"Sorry, Mr. Zhou, it's all my fault." Charles looked at Franklin, guilt plastered all over his face. Although he realized that those people must have been sent by Leila, Mr. Zhou wouldn't have been injured if it weren't for him.
The thought of how Leila had taken advantage of his leniency, triggered strong feelings of regret within Charles. If he had just been a little more thoughtful, that unscrupulous woman wouldn't have gotten so far.
Franklin steadied himself when he heard Charles' voice. He looked embarrassed, but somehow he managed to doff a smile and shake his head at Charles. "Mr. Lu, don't worry about me. I'm alright."
This, however, made Charles feel even more terrible.
The fact that a stranger would readily sacrifice his own safety for someone else seemed like a completely outlandish concept to Charles.
Infuriated, his fists clenched and unclenched as he tried to think of what he would do to Leila. If only he didn't have a use for her, Charles wouldn't have tolerated her till now.
He felt even more furious at Melissa for her share of the blame. He had been putting up with Leila for his mother's sake, but things had gotten out of hand.
"Please, have some water," said Charles, not knowing what else to say to Franklin.
Franklin politely took a sip of water from the glass on the table before he sat still on the couch.
The room fell into a deathly silence, and yet no one was saying anything for a quite long while.
They were completely immersed in their own thoughts, when suddenly the door was pushed open from the outside.
Angel had just come back from shopping, as was made obvious by the bags hanging from both arms. All smiles, she walked up to speak to her father when she realized that Charles was sitting there.
For a second, Angel's surprise could be seen on her face, but she quickly regained her happy, beaming face with an innocent smile.
"Charles, what are you doing here?" Angel suppressed her excitement and quickened her pace towards Charles.
Charles looked embarrassed as he pointed at Franklin and said, "Mr. Zhou got injured because of me. I am sorry."
"Dad, what happened? Are you okay?" Angel's eyes widened as she rushed to Franklin almost as soon she heard what Charles had said. T
anwhile, at Franklin's house
After Charles left, Angel walked to Franklin and said, "Dad, what's going on here?"
Angel's tone carried strong hints of concern that made Franklin feel sorry. He managed to fix a smile to his thin lips and pretended as though nothing had happened. "I'm alright. Don't worry."
"How could you be alright? Look at you! Look at your bandages! It's still bleeding. You must have been seriously injured. It must have hurt a lot, right?" Angel looked at her father with tearful eyes, restraining her emotions.
Suddenly, panic flashed through Franklin's eyes.
While tears were running down from Angel's cheeks, she noticed the sudden change of expression on Franklin's face. It immediately made her suspicious. She wiped the tears off and pretended to be angry. "Dad, tell me the truth. What on earth is going on here?"
Franklin sighed helplessly when he met Angel's determined eyes.
In fact, he didn't want to do it. If it were not because of Angel, he wouldn't have done such a humiliating thing.
Seeing Franklin immersed in his own thoughts, Angel strongly believed that he was hiding something from her. She suddenly became furious and yelled at her father, "Tell me the truth! What's going on?"
"I paid some people to perform a play. I asked them to attack Charles, and I would save him. But I didn't think that my plan would fail. He ended up saving me when I got injured..." Franklin's face suddenly became sullen, and he didn't dare to look Angel in the eye.