Joseph looked at her and said, "She has a weak heart, Isabel. She is your sister, and you should also want her to be okay, right?"
"If she didn't provoke me, she wouldn't be in the hospital." She said harshly.
Joseph was amused by her and smiled, and then he embraced her in his arms. "You have to promise me one more thing."
Irish pushed him away and huddled on the sofa again, trying to avoid him, "What?"
"Talk to me before doing anything." He said impatiently.
"I don't understand what you're talking about." She frowned and looked at her palm, where the wounds were wrapped up carefully. All of a sudden, her heart wrenched.
"For example, you told others that you had sex with me and promised you would have my baby." A strange smile covered his face.
Irish opened her mouth slightly in shock and said after a while, "What a big mouth. Did she tell you this? She's scared of my words, huh. Funny!"
"I don't want to intensify things." Joseph took a cup of water to her and continued, "I've told you before that I will handle all of this. However, this incident could have been avoided if you didn't act of your own volition."
Irish didn't take the cup of water but focused on him talking, then she sneered, "If you're so smart, shouldn't you be taking preventative measures then? You should probably play it safe."
"Are you talking about the cufflinks or the fact that Shirley publicizes our ambiguous relationship deliberately? No matter what you mean, I'm still trying to convince myself that you are just acting up with me." Joseph raised his thick black eyebrows.
"Well, so now you think I'm a viper?"
Joseph shook his head and said helplessly, "You are always so unreasonable."
"Yes, you are right. I am a narrow-minded woman. Happy? Do you want to get even for Ruby? You have the chance now, and you can blame me as you want." She took a sip of the water and then put it back on the tea table. Her eyebrows furrowed, and her resentment was visible on her beautiful face.
After seeing her reaction, Joseph turned severe and said, "Isabel, I just want you to understand what you should do. Even though you have a grudge against the Lake family, you have to learn to let it go and move forward. Were you satisfied yesterday? Are you happy? Do you think that after you get your revenge, you will feel at ease?
"I don't need you to tell me what to do." She snapped back.
"You are wrong. I'm not telling you what to do, and I'm commanding you to stop all this." Joseph said word by word, and then he added, "I have said before that I can't just watch you go astray."
Irish showed a desolate smile and said, "You're used to teaching me lessons as my brother-in-law, but what about now?"
After hearing this, Joseph's eyes cooled down, and he suddenly pinched her chin and squinted slightly. "I thought you were clear about who I am."
Irish's heart beat quickly, and she turned around, avoiding his big hands. She felt hot and said loudly. "Joseph, I'm not clear about who you are. I don't know and don't want to know. But I know you are a dick. Can you please be fair? Why do you just blame me here and not Ruby? Why? Why do all of you try to play God in my life?"
"Isabel..."
"I don't want to see you, and I don't want to talk to you. Get out of here." Irish stood up abruptly to push him regardless of the wounds in her hands.
Joseph was afraid that she would hurt herself and tried to hold her. But Irish was so angry that she just pushed him away and rushed to open the door while shouting at him, "Get out! Now!"
Joseph saw that she was irritated and was about to hold her forcefully, but he worried that he would hurt her since he knew that she was stubborn and strong-minded.
Before leaving, he said to Irish, "You should try to trust me for once."
The door closed, and Irish shed a flood of tears.
She rushed to the window and saw him walking to his car. The rain soaked his back and wet his hair and his shirt.....
****
Monday should have been the busiest day of the week, but because of the gossip, it became unusual. An insider in the company disclosed the secret in a blog post that Joseph, the manager of the Runestone Group, had a mistress and was caught in the act by his wife.
This news quickly became viral, and within two hours, the view count reached several hundred thousand. After the jewelry exhibition, people even got more interested in the Runestone Group because of the gossip, and now people who didn't know Joseph would think about his extramarital affair when they saw his handsome face.
Soon some other media outlets began focusing on the gossip, and at noon, someone else posted Ruby and Irish's photos online. Though the photos weren't very clear, people could tell from the pictures that both of them were beautiful. Some even sighed, feeling that the life of a dandy was vastly different from the lives of ordinary people. Others said sarcastically that they began to believe that there was real love in the world.
Within 24 hours, "Runestone Group" had become the highest searched topic on Google. Joseph had accepted a public interview. Many people began to denounce his corrupt private life, ignoring the fact that he was an influential entrepreneur.
The Key Group took the initiative to capitalize on the scandal. Taking advantage of the rumors, Leo successfully suppressed the stock price of the Runestone Group in the stock market. At the beginning of the day, Runestone Group stock shares fell sharply.
The next day, some financial magazines and commercial newspapers reported that the board of directors had impeached Joseph as the stock price continued falling.
Irish was extremely frustrated when she saw the news and felt that there was a heavy stone crushing her chest. She put the newspaper on the couch when Christy entered her office anxiously. "Many reporters are here. Did they come here for you?"