Charles respectfully watched Noman and his group leave before turning back to the stunned crowd. The polite smile on his face vanished in an instant.
“Everyone, start drinking.”
The long table was lined with no fewer than a dozen bottles of liquor. To finish them all, each person would need to down an entire bottle,
Averil, who had already been forced to drink half a bottle, looked pale and panicked. Seeing the scene unfold, she shrank behind Julian for protection.
The others immediately turned on her.
“This is all your fault! Why did you say it was water?
“Victoria’s allergic to alcohol! How could you force her to drink it?”
“She wanted to leave earlier. Why didn’t you just let her go? What was the point of keeping her
here to dance?”
Averil clung to Julian’s sleeve, tears brimming in her eyes as she pleaded, “Julian, you have to believe me. I really saw Victoria switch glasses. She’s too smart to do something that would endanger herself, right?”
Julian frowned slightly, mulling over her words before nodding. “You’re right. She must have done this on purpose to make me feel guilty.”
Charles watched the scene unfold for a moment, but his patience quickly ran out.
how you figure out who’s to blame is your business. Right w, let’s focus on
“Young man, the task at hand.”
Julian hesitated. “Mr. Green, the gala is about to start. If we all get drunk now, it would be disrespectful to the hosts.”
Charles rapped his cane against the floor, his tone icy. “Julian, do you really think you can offend Mr. Carter and still attend this gala as if nothing happened?”
The entire room fell silent, faces paling,
Julian licked his dry lips nervously. “Mr. Green, does Mr. Carter know Victoria?”
Charles‘ expression was unreadable as he half–closed his eyes. “I only know that this is Mr. Carter’s first visit to Harbor City.”
“Of course,” Julian said, exhaling in relief. “There’s no way Victoria would know someone of his stature.”
Averil sniffled, adding dramatically, “This is such a mess. Now Mr. Carter is going to misunderstand us because of Victoria.”
