When Wayne arrived at the party after following the address that he had been sent by Jeanette, he noticed that the environment inside the garden was awkward, to say the least.
'What is going on here?' He wondered as he moved closer towards the spot where he found Jeanette.
Before he could reach their position, he felt a vicious glare focused on his face and was surprised to find that it was Mrs. Huo who was tossing that nasty glare at him.
When he reached the center of the crowd, he noticed that Jeanette was a sobbing mess, Mandy was consoling her and the Zheng sisters were glaring at Mrs. Huo.
"Since you are so fond of Miss Liang then I would ask you to keep her under your control, Mr. Luo." Moira Huo scoffed as she taunted him.
Wayne was now utterly confused as he did not know what had happened before he had arrived and to make things worse, he was asked to look after Jeanette.
"Why would I do that, Mrs. Huo?" He inquired with confusion and bafflement apparent in his eyes.
This question made the women sitting with Jeanette to frown while the young woman herself was staring at her crush with her eyes wide open.
"She is your girlfriend, isn't she?" Moira sneered at him then glimpsed at Jeanette with a loathsome look on her face.
The former love and pleasant feelings she had for the young woman had disappeared and now all that remained was a scornful expression which displayed her inner feelings.
When Wayne heard that he had a girlfriend that he was unaware of, he frowned and alternated his gaze between the woman who had broken this news to him and the woman who was his supposed girlfriend.
Soon a soft chuckle erupted from his lips as he swiped his hair to the side in a manner that mesmerized many of the younger women present at the tea party.
Among these were also Mandy and Jeanette who stared at him unblinkingly as they took in the glorious sights before them.
"I think there has been a misunderstanding here." He uttered in confidence as he looked into Moira's eyes.
The women all stared at the young man as he cleared his throat.
"Miss Liang and I are not dating. She is not my girlfriend and hence it is not my duty to control her in any way." He clarified the misconception that they seemed to have.
The only reason he had come over was that Reuben had asked him to maintain his friendly ties with the woman until they could figure out what their plans were.
When Jeanette had insisted that he come over to pick her up, he acquiesced to her wilful demands.
'Picking her up and giving her a lift is one thing but accepting that she is my girlfriend is such a public setting?' He wondered and then glanced around and noticed the pretty faces that surrounded him.
'Nope! No can do!' He shook his head which was visible to the women around him.
This sudden exposé about the relationship that Jeanette had been speaking so highly of was something that none of them had expected to witness today.
An abrupt chortle brought them back to their senses as they turned in the direction of the disturbance.
Valerie Zheng grimaced when her arm was pinched hard by her sister when she heard the disrespectful snicker that had been let out.
'Here I was thinking that she had stepped up higher on the social ladder… Who knew that she was making up stories to look good in the eyes of these women.' She sneered as she shot her rival a mocking gaze.
Jeanette felt her eyes welling up when she noticed the different gazes that were aimed at her.
Some were scornful, some had sympathy, some were mocking and some were cold and uninterested in what she was going through at this moment.
When Mandy heard what Wayne had said, she lowered her head to hide the gleam of excitement and victory that had passed through her eyes.
'So brother Wayne is not dating her?' She wondered as she continued to pat Jeanette's back in a comforting manner.
Her plans of leaving the party before he arrived were thrashed when he dropped by before the time that Jeanette had mentioned.
Now, all Mandy wished to do was to stay away from his eyes to ensure that he did not recognize her which would save herself from the trouble of letting everyone know about how he would usually treat her.
Moira was one of the few people who were overjoyed when this news was brought out.
However, before she could say her piece, everyone heard Jeanette Liang's aggrieved voice.
"Why would you say such a thing, Brother Wayne?" She muttered while holding her head low.
When she looked up, a pang of anguish and pain was felt in the older women's hearts upon noticing the tears that had strained down her cheek.
She had been biting her lower lip hard enough to leave a mark on it which was making them feel anxious on her behalf.
This pitiful appearance had been the reason why Wayne had first helped her when Lina had accidentally pushed her.
Therefore, she was confident that he would do the same this time as well.
'He fell for it once so he will fall for it once again.' She believed and was confident in her skills.
Sadly, she was bound to be disappointed as this time Wayne did not want to fall into her schemes.
"Why would I lie about something as important as my relationship status, Miss Liang? We aren't dating and that is the truth." He asserted which made fresh tears to roll down her cheeks.
Baffled at his stringent denials of the relationship that Jeanette had claimed to be true, the women were on two minds on who to believe.
Though they were confident about the pure and perfect image that Jeanette had in their eyes they were also aware of Wayne's womanizing ways.
"If… If… If you did not like me then why did you save me on that day?" She whispered and gazed into his eyes.
The glint that she had tried hard to hide was clearly seen through by this man who had dated countless women and was aware of how some of their minds functioned.
He sighed and held his forehead as though he felt a headache arising.
"I helped you because you were injured and I did not want my sister to be harmed thanks to your accident." He disclosed his reason for offering her his hand.
Jeanette's eyes were popping out of their sockets when she heard his explanation and this made her grit her teeth in anger.
"So you want me to believe that you yelled at your sister and then carried me all the way to the hospital to make sure that your sister is alright?" She interrogated incredulously while a sarcastic snicker escaped her mouth.
The look on her face and the words coming out of her mouth were so foreign to the women who were used to seeing her angelic face.
Wayne gave her a brief nod before letting out another sigh.
"You were standing up for your friend but did you realize that in your emotional state you had held onto her hand too tight? The same hand which was bandaged due to an injury she had earlier that day?" He tossed a question over to her.
These words made the women frown as no such matter was mentioned when Jeanette was giving her account of the incident.
The panic that flashed in her eyes made the oldest lady present to narrow her eyes.
"I-I must have missed that…" She confessed though those words were false.
She had clearly noticed that injury on Lina's hand and thus had moved in such a way that made her hold that same spot.
"Then you must have also missed the request she made, asking you to let go of her hand?" He questioned once again but this time there was no answer from her.
"The only reason why my sister had flung your hand away which caused you to fall and twist your ankle was to release the hold you had over her wrist." He declared and turned his eyes to scan the women around them.
He had no clue that something had happened but according to their reactions, he was now aware that these women knew about the incident that they were talking about.
'Did they plan this?' He wondered and narrowed his eyes when he noticed Mandy with Jeanette.
"Even when everything she had done was to save herself, I had made sure to teach her a lesson and reprimanded her fiercely. I even brought you to the hospital and dropped you back at home." He revealed and then shook his head.
Everything that Jeanette had said, had been confirmed by Wayne's words. However, the words that he had added brought a new angle to the story.
"So it was Jeanette who had hurt Miss Lina first which made her fling the attacker's hand away to save herself?" Moira summarized and received a nod.
This wordless answer made her shoot a sneering glare at the women around her who would not believe it when she stood up for Lina.
"And the fact that you had yelled at Miss Lina? Was that to reprimand her for using the harsh method to save herself?" She inquired and once again the answer was a positive nod.
"That… And because if news about that matter spread then people would assume that Lina is a haughty ill-tempered woman." He explained why he had yelled at his baby sister.
"A little too late for that." Moira scoffed at the young man whose actions had wrecked Lina's image in the eyes of these women.