“Go on, Master Henson,” President Burke urged.
“First off, can you stop pushing your daughter onto me? I’m sure you must hate it every time I berate her in front of you as well,” Henson demanded.
Henson had always been uber blunt with his words, but the way he worded things sometimes were bound to rub people the wrong way.
After all, Nancy was the most outstanding girl in the world in her daddy’s eyes and was definitely worthy of dating an accomplished man.
But knowing that he couldn’t argue with him, Burke could only nod and agree. “Alright,” he muttered in reply.
“Secondly, since you failed to shut everyone’s mouths up about Wendy, then I see no choice but to take over. You’re on campus all the time, right? So, if you hear anyone talking about Wendy again, you better grab one of them and make an example out of them for the others, you hear me,” Henson threatened.
“I’ll make an example out of them for you right away, Master Henson,” Burke agreed.
Henson then got up and left without saying another word.
Burke heaved a sigh of relief at that as he exited his office to send Henson off his way.
Only after seeing Henson speed away in his car did he finally return to his office.
He sat in his office chair and suddenly felt the cold sweat on his back.
Who would’ve thought that she and Master Henson would…
He shook his head afterwards. She looked so kind too, but apparently she was a sharp-witted, straightforward, unmerciful and stubborn woman instead. Her words had a way of rubbing people the wrong way, and was very unfitting of a trophy wife from a rich family.
Why would an arrogant man like Master Henson even keep such a woman by his side then?
He couldn’t figure it out for the life of him.
When Wendy arrived at the entrance to her office, she stood outside for some time, deliberating whether she should go in or not.
This was because she knew that she’d be bombarded with Carmen’s relentless curiousity if she did.
But since she had no plans to quit her job anytime soon, it wasn’t like she could avoid Carmen forever as well.
After mulling it over, she finally swung open the doors to enter the room.
But even before she could stand up straight, she saw Carmen hurtling at her at break neck speeds before grabbing onto her arm with an iron grip.
“Come on, tell me Miss Evans! Why’d Master Henson whisk you away like you two were a couple just now? What’s actually going on between the two of you? From the way I see it, I feel that the two of you are definitely dating! I’m basing this on the fact that you told us that you and Howell had only a solid student-teacher relationship, but since you two are closer than most, coupled with Howell’s habit of only getting close to you out of all the girls on campus, so I’ve deduced that from your interactions with him, that could only mean that you’re dating his brother!” Carmen rambled on like a machine gun.
Wendy’s head spun after she was subject to Carmen’s verbal assault.
“Carmen’s been really getting into the role of Sherlock Holmes for the past twenty minutes,” Linda giggled in a corner.
“More like Detective Conan. I recalled her saying that ‘there’s only one truth!’ just now,” Ian chuckled.
Wendy could only look at the two of them and give a nervous chuckle in response. Carmen, on the other hand, was shaking violently with curiousity. “Just tell us, Miss Evans! You can’t possibly still think of hiding things from us now that the situation has escalated up till this point,” she nudged impatiently.
Wendy scratched her forehead and finally spoke up. “I was Howell’s private tutor before, so I already had a history with Henson since way back then. Since he liked the way I tutored his brother, he naturally took a liking to me. However, as for the matter of us dating, that’s… simply untrue,” she muttered sheepishly.
“How come?” Carmen piped up again as she patted Wendy on the shoulders. “I, on the other hand, think that Master Henson is clearly into you, so why don’t you just snatch him away already? This is every woman’s dream come true, you know,”
When Wendy stared at the woman who would constantly talk about how she’d pounce on Henson at any chance she got, she couldn’t help but giggle to herself.
“I feel that we should just leave this up to fate instead. If fate allows it, then I’ll go for it, but if it doesn’t, then so be it. Us staying friends works for me too,” Wendy answered.
While in the middle of her sentence, her phone suddenly started ringing. She was elated when she saw Howell’s name on the caller ID as she could use this as an excuse to slip away.
The kid really knew the best times to call.
She then got up to retrieve her handbag. “Well, it seems like it’s time to go home, everyone. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend,” she said to them
as she picked up the call. “What’s up,” she said
before exiting the office.
“I just caught wind of big brother’s scandalous display towards you, Sister Wendy. So, what do you think?” Howell’s voice sounded from the other end.
“What do you mean ‘what do I think’?” she muttered.
“Did it make your heart skip a beat?” he teased.
“And why would it do that?” she asked. His gesture scared her sh*tless, that’s for sure.
“Daww, don’t be like that, Sister Wendy. My big brother just hoisted you up onto the stage to declare to the whole world that you’re his woman, so that anyone who offends you in the future will also be doing the same to him. This is his way of protecting you, you know,” he explained.
She rolled her eyes at that. She understood his intentions, but… she didn’t know how much her fragile heart can take anymore.
When she descended the office building, she saw people whispering behind her back along the way.
The words ‘Master Henson’ would always pop up in their discussions.
“Fine, fine. You’re just calling to get a rise out of me, aren’t you? You’d better stop it right now and go check on your bar or something. I have to leave this God-forsaken place ASAP,” she said
then hung up. She then started brisk walking to the campus gates.
It only took her a few steps in for Henson’s car to catch up to her from behind.
She turned her head at the sound of a car horn to see his car, then promptly got inside.
She felt as if she’d been saved as soon as she stepped foot in the car.
Henson chuckled at that in response.
She then rolled her eyes at him and said, “How dare you still laugh at me. I’m now a filthy street rat, thanks to you,” she huffed.
“I feel like you’re overthinking this,” he chuckled.
“I am not. I actually heard people talking about us with my own ears,” she sulked.
“Let them then. The fact that they’ve stopped talking about your relations with other men and have shifted their conversation onto you and me isn’t half bad, you know. That way, I can finally be with you without a care in the world,” he said happily.
She later looked at him while pouting. “Oh Mr. Capitalist, I’m afraid this is wishful thinking on your part,” she snorted.
He took her hand gently and replied, “And what’s so bad about that? I told you, I promised to stand by your side to protect you from now on. How was I supposed to do that when people didn’t even know about us before this?”
This earned him a glare from her instead. “But did you ever think about the scenario where things didn’t turn out the way you want them to? Won’t that spell disaster for me when that happens?” she pouted.
“I promise you that day will never come,” he reassured her and poked her on her noggin. “Have some faith in me,”
“I’m afraid I don’t even have faith in myself,” she muttered. What in the world made her think that she could make him hers for the rest of her life?
“Would getting married increase your faith then? Marry me?” he joked.
This caused her to flush pink as he made her sound like she was in a rush to tie the knot. “Of course not,” she declined firmly
and the both of them smiled at each other afterwards.
From then on, whenever he casually proposed to her, she’d turn him down as if it was an inside joke between them.
So, if she were to actually agree to his proposal one day, he’d know that something was up.
One day, while caressing her hair in a doting manner, he advised, “You don’t have to take everyone’s words to heart, you know. You should learn not to care about what they say about you, and take care of your own feelings instead. They have their own lives, and so do we, so why should we give in to them and give them the satisfaction of saying ‘I told you so’?”
“Are you speaking from experience now?” she said with a pout, her gaze reflecting that of a good girl.
“You think?” he smirked.
“Regardless, I feel that Mr. Capitalist just made a lot of sense, so I agree with your sentiment,” she said.
He raised an eyebrow and put a finger on her nose at that. “When did you learn how to flatter me, Wendy?” he chuckled.