Phoebe appeared to be unbothered by the whole conversation. She summoned a waiter gracefully and proceeded to order off the menu. After a moment, she glanced at me and asked, "Mrs. Roberts, is there anything you would like to try? The pineapple fried rice here is great. Why don't you have a try?"
I smiled and replied, "Since Miss Rulin has recommended it, of course I will have a try. You seem to be quite familiar with this place."
She answered with a gracious smile, "Well. I've eaten here several times before. As I think the food here is really good, so I always recommend this place to other people. If Mrs. Roberts doesn't mind, you can have a try for my sake."
There was no similarity between Miss Rulin and Andrea at all. According to Austin's preference, he would have found a woman similar to Andrea if he wanted to. However, Phoebe and Andrea were completely different in all aspects. There was no similarity between them at all.
After chatting for a while, I got up and headed to the bathroom. Hendrix wanted to accompany me, but seeing that he and Austin were in the middle of a conversation, I declined and went alone.
When I came out of the washroom, I ran into Austin. He was leaning against the wall and seemed to be waiting for someone. I looked around and realized that the ladies' room was empty. Who was he waiting for?
I asked politely, "Are you waiting for Miss Rulin?"
He looked up at me with an expressionless face and replied, "I am waiting for you!"
I was stunned for a second. "Why are you waiting for me?" I questioned. I didn't seem to have anything to do with him. He had never been satisfied with me, so over the years, although he was really close with Hendrix, we rarely spoke. Why did he come looking for me all of a sudden?
"What's the matter?" I asked.
I frowned. I was surprised that he had come to me because of this matter. I thought that he had completely forgotten about Andrea, but I didn't expect him to still be worrying about her.
"I found out accidentally, so I called the police," I replied. That night, Yana and I had walked into the alley out of curiosity. I hadn't expected to run into and discover Andrea there.
He puffed on his cigarette and looked at me coldly. He spoke with a low voice, "Hendrix has already given his love to you, what more do you want? Why did you call the cops on her and let her end up like this? Are you trying to ruin her life? You won't stop until you get rid of her completely, right?"
I was a little confused by his accusation. I couldn't help frowning as I gave him a puzzled look and asked, "Mr. Shelley, I believe your logic is flawed. She broke the law on her own accord. I didn't force her or harm her. All I did when I found out by accident was report it to the police, like any ordinary civilian will. I don't think I am wrong. Do you think I should have pretended I never found out and let her continue down this dead end road? In another way, I ended up saving her by calling the cops on her, did I not?"
He sneered. "What Andrea did was her own choice, but you could have used other ways to solve the problem, yet you still choose to destroy her dignity and bring her shame. You caused Hendrix to become disappointed in her, and give up on her completely. She has lost her will to live. Arianna, I underestimated you, you're even more ruthless than I thought."
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: My Pretty Sweetheart (Arianna)
How do you save these stories so you can pick up where you stopped...