Chapter 133 – His Second Chance Love: The Freezing Silence

“Oh, haven’t you heard? That’s the ex-wife of Benjamin White. The one standing next to the lady in white is a scion of the Featherstones, a prominent family here in J City. I think her name is Sally or something like that. I heard that she was his mistress for a good number of years but only became his official wife in the last two years or so.”

“That explains it! No wonder the ex-wife is so unhappy about this. How can such a prominent family let the heiress be another man’s mistress? What is the family even thinking?”

“Who knows! Maybe it’s true love after all?”

“I’ve heard that the couple are about twenty years apart. Doesn’t this age gap seem….a little too extreme?”

The sound of gossip was far from subtle. Sally glanced pale-faced at Sharon but did not say much else. She turned around and prepared to leave.

Sharon was quick to move in Sally’s way, thus blocking her path. “What’s the rush? Everyone is curious about your little love story, so why not tell everyone what happened?”

“Ms. Bauman, just because you enjoy airing your dirty linen in public, doesn’t mean everyone else likes it too.” I was aware that I was being a little harsh, but I could not let this slide. “You failed to retain something valuable and let it slip through your fingers. I’d suggest having some self-awareness and self-respect.”

“Are you sure I’m the one without self-respect here?” Sharon was angered by my words, and her voice immediately went up by a few octaves. “Just who the hell do you think you are? What gives you the right to be pointing fingers at me?”

Sally immediately pulled me behind her, concerned that Sharon might hurt me. “Nobody is pointing fingers at you, but if you’d like us to, just keep going as loudly as you can. I dare you. By tomorrow, you’ll be the talk of the town.”

Sharon was so angry that she was nearly foaming at the mouth. She grabbed Marcus by the arm and gestured at both of us wildly. “Marc, it is clear that they are ganging up on me here! They’re trying to humiliate me!”

I frowned. This woman clearly had no qualms about picking a fight, but this was still, by and large, a problem for the White family to sort out. Because of that, whose fault it was remained unclear to me. However, her appalling behavior was embarrassing. Was the display she gave us yesterday not enough? Why did she have to cause a scene so publicly today as well?

Looking at Marcus straight in the eye, I said, “You seem like a reasonably smart person, Mr. White. I’m sure that you’re not going to continue blocking the way and turn us all into the joke of the century, right?”

Marcus raised a brow and did not say much. Instead, he stepped aside a little and muttered, “By all means.”

The episode that happened earlier was a particularly exciting spectacle and it was definitely not a pleasant sight. With that, Sally hurriedly pulled me aside and tried to leave without bumping into either of them.

However, the entrance to the cafe was not spacious enough. Sharon, in her rage, refused to give way. Sally was reluctant to engage with her and marched out of the cafe.

I followed Sally closely from behind and couldn’t help but steal a glance at Sharon. There was something quite pitiful about the state she was in right now. Having gone through a divorce at her age just meant that her marriage was far from perfect.

What I wasn’t expecting was for Sharon to stumble in my direction and bump into me. Sensing that I was about to fall, I instinctively covered my belly in a feeble attempt to cushion myself.

My heart stopped for a moment as a chill overcame my body. The only thing I could think of was…

Having seen that I was about to fall, I felt my arm being pulled upwards by force. Another hand came around my belly and tried to keep me stable. The motion immediately snapped me out of my thoughts.

“Are you okay? Are you in a shock?” Sally held me by the arm and was now fussing over me in a panic.

I was alright, but the thought of falling gave me a cold sweat. I stood still and shakily drew in a breath while shaking my head at her. “I’m fine.”

I soon realized that his hand was still on my waist and felt my face flush with embarrassment. Marcus had caught me in time. Raising my head, I looked at Marcus and thanked him for responding so quickly.

He frowned and immediately retracted his hand. “It was nothing.” Marcus then turned to address Sharon. Coldly, he said, “Let’s go.”

Sally was not usually the type to deliberately seek out conflict, but this time, she was the one who held Sharon back. “You tripped and bumped into someone, yet you’re trying to leave without apologizing?”

Sharon was not happy, yet her arrogance remained undiminished. “Are you implying that a bunch of sl*ts like you are worthy of an apology?”

The slap that followed rang loud and clear.

Sharon looked at Sally in disbelief as she clutched her reddened cheek. “You b*tch! How dare you slap me?”

Sally tried to suppress her anger. In a low voice, she said, “Sharon, I daresay that I’ve never wronged you all these years. You, of all people, should know the exact reason why you and Benjamin drifted apart. I’ve had to swallow my anger and give in to you every step of the way, but I never did it out of fear. I did that because I pitied you. I pitied the fact that you’ve lived out half your life, yet you still don’t know what you’re living for!”

“I don’t care if you’re rude or arrogant towards me, but you shouldn’t behave that way towards a pregnant woman.” Sally pointed towards my belly and carefully enunciated each word. “You can have a tough life, but you cannot forsake your morals and your soul this way.”

“The baby in her belly is seven months old. If not for Marcus’s reflexes, you would have hurt not one but two lives. Do lives matter so little to you, Sharon? Just because your family is one of the bigshots in the city, you can now afford to be so callous about human life?”

Sally’s tone of voice was so loud that it had attracted more onlookers. Some even had their phones out to record the confrontation.

Her heartfelt words had swayed many in the crowd. Now, all the gossip was directed at Sharon.

“Tsk. It’s no wonder she was cast aside by her husband. Why would the Whites want to be associated with someone so vicious?”

“Exactly! That lady was pregnant and still, she had the audacity to act that way!”

“Good god, she’s so f*cking heartless!”

As the gossiping grew louder, some people had stopped trying to hide the fact that they were discussing the incident and instead began to berate Sharon openly.

Throughout the commotion, Marcus remained impassive and silent. As time passed, the remarks became more and more heated. Suddenly, that coldness was gone and was replaced with grim anger. Addressing the crowd directly, Marcus said, “Have you had enough excitement yet? If you had, kindly f*ck off.”

Nobody could take so much disdain and disgust from everyone else, and Sharon was no different. With the number of accusations and insults being hurled at her, she could only hide dejectedly behind Marcus. She bore none of the arrogance or swagger from earlier.

I couldn’t help but sigh. I tugged at Sally’s hand gently and said, “Let’s go, Aunt Sally. It’s getting late.”

Sally took one last look at the pair and decided that she’d had enough. “Let’s go then.”

As soon as we left the cafe, whatever desire we had to continue shopping was no longer there.

After Sally sent me back to the villa, she looked at me and exclaimed, “What a day it was! You’ve had some torture with the shopping and a proper scare. I think a good rest is in order.”

I nodded and got out of the car. “Anthony should be back by now, so why don’t you join us for dinner?”

Sally shook her head and declined politely. “I can’t. Nobody is supervising Benjamin at night, and he sometimes won’t eat properly. I have to go.”

Having heard this, I was stunned. Without saying much, I merely sent her on her way with a smile.

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