From downstairs, the commotion ensued.
“I would like to talk to Mr. Nelson, please let me in.” Charles was trying hard to persuade the bodyguard. However, the bodyguard was determined not to let him in. It was his duty to not let any unauthorized people in. It did not matter what other people said, he would not let them enter.
Charles frowned, wondering why this person was so stubborn?
“I have an important matter…”
“What’s the important matter Mr. White?” Matthew boomed while standing in the corridor. He did not show any expression on his face. The corners of his mouth slightly pursed and his eyesight was sharp.
His eyebrow could be seen clearly even though he was in the corridor and the thick tension could be felt even by the onlookers.
“Have you found out the truth of what happened today and want to have a talk with me Mr White Haa?”
Charles knew that he was the wrong party, therefore, he quickly apologised first, “I’m sorry Sir, it was bad of me to let Lacey know my whereabouts…”
In fact, he was not wary of Lacey, hence, she could easily track him down.
The matter only came to light after Tom’s investigation. Charles was now fully aware that it was Lacey who had pushed Dolores into the lake. His hands were clenched tightly on the handrail.
“Is Ms. Flores okay?”
“How then do you want to settle this issue Mr. White?” Matthew did not directly answer his question. What he wanted now was an explanation.
Charles was still thinking and assuming that Lacey had just just been reckless but was not a bad guy.
Boyce could see that he was hesitant, so he reminded, “I think Mr. White still blindly believes that Lacey is still the kind young girl from back then. If you investigate her current background, I think you will discover a lot of surprises awaiting you.”
“What do you mean?”
Boyce had obviously hidden a lot from him. “I think you better ask her yourself. Oh, yea, talking about the threat last time, I think Mr. White must give an explanation. All this happened at Mr. White’s place. Mr. White would not conceal her faults, right?” Boyce leant against the wall and twisted his wrist, “Even though this is Mr. White’s place, we will still take action and no one can stop it if we decide to do that. It’s easy to settle a score, but this is like committing a crime, shielding one’s shortcomings is considered a crime too.”
It was a threat, an unrestrained threat. Charles could understand the hidden meaning. If he insisted in concealing Lacey’s faults, Matthew would surely cancel their cooperation and they would become enemies too.
He smiled bitterly, “It’s my responsibility to explain Ms. Flores’ incident of near-drowning. However, there must be evidence to show that Lacey was the one who caused it. I’ll definitely not conceal her faults.”
He did not give up on Lacey but this incident made him realize that Lacey was weird. He never thought that Lacey would commit such a crime.
“Is Ms. Flores okay?” Charles asked again, not because he thought the incident was weird, but he really wanted to know Dolores’ situation.
“She’s my wife. It’s none of your business.” Matthew was fed up with Charles sticking to Dolores. Using this opportunity, he would like to let Charles know that Dolores belonged to him. Charles should not come up with any weird thinking on Dolores.
“It’s not a real man who covets with another person’s wife. I think Mr. White is an understanding and real man.” Matthew took it easy but Charles could not come up with a single word.
“Where’s the person? Mr. White shall we lead the way, right?” Boyce could not wait any longer to arrogate Lacey. He was very interested in knowing her secret.
Charles took a deep breath and deep down, he was determined that if there was evidence to show that Lacey was the culprit, then, he would not conceal her faults.
“How about this, let’s wait until Mr. Flores wakes up and then let her arrogate Lacey on her own. Give me some time too, if Lacey admits it, it’ll be great. If she doesn’t want to admit it, I’ll hand her over to you”.
Boyce could not make the decision. It was not his place. He looked at Matthew.
Matthew kept quiet for a few moments, “I hope that Mr. White will bring worthwhile news to me.”
After saying this, he went into his room.
Charles put up his hand to tip Tom to push his wheelchair into the lift.
Boyce walked away and looked at Charles, “Goodbye, Mr. White.”
Charles kept quiet. After going into the lift, Tom spoke softly, “Ms. Ward’s in the villa.”
If Tom did not watch the CCTV, he would not have believed that Lacey had pushed Dolores into the lake, “She seems to be an honest and kind person. Why did she do that?”
Charles was down. He did not wish Lacey to be that kind of a person but the evidence was there. She was likely to be the one who committed the threatening crime too.
Tom could sense that Charles did not want to discuss the issue, so, he shut his mouth.
After walking out of the hotel, he pushed Charles into the car. In a split second, the car stopped at Charles’ villa.
Lacey had gone there a few times only. The last time she went there was when she was acquainted with Charles and Charles brought her there.
She sat with uneasiness. Amelia was standing beside her and looking at her. She was engrossed in deep thoughts and was wondering why the master had called her here?
Amelia could feel that Lacey loved Charles too. However, compared to Lacey, she hoped that Dolores would be Charles’ wife.
She was just a servant. Even though she loved Charles, she could only keep that inside her heart. In future, Charles needed to have a marriage.
She could not tell anything bad about Lacey. She just felt that Dolores was kinder and a more perfect match for Charles.
At that moment, Tom pushed Charles in. Amelia quickly went there to welcome him, “Master.”
Charles was down today. He did not want to talk. He waved his hands to instruct her to do her own business, “Lacey, follow me.”
He rolled his wheelchair and headed to the study room. Lacey stood up and followed him to there.
In the living room, Amelia approached Tom, “What has happened to master? He seems unhappy and heavy hearted”.
Amelia took care of Charles’ living. Tom was Charles’ helper for the office work. Both of them were close to Charles and understood him well.
Tom looked at the shutting door and sighed, “Ms. Ward put master into trouble.”
“What trouble did she give?”
Amelia stared and thought inside her heart, Lacey was not a perfect match for Charles indeed.
Tom looked at Amelia, “Mind your own business, don’t mind other’s.”
“But, master…”
Amelia would like to ask more but Tom walked away and did not wish to discuss the issue further. Charles did not like other people to discuss his business.
Amelia pursed her mouth and stared at Tom’s back. She thought Tom was very mean and that she would not tell him anything anymore even when he asked her for something in the future.
In the study, Charles sat in front of his desk. He flipped open a file and browsed through it. Lacey stood in front of the desk. She did not dare to voice out a single word.
After a while, Charles seemed to recall that there was someone else inside the room. Without lifting his head, he asked slowly, “Where have you been today?”
“Looking for a job.”
Lacey’s hands that were hung beside her body clenched together. Charles’ words made her nervous. Out of no reason, why had Charles called her and asked such a small matter.
Charles stayed calm and did not look at her, “Other than that?”
“What do you want to ask actually?” Lacey could not withstand it anymore.
He had found out what she did today? Charles put down the file that was in his hands. He lifted his head and looked at Lacey, “Do you have anything that you would like to tell me?”
If she could tell the truth and admit it, he believed that Dolores would give her a chance to turn a new leaf.
Lacey laughed, “What do you want me to tell you?”
Charles frowned. He felt like he did not know her anymore. She was not like that before. She used to be honest and kind. When did she change to become so ridiculous?
“I’m asking this for your sake.” Charles voiced out his sincere words and earnest wishes. He hoped that Lacey could realize her errors and mend her ways.
Lacey laughed even louder. With full of irony, she said, “You come and talk to me because of Ms. Flores, right.”
Charles did not deny it.
“She is married and has children. She does not match you. Why do you treat her so well?!” Lacey put her hands on the table suddenly and leant her body forward. That action reduced her distance from Charles. Looking into his eyes, “Yea, I did see her today and pushed her into the lake accidentally. She’s got it all on her own. She doesn’t know who she is. She’s married, and she seduces you. She clearly has a bad intention!”
Charles leant his body backwards on the back of his chair. He was disappointed in Lacey.
“How do you know she seduces me?”
“She’s married and she purposely entangles herself with you. Is that not called seducement, what shall I call it?” Lacey spoke that loudly, she thought what she said was right and could not be refuted.
Charles laughed, “How do you know it’s not me who entangles her…”
“You’re not that kind of person. She must be the one who seduces you.” Lacey interrupted Charles before he finished his words.
She was stubborn, as if she had a mental illness.
Charles did not wish her to be the judge for Dolores’s character, with that kind of prejudice. He had the responsibility to tell her the truth.
“Let me tell you seriously and honestly that Ms. Flores has never entangled me. It’s me who entangles her. She’s different from many women I’ve seen. She’s the most special woman that I’ve ever met. I like her. Even though she’s married, I can’t control myself from falling in love with her. If you want to blame someone, please blame me. Please don’t hurt her. You better admit your fault this time, she’ll forgive you…”
“Charles!” Lacey was triggered. She could not believe and was not willing to believe Charles’ words, “Has she beguiled you? How can you possibly like her?”
“Why can’t I like her?” Charles lost his patience.
Charles angrily thought he could barely use anything to describe Lacey anymore -oil and salt which cannot mix, stubborn, not knowing how to distinguish right from wrong? It was scarier than going into a dead end.
“She’s not the perfect match for you!” Lacey screamed.
Charles thought that Lacey was crazy, while on the other hand, Lacey thought that Charles was crazy.
“She’s pretty, kind, understanding, has her own job, has her own occupation, independent, while I’m a lame person, a poor person being adopted, why do you say she’s not the perfect match for me? I think I’m the one who’s not the perfect match for her.”
“No, no…” Lacey shook her head strongly and got hold of Charles’ arm, “Charles, you’ve been blinded by her. She’s not supposed to be your beloved…”
Charles looked at her craziness and uncontrolled behaviour quietly and sneered, “Then you shall be my beloved?”