Atrophy of Love: Mr. Harris, Stop Fooling Around! novel Chapter 123

The waiter agreed to her request immediately. They were also thoughtful enough to wipe the table and chair several times for Audrey, the customer with a ‘severe case of mysophobia’.

Leah maneuvered her wheelchair to the table where Sophia and the rest were sitting, then curved her lips and asked, "Charles, do you mind if we combine tables?”

Charles did not say a word but turned to look at Zachary instead.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Jones." Zachary pushed his glasses and said with a smile, "I am the host today. I’m not a fan of eating with strangers."

Leah was not upset either. She said softly, "I have been too presumptuous on my part. It won’t be appropriate for me to force you if you don’t like to eat with people you’re unfamiliar with, Mr. Johnson. But since we’ve met each other now, you wouldn't mind making a new friend, would you, Mr. Johnson?"

"Zachary." Zachary reached out to Leah, seemingly suggestive. "I have long heard of your great name, Ms. Jones."

Leah smiled and shook his hand. "Leah. You’re pretty famous yourself, Mr. Johnson. It’s a shame that we’re only meeting each other right now."

Clara gave a hard stare at their interconnected hands and harrumphed with a grumpy look on her face. She then lowered her head and started flipping through the menu.

Meanwhile, William sat down next to their table and stared fixedly at Sophia with his seemingly tangible gaze.

Sophia did not seem to have noticed it. When the waiter served all 12 garlic scallops, she stood up and ‘thoughtfully’ served Charles, Zachary, and Clara with two garlic scallops each.

She took a bite first, then looked at Charles and said, "The scallops taste really good, especially with the garlic drenched on top. It tastes great. Why don’t you try it, Mr. Harris?"

Clara gulped. She picked up the scallop and took a bite before nodding repeatedly, her eyes sparkling.

Charles glanced at the scallop, picked it up, and took a bite as well. There were no changes in his expression. "Mm. It’s alright."

In an elegant but swift manner, he swallowed the scallop before picking up another scallop and popped it into his mouth with a natural look on his face.

Sophia's eyes flashed with astonishment at the sight of his reaction. The scallop in her mouth suddenly tasted bland and insipid.

William was constantly watching her. When he saw how she repeatedly ingratiated herself with Charles, his thin lips tightened into a line. His amber eyes turned abnormally profound with fury.

"You can keep staring, but she still won’t be yours." Audrey's face looked awfully grim. "You have pursued her for so many years yet she still hasn’t fallen for you. Are you still being delusional thinking that she will suddenly fall for you?"

Her voice was not exactly loud yet it was not exactly soft either. Nevertheless, the next table could definitely hear her.

Sophia lowered her head and ate her scallops, acting as though she did not hear her. Charles' eyes darkened as he glanced at William whilst keeping his countenance. He was eating the scallops slower now.

After getting touched in the sore spot by Audrey’s words, William withdrew his gaze. His face was livid.

"Audrey, do you think it’s okay if I order these things?" Leah turned to look at Audrey and whispered, "Do you want to add a few more things?"

Audrey did not take the lead tossed by Leah to help her back out of this predicament. With a vague smile hanging on her lips, she said, "There’s no need to add anything. Why eat when I’m already stuffed with anger?!"

"Whoa, Sophia. The grilled honey chicken wings are absolutely delish. Try it!" Clara took a bite of the chicken wings and her eyes were instantly sparkling with bright stars. She handed a chicken wing to Sophia like she was presenting her with a treasure.

Sophia took a bite. It was sweet yet not greasy. Furthermore, the meat inside the chicken was tender. It was grilled really well indeed. "Mm. It's pretty delicious."

"What if I don't want to forgive you?" Charles chuckled, but his smile did not reach his eyes.

Audrey was taken aback slightly, looking exceptionally embarrassed. Under normal circumstances, none of them would embarrass each other blatantly as they would still see each other often.

William frowned and stood up, suppressing the frenzied rage that was gushing in the depth of his eyes. "You’re a man, Mr. Harris. There’s no need to embarrass a woman like that."

"I’m sorry, I don’t have straight man cancer like you, Mr. Jones." Charles looked at William and Audrey with slightly darkened eyes. "Men and women are equal to me. I don’t discriminate.”

Clara poked Sophia in secret and whispered in her ears, "Is Big Iceberg sticking up for you? He looks so much more handsome now and isn’t as annoying anymore."

Sophia did not answer. She raised her head to glance at Charles, put her plate down, and continued to gnaw on the chicken wing in her hand.

Leah let out a soft sigh and said to Audrey, "Audrey, Charles broke Sophia's leg because Sophia broke mine."

She glanced at Sophia sympathetically. "He threw Sophia out naked after that because Sterling drugged him and Sophia tried to take the advantage to seduce him. He had no choice but to do so. From what you were saying earlier, you have turned Charles from a victim to an abuser. How can he not be angry?"

William sat down again, his expression changing unpredictably. Rage, impulse, heartache, and guilt took turns to occupy his heart.

Due to the large number of people at these two tables as well as their seemingly wealthy and respectable appearance, the manager assigned several waiters here to wait for orders.

After hearing what Leah said, all of them turned to look at Sophia, their eyes filled with aversion.