Chapter 329: Checkup

Vivienne paid no attention to Josh’s desperate pleas for forgiveness. She didn’t even spare him a glance.

Instead, she turned toward Jermain, who stood nearby with an awkward smile plastered across his face. The young man had arrived expecting to resolve a minor dispute, only to discover that he’d nearly walked straight into a disaster.

"Jermain, take him back and have his father teach him how to behave. He needs to understand that having money doesn’t give him the right to do whatever he wants."

Her tone was calm, but there was no mistaking the meaning behind her words.

Vivienne and Jermain belonged to the same social circle. Given their previous interactions, she had no intention of making things unnecessarily difficult for him. After all, Jermain wasn’t the one who had caused the trouble, and he’d already demonstrated that he understood how serious the situation was by dealing with Josh himself.

However, that didn’t mean she intended to let Josh off lightly.

He hadn’t merely bumped into someone and refused to apologize. He’d deliberately twisted the story, accused an innocent woman of trying to extort him, and then attempted to make Trish look like a fraud in front of a crowd.

Worse still, when he’d realized that Luca wasn’t someone he could easily intimidate, he’d considered using Jermain’s influence to turn the tables on him.

That was where Josh had made his biggest mistake.

Vivienne could tolerate a certain amount of arrogance from people who had grown up wealthy. She had encountered more than enough young heirs who thought their family backgrounds made them untouchable. But there was a difference between being spoiled and deliberately humiliating ordinary people because they believed those people couldn’t fight back.

Josh had crossed that line.

She had no intention of ruining his family’s future over a single incident, but their business should suffer enough to make him think twice before behaving like this again.

"Don’t worry, Big Sister. I understand."

Jermain nodded immediately.

He was a clever young man who had grown up surrounded by people who understood the importance of reading a situation correctly. He didn’t need Vivienne to explain exactly what she wanted. Her words alone were enough to tell him that this matter couldn’t be settled with a superficial apology.

Josh’s family owed much of its current standing to its business relationship with the Schneider family. Their connection had helped open doors that might otherwise have remained closed, allowing the Greens to establish themselves more firmly in San Fierro’s business circles.

If the Schneiders decided to withdraw their support, the consequences could be severe.

A couple of slaps might leave Josh’s cheeks swollen for a day or two, but losing an important business partner could affect his entire family for years.

Jermain wasn’t about to let Josh’s foolishness drag the matter out any longer.

He took out his phone and called Josh’s father right there in front of Luca and Vivienne.

"Hello, Sir? Your son has gotten himself into a bit of trouble."

His voice sounded casual enough, but his expression remained serious as he began recounting what had happened.

He explained how Josh had bumped into the middle-aged woman, refused to apologize, and then accused her of trying to scam him. He also made sure to mention that Josh had turned the crowd against Trish and attempted to use his connections to intimidate her.

Most importantly, Jermain made it clear that both Luca and Vivienne were deeply displeased with his behavior.

The moment those two names entered the conversation, there was little doubt that Josh’s father would understand the gravity of the situation.

Jermain wasn’t finished, however.

"By the way, I remember you mentioning that contract we discussed a while ago. I think there are still a few issues that need to be sorted out. Perhaps we should put it on hold for now and revisit it another time."

He delivered the words as casually as though he were discussing a minor scheduling problem.

Yet the meaning was obvious.

The contract could wait. Whether it would ever move forward depended on how things unfolded from here.

After exchanging a few more words with Josh’s father, Jermain ended the call and slipped his phone back into his pocket.

He then turned toward Josh and tapped him on the forehead.

"What are you still standing around for? Didn’t you hear what I said? Apologize properly!"

Josh flinched.

Only moments earlier, he’d been desperate to avoid humiliating himself in public. Now, after hearing Jermain’s conversation with his father, he understood that refusing to cooperate would only make matters worse.

He had already offended Luca and Vivienne. The last thing he needed was to disappoint his own family as well.

With his head lowered, he approached the middle-aged woman first and offered a reluctant apology. He then turned to Trish and apologized to her, too, swallowing the bitterness rising in his throat.

Neither apology sounded particularly sincere, but at least he had finally stopped making excuses.

The matter was considered settled only after the middle-aged woman received appropriate compensation for her injuries.

Once everything had been taken care of, Jermain scratched the back of his head and turned toward Luca and Vivienne. His earlier nervousness had eased somewhat, and he managed an almost sheepish smile.

"Big Sister, Luca, I’ll take this troublemaker away now. You two can get back to shopping. I won’t disturb you any longer."

"All right." Vivienne gave a small nod.

That single word was enough to put Jermain at ease.

He had been worried that the incident might leave a bad impression on her, especially since Josh had initially tried to use their relationship to his advantage. Fortunately, Vivienne seemed satisfied with how he’d handled things.

Jermain turned to the security guards and gestured for them to escort Josh away.

By then, Josh’s face had turned deathly pale. He didn’t dare protest or attempt to defend himself again. With his head lowered, he allowed the guards to lead him away, his mind already racing with thoughts of how he would explain everything to his father.

As the group disappeared from sight, the surrounding onlookers finally began to recover from their shock.

At first, most of them had assumed the handsome young man who arrived with the security guards was there to support Josh. After all, Josh had been acting so confidently that they had naturally expected him to have powerful connections.

Nobody had anticipated what happened next.

Rather than helping Josh, the young man had slapped him twice and forced him to apologize. He had even made a phone call that seemed to put the Green family’s business dealings in jeopardy.

And judging by the way he’d behaved around Luca and Vivienne, those two slaps were probably the least of Josh’s problems.

Unfortunately, the crowd would likely never learn what happened to him afterward. The security guards had already taken him away, and there was no reason for Jermain to explain the family’s private affairs to a group of strangers.

Still, the onlookers had seen enough to draw their own conclusions.

That handsome couple was clearly far from ordinary.

The young man they had heard being addressed as Sid Schneider carried himself with an air of authority and refinement. His clothing, bearing, and the way the security guards followed his instructions all suggested that he came from a wealthy and influential family.

Yet even someone like him had treated Luca and Vivienne with extraordinary respect.

He hadn’t merely been polite. He had practically lowered himself before them, carefully seeking Vivienne’s approval before taking Josh away.

What kind of backgrounds did the two of them have to command such deference from someone like him?

The thought left many people feeling envious, while others couldn’t help feeling a little intimidated.

Some had initially been sympathetic toward Josh, believing that he was simply trying to protect himself from a possible scam. After witnessing everything that followed, however, they began reconsidering their judgment.

Perhaps the middle-aged woman really had been innocent all along.

Perhaps the young man who had calmly stepped forward to defend her and Trish was someone whose influence extended far beyond what they could imagine.

Whatever the truth about Luca and Vivienne’s backgrounds, one thing was certain: neither of them was someone ordinary people could afford to underestimate.

...

Luca paid little attention to the curious and envious gazes following him. He had no interest in explaining himself to strangers, nor did he care what they thought of the incident.

As far as he was concerned, the matter had been settled.

He reached for Vivienne’s hand before turning toward Trish and the middle-aged woman.

Fortunately, the woman’s fall hadn’t resulted in any serious injuries. From what Luca could see, she had suffered a sprained ankle and a minor abrasion on her elbow. Even so, he thought it would be better to have a doctor examine her rather than assume everything was fine.

After all, she was still in pain, and a proper examination would help rule out anything more serious.

He glanced at her swollen ankle before speaking.

"There’s a hospital not far from here. Let me take you there for a checkup."

The middle-aged woman looked up at him, her gaze lingering briefly on his face before shifting toward Vivienne.

For a moment, she seemed to be weighing something in her mind. Then she gave a grateful nod.

"Thank you for helping me. You didn’t have to go this far for someone you don’t even know."

"It’s nothing," Luca replied with a relaxed smile. "Anyone would have done the same."

He didn’t consider what he’d done particularly remarkable. The woman had been wronged, and he had simply stepped in when he realized what was happening.

Besides, he couldn’t stand watching someone use their wealth to bully others and then hide behind accusations when challenged.

If people like Josh were allowed to get away with such behavior every time, they would only become more brazen.

Luca glanced at the woman’s ankle once more.

"Let’s get you checked out first. We can talk after the doctor has examined you."