CHAPTER 124: LINE UP AND APOLOGIZE

"No, no, no, the person I want to be friends with is the future Mrs. Brown, not you, Miss Evans. My husband has made it very clear that even if he cooperates with your husband, it’ll has nothing to do with you. Have you two got married? Do you have an engagement ring? Do you have any proof? How do I know you’re not faking it?"

Lydia was consumed with anger. How could anybody fake something like this?

Who would dare impersonate his fiance risking her life?

It struck Lydia that Yvonne was being unreasonable, but she still restrained herself.

"We’ll get married soon enough. I’ve long since heard that Mrs. Leinster is quite forgiving and values her friends very much. It seems they’re telling the truth."

"Who the hell started the rumor about me being forgiving?" Yvonne began to put on an act. "You really think I’m a pushover?

Why did they start rumors like that? I’m the most unforgiving and most small-minded person in the world. You’ll have to slap your own face fifty times if you want my forgiveness."

Lydia was unable to restrain her anger anymore.

Never once had she ever been subjected to such humiliation before.

It was purely because of the presence of Zachary that she had managed to keep her cool until this moment, but now, she could no longer put up with it, despite Zachary’s presence.

Yvonne was going too far.

"You don’t wanna be so unreasonable, Miss Taylor. You slapped my face twice and my face still hurts. I think it’s time for you to get over it."

Yvonne’s physical strength was several times that of Lydia’s. Yvonne merely had a handprint on her cheek, but Lydia’s face was terribly swollen, which really made an amusing sight.

Zachary was not happy to hear her words.

"My wife said she’s still angry, and she meant it. You wanna reason with my wife?"

Zachary’s eyes went cold and Lydia flinched immediately.

"Well, since Miss Taylor is unwilling to be reconciled, do you have the final say in this, Mr. Leinster?"

Zachary looked at Yvonne tenderly. "In our marriage, Yvonne has the final say in everything."

The policemen were very envious, but they had to keep up their pretense of seriousness.

The students were also very envious, but they were also worried that the man would retaliate against them later.

Everybody lapsed into silence.

Were these two torturing bachelors with a public display of affection?

No, the couple was killing them with it!

"What do you say, Yvonne? Do you wanna make peace with her?"

"No. Like I said, I’m the most unforgiving person in the world."

"I see."

Zachary said, "She doesn’t wanna do that, which means every one of you -- Lydia and your good-for-nothing bodyguards, and those ingrates of the Arts Department..."

Zachary was older than them, and the air about him, on the borderland between a teacher’s and a senior student’s, was quite commanding. It gave the others an urge to submit themselves.

"Line up and apologize to my wife one by one, and then I’ll let it go.

If any of you refuse, there will be consequences!"

Lydia was the first one to refuse.

Apart from anything else, she was Nicholas Brown’s

To put it bluntly, Nicholas Brown’s social status wasn’t necessarily lower than Zachary Leinster’s. She was Nicholas’s woman. Why should she humble herself like that?

"Are you sure that’s necessary, Mr. Leinster?"

"You think that’s unnecessary, Miss Evans? How about you try calling Mr. Brown and telling him to come here to intercede for you?"

Lydia’s face darkened.

Nicholas would never come here to intercede for her.

She had come here to make trouble for Eva, the woman he loved the most. If he found out, she would be lucky if he did not punish her.

Even if she had not done this, Nicholas wouldn’t come here to intercede on behalf of her either.

In the normal course of events, even when she drove to the front gate of his mansion, he might not come out to see her. How was it possible for him to come to Hiltonan to intercede for her?

That would be an invitation to dishonor.

"So what do you say, Miss Evans? Would you like to call him?"

Zachary said sinisterly.

"No... I won’t put him to that much trouble. He’s been quite busy lately. I don’t want him to waste any time on such a trivial matter."

Just because she swallowed this for the moment did not mean that she would not retaliate later. When she became Mrs. Brown, she would get even with this Yvonne girl.

As this thought crossed her mind, Lydia backed off a couple of paces, intending to bow.

...

"Miss Taylor, this time around, I’m indeed-"

"Hold on!"

Before Lydia could finish her sentence, Yvonne interrupted her and pulled out a cellphone from her pocket.

"Miss Evans, just now you were so aggressive that I was scared. To make sure that you won’t retaliate against me, I need to make a video of you apologizing to me."

Lydia was astounded.

This girl was going too far!

"Mrs. Leinster, you’ve hit me, and I’m willing to apologize. Why do you still wanna do that?"

Holding her phone airily, Yvonne trained its built-in camera at Lydia and pressed the Record button.

"If you sincerely want to apologize, why are you unwilling to let me make a video of it? The only explanation is that you’re just putting on an act because of my husband’s presence, and you would retaliate against me after you become Mrs. Brown, when my husband is not around. With a video like this in hand, I’ll at least be able to see how sincere you are when apologizing to me."

Lydia exercised all her self-restraint and managed to restrain her rage.

When in Zoravia, she had never seen any grande dames or rich women as insensible as Yvonne.

Having noticed that the negotiation reached a stalemate, Zachary stepped out and said,

"Since my wife has given her word, Miss Evans, please do as she says."

Lydia’s face contorted with anger.

"I’m sorry!"

She bowed deeply. "I shouldn’t have done that to you, Mrs. Leinster. It won’t happen again!"

Yvonne, naturally, knew that there wasn’t much sincerity in her apology.

She curled her lip, making a video of it.

Her purpose was to humiliate Lydia, not to have her sincerely apologize to her.

What did she want with an apology?

Still, it gladdened Yvonne’s heart to see the fury on Lydia’s face.

Since even Lydia had apologized, her bodyguards lined up.

"I’m sorry, Mrs. Leinster."

"Sorry..."

"I apologize."

...

The bodyguards, who numbered over a dozen, apologized one after another.

The look on Lydia’s face grew uglier with every bodyguard walking past her.

This was such an unbearable humiliation.

She thought, "You wait till I get hold of you, Yvonne." She had never been humiliated this way before.

Yvonne had got bored of hearing people apologize when the last bodyguard walked off.

She was very relaxed, sitting on a chair with her legs crossed, drinking a cup of milky tea, "enjoying" their apologies.

Finally, all the bodyguards had apologized.

The room gradually fell silent.

Those sitting in a corner, the members of the Arts Department who had been brainwashed by Hailey, were utterly wordless, wishing they could turn invisible.

Zachary’s voice was charming yet faintly cold.

"Are you guys gonna get it over with or are you gonna stand here until dawn?"

The flunkeys were speechless.

They thought, Fuck!

After all the apologies they’ve received, they’re still unsatisfied?

Why is this Zachary guy so vindictive?

"We’re classmates. How about..."

"Look, Yvonne, I helped you out the other day when the dance team gave you a hard time. Why are you putting us in such a difficult position for such a trivial matter?"

Yvonne had been drinking a milky tea with her legs crossed, her shank dangling. Zachary, worried that she might get tired, he had asked a policeman to give her a chair. She enjoyed it so much.

But those words ruined her good mood instantly.

Her leg stopped dangling and she set aside her milky tea.

"Putting you guys in a difficult position?"

After hearing the latter half of his words, Yvonne had an urge to reason with him.

"You don’t want to apologize because you think we’re classmates, and that things might end ugly, but why didn’t you recall we’re classmates when you were trying to pin all the blame on me and even help that Lydia woman accuse me of inciting violence?"

...

Everybody lapsed into silence.

Yvonne was no sitting duck, which was a fact that had long since come to the knowledge of every student in Zandia University after her verbal duel with Zoila and what happened to Amy and Ashley.

They had done that only because they had been frightened by Lydia’s pomp.

They had not bargained on Zachary’s arrival.

They did not dare believe that such an influential figure would intervene for a classmate of theirs.

The couple of students who had just tried to shift the blame to Yvonne were very embarrassed.

"But you guys are right about one thing."

"We’re indeed classmates from the same department, and we’re like comrades-in-arms who used to fight side by side."

Yvonne set great store by friendship.

For those who were nice to her, she would show them double the kindness they showed her.

For those who were unkind to her, she would return the compliment.

These students, who used to be like comrade-in-arms to her, they were just craven or ungrateful. They were different from Lydia.

"Since we used to be comrades- in- arms, I won’t make things too difficult for you. I don’t need an apology from any of you, but from now on, we’re no longer friends."

She rose from her chair and looked at those people with piercing eyes.

None of those men dared to make eye contact with her. They all bowed their heads.

At this moment, Ralph said, "I’ve said this many times -- the Arts Department is like a united large family.

It’s not just about Yvonne. Eva is the deputy head of the department who’s been working shoulder to shoulder with us for so many years, but what did you guys do when she’s in need?"

Ralph’s and Yvonne’s words made them feel terribly ashamed.

Ralph was very disappointed with them.

Especially Hailey.

Looking at Hailey coldly, he said, "According to the rules of the Arts and Culture Department, the head of the department has the right to expel any member, including the deputy head of the department."

"What do you mean by that, Ralph? You’re gonna expel me?"

Hailey frowned.

It was true that she was about to graduate, and sooner or later she was going to have to leave the Arts Department.

But apart from everything else, she had been the deputy head of the department for so many years, and she was now an influencer with a decent online presence.

She was okay with leaving the department, but why was he expelling her in the presence of so many people?

Wasn’t he disgracing her?

"Yeah, I’m expelling you, Hailey."

Ralph was an unnaturally talented young man. He did not care if the girl in front of him was an influencer with tens of thousands of fans.

"The rest of you guys may quit on your own initiative."

Every one of them panicked at his decision.

"Ralph, we... we did that just now only because the situation was urgent. W--We...

Alas!"

The one who tried to defend himself with sophistry made a lot of excuses, but eventually, he found himself at a loss for words to justify his actions.

Ralph, not at all inclined to hear their excuses, strode off with a cold face.

Hailey stayed where she was, disconcerted.

Like Lydia, she was consumed with hatred for Yvonne.

Eva, however, had a bland look on her face from start to finish.

Everybody in the room pondered over something in silence.

Zachary looked at the petite woman beside him and said blandly, "Let’s go home."

*

Inside the black Rolls Royce, everybody was quiet.

Having extricated herself from the situation where she and Zachary fought against a common enemy, Yvonne recalled that the two of them were giving each other the silent treatment.

Earlier this day, Zachary had left her in the car alone and gone to his company because of a remark made by Yeliz.

Yvonne had wanted to explain, but her negative emotions had been building up all day, and now she found herself unable to explain.

"Why didn’t you give me a call before going to the bar?"

Zachary was the one who broke the silence.

Yvonne looked out of the window, the beautiful illumination of neon lights falling across her young face.

"I forgot."

"You forgot?"

Zachary sneered.

"Ralph sent you an invitation and you forgot to even do me the courtesy of giving me a call?"