Julia then took a step forward after getting rid of her feelings of anger. “What do you have in mind, mom?” she asked.
“Didn’t she accuse us of being cowards since we didn’t announce the matter to the whole world? I was thinking, maybe we should actually do it then. By letting everyone know about the engagement… I don’t think Henson would be able to get out it either, since that would mean going against General Burke’s wishes,” May schemed.
“Are you telling me… that you want General Burke to help us out?” Julia asked with a frown.
“You know how righteous General Burke can be. Of course he won’t speak for us to the media if Mr. Charles doesn’t keep his promise. But we, on the other hand, can use his name just for this,” May said
then whispered a few words into Julia’s ears.
Julia raised her eyebrow at that as an evil grin crept up on her face.
Upon stepping into the building, Wendy saw that Henson had already changed into his house clothes and was chilling downstairs.
“Who was that on the other line? That sure took you a while,” he asked.
“It was Julia,” she admitted.
“Picking fights again, huh?” he probed.
“She can do whatever she wants, since her words can’t hurt me now. I don’t suppose I should imitate a dog just because it barked at me, yes?” she giggled.
He burst out laughing at that. “I’m just glad that she failed to get a rise out of you. Run along and change your clothes now. Let’s have dinner together after you’re done,” he said.
She obliged and made her way upstairs.
Dinner was as sumptuous as always.
Her appetite had always been pretty good, but for some reason, after taking two bites out of the food on her plate, she started feeling her stomach churn.
The way she put down her cutlery after every few bites made her look like she was forcing herself to eat.
“What’s wrong? You don’t like it?” he asked, concerned.
She shook her head in response. “That’s not it, auntie’s cooking has always been exceptional,” she muttered.
“Well, where’d your appetite go then?” he asked.
“I reckon it was because I had something spicy at a roadside stall with the three of them this afternoon before we went to the basketball court to wait for you. Maybe that was where my appetite’s gone,” she suggested after mulling it over.
“You’re still eating at roadside stalls?” he said and frowned. “You know how dirty they can be. Have you forgotten about what happened last time when you had takeout?”
“I don’t think it’s that bad. So long as you can’t see the germs with your own eyes, it should be fine,” she argued.
“What are you on, Wendy? What’s dirty is dirty, so what do you mean by saying it’s fine just because you can’t see them with your own eyes?” he countered
and started looking at her from the corner of his eyes. “From now on, you are not to have street food anymore. I don’t suppose you’ve forgotten what happened to me that time at Big City when we had hotpot at that roadside stall? I got acute enteritis from that, you know,” he huffed.
When recalling the place, she piped up, “Oh yeah, the stall was forced to close now that I think about it. You couldn’t possibly have anything to do with that, I hope?”
“As a responsible member of society, I only felt it was right of me that I reported the stall to the relevant authorities for a routine inspection. But as for why they were forced to close, I reckon it was because they didn’t meet the required hygiene standards. If they’d actually met the required standards, they’d probably still be in business, no?” he reasoned.
She then turned to look at him incredulously. “I can’t believe you actually… Haven’t you heard that the owner of the stall was relying on that job to keep his family afloat? Out of so many people who dined there, only you got sick from it, so don’t you think you should blame your weak stomach for that?” she retorted.
“Why do you always have to go against me? Is it my fault for not wanting you to eat unhygienic food?” he huffed.
This caused her to feel guilty instead. “I don’t mean it like that. I just don’t feel that it was right of you to ruin someone’s livelihood over a stomach bug you got when everyone else were fine from his food,” she muttered.
“What kind of argument is that? He made a decision to venture into the food business himself. It wasn’t like anyone opposed the idea, but since he didn’t take into account the wellbeing of others after having his food, don’t you think the detriment of his business was his own doing? I don’t mind that you don’t seem to care that I managed to save tons of people from going through the same pain I felt back then, but I’m salty about the fact that you think that I’m to blame for his fall,” he sulked.
His argument was sound, but
his tone, on the other hand…
“Are we seriously fighting over this?” she asked with an eyebrow raised.
“I won’t go so far as to call this a fight. Men who fight with their spouses can’t be good men in my book. What I was doing was changing that mindset of yours. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to be kind and to symphatise with others, but you must be able to differentiate right from wrong first, you know.
“The concept of right and wrong should be black and white. Poor people have countless ways of getting by, by the way. I’ve never once thought of ruining anyone’s livelihoods, but I also don’t think that they have the right to act recklessly and ruin other people’s lives just because they say that they’re doing everything they can to get by, alright?” he explained.
She stared at him for a long time after hearing that. She reckoned she’d receive a lot of his lectures in the future.
“Cat got your tongue? Was I wrong anywhere?” he probed.
She shook her head, pursed her lips into a smile then flashed him a thumbs up after. “Nope, everything you said made sense. I didn’t think Mr. Capitalist would really have such a way with words,” she joked.
He tilted his head and laughed at that. “I didn’t expect you to butter me up again tonight. Flattery aside, promise me you don’t eat anything unhygienic from now on,” he said.
“It’s not like I can help it. Sometimes I just feel like putting junk into my body, you know. Plus, you know how it is in the office. When everyone’s having the same thing, no one wants to be the odd one out,” she reasoned.
“You make a fair point,” he chuckled then
turned to face Donald the butler who was standing in a corner. “Go and search for a Masterchef for street food for me, so that she can have it whenever she feels like it,” he instructed.
“Understood, Master,” Donald obliged
then went his way to make all the necessary arrangements.
“Please don’t do all this just for my sake,” she gasped.
“It’s no biggie. I understand that everyone has their cravings, so when it comes to the things you like, so long as it’s hygienic and safe, I don’t mind going the extra mile to get it for you,” he teased
then stared into her eyes with a loving gaze. “Did your heart just skip a beat from such an outstanding person as myself?”
She bit her lip to stop herself from giggling at that. “Well, if it weren’t for the last thing you said, I’d probably be moved by that by now, but since you did… better luck next time,” she replied.
She said that, but deep inside, she was grateful to be doted on so dearly by a man like Henson.
If she found out that he really liked her for her and that this wasn’t a spur of a moment thing, then she really wanted this feeling to stay with her till the end of time.
“Is that a blush I see, Wendy?” he teased.
“Oh, just finish your food already,” she said as she set her cutlery down on the table. “I’ll just watch you eat then,”
“I suppose that’s the only thing you can do now. Maybe when you get your appetite back at night, we can have supper together,” he suggested.
“Sounds good to me,” she replied happily.
While staring at him, her gaze slowly shifted to the dishes on the table. This made her frown instead.
The sight of all the food on the table… really made her want to vomit.
When morning rolled around the next day, May brought Julia to pay General Burke a visit without discussing things over with Ken first.
After the scolding she received last time, Julia knew to dress properly this time round.
However when they arrived, General Burke refused to even entertain them.
“Unfortunately, General Burke isn’t feeling too well at the moment, and he expressed that he wasn’t in the mood to meet anyone at the moment,” one of the servants explained.
After the pair returned home disappointed, Julia starting kicking up a fuss as she was in a foul mood.
May had no choice but to bring her to the Nicholson Group to look for Ken.
When they both arrived at his office, they saw Bain, who’d been out for a business trip for more than a month, who’d apparently already returned to the country and was
currently reporting the fruits of his trip to Ken.
Julia started becoming all flustered when she laid eyes on him. “Why’d you only come back now, bro? Didn’t you say that you’d help me with this? Please tell me you have a plan to deal with that sl*t who’s about to be snatched away and spoilt by Master Henson,” she whined.