Chapter 127: If Apologies Were Useful, What Would We Need the Police For?

Chapter 127: Chapter 127: If Apologies Were Useful, What Would We Need the Police For?

Wyatt Winslow’s furious voice immediately cut through the air again.

"Screw you! What the hell did you just say, you idiot? You two are barking at each other, and you drag Ruby and Rian into it? Motherfucker, say one more word of that garbage, and I’ll tear your mouth open!"

Wyatt’s curses were filthy. His recent promise to Ruby about not swearing was completely thrown out the window.

Jason Rivers wasn’t as explosive as Wyatt, but he wasn’t in a good mood either. "I’ve seen people with stunted growth, but never someone with a stunted brain. The doctor cut your umbilical cord, not the wires in your head."

Ulysses Shepherd coldly glared at the organizers of the gathering. "What’s the matter? Your dog is running around biting people, and you aren’t going to rein it in?"

On the other side, the smile on Noel Sutton’s face was unfathomably deep. "Caleb Collins, Steve Miller. Didn’t you two beg for a long time to set up this gathering? What? Is this little green-tea bitch the one hosting it?" Noel pointed his long, slender finger at the white lotus, Joy Woods, and curled his lips into a faint smile. "Bringing a rabid dog out to bite people isn’t exactly good behavior."

Across from them, Joy’s face turned blue, then white. The gaze she directed at the two men was still hostile. She was just about to say something when she was yanked back with tremendous force.

"Caleb, control your friend."

The one who pulled Joy back was Stone. He respectfully bowed down and offered a toast to the group. "Young Master Winslow, Young Master Rivers, Young Master Shepherd, Young Master Sutton. Today is my, Luke Miller’s, fault. I’ll punish myself with three glasses. I beg you young masters to be magnanimous and let us off this once."

With that, Luke downed three glasses of alcohol in a row. However, the expressions of the several young masters remained dark. Luke nudged Caleb. Caleb naturally knew their identities.

As for Joy’s stunt, Caleb absolutely despised her for it! However, since he was the one who had invited her, he bore the responsibility. Therefore, Caleb humbled himself greatly and raised his glass in a toast to the two of them. "Young masters, my friend spoke out of turn today. I’ll drink this wine in her place, and apologize to you two young masters on her behalf."

After speaking, Caleb bowed even lower and continued. "Since you young masters have graced the gathering I organized, I’ll toast the two of you. Since I failed to host you properly, I’ll punish myself with another three glasses."

With that, Caleb downed four glasses in quick succession. But the expressions of the two men remained grim.

Rian Sinclair’s expression was indifferent as she curled her lips and looked at the two of them. "I’m afraid you’ve made a mistake. Why are you apologizing to these boys? Or do you two gentlemen think that this lady beside me and I aren’t worthy of an apology?"

Ruby Forrest didn’t say a word, but her expression made her stance perfectly clear. Due to personal reasons, she rarely went out. Her parents worried about her, so they hadn’t invited their business associates to celebrate her birthday; they generally only interacted with old family friends. Her face wasn’t very familiar within these circles, though her name was somewhat recognizable. However, this kind of blatant disrespect was incredibly rare in their upper-class society. After all, their aristocratic upbringing taught them never to openly display their inner thoughts or disgust. To do so would mean they weren’t qualified heirs.

Rian’s words left everyone around them guessing her identity. Because of the dim lighting in the bar, they couldn’t clearly see Rian’s face, and the distance made it completely impossible to make out her features. Furthermore, Rian and the other girl had come together with these prominent young masters. Who would dare go over and hit on them?

Therefore, they were unable to pinpoint her identity for the moment. After all, they were worried these two women were the young masters’ girlfriends. If they tried to hit on them and the women whispered in their boyfriends’ ears, wouldn’t they be completely screwed? Furthermore, they were afraid that these two young women held the same elite status as those young masters—which would explain why they were hanging out together. If they offended them, what would happen to their own families?

At this moment, Joy was also hesitating. She could play the innocent white lotus, but she didn’t dare pull that act in front of powerful people whose influence was even greater than Caleb’s family! Seeing the deferential attitude Caleb and Luke had toward those young masters, the women sitting with them were most likely far from simple. Right now, Joy hated Caleb to death. Moreover, their apology hadn’t even covered everyone involved. Were these two guys complete morons?

Fuck! That was the word Joy wanted to scream the most right now!

Joy adjusted her facial expression, switching to an even more pitiful persona. She was thirty percent frail, forty percent pretentious, and thirty percent pure drama queen. "I’m sorry," she said in an overly contrived tone.

Rian raised her eyebrows, somewhat caught off guard by the woman’s sudden shift in demeanor. Was she trying to pull her manipulative green-tea act on her? Rian lounged lazily, waiting to hear what she would say next.

"If apologies worked, what would we need the police for?" Jason Rivers spoke with a cold face. He deeply admired Rian. Her domestic enterprises were currently expanding to cover the entire country, and she had even more businesses abroad. This woman spoke without a brain. Did she really think a simple "I’m sorry" was going to cut it?

Rian remained silent. She had never intended to forgive this kind of person anyway. The slanderous remarks had just rolled right off her tongue.

Joy took a breath. Her voice was soft, the corners of her eyes were slightly red, and her body was trembling slightly. Looking entirely like someone who had just been bullied, she said in a quivering voice, "I-I’m sorry. I was just angry earlier, and I tend to blurt things out when I’m nervous. I didn’t mean it that way. The alcohol went to my head, and I was just spouting nonsense. I hope you two ladies can forgive me for slandering you. We’re all girls here, so I hope you won’t hold it against me. I’ll punish myself with three glasses to show my sincerity."

Jason was taken aback when he heard this. What did she mean, ’we’re all girls here’? Wasn’t she the one who started the slander? Why was she putting on such a fake act? She made it look like he, a grown man, was bullying her. He was just about to speak when Rian stopped him. He swallowed his words; in a situation like this, he had to defer to Rian’s stance. If Rian couldn’t see through this little green-tea bitch, he would secretly handle the woman for her later. He absolutely couldn’t let some idiot ruin Rian’s good mood.

Rian’s eyes were cool and indifferent as she looked at Joy standing in front of her. Because she had drank the alcohol so quickly, Joy’s cheeks were flushed red, but Rian had no intention of accepting her apology.

Just as Jason had said. If apologies worked, what would we need the police for?

"Miss Woods, do you know how much damage it causes to slander someone? Especially spreading sexual rumors about women. Perhaps your apology is sincere, but you know very well in your heart what exactly made you lower yourself to apologize. If the two of us were just ordinary people, and the young masters hadn’t treated us with respect, then you would have undoubtedly spread the things you said tonight. I suspect this isn’t the first time you’ve done something like this."

For that kind of slander to slip out so easily, she had probably done it many times before, doing it purely out of subconscious habit.

Every word Rian said made Joy’s face turn a shade paler. She was, in fact, exactly as Rian described. If the two girls hadn’t come with this group of prominent young masters, she never would have calmed down and humbled herself to apologize. Instead, she would have maintained her arrogant, high-and-mighty attitude. If she had later found out that these two had no status, tonight’s incident would have certainly ended up on the internet. She was well aware of the harm public opinion could cause someone, and just how terrifying it was to fabricate sexual rumors about a woman.

But hearing Rian’s words, she also knew that the other party definitely held real power or was of equal status to the young masters.

Joy didn’t know what to say for a moment. Rian snapped her fingers, and a bartender brought over bottle after bottle of alcohol.