Marie smiled and opened the front passenger seat door. "If you had told me earlier that you wanted to tag along, I wouldnât have come here first."
"Itâs my fault," Sophia said, getting into the car.
Marie revved up the car engine. "Iâll forgive you since you look so pretty."
The car was speeding much faster on their way to Dream Club than before. Sophia rolled down the window a little to ease her motion sickness. She felt better only when the wind blew in.
"Hawthorn slices and smoked plums." Marie held the steering wheel with one hand and tossed a bag of hawthorn slices and smoked plums to Sophia with another hand. "Mr. Harris prepared them. He said that you will feel better after you eat them."
Back then, Sophia would prepare hawthorn slices and smoked plums whenever she went for car rides. She knew that she would feel better after eating them. However, after hearing that Charles was the one who had prepared them, she retracted her hands just as they were about to tear open the bag. "Thanks, Ms. Marie."
Having said that, she put the hawthorn slices and smoked plums aside.
"Youâre still like a child." Marie sighed with emotion.
Sophia turned her head and looked out the window, making no reply.
"Eat them," Marie said, "Eat some and give me the rest. I will buy two more identical bags and put them in the car and tell Mr. Harris that you didn't eat them."
Marie saw through her. The heat on Sophia's face rose. She pursed her lips and eventually tore the bag of smoked plums and popped two of them into her mouth.
Motion sickness gave her headaches. She would also feel her stomach churning as food constantly surged upward along her esophagus. This certainly did not feel better than getting ill.
Marie chuckled softly when she heard her tearing the bag up. "Are you going to eat alone?"
Sophia tore another bag of hawthorn slices and put a slice into Marieâs mouth. She would need to spit the seed out if she ate the smoked plums. It would be inconvenient for her since she was driving.
"This tastes pretty good." Marie chewed the hawthorn slices and was in high spirits. "Iâm finally enjoying better treatment compared to Mr. Harris, yippee!"
Sophia, "..."
When they arrived at Dream Club, Sophia finally understood why this was such a sticky situation. Apart from Ben, there were also many reporters in front of Dream Club.
Back then, journalists used to pay more attention to facts, but they were more concerned about web traffic now. In order to attract eyeballs as well as some other benefits, facts could be distorted.
When the reporters noticed Marie, they shifted their microphones immediately, dying to insert them into her nostrils.
"Ms. Marie, Mr. Raymond said that he has been here several times to see his girlfriend but you instructed security to throw him out every time. Is that true?"
"Mr. Raymond said that his girlfriend is from the mountains but Dream Club forced her into prostitution. How do you explain that?â
"Has Dream Club always made money by forcing women into prostitution? A Dream Club customer also said that Dream Clubâs girls are divided into different ranks and grades. Higher ranking ones can cost up to tens of thousands per night. Are you also involved?"
When reading between the lines, the reporters were accusing Dream Club of forcing women into prostitution and organizing mass prostitution, whereas Ben and Meganâs affairs had turned into one of the victimsâ cases instead of the main one.
It was true that Sophia used to be a rich hedonistic daughter, but it was also because of her background that she often came across these dirty methods. To put it simply, someone was using Ben to cause trouble in Dream Clubâa common tactic used in the business world.
"Are you asking me whether I am also involved?" Marie smiled and brushed her hand across the young male reporterâs face. Her breath smelt like an orchid when she exhaled. âDo you count those that didnât involve money? When I see a handsome guy like you, I often can't help but give myself in willingly."
Her every move was amorous to start with, not to mention when she was being deliberately seductive. The young male reporter's face flushed instantly.
"You reporters cover quite an extensive area right now that youâre even poking your nose into other peopleâs hookup businesses. Whereâs your humanitarian spirit?" Marie scanned through the reporters and chuckled teasingly.
The reporters wanted to ask a few more questions when several security guards came over and blocked them off so that Marie and Sophia could go in.
"Mr. Phillips was the one who sent these reporters over. They wonât be easy to deal with." Marie leaned into Sophia's ear and explained in a whisper.
Sophia frowned but was not surprised.
The Phillips family was a large household that was involved in a major business. Despite that, they had been living under the shadow of the Harris family. The two families had always found each other an eyesore, fighting openly and secretly. Sawyer first flirted with her at the party because she was good-looking but later came to Dream Club to pester her over and over again simply to get into Charlesâ hair.
The two entered Dream Club.
In the lobby, Megan looked livid with anger. "Ben, you asked me to accompany several clients for the sake of the companyâs development but ended up recording a video to make false countercharges against me instead! I must have been blind to fall in love with an ungrateful b*stard like you!"
"Meggie." Benâs complexion did not look very good either. There were dark circles under his eyes. "Are the people in the club threatening you? Is that why youâre speaking up for them now?"
Megan widened her eyes. He sickened her so much that she could not utter a single word for a very long time.
"The reporters are here. You can just tell them the truth. Donât be afraid of Dream Clubâs threats." Ben held Meganâs hand and persuaded. "We are childhood sweethearts. It wasnât easy for us to get out of the mountains. I thought I just needed to earn some money and then we could..."
Pain was written all over his face. "I canât believe that the guys in Dream Club have lured you here and ended up making you lose your chastity, even forcing you to receive patrons! This is all my fault, I didnât take good care of you!"
Sophia looked coldly from the sidelines. Ben and Leahâs characters were very much the same. However, his methods were full of loopholes and would not stand up to close scrutiny. This was nothing compared to Leahâs tricks.
"Ben, f*cking stop talking nonsense already!" He grossed Megan out so much that she was choking badly. "Those were all your clients. You begged me to keep them company. This has nothing to do with the club!"
Ben took out a bunch of photos with great distress. "These are all rich second-generation kids. Some of them are even bosses of major companies.
My company has nothing to do with them, so how are you going to explain that? Meggie, you really don't need to be afraid of the guys in the club.
After all, weâre living in a society ruled by law where evil can never prevail over good!â
"You have been following me and secretly taking pictures of me all these years?" Megan looked at the photos, feeling a chill running down her spine.
She thought that Ben had only secretly filmed a video of her and his clients but was surprised to learn that he had been stalking and secretly filming her over the years... What exactly was he trying to do?!
Atrophy of Love: Mr. Harris, Stop Fooling Around!
ï¤Chapter 188 Are We Leaving Now?
"Secretly taking pictures?" Ben put on an innocent look on his face. "You gave me all this evidence yourself, saying that you want to report Dream Club for forcing you into prostitution!"
The heated argument between the two went on ceaselessly.
"What do you think?" Marie asked Sophia unhurriedly, looking slightly interested.
Sophia pursed her lips. "I'm a dumb person. I donât have any good ideas."
She was dying to see Charles in trouble, so why should she think of a solution for him? She came here simply because Megan was involved.
"Tsk. How heartless." Marie raised the corner of her eyes slightly and said no more as she continued to watch the scene that was playing out in the lobby like she was watching a play.
The reporters snapped photos and filmed videos continuously. The questions they asked also grew sharper and sharper each time.
Sophia watched everything unfold without a word and smiled sarcastically. As it turned out, anyone could put on such a hideous and disgusting face for the sake of benefit!
Roughly half an hour later, Marie stood up and clapped her hands. "Can I please have your attention?"