Sweetheart, Do You Still Love Me

Chapter 171

nerve to act as he pleased on Irving’s turf?Knowing that he was at the losing end this time, Arthur gritted his teeth and apologized to Elspeth, “I’m sorry, Miss Lynwood. I was rude earlier, and I ask for your forgiveness.” Then, he was about to leave with his men, but Irving’s men stopped them.“Don’t be in a rush to go. Make things clear. If it’s my goddaughter who’s at fault, I’ll apologize to you on her behalf.”Obviously, Irving wasn’t ready to let Arthur off easy, and he turned to Elspeth with a smile. “Tell me what happened.”Seeing how Irving was ready to be her backbone, Elspeth immediately understood the situation—he wanted to help her vent her frustrations.“During the auction earlier, he was the one who gave up bidding. But now, he wanted to rob us. Perhaps he doesn’t have so much money, so he has no other choice but to rob my ginkgo,” she answered honestly without embellishments.Opposite her, Arthur was livid from the anger. When Irving came over earlier, a lot of people started gathering around, and after Elspeth’s statement, everyone now knew that he was here to rob them because he didn’t have the money.Irving snickered at his lie. “Mr. Winthrop, is Elspeth telling the truth?”Stumped for words, Arthur couldn’t come up with any explanation now that things had come to this stage. Never did he imagine that Elspeth had such strong backing. Goddammit!However, all he could do now was explain in a soft tone to set up an innocent and gentle persona. “Well… I really need this ginkgo, so I wanted to discuss with Miss Lynwood to purchase hers because I don’t have that much money…”Despite knowing that his explanation was very crappy, he had to find himself an excuse, somehow.Then, his gaze fell on Callum and lit up expectantly. “Besides, he’s my brother. Why would I fight with him? I swear I only wanted to negotiate with Miss Lynwood, not rob her.”At the sudden mention of his name, Callum ignored his plea for help and retorted nonchalantly, “You’ve already broken all ties with the Winthrop Family. Why are you still using this family name when you’re outside?”Arthur’s face went stiff. He didn’t expect that a person as aloof as Callum would shoot him down so directly. There were also some socialites around them, and they agreed with Callum after he said that. “That’s true. Last month, Arthur Winthrop announced on his own that he’s cutting off all ties with the Winthrop Family, making Mr. Theodore Winthrop so mad that he’s still feeling unwell in the hospital now.”All of a sudden, Arthur became the topic of criticism as the audience started pointing their fingers and looking down at him while Callum and Elspeth stood silently at the side and watched him getting scorned.Embarrassment washed over him, but he still held his head high despite the people around him jeering at him. He channeled all of his hate on Callum.Meanwhile, Elspeth didn’t want to push Arthur to a corner and smiled at Irving. “Forget it. We were friends in the past, after all. Let’s not make things too ugly.”Irving nodded in agreement. “You’re considerate and gentle. Okay, we’ll let Mr. Winthrop go, then.” Right after he said that, something popped up in his mind and he added, “Also, in the future, please avoid stepping into any black market that I’m operating, Mr. Winthrop.”His words made Arthur, who was already feeling in the dumps, ball his fists tightly. Callum and Elspeth… Just