Chapter 219 Conditional
Joan started crying.
“I’m not… That’s slander! I don’t even know who you are.”
Lynette sneered. “As if you’re even fit to be slandered by me. I wouldn’t have bothered with you if you had just stayed away after getting what you wanted. Why did you come all the way over just to taunt the woman whose marriage you ruined, huh? You either have too much time on your hands, or you’re just a b*tch through and through!”
Abigail knew it was too late to stop Lynette. In any case, Joan asked for it.
Just for the sake of getting Sean, Joan had Lina make a scene in front of Analise, and the latter nearly died as a result. Why would Abigail pity a woman like that?
Joan came over to mock Abigail. She didn’t expect to find someone who would come forward to protect Abigail.
“Abby… save me… Sean won’t let her get away with treating me like this!” Lynette was too scary, so Joan began pleading with Abigail instead.
Just then, Josh came out and shielded Abigail behind him.
“Do
you need me to call Sean Graham for you and tell him to come over?” Josh’s voice was a lot colder when he addressed Joan.
Joan stiffened. Her eyes flitted between Abigail and Josh as an outrageous thought occurred to her.
“What’s your relationship?” she asked instinctively.
“Why would they need to inform an immoral lowlife like you what their relationship is?” Lynette scoffed.
“I’m going back in,” Abigail said coolly before heading into the tea house. She didn’t want to continue standing in front of the crowd of onlookers.
Josh wanted to go back in with her, so he said to Lynette, “That’s enough, now. She’s not worth any more of your time.”
Lynette smiled. “You’re right, Josh. I’m just dirtying my hands.”
Back inside the tea house, Abigail remained silent.
Nothing was going well for her.
“Here’s your dessert. I’ll make another pot of tea.” Josh set down the cupcake in front of Abigail.
The icing on the cupcake was in the shape of a flower. It was very pretty.
“Alright,” Abigail said.
Lynette sat down beside Abigail. Her eyes were shining as she asked, “Abby, what did you about my performance today?”
think
“Not too shabby, but wouldn’t you be negatively affected for recklessly attacking her?” Abigail was worried that Joan would make a big deal out of this incident online. It would be negative publicity for the Pearsons.
“Our family doesn’t rely on public opinion to earn money. And anyway, Joan’s just a bug on the windshield. Even us, the younger ones in the Pearson Family, can easily crush her,” Josh explained.
“Even so, you shouldn’t underestimate the power of the internet,” Abigail reminded.
In this day and age, even the smallest incident can be blown up to epic proportions online. People would often upload bits and pieces of the truth and twist things around to garner attention.
No one cared about figuring out the whole truth first. They would just pile on with the rest of the
commenters online.
“Abby’s right, but it doesn’t matter. I was already fully prepared to face the consequences of my actions when I decided to do it.” Lynette wholeheartedly took Abigail’s side.
Abigail was worried that Sean would cause trouble for the Pearsons.
After all, things were a lot tougher to resolve when these prominent families went up against each
other.
“Abby…” Josh wanted to speak, but he couldn’t seem to form a proper sentence.
Abigail was startled to hear Josh using that nickname with her. She was still biting on the cupcake when she looked at Josh.
Still nervous, Josh’s entire b*dy was stiff as he declared, “Don’t worry. I’ll protect you and Lynette.”
Abigail didn’t know if she should thank him.
Had he been her friend, she would’ve been moved by his gesture. Alas, he was not her friend. He just wanted to take her away from Analise.
Thus, all of his goodwill came with a condition. It wasn’t simply an act of kindness.
“I don’t need anyone to protect me,” Abigail said. “When I was kidnapped, I fought against my
kidnapper myself and managed to hold out until I was rescued. I can take care of myself, you
know.”
She spoke calmly and evenly, as if describing an everyday matter.
Josh knew about this incident, of course. Unfortunately, their relationship wasn’t established enough for him to express his concern to her then.
To hear her describing it so casually now only made his heart sting with pain.
She was always alone. She had no one to rely on by herself. Be it going against Sean or the production crew or even escaping from her kidnapper, she relied purely on her wits and determination.
“You’re strong enough to take care of yourself, but you also have people you can rely on now,” Josh couldn’t resist reinforcing.
Abigail had a somewhat detached smile on her face. “No, you’re not the people I want to rely on. I don’t know you all that well. The only person I can rely on is my grandma.”
“Hey, now… We can be friends. Abby, you saw how I did today. Why don’t you let me be your b*dyguard?” Lynette quickly piped up.
“The cupcake is quite delicious. It’s sweet but not cloying. There’s a light floral taste to it too. Did you add a bit of rose in it?” Abigail asked Josh after taking another bite of the cupcake.
After being ignored, Lynette pouted and busied herself with her phone.
Abigail didn’t want to hurt Lynette, but she knew that if she didn’t put her foot down now, they would continue to weasel their way into her life.
Analise’s condition hadn’t stabilized yet. Abigail didn’t want Analise to feel any more turmoil.
Josh had a faint smile on his face. “Yeah. I harvested them myself. If you’re free tomorrow, you can come with me. The place is lovely.”
He didn’t seem bothered by Abigail’s aversion to the Pearsons.
