Ma'am, would you like us to call the police?" A server asked Caroline.
The helpful customers berated the three men, "Coming here to harass women? Don't embarrass the rest of us men. Get lost."
Seeing the situation turn against them, the three men slunk away.
Caroline repeatedly thanked the kind strangers who had helped. They were straightforward, good-hearted people who brushed off her thanks with a casual, "Enjoy your night. Here in Seaside City, we definitely won't stand by and watch a girl get bullied."
Once outside the bar and finally alone, Caroline thanked Leopold, "Thanks for backing up there."
Leopold looked down at her, his face unreadable, but his demeanor gave off a distinctly unapproachable aura.
"Leopold," Caroline called softly.
Leopold's brow finally relaxed slightly, though his voice remained cold. "Is some jerk really worth all this? Coming to a bar looking for emotional comfort to forget a man? Finding random guys as a distraction? All for some worthless ex?"
Caroline was stunned. He couldn't seriously believe she came to the bar to find a lover.
"Wait, I think you've misunderstood me."
Leopold said, "I was sitting in the booth behind you. When that guy asked for your WhatsApp, you clearly seemed interested in adding him. If you don't want to play these games, don't give others the opportunity. If you give someone an opening, you need to be prepared for the consequences. You're a grown woman—don't you understand this basic concept?"
Caroline was absolutely furious. She had shown no such interest.
"Leopold, that's completely unfair and not what happened."
She was making it clear she'd been wrongfully accused.
Leopold only believed what he had seen with his own eyes. "You got lucky today because I was there to help you. Next time, you might not be so fortunate. Take care of yourself."
He turned and headed toward his car. Caroline hurried after him to explain.
"I seriously had no intention of adding him. To turn him down, I even lied about being a man to scare him off. But he didn't follow normal logic and said he was fine with men too."
Leopold stopped and turned to study Caroline's expression. She didn't appear to be lying.
"If you're going to make up a story, at least come up with something believable. Who would believe you're a man?"
Caroline once again imitated a male voice, "I am a man."
Caroline apparently had a genuine talent for this. Her lowered voice really did sound like a man's.
Leopold couldn't help but laugh. "I had no idea you had this talent."
Caroline explained, "I was a radio broadcaster in high school and college. During college, I even recorded audiobooks. Voice modulation is child's play for me."
Leopold recalled how the young man had returned to try adding Caroline on WhatsApp. So it wasn't her playing hard to get—the guy had been persistently harassing her.
"I misjudged you. I'm sorry."
Caroline smiled, unbothered. "It's nothing. I'm glad we cleared up the misunderstanding."
Leopold noticed that even when he had been rude to her, Caroline's emotions remained remarkably stable. It was truly pleasant to interact with someone so emotionally balanced.
"But what you said earlier did hurt me a bit. I came to the bar tonight because I had plans with my best friend. She had an emergency and couldn't make it, so I was about to leave—I'd already paid my bill when that jerk suddenly appeared and caused this whole scene."
"So I didn't come to heal any wounds or find some random guy as a distraction."
"I don't have such deep feelings for my ex that he could affect me like that. What's in the past is in the past and doesn't impact my present."
"People change, but they definitely don't change back to who they were before."
After Caroline finished speaking, Leopold stood frozen for a long moment. Remembering a question the young man had asked, he couldn't help but wonder, "Why did he think I was your husband?"
At this, Caroline fell silent.