Bethan raised her eyes. “Butler Walter, what do you say now? Did your memory fail you and forgot about me, whom you specifically reminded the ghostwriters to destroy? Or, did you purposely mix up my and Mrs. Morrison’s names to humiliate me?”
In truth, Nigel had long known about the butler before she got to the banquet. Bethan merely kept quiet because she knew the butler was just a tool.
At that point, since the butler willingly took the fall for the mix-up with her name, she had no choice but to fulfill his wish.
“I…”
The butler bit his lip and was about to say something when Alice, unable to hold it in, burst into tears.
“Uncle Walter, why did you do this?”
She wiped at her tears and sobbed softly, “What good does it do you to cause a rumor that Bethan intervened in my relationship with Brettley?”
The butler was no innocent, simple-minded old man.
The butler’s face fell as he listened to Alice’s words. “
Ms. Peterson, I didn’t do all of this for you. I did them for my daughter, Yvonne! She’s good friends with you, and if you’re unhappy because of this woman, she’ll be just as unhappy, too.
“As her father, it’s only natural that I wouldn’t want to see my daughter sad and moping around every day! Besides…”
He glared at Bethan viciously, and a cold smile hung from his lips. “This woman used work as an excuse to stay beside Mr. Morrison, but in actuality, she harbors ill-intentions toward him! Why shouldn’t I expose the actions of a woman who intentionally seduces a married man, showing the world how evil and calculating she is?”
The hatred in his eyes as he glared at Bethan and spat those words far surpassed the hatred one would have for a mistress.
Bethan narrowed her eyes slightly.
A moment later, her lips twisted into a smile as she laughed coldly. “The old butler cares so much about the Walter family! Those in the loop know that Mrs.
Morrison is your daughter’s friend, but those that aren’t would think Mrs. Morrison is your daughter instead! “
The butler scoffed coldly, “To me, Alice is just like my own daughter! “
“Stop it…”
Alice wiped her tears and walked up to him, pulling at his sleeve. “I know you and Yvonne just want the best for me, but the truth isn’t what you think at all…”
She then walked toward Brettley, raised her arm, and hooked it intimately through his. “Brettley and I have been close all along. We have two children together: a son and a daughter. Six years ago, I left Banyan City, and he waited for me throughout the past six years.
“What’s more, in the past six years, he even took good care of my sister and family for my sake… How can another woman come between us, when we share such a tight bond?
“Besides, Bethan has only worked at the Morrison Group for a month. I believe Brettley; he’s not someone who’ll give up on a six-year-long relationship for a woman he’s only known for a month.”
Alice rubbed her head against Brettley’s chest as she spoke. Brettley frowned and tried to resist her at first, but her eventual words struck his heartstrings. Not only did he cease to resist, but he even took the initiative and wrapped his arms around her.
Bethan saw everything. She bit her lip as the frost in her chest grew colder by the minute.
Seeing Alice stand up for Brettley, Gwen, who stood at the side, still felt furious.
She rolled her eyes and approached them. “Alice, stop defending him. He announced in front of everyone that he’s divorcing you. Could that be fake? This man is fickle and disloyal. He doesn’t deserve your unwavering loyalty! “
The moment the words left Gwen’s mouth, the attendees in the banquet hall started whispering amongst themselves.
“Gwennie, don’t say that.”
Alice let go of Brettley and sucked in a deep breath. “Actually– “
“Actually, the old butler and Yvonne were the ones who planned and executed everything, but Alice chose to bear the burden of their mistakes, ” interjected the man next to her before she could finish.
He pulled her into his chest, his voice cold and distant as he explained in her stead, “I only said I’d divorce her out of anger.”
With that, the man’s cold eyes swept over the butler’s face, then drifted toward Dennis. “Uncle, the butler is your employee.”
Dennis frowned.
He glared at the butler coldly. “How could you go behind my back to frame and discredit Bethan in Banyan City? Because of you, everyone almost thought Brettley, my dear boy, is a piece of scum. Apologize to him right now! “
The butler hurriedly rushed to stand before Brettley. “
Mr. Morrison, I’m sorry…”
Brettley shifted his gaze to Bethan. “The one you should apologize to is her.”
The butler paused, then approached Bethan hesitantly.
“Ms. Bethan, I– “
“I don’t want your apology. “
Bethan raised her head proudly as her cold eyes swept across the butler’s old and wizened face. “You dare say the rumors you spread about me, the way you discredited me, insulted me, all of these were done out of your own volition?”
“Of course.”
The butler raised his eyes and looked at Bethan. “Besides me and my daughter, could there be anyone else?”
Bethan barked out a cold laugh and did not bother to answer his question nor accept his apology. She raised her eyes and looked at Brettley, who stood in the distance with his arm around Alice. “If Mr. Morrison has decided to let it go, then there’s no point in me pursuing this matter any further.
“I’m not feeling very well, though. Forget I ever attended this banquet.”
With that, she ignored the reactions of the crowd behind her as she lifted her skirt and left the hall.
Bethan did not know what she was upset about. She was the victim, and the final winner after the rumors had been cleared, but she somehow felt like a clown. Like a deserter.
The sight of Brettley with his arms wrapped around Alice and how he lied for her kept replaying in her mind’s eye.
Everyone keenly watched as she strode out and her tempo increasing as she went, growing more and more anxious.
The woman’s high-heeled shoes tapped against the clear marble floor, producing clear clicks as she walked.
Brettley stood in place as he gazed at her retreating form. A tinge of pain seemingly sliced across his heart.
“Brettley.”
A long while later, the farce ended and the crowd dispersed. Alice carefully extracted herself from Brettley’s arms.
She bit her lip carefully, her eyes timid and innocent. “Thank you for helping me just now. I know you said that to comfort me. I won’t take it seriously…”
Brettley lowered his eyes, raised his hand slowly, and caressed the face he had longed for six years. “You’re right. We shouldn’t give up on the relationship we’ve built for so many years, just because of a woman I’ve known for a month.”
He bent down and laid his hands on her shoulders gently, looking at her. Even though his actions were cold and distant, his gaze was sincere. “Let bygones be bygones. I won’t look into it any further, and neither will Bethan. Still, I hope you can trust me more, and don’t cause such troubles again. If you do it again…
“I won’t protect you anymore.”
With that, the man let go of her, turned, and headed to the private room on the second floor to look for Dennis.
Alice remained in place. Instinctively placing her hands on the spot where his hands rested on her shoulder just a moment ago, a gush of sweetness burst into her chest.
She knew it! Hard work paid off, after all!
The time and effort she spent for the past six years would not be obliterated in less than a months’ time!
Raising her eyes, she looked at Dennis, who was drinking and stuck in a conversation with Brettley on the second floor.
A hint of self-satisfaction flickered across her eyes as she took out her phone and sent a message to Dennis.
(Get Brettley drunk.]
She wanted to stick a fork in it and get it done that night.
The banquet continued into the wee hours of the morning.
It was not Brettley’s first time in Sea City, but for some unknown reason, they were exceptionally welcoming and enthusiastic. They lined up to toast him, while he emptied cup after cup…
Finally, he almost fell unconscious, muttering nothing but Bethan Peterson’s name non-stop, and was dragged back to his hotel by Lucas.
“I’ll take care of him. “
Lucas dragged him into the room. Following behind him, Alice said softly, “
You’ve worked hard today. Thank you.”
Setting the drunk Brettley gently down on the bed, Lucas frowned. “Ma’am, why not I take care of Mr. Morrison instead? In the six years when you weren’t around, I took care of him every time he got drunk. Don’t worry, and you should get some rest yourself, too.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.