Chapter 38: Chapter 38: His Helplessness Beneath the Drunkenness
After Mr. Fisher left, Giselle Sullivan had no desire to linger either.
She said goodbye to Cecilia Croft and left, completely ignoring Jude Sheridan.
Jude, his expression grim, exchanged a few pleasantries with the other business partners before walking over to Cecilia Croft.
As Giselle drove past, she waved goodbye to Cecilia.
Seeing how Giselle had completely ignored him, Jude’s voice turned cold as he spoke to Cecilia.
"Cecilia, stay away from her from now on."
Cecilia Croft shot him a sideways glance.
"I don’t need President Sheridan meddling in my social life. You should worry about managing your own."
With that, she turned to get into her car.
Jude suddenly grabbed her wrist, his grip tight.
"You’ve been drinking. You shouldn’t drive. Take my car home."
Cecilia looked down at her reddening wrist and pried his fingers off one by one.
"No, thanks. A car filled with another woman’s presence... I’d feel sick sitting in it."
The business partners who hadn’t left yet overheard this, their expressions turning peculiar.
Jude’s brow furrowed, but not wanting to ruin his image, he forced a smile and said,
"Cecilia, there you go talking nonsense again. My car was just detailed. How could there be any trace of another woman?"
Cecilia gave a cold laugh. "Oh? So you had it cleaned specifically because you were afraid I’d notice?"
Jude: "..."
He was momentarily struck by guilt, and the alcohol had slowed his thinking.
Cecilia’s beautiful eyes swept past him. She bent down, got into her car, and locked the doors.
Jude stood there, watching her with a look of slight annoyance.
The next second, he was leaning against her car window, his voice low.
"Cecilia, everyone is watching. Do you have to embarrass me like this? I’m a man, I have business to conduct. For you to make me lose face like this..."
Cecilia: "Respect is earned, not given. Besides, nobody invited you here today, did they?"
Jude’s face instantly darkened, anger flaring in his eyes.
Having been with him for seven years, Cecilia knew his temperament all too well and deliberately said things to push his buttons.
Seeing how easily she had provoked him, stirring up all his emotions, Cecilia’s mood lifted. A small smile played on her lips as she rolled up the window.
He raised his hand as if to smash the window, but someone, seeing things were getting out of hand, came over to mediate.
"President Sheridan, President Sheridan, don’t be impulsive! A capable woman like President Croft is bound to have a bit of a temper. It’s normal."
"That’s right."
Cecilia started the car and drove right past Jude.
She glanced in the rearview mirror at the fuming, frustrated man, her own eyes filled with indifference.
’I don’t know when it started, but the humble, courteous man from before has long been tainted by the stench of money, women, and alcohol. There’s not a trace left of his former gentle, handsome bearing.’
’Perhaps this is a chance from heaven, allowing me to see this man’s true nature more clearly.’
’The more anxious he gets, the more he loses his temper with me, the more turned off I am, and the easier it is for me to let him go.’
’His cheating brought me calm; the pain brought me clarity.’
Jude stood rooted to the spot, watching her car disappear into the distance. He was silent for a long moment, and the fog of his drunkenness began to clear.
The people beside him were still trying to placate him.
"Women, you know... they just need to be coaxed."
Jude frowned, a flicker of helplessness in his eyes.
Cecilia had driven off without a moment’s hesitation. He had the strange feeling that he would never be able to win her back in this lifetime.
Zane Keller and his group came out of the restaurant and saw the scene. He naturally squeezed through the crowd of business partners to get to Jude’s side.
"Jude, you and Cecilia have been together for so many years; you should know her personality. You just need to put in a little more effort. Besides, your business interests are so intertwined. Even if you made the kind of mistake any man might make, she’ll choose to forgive you for the sake of the business."
Hearing Zane’s words, Jude immediately felt less panicked.
He calmed down and calmly saw the other guests off.
The business partners had also picked up on something strange from Cecilia’s attitude toward Jude.
None of them said anything, leaving politely. They didn’t believe that two people so tightly bound by business interests would ever separate over emotional problems.
In their circle, profit was paramount. Trivial things like feelings weren’t worth mentioning.
Zane Keller shamelessly stuck by Jude’s side until the very end. Once Jude had seen everyone off, Zane sidled up to him and said fawningly,
"Jude, that club I always take you to just got a new batch of girls. I hear they’re all eighteen, nineteen... What do you think?"
Jude’s expression darkened, a flash of irritation in his eyes.
"You go by yourself. I need to go home and rest."
Zane saw the distress on his face and offered a suggestion with an awkward laugh.
"Jude, it’s true that women need to be coaxed, but you can’t put them on too high a pedestal either. Maybe if you deliberately give her the cold shoulder for a few days, you’ll get a different result."
"Isn’t your wedding in just a few days? I refuse to believe she won’t contact you to discuss the details. If you ignore her for the two days right before the wedding, she’ll be more panicked than anyone."
Jude’s brows knitted together, and he immediately reprimanded Zane in displeasure.
"Get lost! Stop feeding me these terrible ideas!"
Zane just smiled obsequiously.
"Jude, I’m just trying to help you solve your problems."
Jude ignored him. The cold wind blew past, and he felt a splitting headache coming on.
Assistant Zimmer drove the car over and stopped in front of him.
Zane quickly helped him into the car, not forgetting to flatter Jude a few more times as he closed the door.
"Jude, your status in Silvercrest is about to skyrocket. This little brother has followed you for so many years; I hope that when you make it big, you’ll remember to throw us a bone."
Jude waved his hand. "Don’t worry, I won’t forget you."
Zane sent him off with a cheeky grin, not forgetting to tell Assistant Zimmer to take good care of him.
Assistant Zimmer drove quietly. Once they were away from the restaurant, he asked,
"President Sheridan, are we going back to the apartment, or..."
Jude raised a hand to his forehead, closing his eyes.
"Back to Parkside District."
Assistant Zimmer: "President Sheridan, the villa in Parkside District is currently under renovation."
Jude’s eyes snapped open, full of irritation.
He didn’t reply for a long time. Not knowing where to drive, Assistant Zimmer hesitated before pulling the car over to the side of the road.
"President Sheridan..."
He glanced at the rearview mirror, thinking Jude had drunkenly fallen asleep. But he wasn’t asleep at all. He was just leaning back against the seat in a daze, seemingly lost in thought.
After a good while, the man in the back seat finally spoke, his voice heavy.
"Do you think... she’s already found out?"
Hearing this, Assistant Zimmer froze for a second. He remained silent.
Jude’s mumbled voice sounded again, thick with drunkenness.
"If she really has found out, what am I supposed to do?"
Assistant Zimmer didn’t dare to answer. He could clearly see, reflected in the rearview mirror, the helplessness hidden beneath the man’s drunken stupor.
He had worked under Cecilia Croft at Vantage for many years before being transferred to Jude’s side six months ago.
Everyone thought Cecilia would never leave Jude, but he didn’t think so.
He had seen how she handled work. Such a decisive person would never be trapped by self-interest, as the others claimed.
’What could Jude Sheridan do?’
’He didn’t know.’
’He didn’t even dare to imagine the consequences if Cecilia found out everything.’
