Chapter 28 Much Ado about Something
It was only seven o'clock in the morning. Jane was curious about his call. She quickly walked aside and answered the phone.
"Mr. Smith."
A familiar voice of a man came from the other side, "Come to Moonshadow."
His words were impossible to follow. Jane ventured, "Now?"
"Yes!"
Jane didn't ask more. She knew that Edward hated nonsense. She promised to go, hung up the phone, and went back to her seat to pack up.
Seeing this, Mary asked, "Go out?"
Jane nodded in agreement, "Yeah."
As soon as she left the company, someone sighed deeply, "It's quite different. She used to sit on her chair all day long since she had nothing to do. But, now she's seldom at leisure."
Mary smiled and said, "The Smith family is a big tree that casts a shadow for her. Besides, she could also take the fruit on it."
"Interesting!"
Mary replied, "I didn't say anything bad about her. Don't think too much and gossip about that. I would be the second one that loses face in the public otherwise. I wouldn't like to be in that place."
Jane went downstairs, took a taxi, and said to the driver, "Moonshadow, please."
Jane has just come to S City for more than a month. She seldom went to other places except Forward Education. So, she had no idea of where the Moonshadow was. She should have been vigilant because Edward suddenly asked her to go somewhere in the early morning. But after the incident last night, she believed that he would not have much ado about nothing for some inexplicable reasons.
About twenty minutes later, the taxi pulled over. Jane looked sideways. There was a building on the right with a sign of "Moonshadow" hanging on the main entrance. She gave the money to the driver, got off the taxi, and walked inside.
The whole building in front of her was in the new Chinese style. The layout of the lobby was also very elegant. As soon as Jane appeared, a staff wearing a cheongsam came forward to greet her, "Hello."
Jane said, "Hi, I'm here for Mr. Smith, Edward Smith."
Hearing this, the staff quickly called for the manager, who greeted Jane with a smile, "Hello! You must been Miss Cooper? "
Jane nodded. The manager immediately made an inviting gesture with his hand, and led the way for Jane himself.
Jane was led to the door of a private room. The manager said, "Mr. Smith is inside."
She knocked on the door and opened it. The private room was very spacious. When she walked in she was greeted by a landscape picture hanging on the wall, then an embroidered screen inside. The figure on the other side of the screen could be vaguely seen.
It was very quiet, so Jane also walked with light steps and breath. She walked around the screen. There, she saw two people sitting opposite the table, one was Edward, and the other was the woman she had met at Edward's house before, Miss Brown.
Water was boiled on an exquisite small stove. The fresh fragrance that Jane had just smelled was the fragrance of tea.
The thin smoke curled steadily upwards and the fragrance of tea lingered in the quiet room. The atmosphere was supposed to be peaceful and quiet, but Jane felt somewhat tensed and depressed.
Miss Brown only gave Jane a meaningful look when she appeared. Then, she lowered her eyes, drank tea genteelly, and said, "You called me here in the morning not just for the tea, right?"
Edward looked at Jane, "Come here."
Jane couldn't guess what would happen. She was moving forward with things weighing on her mind as if every step forward had been on thin ice.
Walking to the table, she asked calmly, "Mr. Smith, what's the matter?"
Edward pulled out the chair beside him, "Sit down."
Jane caught a glimpse of the fluttering lips of the woman on her opposite side. She thought in her heart, "It's over. She must be jealous of me.".
Jane sat down nervously. She guessed that Edward might want to use her as a tool to get rid of that woman. Just as she was thinking, someone beside her asked, "How about the injury?"
Jane, out of the corner of her eye, found that Edward was looking at her.
She straightened her back and replied, "Nothing serious. Just need to put some ointment."
Edward looked away, picked up the teapot, and poured a cup of tea for her. Then he said, "Why can't you take it seriously? It's bad to leave a scar."
His voice was the same as usual, but a little softer, which made Jane's hairs prickle. She really didn't know what to say, so she just picked up the teacup and pretended to drink tea.
The woman on the opposite side lifted her eyes and looked at Edward with a calm face, "What the hell do you call me here? I think the tea is just right for two people, not enough for three. Then it won't taste that good."
Jane was deliberately obtuse, and turned a deaf ear to what she said. Edward looked back at the woman and said, "Don't want to drink? Then just go away please."
He looked extremely indifferent, but his words were full of provocation. The woman's face hardened when she heard his words and called his full name: "Edward Smith!"
Edward remained calm, and replied two seconds later, "Beth Brown, I wouldn't call you out for tea early in the morning for no reason. I was afraid that you would eat too much out of sheer boredom and have nothing else to do."
Jane was surprised. She didn't pay attention to the cup and drank a little more, which almost burnt her mouth.
Beth gazed at Edward in horrified disbelieve and said after a while, "You humiliated me!"
Edward responded to her with nothing but his sharp eyes, which were full of scorn, mockery, and disgust. He picked up his mobile phone and made a call, only saying three words, "Bring him in."
Jane felt a prickle of disquiet. She wondered whether there would be another person getting involved. She peeked at Beth who was on the opposite side. Clearly, she was also at a loss in shame and anger.
After a while, the door was opened from the outside, and the sound of footsteps approached. She turned her head and saw that it was a strange man carrying a large sack, which was tied. A pair of man's feet was left outside it.
With a loud "bang", the sack was thrown on the ground. The person inside groaned. Jane was just a little surprised. After all, in the past week she met Edward, she has witnessed more outrageous things he did. However, Beth was really shocked. She looked at the sack on the ground and then looked at Edward's face.
Edward didn't look back. He lit a cigarette and said, "Open it."
The man leaned over, untied the rope, and then rudely poured out the person in the sack. The person inside rolled around on the ground, facing the table. Jane's pupils shrank.
It was Eden Miller!
There was no blood on his body. Only his hair was a little messy. He seemed to experience unspeakable torture overnight. He was already out of the sack and saw the light, but his first reaction was not to stand up, but to curl up instantly. He was muttering incomprehensible words indiscriminately with his forehead on the ground.
Edward puffed out a cloud of smoke, looked up at Beth, and said in a deep voice, "He pestered Jane over and over again. He even went to her house last night."
Beth said with a sullen face, "Why are you telling me this?"
Edward said, "I heard that he is your cousin."
Beth said without changing her expression, "Really? Even I myself don't know that."
Edward put the tobacco ash in the ashtray, and said indifferently, "It is best that you don't know him. I want to break his leg, and I'm afraid you will intercede for him."
When he finished, he raised his finger. And then, the man behind Jane immediately grabbed Eden by his collar and pulled him out like a tattered piece of clothing. Eden panicked and lay on the ground desperately, shouting repeatedly, "Beth! My cousin! Help me!"
Beth's face turned pale and her lips fluttered invisibly.