Prosperous Marriage: Married to My Brother-in-law-Chapter 422 Julia’s Might (3)_1
Julia casually chatted with a few customers before suddenly realizing a problem.
One of the waitstaff kept surreptitiously glancing in her direction while busy. At first, she thought the server was looking at her, but then she discovered that their gaze was actually fixed on the group of four sitting at the table in front of her—one man and three women. They were chatting and laughing, enjoying various kinds of sweet dumplings. The group had ordered the most dumplings in the restaurant, and all were the ten-yuan servings.
"Melissa, stop looking. If you keep looking, that wastrel of yours will just order more. Your hard-earned daily wages aren’t even enough to cover the spree he’s on. Every month, after deducting the cost of the dumplings he eats here without paying, you’re left with less than a hundred yuan. I really don’t know how you can keep putting up with this."
The waitress who had greeted Julia Bluen earlier couldn’t help but whisper to Melissa, the other waitress.
Melissa let out an embarrassed sigh and gave a bitter smile, without much explanation or the courage to explain. Her husband was there, after all.
"Melissa, bring us another four servings of the five-colored dumplings," the man suddenly ordered.
Melissa exchanged a look with her colleague, her eyes filled with pain and helplessness. Her colleague, however, clearly couldn’t bear to watch any longer. All the waitstaff and Master Sweet Dumpling knew this man, understood that he was Melissa’s husband, and knew about his practice of eating dumplings without paying. Everyone had tried to persuade Melissa that a man who didn’t appreciate his wife and used her job to treat others wasn’t worth keeping. But Melissa was stubbornly devoted, insisting they were childhood sweethearts and she couldn’t bear to leave him.
The waitress who had greeted Julia was named Emily Clarke, a girl who hadn’t yet married.
Hearing the man’s order, Emily, regardless of being on the job or in front of many customers, strode over angrily and confronted the man, "Mr. Hugo, do you even consider Melissa your wife? She works all day, and her income isn’t enough to cover the dumplings you eat on credit. Let’s do the math: you’ve already ordered four servings of mashed bean dumplings, four of fresh dumplings, four of sesame dumplings, four of four-color dumplings, and four of five-color dumplings, each costing ten yuan. Altogether, that’s already three days of Melissa’s wages. If you want to keep eating, sure, but you’ll be paying cash after you’re done!"
At that, Mr. Hugo flew into a rage, slamming the table with a SMACK, standing up, and glaring at Emily as he shouted, "How do you people do business here? When a customer orders something, you just bring it. The customer is God—hasn’t your boss taught you that? Besides, if my wife is willing to cover the cost of my dumplings, what’s it to you? This is a matter between husband and wife, and it’s not your place to interfere!"
"Are those the words of a human being? Melissa’s willing? Does Melissa dare to object? If she does, you beat her up and starve the child to threaten her! I, Emily Clarke, in all my years, have never encountered a man like you! You’re a failure as a husband and a father, spending all day messing around with disreputable women and using your wife’s salary to treat your mistresses and your other women to dumplings!"
Emily grew even more indignant.
All the patrons in the store looked over in astonishment.
Julia Bluen’s brows also furrowed.
The owner of the Gourmet Dumpling Shop was none other than herself! Was this man accusing her, the owner, of not managing her staff properly? But what truly shocked her was what she heard from Emily.
The affection Glades Horne showed her filled her with utmost happiness. Yet, the situation Emily described sent a chill through her heart. Could such a husband truly exist in the world?
"Emily, stop. We’re still on duty, and there are a lot of customers here."
Although Melissa was extremely upset, she didn’t want things to escalate or for it to affect the business of the Gourmet Dumpling Shop. She hurriedly brought over four bowls of the ten-yuan five-colored dumplings.
"Hugo Twilight, your five-colored dumplings."
Melissa carefully set the four bowls of dumplings on the table, softly calling out her husband’s name.
"Factory Manager Hugo, we’ve all turned into your mistresses now. We really don’t dare to eat these dumplings," the three women said sarcastically, their words incongruent with their eager eyes locked on the four bowls of dumplings. In reality, they hadn’t finished the dumplings previously ordered, and Hugo was doing it all on purpose, as they barely ate two or three of each kind.
"Worthless woman, you’re deliberately making me lose face!" As soon as Hugo heard the women with whom he had ambiguous relations speak sarcastically about him, he immediately attempted to slap Melissa across the face.
However, a delicate yet strong hand caught his large hand.
"A man who hits a woman is no man at all!"
Julia Bluen grabbed Hugo Twilight’s hand firmly and flung it away, protecting Melissa as she stood tall in front of her, her almond-shaped eyes glaring coldly at Hugo.
He dared to hit her employee in her presence? She wouldn’t stand for it! She wouldn’t be Julia Bluen if she didn’t assert her authority! She was determined to make an example of this irresponsible man for the sake of her staff!
"Who are you? I’m disciplining my wife, what’s that to you? Step aside, and I won’t hit you, considering you look pretty. If not, I’ll hit you too!" Hugo glanced Julia up and down, clearly not taking her seriously.
Julia, a lady of distinguished status, was too low-key in her daily dealings for anyone besides socialites to recognize her.
"Mr. Hugo, if you dare touch Melissa today, I’ll call the cops and report you for domestic violence!" Emily wasn’t someone to be trifled with; she must have had a good relationship with Melissa to stand up for her so fiercely.
"Call the police, then. Let’s see who’s afraid," Hugo bellowed, further enraged by Emily’s threat, attempting to push past Julia to beat his own wife.
Emily urgently pulled Melissa, whose face had turned pale with eyes brimming with pain, further inside. The male dumpling chefs promptly dropped what they were doing and came out, intending to calm the situation.
But the next moment, two tall men popped up as if from nowhere, swiftly restraining the raging Hugo in less than two minutes.
Everyone stood startled, their curiosity heightened even further.
