Chapter 34

"In fact, Gerry didn't experience any problems when he was with this boy named Zharies. In fact, the rumors I've heard lately are that Gerry was stabbed by Samuel, how could a son of a prominent Norine family do such a heinous thing outside of cartel business?"

"Hey old granny, instead of you taking care of this matter, you better go look for your false teeth that you left behind in your house. What do you know about that incident huh? You don't even have any evidence of it," Samuel said sarcastically.

"I know, news like that wouldn't be kept under wraps especially since I found out about it from some of my assistants who are also friends with Gerry's personal assistant. You should be ashamed when you lose the competition but you resort to backstabbing like that. Can you really not win a man by using the advantages you have? That means you have no better value than Gerry."

"Enough! What the hell are you doing meddling with our problems! You don't even know anything about the match between the Enriqo family and the Norine family that was messed up by Gerry and Zharies! They shouldn't be united like that because they broke the agreement between the Enriqo family and the Norine family! I know very well that you don't like the Norines because the Maradi family's background has always been in conflict with our family. Is that right, Mrs. Barbara?"

I looked around me and I saw that the people there were having their own opinions through their own viewpoints about the debate between Samuel and Mrs. Barbara.

Some looked like they were judging Mrs. Barbara through their eyes. Yeah, I could guess that because there would only be a handful of people who would think like Mrs. Barbara about my relationship with Gerry.

"There's also some truth to what Mrs. Barbara said, you shouldn't force a relationship between Gerry and Zharies!"

"Even if they're just working together, it's also because Gerry needs that to avoid a forced match. It can be seen from Gerry's attitude that he really doesn't want an arranged marriage. Why are you forcing someone who doesn't want to love someone?"

"I see Gerry and Zharies really loving each other and not just as people who have a partnership with each other. Why not give the two of them a chance to live their lives together and have a peaceful love?"

Many people there agreed with Barbara after a while. It seemed that the match between Enriqo's family and Norine's family was not very favorable to some and that was revealed when they started voicing their thoughts about the current events.

My heart felt warmer than before as I saw the support from those who agreed with my relationship with Gerry. The dinner event between the conglomerate families this time was really unusual, according to the information I knew from Gerry before this event was only filled with boring dinners and only discussed about the business between the conglomerates that were there.

I was so happy when there was a lot of support flowing for me and Gerry, although I was not sure about Mr. Jerry who would approve of our relationship or not, but at least the opinions that had been expressed by them had been heard by Mr. Jerry and gave consideration for him to be wiser in acting.

"What the hell are you all doing! Why are you siding with poor people like this guy?! Don't you realize that being associated with people who don't have money will make you like them. So don't try to defend this guy because he really just wants the money that Gerry has."

Monica was putting out propaganda for people not to like me anymore, apparently she was very upset when people here voted for Gerry and Monica's match. This woman certainly didn't want to lose and she wanted to incite people so that Gerry wouldn't be allowed to break the match between him and Monica.

"Monica? Have you gone mad? Can't you hear the opinions that have been expressed by all of them? Plus even if no one supports me to be Zharies' lover, then I will still fight for my relationship with him no matter what. I don't care about the inheritance owned by this old man, after all I have been struggling with my own strength because I have been trained to live without a father's love since childhood. So, why would I be afraid of being dumped by someone like him?"

I was already preparing to keep an eye on Mr. Jerry's movements after hearing Gerry's self-defense speech just now. I'm sure Mr. Jerry must be very, very offended by his son's words, so I'm always keeping an eye on him in case the man becomes reckless and angry at his son's behavior.

Although there wasn't much I could do, at least I could be an extra set of eyes for Gerry, so that he wouldn't have any blind spots and could move around freely.

"You guys...."

Mr. Jerry clenched his hand into a fist, so I was also prepared in case Mr. Jerry got angry and mobilized his whole body to do something bad to me or Gerry.

"You guys are right, but I still can't accept this damn kid defecting from me. But if that's the decision then I won't force it, I'm fed up with this infighting. It's been years since this boy has come home because he's always avoiding me especially about this engagement. It's up to you but all I want is for this damn boy to apologize and come back home," said Mr. Jerry.

Everyone who was there became shocked because of Mr. Jerry's decision that suddenly changed quickly and unpredictably. Even Gerry, who is Mr. Jerry's son, was dumbfounded and almost couldn't believe what he was hearing, that's what I saw on Gerry's face who really looked dumbfounded and almost like a fool for a few seconds.

"You... Are you---"

"Don't talk so much because I'm sick of hearing your voice... I don't want to see your face for the next few months but then I will also stop the match between you and Miss Monica. It's up to you if you really want to marry that poor gay man, but don't regret it later on."

Mr. Jerry looked disappointed, but he chose to be stoic and no longer impose his will. Myself and I were so happy that one of the people who were pressuring us both finally stopped doing that, but we still had to struggle with the other two people who were still bothering us, Monica and Samuel.

Mr. Jerry looked so discouraged that he even left where he was standing without even looking at Gerry, he looked disappointed but Gerry tried to ignore it. If he couldn't contain his emotions then Mr. Jerry might manipulate Gerry's feelings and change his mind.

I didn't expect that among the annoying and evil people in this room there are still some of them who have a good conscience and can think with a mindset not like a cold-blooded killer.

Even though I originally thought that there would be no chance to talk here because everyone kept cornering us and they would definitely not be of the same mind as the two of us. Plus Monica's family background is an honorable and respected family and it will definitely get a lot of defense from some parties.

"Damn it!"

The atmosphere there began to feel calmer than before when suddenly a scream was heard from behind. Gerry and I immediately turned our heads in that direction and we saw Samuel who had pulled out a gun from his blazer pocket.

We all panicked because we all had our guns out and it was very dangerous if he were to fire a bullet from the gun at one of us. But the most at risk targets were definitely me and Gerry, especially Gerry who was the source of Samuel's anger.

"I am so fed up that your presence in Zharies' life is really disrupting my relationship with the person I love. If you had not appeared in her life then Zharies and I would have been happy lovers and we would have taken our relationship to a more serious stage."

Everyone around was running and panicking as they didn't want to be a victim of the shooting that Samuel was going to do in the next few moments. Monica who was beside Samuel instead of reminding Samuel not to act recklessly instead she smiled sarcastically and waited for the moment the shooting was carried out.

"You're out of your mind, put the gun down you idiot!" screamed Gerry.

Gerry must have been concerned about the state of everyone there especially me, plus the situation was chaotic so it would be difficult to organize everyone there and it would be a very easy thing for Samuel to shoot the people there.

"Why would I listen to the words of a person who has destroyed the romantic relationship that I so desperately wanted. Soon you will receive the consequences for that, and not only you but the people who have disrupted my plans will also get the same thing as a punishment for their actions," Samuel said threateningly.

I could see Samuel's index finger pull the trigger of the gun and instantly there was a loud gunshot. Samuel smiled sarcastically and the situation became even more chaotic due to the gunshot.

"You're crazy! Stop it!"

Gerry ran towards Samuel to stop Samuel's actions that were completely out of bounds. But it was a very reckless action considering Samuel was holding a gun and if he got closer to Samuel it would be the same as harming himself.

"Gerry! Don't go near Samuel!" I screamed in panic.