Chapter 18
The chubby man looked panic–stricken. He tried to free his hand, only to realize the other party was using enough force to snap his wrist. “What’s your problem? Why are you grabbing me?” Olivia suddenly realized that the person who had touched her earlier was not Jack but this chubby man.
Olivia’s face turned red when she realized that she had misunderstood Jack. She yelled at the chubby man, “Asshole, so you were the one who touched me earlier!”
“What are you talking about? When did I touch you? Show me some evidence. You must be really desperate for male attention!”
As soon as the chubby man finished speaking, a fist suddenly collided with the bridge of his nose. The impact caused the chubby man to cover his nose and howl in pain.
The people around them were so shocked that they moved further to the side, creating a gap in the previously crowded carriage.
“Why did you hit him?”
“How uncivilized!”
The bystanders started pointing at Jack accusatory. The chubby man also yelled at the public to call the police, but it was as though Jack could not hear them at all. He continued striking the chubby man with his fist and with so much strength that the chubby man’s face was soon covered in blood.
Upon seeing this situation, the driver immediately stopped the vehicle. He said, “Don’t cause trouble in the car! If you need to resolve any conflict, do it outside! And call the police if you need to, but don’t affect other passengers!”
Olivia was also afraid things would worsen, so she grabbed Jack’s arm. “Stop it, please. Stop hitting him.”
At that time, the bus stopped along the side of the road. Olivia said anxiously, “Let’s alight here.” Jack also felt like he could not do too much in the vehicle. He grabbed the chubby man’s collar and dragged him off the bus.
The chubby man was dragged along by Jack. His briefcase was left behind on the bus.
“Let go of me! What are you trying to do to me? We’re in a public setting!” The chubby man yelled loudly, which attracted the attention of the surrounding people.
Jack sneered. “What am I trying to do? I’m teaching you how to be a human being.”
Jack threw the chubby man backward, causing the man to bump into the advertisement column behind him. The chubby man grimaced in pain. He immediately realized that he might have offended someone dangerous and attempted to run away.
But there was no way Jack was going to let him get away. He kicked the chubby man’s knee. The man fell to the ground with a cry of pain.
The onlookers stood far away from them. They took out their phones to take videos of the
commotion, but no one intervened or tried to break up the fight.
Olivia initially wanted Jack to teach the chubby man a lesson too, but she now felt that Jack was being too harsh. She said, “Jack, stop hitting him! If you go on like this, he might die!”
She never expected Jack, who looked so gentle and elegant, to be more ruthless than Branden when he turned violent. Jack looked like he was ready to take this all the way.
“He deserves to die.” Jack glanced coldly at the man on the ground. The man’s nose was bruised, his face was swollen, and his body was covered in blood.
The chubby man was scared out of his mind. He covered his head and squatted on the ground, crying and begging for mercy. His arrogance from earlier was nowhere to be seen. He probably would never dare to molest another woman in this lifetime.
After such a vicious beating, Olivia feared someone would call the cops. Hence, she dragged Jack away from this wretched place.
Jack looked at their interlaced fingers. He realized that the longer he stayed with Olivia, the more he hated seeing her suffer any indignance.
Although he had already learned about Olivia’s background, what happened that night was just an accident. Mike Chaney had tricked her, and Jack had also suffered through a similar experience. Their fateful encounter appeared to have been orchestrated by the heavens. His emotions were being influenced by hers. This feeling of gradually losing control made Jack, who had always been calm and reserved, feel a hint of danger.
Olivia saw that Jack was in a bad mood, so she suggested, “Let’s not continue with the job hunt today. Let’s just find a place to rest.”
“Let’s get a cab instead of taking the bus.”
“Sure.”
Olivia flagged a cab by the side of the road and entered the vehicle with Jack. To hide the fact that she was unemployed from Barbara, she could not go home so early.
Hence, she took Jack to the famous scenic spots in Dynea. They wandered around for the entire afternoon, but Jack did not show much interest.
Olivia had no choice but to take Jack to dinner. Since Jack had stood up for her today, she knew she could not treat him to something cheap. She gritted her teeth and brought him to a slightly better restaurant.
Jack flipped through the menu but did not order any food. He simply asked the waiter to bring them a bottle of alcohol.
Olivia looked at him worriedly. “Jack, are you worried that the man from earlier might call the cops? It’s fine, I’ll testify as your witness, and I can pay him some medical fees in the worst case.”
Jack jokingly said, “You might as well pay for his coffin.”
The corner of Olivia’s mouth twitched. She thought to herself, “This guy is so arrogant. Doesn’t he get beaten up when he talks like this in public?”
She picked up the bottle of alcohol on the table and poured a glass for herself and Jack. “Forget it.
Let’s not think about that anymore. Here’s a toast to you. After this, let’s go home and sleep it off Tomorrow is a new day.”
Jack stared at her. “Are you always so optimistic?”
Olivia shrugged her shoulders. She picked up her glass and took a sip. However, she did not quite like the taste of this alcohol.
“What else can I possibly do? I can’t kill myself over a minor inconvenience, right?”
Jack stared at Olivia, who had proceeded to chug the entire glass of alcohol. He fiddled with his own glass thoughtfully.
After chugging the alcohol, Olivia raised her hand and slapped her burning tongue. “What kind of
alcohol did you order? It burns!”
“Royal Whiskey.”
“What?”
Olivia grabbed the menu and looked for the price of this alcohol. She instantly wanted to spit out everything she drank when she realized it cost 1129 dollars.
“You, you, you…” She opened her mouth but could not continue further. She was on the verge of passing out. Jack had ordered three bottles!
Jack said with a smile, “Just drink it and then go home to sleep it off. Tomorrow is a new day.”
He was using Olivia’s words against her. Olivia wanted to cry. She hugged the bottle of alcohol and said pitifully, “Let’s just drink one bottle and return the other two, okay?”
“No.”
“You…”
Olivia was furious, but when she thought about how often Jack had helped her, she realized he deserved this. She thought, “I’ll just treat this as my way of thanking him.”
Hence, she went all out and opened all three bottles. “Then, let’s drink! We can’t leave if we don’t finish all three bottles!”
Olivia did not have a high alcohol tolerance, but the effect of the alcohol was quite delayed. She managed to drink three glasses in a row before she started to feel dizzy.
Jack took a sip gracefully. When he put down his glass, Olivia was lying on the table, asleep.
He summoned the waiter for the bill, then picked her up and left the restaurant.
By the time they got home, it was already past 9 PM. Barbara was already asleep.
Jack placed the drowsy Olivia on her bed in the bedroom. As he gazed at her rosy cheeks, an inexplicable throbbing arose in his heart.
Olivia was not conscious enough to know what she was doing. She wrapped her arms tightly around Jack’s neck and stammered, “Jack Shaw… You… You can’t hit other people like that… If you get into troubie, I’ll have to bail you out of jail… I don’t have that kind of money…”
As Jack listened to Olivia ramble, the strange sensation in his heart grew increasingly intense. He tilted his head slightly and brushed his thin lips against her soft lips.
Their breaths fanned across each other’s noses, and Jack felt his heartbeat accelerate.
Olivia opened her eyes slightly and met Jack’s dark and deep gaze. As he stared into her eyes, she was reminded of that night. It was as if a storm was brewing in Jack’s eyes.
Jack wrapped his arms around her slender waist and pulled her closer. Their lips were pressed together.
