Chapter 12
“You…” Vincent was piqued for a moment, but quickly let it go. No biggie. He was waiting for Harrison to make a fool of himself. He knew that once Harrison fell for Roxanne, he would treat her like a queen.
***
At the bustling Night Fair stalls.
In front of a popular BBQ stand, Roxanne and Chloe sat facing each other.
“Anne, your favorite grilled pork belly.” Chloe passed it to her, “1 grilled it just for you.”
“Chloe.” Roxanne had no appetite for BBQ. She frowned, “Is something bothering you?”
Chloe lowered her head, her mood suddenly dropped, and even her voice lowered, “Anne, I found out about Oliver harassing you. I heard him confessing to you in the office that day…”
Roxanne was not surprised at all; she had guessed it already. Seeing Chloe this upset, she was upset too, but she couldn’t find any words to comfort Chloe. Because she was the woman who made Oliver fall in love. Roxanne felt like she had done something wrong to Chloe. “Chloe, I’m sorry, I didn’t know Oliver…”
After pulling herself together, Chloe raised her head again, “Anne, the one who should apologize is me. It’s Oliver who harassed you and made things awkward for you.”
Then she asked worriedly, “Anne, has Oliver been bothering you these days?”
Oliver, that jerk, if he can’t get what he wants, he was bound to hold a grudge and seek revenge. Chloe knew him best.
“You don’t need to worry about him, I have my ways to deal with him.” Roxanne said guiltily, “I knew you found out about this when you were acting so strange lately, Chloe, do you really not blame me?”
Chloe was honest, “At first, I was a little upset, after all, you’re my best friend, but this whole thing was Oliver’s fault, his heart went astray, if it wasn’t you, it would be another woman. Anne, I just want to tell you, even if I lose Oliver, I don’t want to lose such a good friend like you.”
“I don’t want to lose a good friend like you either.”
Knowing about this, Chloe didn’t blame her, but instead worried about Oliver troubling her, Roxanne was touched. It was rare that Chloe didn’t blame her, but instead cared about her. But she was furious, “Chloe, this kind of jerk, haven’t you thought about getting a divorce?” “If it weren’t for the two kids, I would have left him long ago.” Chloe said helplessly
Thinking about the kids, Roxanne swallowed back the words of persuasion for divorce. Yes. The two kids were too innocent. And Chloe’s little baby was still breastfeeding and so small.
The two friends chatted for a while. In the end, Roxanne summed up: “Chloe, don’t overthink it. You’ve met a guy like Oliver, and you can’t start over. You can only strive to change yourself and make yourself better.”
“Aren’t you always hoping to be the protector of Aria and Austin, letting them grow up happy? Put the pain that Oliver has caused to you aside for now, and focus on working hard and making money. Even if you do get a divorce in the future, you can show Aria and Austin a positive, strong mother who won’t be easily defeated. They will be inspired by your strength and become stronger themselves. What do you think?”
Chloe nodded frequently, tears streaming down her face. “Anne, only you can comfort me and give me strength.”
“Cry it out, if you’re upset, cry a bit more. After crying, let’s eat these, then wake up tomorrow, work hard, and make money”
“No more crying, let’s eat BBQ.”
After a while, Chloe calmed down. While the two ladies were enjoying their food, Oliver came over holding Austin. “Chloe, you don’t come back even when the baby is crying like this, and you still have the heart to eat barbecue here. What kind of a mom are you?”
Chloe quickly took the crying Austin. He was probably hungry. She didn’t care that they were in public, she sat down with her back to the crowd, lifted her top, and started breastfeeding.
During this time, Roxanne went to buy a bottle of water. When she came back, somehow Oliver had started fighting with a drunkard at the next table.
Chloe’s child somehow ended up in the arms of the BBQ stand owner. And Chloe, probably worried about Oliver getting hurt, was trying to break up the fight. It was a bit chaotic, those drunk men didn’t care that Chloe was a woman, and they were pushing her around.
Seeing the crowd, Roxanne feared an accident might happen. Besides, the smell of alcohol might make the fight more intense, so she quickly called Harrison. Perhaps because Harrison was her husband in name, she thought of him first when she ran into trouble. “Harrison, where are you, can you come over?” She quickly explained the situation to Harrison.
Harrison’s tone was not very good, “You guys went out drinking and got into a fight? Who let you drink?”
Drinking always led to trouble. But Harrison thought it wasn’t the time to blame her, he was afraid she would get into an accident, so he quickly asked, “Where are you?”
“The place where I bought you the T-shirt and sportswear at the Night Fair stall last time, Adam’s BBQ Restaurant.”
Harrison, still in his slippers, didn’t have time to change, and he quickly went out, “Wait there for me. Find a safe place to hide first.” “No can do, Chloe is getting hit. I’m gonna hang up now. I need to help…”
Harrison didn’t want to deal with such a mess, but he was worried about Roxanne, so he hurried over. If something happened to her, his old man would definitely be very angry.
By the time Harrison got there, the police had already arrived. Because of the group fight, all of them had to be taken away. Harrison went up and saw Roxanne being taken away by the police, “Excuse me, why are they being taken away?”
“Who are you?” The cop glanced at him.
Harrison walked up to Roxanne, “I’m her husband.”
Roxanne exchanged a glance with him, feeling very sorry, as it was quite late to have called him out. However, there was no hint of blame in Harrison’s eyes. He was merely observing to see if she was hurt. He noticed that her clothes on her back were torn and quickly asked, “Are you okay?”
Roxanne shook her head, “I’m fine, just a scratch.”
The cop chimed in, “Since you’re her husband, you should come with us.”
At the police station, a few of them were immediately detained. The reason was simple – they were involved in a public brawl. The guys from the other side got nabbed too.
Oliver called his sister. Given she was married into a local family, her husband had some pull in the community, he might be able to bail them out.
When his sister showed up at the police station in the middle of the night, she was absolutely livid upon seeing Oliver, “Do you have any idea the kind of mess you’ve made? You’ve injured someone’s head. You’re looking at at least a couple of weeks in the slammer”
“But he was harassing Chloe first, Oliver argued back, “Am I not supposed to protect her?”
His sister turned to Chloe, not giving a damn whether she was harassed or not, and she retorted, “This is all your fault. Running out in the middle of the night for some barbecue? Can’t you just stay home and take care of your kid?”
At this point, Roxanne stepped in, “Sophia, this isn’t the time for blaming games, we need to figure out a solution.”
Sophia snapped, “If it wasn’t for Chloe, Oliver wouldn’t be in this mess. And you, why did you invite Chloe out for barbecue, causing all this ruckus?”
Chloe defended, “It was me who invited Roxanne out.”
Sophia angrily retorted, “You two gals going out in the middle of the night for barbecue, dressed to the nines, weren’t you just asking for
Roxanne fired back, “Who said women can’t go out for late-night barbecue?”
Enough was enough. Harrison, clearly fed up, had been stuck here for over an hour. As the head of Rodriguez Group, he was loaded, contributing over half of the GDP for Seraphim Haven. Even high-ranking officials showed him respect. When did he ever get held up in a small-town police station?
His face darkened, “Can you guys stop bickering?”
Roxanne turned to him, “Harrison, I’m sorry. I dragged you into this.
Harrison curtly replied. “Let’s focus on getting out of here first.”
“Out?” Oliver scoffed, “Even my brother-in-law can’t pull strings here, and you think you can?”
Looking at Harrison in his flip flops and cheap clothes, Oliver was even more dismissive, “Don’t flatter yourself.”
Sophia asked, “Oliver, this is the pauper Chloe hurriedly married?”
Oliver smirked, “Just a broke, useless guy thinking he’s hot shit.”
Harrison despised Oliver’s attitude. His face stone-cold, “If you beg me now, maybe I can pull you out of here with me.”
“You want me to beg you?” Oliver scoffed, “Seems like you’ve forgotten your place. You’re just a country bumpkin, with no money, no power, and no connections. If you could get out, I’d eat my own shit.”
Harrison smirked coldly but said nothing more. He turned to a nearby cop and asked to make a call. After he hung up, he sat back and waited for his friend to arrive.
Less than half an hour later, Harrison’s friend showed up. A guy in glasses and a suit walked in, exuding an air of success and confidence. He clearly held a significant position. But the moment he saw Harrison, he walked over respectfully, “Sir…”
