Chapter 51 Showdown

As soon as that thought popped into her head, she glanced over at George. And unexpectedly, George was already looking at her.
Their eyes locked, and Ellie froze for a sec before forcing a smile and quickly shifting her focus to her cousin.
"Allie, do you see everyone as Mr. Richardson?" she blurted out, trying to dodge George's gaze and change the subject.
Who was George anyway? The guy was always outsmarting treasure hunting gangs, grilling over a hundred tomb raiders. They were either total jerks or old pros like Patrick.
Plus, he'd been married to Ellie for years. He knew her quirks and habits like the back of his hand. That little glance she gave and her lame attempt to change the topic, George couldn't help but dig deeper...
"What do you mean by seeing everyone as him? Ask Linda if she thinks he looks like Mr. Richardson too," Allie said.
Linda chuckled but kept quiet.
Maybe it was because she knew George's real deal or because she saw him eyeing Isaac earlier, but her nerves were all over the place.
So, she tried to blend into the background as much as possible.
But you know how it was, the innocent ones always get dragged into the drama. One by one, they started saying George looked like Mr. Richardson. One of them even asked Allie to call Isaac, who was chilling at the counter with a drink, to come over and compare.
This was exactly what Allie wanted. She immediately got up and sauntered over to the counter, leaning in with her elbows, practically draping herself over it.
Her tight V-neck dance dress was doing a poor job of keeping her ample bosom in check, and leaning over like that made it even more obvious, almost spilling out.

"Mr. Richardson..."

Isaac put down his cup and looked up, a smile playing on his lips. "I heard what y'all were saying."

"Heh, then why don't you come over here? Stop just sitting there," she said, her voice dripping with flirtation.

But Isaac didn't even flinch at the sight of her almost spilling out of her dress or her suggestive tone. He stayed cool, just smirking a bit.

"I think it's not cool. He might get mad."

"You're overthinking it. Just get over here!"

Isaac glanced away, smiled, sighed, and put down his cup before standing up. He looked over at the rest area and saw George staring right back at him.

This time, their eyes met without any of that polite pretense. It was all about sizing each other up and throwing down a challenge.
This was like, "No more pretending!"

Isaac would've loved to keep up the act a bit longer, but Captain Stone seemed to be running out of patience...

Isaac walked away from the counter and followed Abigail to the rest area. Instead of sitting, he stood tall, looking down at George lounging on the couch.

"They say you look a bit like me," he said with a sly smile.

George smirked back. "Why not say you look a bit like me?"

"You'll have to ask them about that."

George's sharp eyes scanned Isaac's face, and he raised an eyebrow. "Mr. Richardson, have you had plastic surgery?"

As soon as he said that, the women who had been chatting away suddenly went silent, all eyes on George, including Ellie's.

Ellie was floored. She couldn't believe that George, who was always so polite and reserved, would drop such a blunt question in front of everyone. She was completely stunned.
Isaac hadn't even opened his mouth yet, but Allie was quick to show her displeasure.

"Heh... George, your joke's going too far."

Ellie nudged George with her knee, but he didn't seem to care and just kept his eyes on Isaac.

He pressed, "Mr. Richardson, have you had plastic surgery?"

Ellie's mouth twitched. She glanced at Isaac, then back at her husband. "George, what are you doing?"

"Heh, Mr. Stone, you can't accuse me of getting plastic surgery just because people say we look alike"

"How do you know my last name is Stone?"

"Ellie mentioned it plenty of times. Everyone here knows."

"By asking you these questions, you stay so chill, not feeling offended at all. You think that's normal?" George's voice was calm, almost emotionless, like he was grilling a suspect.

Isaac's smile got a bit stiff, but then he turned his head slightly, his grin widening.

"Aren't we just joking around?"

Allie, who was bored and looking for trouble, froze for a moment, then tried to save face with a forced laugh, and the bewildered Linda followed suit. "Oh my, you guys are really... This kind of dark humor is so awkward!"

Despite everyone's efforts to lighten the mood, Ellie's face stayed red and uncomfortable.

Their little scene caught the attention of others nearby, who turned to look. There was no hiding their embarrassment...

Ellie suddenly stood up, muttering " excuse me" before heading quickly to the changing room.

Allie chased after her, calling out a couple of times, but seeing Ellie with her head down and no response, she turned back to the rest area and glared at George, who was still sitting on the couch, staring at Isaac.

"Ellie just left, aren't you gonna go after her instead of sitting here?" Allie snapped, irritated that her favorite person was being criticized and her cousin was upset.
George, however, stayed cool as a cucumber. "She went to get her clothes. I'll go after her when she comes back with them."

"You—" Allie was speechless, and the women around were tempted to roll their eyes.

George stared at Isaac, who stayed silent, for a minute before finally moving. He stood up slowly and said, "Allie, wanna come back with us? I can give you a ride."

"No, I'm good," Abigail gritted her teeth.

"Alright," George nodded, walked around the coffee table, and just as he reached the counter near the door, Ellie came out.

Sure enough, she hadn't changed her clothes, still in her dance dress and holding the clothes she had taken off earlier, just like he guessed...

He didn't say anything, just watched Ellie walk past him with her head down, and quickly followed her.

As soon as the two left, Allie immediately apologized to Isaac. She blamed herself for stirring up trouble for no reason, and people started commenting that they didn't expect Ellie's husband to be so petty. The once quiet training class buzzed with chatter again...

Isaac stayed cool, smiling and saying it was fine. After chatting with a few people, he said he needed to go back to the dressing room to get his charger and left.

Allie sat down, still complaining, but noticed that the usually talkative Linda seemed out of it.

She couldn't help but nudge her with her elbow. "What's wrong with you?"

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing... Probably just that time of the month. My stomach's been feeling off."

"No wonder you look so pale."

Linda forced a smile and was about to speak when her phone suddenly vibrated. Her heart skipped a beat, and she quickly took out her phone.

"I'm going to the bathroom," she said, quickly walking out of the rest area and unlocking her phone.
Issac: [Still sit there? Retreat!]