It was over. The oil painting was completely ruined.
One hundred and fifty thousand
dollars!
Everyone could not help but
swallow their saliva at this time.
Only Quinton and Harold were
laughing in their hearts at this time. They could not help but wonder how
Gerald
would ever be able to pay for
the oil painting that was worth a hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Even if
the
manager of Wayfair Mountain
Entertainment owed him a favor, he would never be able to explain himself with
regards to the oil painting.
Hehehe!
“Gerald, why don’t we leave
now? Anyway, we’re almost done with the food,” Naomi said in a cautious manner
at
this time.
If
they continued staying here for another second, Gerald would never be able to
pay for the oil painting!
“Oh! Things don’t look good. It
seems as though someone is coming up now!”
Jacelyn pointed at the
staircase at this time and Gerald also looked in the same direction. At this
time, Zack
was walking towards them with a
few waitresses and a bottle of good wine in their hands.
He was coming to give them a
toast.
Gerald felt very helpless. He
had already told Zack that he did not want to reveal his identity for the time
being. Why was he still coming
here to give him a toast?
Zack arrived a short while
later.
Quinton also naturally knew who
Zack was.
“Lyle…Mr. Lyle!”
Quinton quickly greeted him.
Unexpectedly, the manager whom
Gerald was talking about was in fact one of the richest men in Mayberry City,
Zack Lyle!
Alice was very surprised at
this time and she did not dare to speak at all.
Good luck to Gerald!
As soon as he arrived, Zack
nodded slightly towards the crowd of people.
After
that, he looked at Gerald before he greeted him respectfully, “Mr. Ger…”
As he was about to greet him,
Zack suddenly recalled that Gerald had already told him that he did not want
his
identity to be revealed.
Zack said: “Brother Gerald, are
you satisfied with the arrangements I’ve made for you today?”
Gerald smiled as he nodded.
At this time, Quinton suddenly
spoke up and said, “But Mr. Lyle, Gerald just ruined your oil painting by
dropping it into the water!”
“Yes, Mr. Lyle! Even though we
told him not to do it, Gerald took the oil painting down and he dropped it into
the water!” Jacelyn quickly
hurriedly chimed in as she did not want to bear the responsibility for the oil
painting.
Meanwhile, Naomi quickly spoke
up for Gerald. “Mr. Lyle, Gerald didn’t mean to do it!”
At this time, Harper also
defended Gerald and he asked Zack what they could do in order to repay Zack for
the
oil painting.
Zack immediately understood the
situation that was unfolding before him.
It
seemed as though not everyone here were Gerald’s true friends and Zack knew
that Gerald had not revealed his
identity to anyone yet.
He also knew that Gerald was a
very low-key and introverted person. It seemed as though he did not want to
brag
about the fact that he was
actually very wealthy and powerful.
Moreover, Zack was not stupid
and he clearly remember Gerald’s reminder to him. Therefore, he would not do
anything to cause the crowd of
people to have any suspicions about Gerald’s identity.
Zack had a shocked expression
on his face as he exclaimed, “What? The oil painting was dropped into the water?”
Zack started trembling with a
frightened expression on his face. It seemed as though he really cared about
the
oil painting!
The atmosphere suddenly became
very tense and Naomi asked anxiously, “Mr. Lyle, we’re really sorry about the
oil painting!”
“Brother Gerald, do you know
that the oil painting costs over a hundred and fifty thousand dollars?
Moreover,
my boss really likes this oil
painting very much. Tell me, what should I do if my boss asks me about this
painting?” Zack asked as he
stared at Gerald.
Gerald
knew that Zack wanted to give him a way out of this matter without revealing
his identity or the fact
that he was indeed the real
owner of Wayfair Mountain Entertainment. That was the reason why he could only
react this way,
Hehehe…Zack was a rather
interesting person.
Gerald had a very regretful
look on his face as he said, “Mr. Lyle, I really didn’t expect this to happen
but I
can tell you that this isn’t
entirely my fault.”
“Not your fault?” Zack asked as
he frowned.
Jacelyn, who was standing
aside, thought that Gerald had wanted to push the blame to her. Therefore, she
hurriedly said, “Gerald, it’s
your fault! The oil painting dropped into the water because it flew out of your
hands! You shouldn’t try and
blame anyone else for your own mistake!”
“Exactly! If you’ve done
something wrong, you should have the courage to step up and admit your mistake.
Otherwise, how can you call
yourself a man?”
The girls were all very
contemptuous at this time.
“I guess Gerald is just afraid
he’d have to pay the one hundred thousand dollars out of his own pocket. That
must
be the reason he’s trying to push the blame away from himself,” Harold quickly
said as he was still
jealous of Gerald.
Gerald did not only prove that
he was better than Quinton or Harold, but he also made them very envious and
jealous of him.
Gerald smiled before he said,
“Mr. Lyle, I admit that I was the one who had taken the oil painting down in
the
first place. The reason why I
said it isn’t entirely my fault or responsibility, however, is because there
was
a gust of wind when I was
trying to put the oil painting back in place and it blew the oil painting
away.”
“Hahaha. Gerald, you’re really
ridiculous!”
The crowd of people could not
help but feel contempt at this time.
Quinton said, “Gerald, are you
seriously trying to put the blame on the gust of wind? Don’t you think you’re
trying too hard?”
Zack looked as though he was
thinking hard about what Gerald had just said.
After a short while, he finally
patted his forehead and said, “Brother Gerald, thank you for explaining the
situation to me. So was that
actually what happened? I’m sorry for misunderstanding you. I guess we can only
blame
the gust of wind for blowing the oil painting away and causing it to fall into
the water. I suppose it
really isn’t your fault at
all!”
“Yes, you shouldn’t hang the
oil painting here. It’s very dangerous when the wind is strong,” Gerald replied
in
a hurry.
“Yes, yes, Brother Gerald.
Thank you for the reminder. I’ll ask my staff to deal with this matter. I guess
it’s
our fault for putting this oil
painting here in the first place.”
What?
Everyone was shocked at Zack’s
reaction. Was Zack convinced just because of a few words by Gerald?
Quinton felt a lump in his
throat at this time. He felt very uncomfortable, while Alice and the rest of
the
girls felt even more uneasy.
“Well, in that case, I would
like to thank you for your hospitality today, Mr. Lyle. If it’s fine with you,
we’d like to go home now.”
Gerald smiled. He thought that
the way that Zack cooperated with him with regards to this situation was indeed
very funny.
After
leaving the Wayfair Mountain Entertainment, all of them could not help but look
at Gerald in a daze. This
was especially so for Alice,
who felt that everything was too unreal and she couldn’t understand Gerald at
all.
“Gerald, you are really
amazing! I can’t believe that you actually managed to persuade Mr. Lyle with
just a few
words when he seemed to care so
much about that oil painting!”
Naomi couldn’t help but admire
Gerald after leaving the manor.
Alice was also listening in at
this time.
She felt
very doubtful about the whole situation. Were things really as simple as they
seemed?