Chapter 263 The Violinist
As soon as Ben Doolittle left, Lucy Doolittle turned to their guest with a warm smile. "Mr. Watson, can I get you something to eat?"
"No thanks," he replied, his voice cold yet pleasant to the ear.
"How about a drink then?"
"I'm fine," he declined again.
Meanwhile, Caroline finished her performance and started putting away her violin as different music filled the air. Ben walked over to her.
"Caroline, you can leave your violin there. You must be starving after playing for so long."
"I am a bit," Caroline admitted, rubbing her stomach since she had skipped dinner.
"Come on, I'll get you something to eat."
"Sounds good."
It was Caroline's first time performing at a private party in the States.
Ben had helped her out once while she was in the country, and tonight's performance was her way of repaying the favor. Otherwise, she wouldn't have considered attending.
Ben personally served her a plate of food. "Thank you," she said gratefully.
"Go ahead and eat. I need to help my dad greet some guests."
"Don't worry about me."
Sitting alone, Caroline ate while watching others dance.
"Heh, couldn't make it big abroad, so you came back home?" a familiar voice taunted.
Caroline froze, her food caught in her mouth forgotten.
Nicholas, though confined to a wheelchair, had an aura as commanding as if he towered over everyone.
Caroline slowly resumed chewing and swallowed, then put on her trademark smile. "Did my gold-digging abroad bother you, Mr. Watson?" she countered.
Nicholas's lips twisted into a mocking smile. "Miss Bennett, your violin skills are impressive. I enjoyed your performance. Play another piece for me, and I might consider introducing you to all the moguls in the city."
"What are you implying?" Caroline's face darkened, her grip on the fork trembling.
"You seem fond of performing for support," he sneered.
Slap.
A red mark appeared on Nicholas's handsome face. His assistant immediately stepped forward to restrain Caroline, but Nicholas raised his hand slightly in a gesture for pause. Just then, Lucy Doolittle emerged from the restroom, catching sight of Caroline's outburst against Nicholas.
She rushed over, angrily chastising Caroline for her actions.
"Caroline, why did you hit Mr. Watson? No matter what happened, it's not right to treat a person with a disability that way," Lucy Doolittle said, albeit reluctantly. She wasn't particularly fond of Caroline, but her brother liked Caroline, so she was willing to give her the respect of calling her 'sister.'
Nicholas was the man Lucy had her eyes on. Despite his disability, she admired his appearance, as well as his talent and excellence. She had only been away for a moment, and Caroline dared to strike the man she admired.
Lucy considered herself a bastion of righteousness, defending the vulnerable Nicholas, and she thought surely Nicholas would be touched by her gesture.
But one could say that Lucy, although familiar with the legendary aspects of Nicholas, did not truly understand him.
"Miss Doolittle, watch your words!" the assistant cautioned with a chilling stare.
Nicholas radiated an even colder aura than before. His gaze fixed ahead, not looking at Lucy, yet it felt as though he was staring directly at her, sending shivers down her spine and a chilling sensation through her feet.
She suddenly realized what she had just said.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Watson, I didn't mean to call you a person with a disability, I was just so angry..."
"Miss Doolittle, if you don't care for your words, just say so," the assistant threatened with a dangerous look in his eyes.
Lucy was petrified...
The assistant's implied threat was enough to make Lucy's legs tremble. She felt that if she uttered the word 'disability' one more time, this person would indeed cut out her tongue.
She tried to speak, then clamped her mouth shut.
Caroline, too, was frightened.
She suddenly realized that Nicholas was no longer the Nicholas of the past.
He was devoid of any warmth, and even the people around him shared that cold, forbidding demeanor.
Her hand still tingled. The slap she had given Nicholas was fueled by intense rage.
How dare he accuse her of being nothing more than a gold-digging performer!
Caroline's eyes reddened with unshed tears.
She thought of her deceased child, and her eyes instantly filled with bloodshot lines.
Her adversary was before her, yet she couldn't deal the blow she longed to.
She was even humiliated by him.
Anger caused Caroline's chest to rise and fall tumultuously, and she couldn't hold back.
She turned to Lucy Doolittle: "Do you see? You stand up for him, and he doesn't even appreciate it."
Then, in a rage, she faced Nicholas: "You heartless man, it's no wonder you're in this state!"
Then she kicked out fiercely, landing a harsh blow on Nicholas's leg.
The assistant moved to grab Caroline, but Nicholas shot a look that stopped him in his tracks.
Caroline slung her violin on her back and walked out.
With this man around, she really didn't want to stay.
"Mr. Watson, what happened?" CEO Doolittle came over with his son.
The people around were all watching as the butler had immediately notified CEO Doolittle. By the time he arrived, Caroline had just left.
Nicholas’s face was cold, and his voice was icy yet pleasant, "CEO Doolittle, you should focus not only on yourself but also spend some time teaching your daughter how to brush her teeth properly. I've got things to do, so I'll be leaving."
His assistant pushed his wheelchair around, and they started to leave.
"Mr. Watson, please don't go, the cake hasn't—" CEO Doolittle tried to smooth things over with a smile as he accompanied Nicholas to the door.
After Nicholas left, CEO Doolittle turned back to his daughter with a stern glare.
"What exactly happened?"
Someone close to CEO Doolittle who had seen the whole scene said, "Mr. Watson really hates it when people talk about his disability. Lucy really crossed the line."
Slap—the sound of CEO Doolittle’s hand striking Lucy Doolittle’s face echoed.
"Dad!" Ben Doolittle hurried to intercede.
Not far away, Harrison clicked his tongue twice and mused, "I've finally realized one advantage of you dating Tiffany."
Gabriel was silent.
Harrison continued, "If CEO Doolittle didn't know how strong your relationship with your girlfriend was, and your reputation for integrity, he would surely have tried to set you up with Lucy Doolittle. That would've been a handful."
Gabriel reminded him, "Tiffany and I have broken up."
"But CEO Doolittle doesn't know you've split up."
"Do you like Lucy Doolittle?" Gabriel asked.
Harrison quickly shook his head, "No, no, no, I don't!"
Gabriel also did not stay long. After about half an hour, he took his leave, and soon after, Harrison left as well.
In the Doolittle's study, Lucy Doolittle, with her face in her hand, stood in front of her father, her head bowed.
CEO Doolittle was seething, his chest heaving with frustration, "I told you to win Mr. Watson over, not to offend him!"
Lucy Doolittle felt wronged as she said, "I didn't know it was taboo for Mr. Watson." She sighed. "Plus, when I saw Caroline slap Mr. Watson, I was the one who stood up for him."
Ben Doolittle's expression shifted at the mention of Caroline slapping Nicholas. Knowing Caroline to have a good temperament, he was sure that there had to be a reason behind her action—Nicholas must have upset Caroline.
"Dad," Ben addressed his father, "Mr. Watson already has children. Though he hasn't held a wedding ceremony with the children's mother, they're living in the Watson family home; marriage seems to be just a matter of time. Encouraging Lucy to get close to Mr. Watson—aren't you basically asking her to become a mistress?"
Ben didn't want to stop his father from leveraging his sister's happiness for a strategic marriage alliance, but he didn't approve of her disrupting another's romantic relationship.
"Why have they not married after all these years? It's because Mr. Watson doesn't like her enough to marry her, but can't simply break it off. If Lucy can make him happy, then she'll be his blessing. Lucy is saving him!" his father retorted.
"That's not saving," Ben tried to argue, but was cut off as the subject changed abruptly.
"Forget about Lucy for a second. What's going on with you and Caroline?" his father demanded.
Ben was at a loss for words.
"Just keep things casual with her and don't get too serious. She's not suitable to be our daughter-in-law."
The conversation had turned to him, much to his chagrin.
Elsewhere, as Caroline parked her car on the roadside, she leaned over the steering wheel and sobbed uncontrollably.
For over six years, she had held in her emotions, but she felt like she would go mad if she didn't let them out now. The slap could be seen as a way to vent for her deceased child.
"Baby, don't worry. Mommy will continue to fight for you. How about reincarnating in Mommy's womb next time? I will protect you with all my heart and not let you get hurt again," she whispered as if her child could hear her.
A Maserati slowly passed by her parked car, and on the back seat, Nicholas's pale skin made the red mark on his cheek stand out sharply. Although it looked sore, he seemed unfazed.
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