Chapter 186 Why Should the Lady Suffer in Silence
Slept with someone? She dismissed the idea almost instantly.
Charles could be a jerk, but he wouldn't cheat on her, let alone sleep with someone else.
On the day he learned Kayla was returning, he'd been upfront with Daphne and even moved out of their room to sleep separately, Whatever was considered his failings, he was at least transparent about them.
"It's probably not true," she concluded.
Mr. Murphy tensed up; his worries not entirely quelled. Gavin’s woes were like Mr. Murphy’s.
"Just tell me everything," Daphne suggested, sensing his concern, "I'll figure out whether it's true or not."
Gavin was silent.
You've already said it's probably false. After saying it aloud, wouldn't you be certain it's not true?
Hearing no reply from across the room, Daphne pressed with an inquiring tone, "Why the silence?"
"Gwendolyn heard from someone in the grapevine that Charles..." Gavin trailed off, his voice so quiet towards the end that Daphne couldn't make out the words.
She turned the volume up, "I didn't catch that; can you be clearer?"
Gavin wrestled with his conscience.
It was Gwendolyn, in a whisper, who nudged him, "You might as well say it. Sooner or later, it must be said. Why make the lady suffer in anticipation?"
Gavin furrowed his brows, wrestling with a range of emotions before finally speaking out, "Gwendolyn heard from someone in the loop that Tony had delivered a woman to Charles and Charles had actually accepted. A lot of folks witnessed it."
His voice trailed off. Gavin's heart was pounding, thumping non-stop. He held his breath, focusing intently, waiting for Daphne's response.
"What did you say?" Mr. Murphy exploded first.
"Uncle..." Gavin nearly cried, his heart going cold, "You're here too?"
Mr. Murphy's chest heaved with anger, his eyes blazing with fury. It seemed he never expected such a thing to happen.
"I confirmed that Charles indeed accepted the matter," Gavin spoke up, not daring to act brashly anymore, "But whether anything happened after they went to the hotel, I don't know."
"What's there not to know?" Mr. Murphy fumed, anger rising sharply.
He had planned not to make a scene because Charles's previous visit had been cordial, but now... To think Charles would dare to cheat! This was unacceptable!
Gavin's thoughts were similar, he pursed his lips and tentatively asked, "Daphne's okay, right...?"
Mr. Murphy finally turned to gauge Daphne's reaction. But she seemed... to have no reaction at all?
"Daphne, you..." Mr. Murphy for a moment couldn't tell if she really had no reaction or if she was too angry to respond.
"I knew about it," Daphne didn't let them speculate any further, speaking up in the break of their conversation, "At the time..."
Mr. Murphy was left gobsmacked.
Gavin was equally shocked, "You knew?!"
‘So, Daphne and Charles's falling out was because of cheating?’ They both speculated.
Daphne thought inwardly, slightly annoyed, ‘Could they let her finish her statement in one go.’
"Why didn't you tell me," Mr. Murphy spoke rapidly, cutting off the rest of what Daphne had to say, "If Charles dared to mistreat you like this, I would expose his actions to everyone right now!"
"I haven't finished talking, don't rush," Daphne interjected in time.
Mr. Murphy was seething, a fierce fire burning in his eyes. How could one not be in a hurry over such an issue!
But it was too hasty!
"The person he took away was me," Daphne said, fearing they might get too worked up, she went straight to the point.
Mr. Murphy and Gavin were both stunned. ‘What did that mean?’ It seemed they didn't quite understand.
Lydia had been injured, and through my investigation, I found out that Tony was behind it, so I planned to confront him," Daphne explained the situation to them once more, "but I hadn't expected Charles to be there too."
At that time, they were in their ‘cooling-off’ period of divorce. Their relationship had hit rock bottom because of the whole Kayla ordeal, and with some other factors, it led to what happened next.
"How did it end up with Tony practically delivering you to him?" Gavin was utterly confused.
"It was intentional," Daphne said without exaggeration, telling it like it was, "The plan was for Tony to take me to the hotel. I wanted to beat him up there and wait for him to seek revenge later."
"Revenge?" Gavin was getting more bewildered by the second.
He really wanted to say, ‘Wait for revenge...does Daffy have a screw loose?’
But considering she was like his sister; he held his tongue. Daffy must have her reasons, he thought.
"He hinted at Joe causing trouble for Lydia, so I had to teach him a lesson," Daphne clarified, "As long as he tries to get back at me, I can find evidence to put him behind bars."
With that explanation, both Mr. Murphy and Gavin understood.
They both realized a valuable lesson. It was a good thing she was on their side because the consequences of double-crossing her would be dire.
"Even so, the way Charles acted is not acceptable," Mr. Murphy grew increasingly critical of Charles, "His behavior could lead others to think Daffy is easy."
If people who had dealings with Charles saw Daphne later, what stops them from harboring malicious thoughts? The thought made him quite angry!
"No way!" Mr. Murphy spoke with rare seriousness, "I must go public with your identity to prevent misunderstandings."
"I agree about going public," Gavin supported the idea.
Daphne had never formally introduced herself to the outside world.
Even at the Murphy Group's annual event, she never showed up. It was always Lydia who went in her stead.
"No need," Daphne preferred to remain inconspicuous, "I like it this way. I can move freely without attracting too much attention."
Once her identity was made public. She would have to deal with so many things. She didn't enjoy meaningless, crowded events or pointless socializing.
But most importantly, she loathed being the subject of gossip.
Publicizing her identity now would lead to various media speculation such as why had Lydia introduced herself and not Daphne? Or other questions like, was Daphne an illegitimate daughter, and why was she hidden for so long?
She disliked every single one of those possibilities.
“I need to prepare for Marcus’s birthday banquet with Dad,” Daphne wrapped up the conversation with Gavin, “I have to go.”
“Okay.”
Gavin hung up the call, his had mixed feelings.
After ending the call, Daphne set her phone aside and continued to eat her fruit salad as if the prior conversation had been an everyday occurrence, utterly mundane.
Mr. Murphy carried a sense of guilt, feeling that he never did enough for Daphne.
"Daffy?" he called out to her.
"What is it?" Daphne looked up at him.
Mr. Murphy didn't like oranges, so she hadn't bothered to peel nor offer one to him.
He sat across from her on the sofa, his mind wandering over the past, he asked, "If you could do it all over again, would you choose to reveal your identity from the very beginning?"
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