abcnovels
Chapter 128
Chapter 128
Chapter 128
Emma was no fool. Otherwise, she couldn’t have maintained her spot as the top socialite of Rodcaster. Therefore, she immediately had a sense of what was going on based on Irvin’s expression. Nonetheless, she sneaked a glance at Alice before saying nonchalantly, “Alice has always held a torch for Bruce and wanted to marry him, but sadly, something happened during the wedding, and it was canceled. Actually, she returned just for him.”
“You mean, A—Miss Woland returned because of Bruce?” Irvin froze for a second, looking a little confused. Did Alice return because of Bruce?
“Yeah. Initially, when Dad called her, she didn’t even want to come home. However, the instant she heard that Bruce would be here, she changed her mind right then and there. It’s obvious that he’s the man she loves. Besides, she hardly paid any attention to anyone else at the party tonight.” Emma picked up more clues from the questioning tone that Irvin used earlier and lied through her teeth without even a flinch. “I can tell that Alice is still deeply in love with him. She even misunderstood me because of him and is still mad at me.” Toward the end of her sentence, she even pouted and wore just the right amount of sadness on her face to gain pity.
Nevertheless, Irvin had discerning eyes, especially since he grew up in a rather complicated family. Thus, he had seen more than enough similar situations and could easily tell that Emma was lying. It also didn’t hurt that he had been on the third floor the entire time and saw everything that happened from the beginning until the end. In addition, he was aware of how repulsive Emma truly was, so he didn’t believe a single word she said.
“Ethan, let’s have a drink over there. Having such a disgusting presence before me makes me want to throw up.” One had to admit that Irvin was far from gentlemanly, especially toward individuals he deemed unworthy of his time and attention.
His statement was harsh and vicious, and he even deliberately raised his voice when he made such a remark. Although Alice had always said that Ethan was mean and sarcastic, he wasn’t even on the same level as Irvin. Thus, by the time everyone had snapped back to their senses, they were fully aware of what he was insinuating. He was publicly criticizing Emma, but his words were so satisfying that some couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
A few minutes later, Irvin and Ethan went to the bar. Irvin took a seat next to Bruce while Ethan sat next to him instead of sitting next to Alice. That woman always pretended not to know him when she was out and might just leave if he sat next to her.
“Mr. Yeager, here. Have a drink.” Even though Irvin was raising his class at Bruce, his eyes never left Alice, who was sitting next to him.
A surprised Bruce didn’t expect that Irvin would offer him a toast. Although several people kept offering a toast to him, he had turned them all down politely. Unfortunately, he couldn’t do the same if the other party was someone of Irvin’s status. “Please get me a drink.” As he couldn’t move to get a drink for himself, he could only request Alice to do the legwork.
Alice’s brows furrowed slightly at his words, especially since she had no intention of moving. Instead, she darted her eyes across the bar and saw a big mug of beer next to her, so she smirked and grabbed that for him. “Have a beer. This way, you won’t get drunk so easily.”
Ethan’s grip on his wine glass tightened ever so slightly, but nothing out of the norm could be observed from his emotionless face. So caring, huh? She’s even worried about Bruce getting drunk!
On the other hand, Bruce fumed silently, and it took all of his willpower to stop himself from choking that annoying woman. She knew better than anyone that he desperately wanted to use the restroom but couldn’t. To make matters worse, she deliberately gave him a huge mug of liquid. When he took in
the size of that monstrosity, he couldn’t help worrying that he might just wet his trousers after chugging it all.
Alas, he was the only one, besides the woman herself, that was aware she was purposely making things difficult for him. Meanwhile, from the outsider’s point of view, they only thought that she was gentle and considerate, thinking that she served him beer because she was genuinely worried that he would get drunk.
“Mr. Irvin has white wine,” Bruce said through a rather forced smile. His intention couldn’t be any clearer than that, and he figured that she would understand the subtext in his words.
“Oh.” At first, seemed that she really understood as she responded gently. But to his absolute dismay, she grabbed another mug of beer and placed it in front of Irvin.
Bruce felt his facial muscles turn stiff at the sight. He was so frustrated that he barely held in a scream and very nearly gave in to the impulse to strangle that infuriating woman. She’s doing this on purpose! He couldn’t hold it in any longer and was genuinely worried he would relieve himself on the spot if he truly drank the beer.
Still, in the eyes of others, their exchange of glances carried a different meaning entirely, especially to Ethan. The light in his eyes dimmed, and his emotionless face turned a little colder. Although he knew that Alice despised Bruce, it still bothered him when he saw how attentive she was toward him, even if he speculated that there was something else at play here.
“Is beer really all that?” Irvin stared at the glass before him and thought, If changing the drink is her special treatment toward Bruce, then it’s not really that special after all because she switched my drink as well. What is going on here? Somehow, he had a feeling that there was another reason that Alice was doing this.
“Maybe you’ll find out the answer after drinking,” Alice drawled playfully as a smirk played on her lips. She was genuinely wondering whether Bruce could still hold his bladder after finishing such a big mug of beer.
Curiosity killed the cat, and Irvin was a perfect living example of it. The moment he heard such an answer from Alice, he felt utterly pumped. Even though he didn’t really want to have a drink with Bruce, he raised the mug without hesitation. “Mr. Yeager, cheers.” Right after that, he finished the beer in one big gulp without waiting for Bruce’s response.
Alice said that he’d know the answer after finishing the drink, so something had to be going on. Since he was merely a tool and not the butt of the joke, then the answer to his question lies in Bruce. Therefore, he would never allow Bruce to back out of this impromptu drinking session.
Bruce felt his mouth run dry as he stared at the significantly sized mug in front of him. At this very moment, he felt that he was indeed caught between a rock and a hard place. If he didn’t finish the drink, he’d offend Irvin, whom he was in no position to offend, but if he did drink it all, he might humiliate himself in public.
“What’s wrong? Aren’t you going to drink it?” Irvin urged when he saw Bruce was dilly-dallying and sniggered inwardly, It looks like something interesting is happening! It was just a mug of beer, what could possibly happen? Did she drug it? Even if she did, Irvin would pull out all the stops in order to make Bruce finish that drink.
Meanwhile, Bruce gritted his teeth silently and restrained his temper. After a brief moment of contemplation, he decided to pick up the mug. I may be able to tamp down on that urge as long as I grit my teeth and force myself to endure it. But if I offend Irvin, our family will be in huge trouble, and so will the Woland Group, which I had just acquired.
Irvin was not a person whom he could offend, coupled with his close-knit circle of friends… The results of offending Irvin could be disastrous and he couldn’t even imagine what the consequences would be if he did.
Hence, Bruce forced himself to finish this beer through sheer determination. As he was already at the limit, not only did he feel bloated right after guzzling it all, but he also even felt his full bladder painfully protesting after such abuse.
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