Chapter 109
His miserable state shocked everyone present, and the way they looked at me suddenly changed.
I guess they'd never seen such a fierce woman in their circle before.
James ignored Bruce's words. He just looked at me and asked again, his voice even colder: "Sophia, did he do this to your neck?"
I took a deep breath, swallowed the stinging pain in my throat and the surging anger, raised my hand to point at Bruce, who had just walked in, and said clearly: "Yes!"
"Your 'good friend' here cornered me outside the bathroom. We barely exchanged two sentences before he grabbed my neck, told me to stay away from you, said I wasn't good enough to be with you, and told me to leave you immediately."
"You're talking nonsense!" Bruce panicked, craning his neck as he shouted, "I just can't stand fake women like you. I said a few words to you, and not only did you curse at me, but you hit me too!"
"What did I say?" I asked coldly. "I only asked you if you liked Amelia, since you were standing up for her so much."
"I really don't understand which part of that question hit your sensitive and fragile little heart so hard that you got angry enough to grab my neck."
"That's because you didn't know your place, coveting things that don't belong to you. I was trying to help you out of kindness, but instead of being grateful, you hit me first, so I fought back!"
I smiled and asked, "Bruce, this is the first time we've met today, right?"
Bruce froze for a moment: "So what if it is?"
I dropped the smile and said coldly, "Since we just met, how much do you know about me? Whether I'm a social climber or whether I deserve to stand here - when did it become your place to judge?"
"And what gives you the right to warn me to stay away from James?"
I paused, my eyes sweeping over Amelia's slightly pale face, and continued: "Or did someone say something to you that made you so angry you thought you could speak for James, or even for the Smith family, to teach me, 'Mrs. Smith,' a lesson?"
My words had an obvious implication, and everyone's eyes involuntarily turned toward Amelia.
Amelia immediately stood up, her eyes even redder, saying anxiously, "Sophia, you've misunderstood. I never said anything."
"Bruce probably just has a quick temper and misunderstood..." She looked at Bruce again, her tone reproachful: "Bruce, how could you lay hands on Sophia? No matter what, she's the person James brought. Apologize quickly!"
Bruce got even more agitated: "What did I misunderstand? Amelia, you don't need to speak up for her, and you don't need to be afraid!"
"James should be with you! If you hadn't saved him when you were kids, he wouldn't be alive today!"
"James promised to take care of you for life! Before, his older brother was around, so he didn't have the chance, but now that his brother is gone, shouldn't he keep his promise?"
"Bruce! Stop talking!" Amelia's voice was choked with tears, and they finally fell.
She looked helplessly at James, "James, I'm sorry, I really don't know why Bruce would think this way."
"I never expected you to keep any promise. You're already taking such good care of me, and I'm very grateful."
She cried pitifully, and this speech completely cleared her of any responsibility.
Seeing this, Bruce felt even more heartbroken and blurted out: "Is he really taking good care of you?"
"Then why did you get hurt a while ago? Why have you been in such a bad mood lately? Amelia, don't be too kind, don't swallow all your grievances."
"If you're unhappy, you need to say it; some blind people won't even notice!"
"Enough!" James finally spoke, his voice not loud but authoritative, instantly silencing Bruce's shouting.
He took two steps forward, looking at Bruce with a heavy gaze.
"Bruce Parker," James called Bruce's full name, which made Bruce's face stiffen.
"Who I marry, who I don't marry - when did it become your place to decide for me?"
Bruce was somewhat intimidated by his look, but still tried to hold his ground: "I... I just think you deserve better! And I feel bad for Amelia! What gives this woman the right..."
"She's the person my grandmother chose, and the wife I chose." James interrupted him, his voice cold: "As long as she's my wife, it's not outsiders' place to tell her what to do."
James's eyes fell on the bruises on my neck, and his expression grew even colder. "Bruce, you dared to grab her neck - have you forgotten what I'm capable of? Do you want to find out?"
That last sentence was said extremely calmly, yet it made Bruce shudder, all color draining from his face.
"I... I..." Bruce mumbled, unable to form complete sentences.
James stopped looking at him and turned to Amelia, who had been quietly sobbing.
"Amelia." He spoke, his voice emotionless. "Bruce said he was standing up for you. What do you have to say?"
"I, I don't know. James, please believe me, I didn't tell him to hurt Sophia."
I cut in: "You didn't, but he did it anyway."
"When it comes down to it, the reason lies with you, no matter how much you deny it."
Amelia's lips trembled, as if she'd suffered great injustice, and she began to sob.
James's cold eyes swept across her face, then looked at everyone: "I don't want to hear a single bad word about my wife from anyone ever again."
"Don't worry, we've been friends with you for so many years, how could we possibly bully your wife?"
"Yeah, we're not like Bruce with his broken brain."
"You guys!" Bruce was still angry about being insulted and wanted to argue back.
One of them quickly grabbed him: "Bruce, do you want to make this even worse?"
Bruce shut his mouth.
James fixed his gaze on Amelia: "Amelia, I'm grateful you saved me, and I'll give you what I owe you."
"But people need to know when enough is enough. I advise you to stop while you're ahead."
These words from James were even more humiliating to Amelia than if he had directly scolded Bruce.
Amelia's crying stopped abruptly. Her face turned paper-white, and she looked at James in disbelief, as if she couldn't believe he would embarrass her like this in front of so many people.
"James... how... how could you say that about me..." She swayed, barely able to stand.
A woman next to her quickly supported her.
But James didn't look at her anymore. He turned around, put his arm around my shoulder, and said to the others in the booth, who all had different expressions: "Sorry for ruining your evening. Put it on my tab. My wife and I are leaving first."
With that, he led me away, leaving behind a group of people with complicated expressions in the dead silence.
He led me all the way out of the bar. When the night wind hit, I couldn't help but shiver. The pain in my neck became clearer, and I couldn't help but wince.
James opened the car door for me to get in, then sat in the driver's seat himself.
He didn't start the car right away. The car was completely silent.
"Does it still hurt?" he suddenly asked, his voice a bit hoarse.
I touched my neck and shook my head: "It's okay."
He turned sideways and reached out to gently touch the bruise, his fingertips cool.
I instinctively tried to pull away, but his other hand held my shoulder in place.