Chapter 37
After watching the video, the onlooking people couldn’t help but sigh while glancing at Ashlyn with scathing gazes. At this moment, she couldn’t wait to bury herself inside a hole in shame.
Hugh, who was Ashlyn’s father, stood in the crowd with an exasperated expression. When Ashlyn saw her father, she felt as though she was clutching to a lifeboat. “Dad, please help me! Please!”
However, Hugh was filled with rage as he shook her hand away and turned toward Jonah. “Mr. Griffith, I’m really sorry for this embarrassment. Ashlyn just got back from abroad, so she still doesn’t understand how we do things here. Again, I’m sorry for the embarrassment.”
“Mr. Lawson, do you think we’ll neglect all her actions because of a simple excuse like that?” Alexander slowly walked toward him and said that with a calm tone, but his words instantly caused Ashlyn’s expressions to change drastically.
“Alexander, 1—”She bit her lower lip tightly. Not only did she shoot herself in her foot, she also left a bad impression in Alexander’s mind.
She was really regretting her actions, but there was no way for her to turn back time.
However, Alexander ignored her and said to Hugh directly, “Mr. Lawson, our family is very protective of our members. No matter how useless Elise is, she is still a part of the family. Have you ever considered what implications this incident may have on the reputation of the Griffith Family?”
Hugh initially wanted to be the peacemaker. After all, the Lawsons and the Griffiths had been friends for many years, so Jonah would consider his reputation and not look into the incident too much. Unexpectedly, Alexander, who was infamous for being difficult to deal with in the industry, suddenly appeared to handle the situation himself. If I offend Alexander today, it’ll definitely affect the Lawson Family’s business in the future.
After weighing drawbacks, he quickly pulled Ashlyn over. “I want you to apologize to Miss Sinclair right now.”
Ashlyn, however, didn’t expect that her own father would give her up. “Dad, what are you doing?!”
“Apologize to her now. If she generously forgives you, this matter will end here. However, if she doesn’t forgive you today, you can forget about going back home tonight.”
At first, everyone was unfazed by his words but after listening to him carefully, they couldn’t help but praise him as a shrewd businessman who had been in this industry for a long time.
Every one of his words was directed straight at Elise. Indirectly, he was saying that if Elise was a petty person and refused to forgive Ashlyn, she would cause Ashlyn to be cast aside by her own family.
What an intelligent move!
Ashlyn didn’t want to apologize but at this point, she had no other choice. “I’m sorry, Miss Sinclair! I was wrong.”
Meanwhile, Jonah squinted his eyes and remained quiet while everyone waited for Elise’s answer.
Elise knew that even though Jonah wanted to protect her, he wouldn’t wish to turn against the Lawson Family since the two families had many years of friendship. However, she was unwilling to allow herself to be wronged as she always had a strong sense of principle. I won’t mess with others if they just leave me alone, but if they think that I’ll keep quiet and accept this, I must retaliate.
“Miss Lawson, you don’t really need to apologize to me.”
For a moment, Ashlyn was startled as she suppressed her anger and asked, “What do you mean?”
“Nothing. I just want to tell you that I’m not the person you should apologize to Firstly, you should apologize to Jack because you betrayed his trust and friendship. Secondly, you should apologize to your father because you are not the only one being embarrassed in front of everyone. Lastly, you should apologize to everyone in this hall because not only has your little act dampened everyone’s mood, you’ve also wasted everyone’s precious time.”
“How dare—” Ashlyn felt ashamed, but she couldn’t utter a word to refute Elise’s sharp comments.
As for the crowd, they couldn’t help but feel impressed by what Elise just said, since they didn’t expect this insignificant-looking girl to be this intelligent and well spoken.
“Mr. Griffith, your granddaughter really is something else,” someone praised.
Listening to their praises, Jonah smiled and said, “She is still a young and naïve girl. I hope that you all can aid her in the future.”
With that, everyone naturally understood Elise’s status in the Griffith Family. It seems like Elise’s status in the Griffith Family should not be underestimated. We will need to associate with her more in the future.
“Alright. Ellie, it’s time for us to go in.” Jonah pulled Elise away, leaving a little leeway for the Lawson Family.
Naturally, Hugh understood his intention, so when everybody left the scene, he glared at Ashlyn angrily and growled, “Get the hell out of here and stop embarrassing the family.”
“Dad!” Ashlyn muttered, feeling dissatisfied. I did nothing wrong. Why isn’t my own father protecting me? Instead, he stood on Elise’s side.
However, Hugh ignored her and wiped off the sweat on his forehead before following the crowd into the hall.
Fortunately, Ashlyn’s little incident didn’t affect the banquet that much. After Elise followed Jonah into the hall, many people came over to fawn on her, and she knew that it was all because Jonah protected her just now in front of everyone.
Then, she glanced at Alexander, who was standing gracefully among the crowd. She couldn’t help but think of what he said just now, so her eyes were locked onto him for a few seconds. Suddenly, he turned around and their eyes met, so she quickly looked away, but he still walked toward her afterward.
Initially, she was stunned and wanted to leave but for some reason, she felt that her legs weren’t heeding to her orders.
The next second, he walked over to her and asked, “Are you alright?”
She turned around and smiled. “I’m fine. Thank you for what you did just now.”
However, he remained silent and stared at her. After a pause, he asked, “Do Jamie and you know each other?”
She was startled at first, but she quickly composed herself and explained while looking at him, “I just met him at the banquet. Is there a problem?”
Alexander shook his head. Even though she did well to hide her emotions, she still couldn’t escape from his constant observation. He knew that she was lying, but he chose not to dig too deep into it.
“It’s nothing. I just want to warn you that Jamie might not be who you think he is. You should avoid him as much as possible.”
Ha! What is he talking about? I’ve known Jamie for many years, and I know very well what kind of a person he is.
Of course, she didn’t say it out loud. Instead, she gave him a simple reply, acknowledging his advice.
“Alex!” Then, Jack came over and greeted Alexander first before looking at Elise apologetically. “I want to apologize for what happened just now. I shouldn’t have blamed you without figuring out the truth first.”
Upon hearing that, Elise accepted his apology. “It’s fine, but I hope that you’ve learned your lesson.”
