Love the Second Time Around Novel

Chapter 40 Unable To Tolerate
Just as I was in curiosity, Benjamin gave me the answer at once.
“Dominic, call her yourself if you have so many questions. Why do you keep asking me?” That was what I heard him say.
Knowing it was Dominic, I instantly furrowed my brows.
Is he trying to pry on matters that concern me?
It felt like he already knew beforehand that Julius would come to find me for the divorce.
Seeing that Benjamin hung up the call, I hesitated but ended up still asking, “What does Dominic want to find out?”
“Don’t be bothered about him. Let’s pick up from where we left off, Ms. Zanetti.”
“Huh? O-Oh yeah. So... When will you be free, and what cuisine would you like?”
Since the man did not want to delve into that, I figured not to continue asking either. After all, it did not matter to me what
Dominic thought or wanted.
At last, Benjamin and I set the date on Saturday night at seven o’clock at a barbecue joint.
I loved barbecue; it was both affordable and delicious.
After saying goodbye to Benjamin, I hailed a taxi and rushed to meet Shannon. I gave her a call along the way.
As the two of us had lunch, I shared with Shannon about what happened earlier that day. Hearing my story of how Benjamin had
helped me with the divorce and compensation, she immediately ordered a bottle of Moscato for a celebratory toast.
Of course, I was feeling overjoyed inside. The Moscato was low in alcohol content, so it would not affect my schedule even if I
drank too much. More importantly, I also got rid of that massive pain in the neck — Julius.
After eating and drinking to our content, we headed toward Flash Media. However, upon our arrival there, the receptionist told us
that it was not the working hours of the afternoon shift yet.
Glancing at the time, we realized it was only half-past one — the administrative staff would only start work at two.

Since there were thirty more minutes and we did not feel like heading anywhere else, Shannon and I sat down at the rest area
on the right in the lobby to wait for time to pass.
Not long after we sat down, I saw an elderly man dressed in a cleaner uniform walking out from a corridor. He had a pail in one
hand and a mop in the other.
It wasn’t him who caught my attention; it was the two other people following behind him. One of them was a rather good-looking
and fashionable lady. I recognized her as Hayley Baker, the second lead of a recently popular television series.
The other person, who was chatting with her as they walked out, was either her assistant or manager.
I was instantly full of excitement. I could not believe I would see celebrities so easily just by sitting in Flash’s lobby.
Hoping that Shannon would notice too, I hurriedly signaled her, who was busy with her phone.
But just as I called her name, I heard Hayley scolding someone angrily.
Even without me calling her, Shannon was attracted to the sudden commotion naturally.
It seemed like the elderly man had spilled some water on accident. He had wet Hayley’s sneakers.
“Old man, are you blind? Did you not see me walking over? You’ve made my sneakers wet because of your inattentiveness! Tell
me what I’m going to do now! How can I carry on with my day with wet sneakers!” Hayley bellowed, looking furious.
It was unbelievable that such a sweet-looking girl would yell so harshly, what more, toward an elder. I was instantly put off by her
attitude; the impression I had of her changed in a blink of an eye.
The elderly man was probably in shock as well. He was bowing his head and apologizing repeatedly. I also vaguely heard him
mentioning something along the lines of providing her compensation.
However, the woman was obviously not buying it. The person beside her tried persuading her to let the matter go but to no avail.
In a high-pitched and arrogant tone, Hayley sneered, “These sneakers are limited global edition. Do you want to pay for them?
How are you going to pay for them? I’m afraid you won’t be able to afford the shoelace even if you work till death!”
After finishing her sentence, she gave the man a hard push. Due to his old age coupled with the wet flooring, the elderly man lost
his footing and fell to the ground.

Upon seeing that, I could not hold myself back from interjecting. The elderly man reminded me of my grandpa, who had passed
away two years ago.
Since young, Grandpa had adored me the most. He would always leave the best for me and pampered me instead of his
grandson.
This elderly man appeared to be around the same age as my grandpa. It was tough enough for him to be in the workforce at
such an old age — let alone suffer such treatment. It pained my heart to see such a sight.
Without thinking, I stood up and ran over to help the elderly man up.
“Are you alright, sir? Are you hurt anywhere?”
The man seemed a little surprised by my appearance, but he soon calmed down and shook his head, indicating that he was fine.
When I exchanged gazes with him, I was slightly startled as well. His pair of eyes was breathtakingly clear, and I could sense a
hint of sharpness and curiousness to them. It was not the same as an average elderly.
The thought of giving the rude female celebrity in front of me a good scolding flashed across my mind. Not bothering to keep my
words to myself, I walked over to her.
“You’re Hayley Baker, right? The second female lead in ‘Love Me, Please’?”
At once, her expression fell, making her look as though she was in deep thought.
However, I was unbothered by it and continued, “I’ve always thought that you were quite pretty, and I thought you act well too.
No wonder people say knowing a person by repute isn’t as good as meeting them face to face. Now I finally understand why
someone would say such a thing.”
I then continued harshly, “He’s probably older than your parents, yet you’re yelling at him? You even raised your hand at him?
Don’t you know respecting your elder is a virtue? Do you not have any morals?”
As I said those words, my anger was building, my voice was growing louder, and my tone was hardening.
Hayley lost her temper upon hearing me berate her. “Who are you? Why are you meddling in my affairs? Where’s the security?
Hurry and throw this woman out!”

I was ready to retort when someone pulled me from behind. Turning around, I realized it was Shannon, who had appeared
behind me out of nowhere.
The look Shannon gave instantly made me understand her meaning. She wanted me to stop being a busybody so I wouldn’t get
into trouble; I still had to rely on Flash for a job.
I knew I should let it go, but I couldn’t bring myself to do so. Since my grandpa passed, my heart would always ache whenever I
saw elders around the same age as him.
If I end up losing the opportunity to draw posters for Flash because of this, I’ll admit my defeat then!
I shook Shannon’s hand away and stared straight into Hayley’s eyes before growling, “Celebrities like you who lack morality and
principles should plan for early retirement. It’s best if netizens boycott you forever so that you won’t set a bad example for the
younger generations!”
I had learned from Dominic to be so malicious.
Hayley’s eyes bulged so much that they almost popped out of her sockets.
As I was waiting for her rebuttal, the elderly man beside me suddenly straightened his back and started clapping his hands
together.
Following that, a few cameramen walked out of the room along the corridor.
Two other guys came beside the elderly man and took the stuff in his arms from him.
I was dumbfounded and simply stared at all of them blankly.
What is going on? Did I perhaps run into a reality show filming?
I instinctively turned to look at Hayley and realized she was nowhere better than me. Her expression had become grimmer than
before.
At this exact moment, the “elderly man” tore off the mustache on his face and removed the wig and cap on his head too. He
smiled at me and said, “I’m Nicholas Scott. I fully agree with what you’ve just mentioned.”
His words struck me like a bolt out of the blue, and I found myself frozen in my spot, shocked.

Nicholas? Don’t tell me he’s the same Nicholas I’m thinking of?