The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 912 Taking The Responsibility

Looking coldly at Holley, Susan said, "I pray every day that my father's illness will be cured. And yes, I'd also like to send my dear sister to college. But let me tell you, I will never do anything against my own wil to achieve those dreams. That includes selling my body to any man. Do you want to know why? If I accept this job, no matter how much I am rewarded, my father would not forgive me, even if he were instantly cured with the money. More than that, I won't be able to look at myself in the mirror for being so cheap either."

While eyeing Holley, she paused for a second. Then, she continued her words, "Miss Ye, I am really sorry, but no matter how badly you want me to do this job, I just cannot accept it. Please, understand where I'm coming from."

Enraged, Holley did not respond immediately. As she had put so much effort into this proposal, she thought it would be a piece of cake to convince them. Now, however, Susan simply turned her down without batting an eye, and she was left in a state of embarrassment. Even more, the models standing around them began to agree with Susan as well. By the looks of it, her proposal was about to go down the drain. Nevertheless, she did not intend to give up so easily. Putting on a smiling face, she looked at Susan, and said, "Listen to me, Susan. I am doing this for your own good."

After pausing to contemplate how to speak in a more persuasive way, she continued, "You must have misunderstood what I meant. To begin with, I wasn't asking you to sell your body. I am merely suggesting you attend the banquet and offer some company to my big customers, by either serving them with drinks or chatting with them. It is up to you. All the while, you'll make some money which you can help your family with."

The woman sighed and pretended to be offended. "That's a really easy job," she remarked nonchalantly. "I just don't understand why you'd reject my kindness. Can you tell me why you're doing this?" "Is that all we have to do? Just serving customers with drinks and chatting with them?" asked the models, a glint of doubt visible in their eyes.

"Of course," answered Holley quickly. "That's all you have to do." Under those circumstances, she maintained an offended expression and smiled bitterly while saying, "I have already told you from the very beginning, I would never ask you to do things that you don't like. I am not that kind of person. What have I unwittingly done that you would think the worst of me? It's truly quite upsetting."

When Holley sensed that the models were slowly getting convinced, she went on, "I know how difficult it is for you to make some money. I also know you are working really hard. I totally understand you, and want to offer my sincere help. I want to bring more benefits to you. That is why I am doing all of this. For you. Besides, in this day and age, no one can make you do things you don't want to do. And I'm no exception. Do you still think I can make you sell your bodies?"

"But..." Some of the models were still reluctant. Despite her reassurance, they could tell that it still seemed no different from being a paid escort. Uncertain whether they should accept the job or not, everyone waited to see what the others would do.

"Please, no more ifs or buts." The manager gave another forced smile and said, "I won't allow any harm befall on you. No one is permitted to hurt you. What else are you afraid of? Why are you still hesitating?" Then she looked at the models with eagerness, and tried to persuade them again. "Well, let me put it like this," she said, interlocking her fingers in front of her. "If anyone of you is treated wrongfully, or any of you has to do things you don't like, just tell me immediately. I will absolutely cancel all the activities right away and all the losses will be shouldered by me. You have my words. What do you think of that?" With such a huge promise, some of the models felt inclined to accept the job. Nevertheless, some were still hesitant, and wondered what to do. It seemed that whatever excuse they had, Holley would not hear any of it.

Standing by Sheryl, Susan said in a low voice, "Sheryl, I can still feel there's something wrong about it, but I can't quite put my finger on it. What do you think we should do?" Sheryl did not answer her question, and instead, sneered. She knew Holley was waiting for her to get hooked. But it was never going to happen.

It was clearly just another one of Holley's tricks. Even an innocent girl like Susan could detect the oddness in the matter at hand. The girls who were ignorant enough to believe Holley and agreed to attend the banquet would soon realize they had been deceived by her sweet lies.

"Miss Ye..." In the beginning, the girl who was called Coral could not make up her decision. Later, after pondering for some time, and likely tempted by the large sum of money being offered, she could not help but ask Holley, "Do we just need to serve drinks and chat with the customers? Is there anything else?"

Holley assured Coral, "No, there's nothing else. I know you're very concerned about your own safety. I'm here to assure you that there is absolutely no need to worry about that. I'll always be with you. If there is anything bad that happens, just tell me. You are all my girls. If you get bullied, I will be disgraced as well. If you get hurt, I will be ashamed of myself. I won't allow anything terrible to happen to you. More importantly, if you ever need help tomorrow, I will be always there to lend you a hand. You can count on me."

"In that case..." Coral trailed, and hesitated. The young woman paused for a long while, before saying, "I'm in." In the end, she could not resist the temptation of money and accepted the job. She thought it was quite simple to earn so much, and all she needed to do was serve drinks and chat with men for a while. It was just pennies from heaven and she had to take the chance. Otherwise, she would be a fool to pass up on money that was almost literally being handed to her on a platter.

Besides, it was a lot easier than walking down runways with her nerves all frazzled.

"That is my good girl," cooed Holley as though the girl were a child. Feeling quite satisfied, Holley wore a broad smile on her face. Then she turned to the other models and asked, "What about the rest of you? Have you thought it over carefully? Do you want to make more money or will you let the chance slip by?"

When the other models saw Coral had promised to attend the banquet, those who had a relatively good friendship with her eventually agreed to go as well. In the end, only Sheryl and Susan remained silent. For a moment, everyone's eyes turned to focus on both of them. They wanted to know their final decision. Did Holley convince them to change their minds?

As Susan was still young and had never experienced such a scene, she found herself at a loss for words. After all, she was merely a naive girl without much social experience. Timidly, she hid behind Sheryl and asked her, "Sher, what shall we do now?"

Although Holley had coaxed the models in, Sheryl knew she was only sharing what she wanted others to know. Even after such a long and arduous speech from the woman, Sheryl did not believe a word of what she said, nor did she believe they were just required to deliver drinks and share a conversation with the customers.

"Sheryl, Susan, what about you? Do you think of joining us?" asked Holley in a sharp tone. It was just as Sheryl had expected from the woman with a deceitful tongue. With nearly everyone convinced to go, she thought it would be easier to convince them to agree. It was as though she never heard Susan's or her refusal to go earlier.

A bit enraged, Sheryl met Holley's cold eyes fearlessly. She smiled and said, "Miss Ye, I'm afraid I can't promise you that I will attend the banquet. My decision remains the same. I hope you can accept my apology."

Even though she had been through death, for once, she was afraid of nothing. Still, she did not want to lose her dignity in these types of occasion, so she maintained an air of decency while dismissing the woman's proposal completely.

When she had finished speaking, she turned to the young lady beside her and gave an encouraging smile. "Me neither," said Susan, plucking up the courage to speak up.

"Why? Why are you so silly to miss such a good chance?" asked Holley with a slight frown.

"I will earn my money by fair and honest means. If I do attend the banquet and join in the activities tomorrow, I think my children will be ashamed of me from then on. What's more, I will despise myself for that. One more thing, you didn't tell me clearly what the job was before I came here, so now my refusal to comply can't be regarded as a breach of contract. I'm the one who's made up my mind to leave. So please excuse me, Miss Ye."

She took a breath and continued, "As for being short-handed, I think you can count yourself in, right? You will do a great job at the banquet."

Holley gritted her teeth and asked, "Are you really going to do this to me? At such a critical moment? Sheryl, I'll ask you one more time. Are you going with us to the banquet or not?"

Finally, Sheryl stood up while staring at Holley, and said, "Miss Ye, as you know, I am a mother. I cannot afford to disgrace myself in public. So, I'm unsuitable to join these kinds of activities. Would you please ask someone else to replace me? For the termination of the contract, I will ask a lawyer to talk to you later. And I think there's no need for us to meet again."

She cracked into a smile and went on, "I will go back to pack up my stuff now. As soon as I'm done with that, I'll leave the hotel."

"I am asking you one more time. Are you really determined to go?" asked Holley, looking extremely sulky. No matter how much she tried, it seemed that Sheryl managed to get away from her devious plans. The thought of her slipping away from their contract agreement made it difficult for her to suppress her anger.

Without a trace of fear, Sheryl nodded and responded, "I won't be leaving by myself. I'm bringing Susan with me."

"Are you now openly setting yourself against me?" asked Holley coldly. A dangerous hint of vengeance flashed in her eyes.

"Not really. I am just being myself," said Sheryl, smiling in a relaxed way. "I just don't want to do things I don't feel like doing. Is there anything wrong about that?"

There was no question about it. Sheryl was determined to help Susan get out of this dilemma as well. Looking at Holley without an ounce of fear in her eyes, she said, "Susan is still too young for her own good If you're gonna fire her for this, that's all right. I'll take full responsibility for her penalties. You have no need to worry about that."

As she finished her words, she turned around to take a look at Susan and said, "Let's go now."

"Okay," replied Susan. Only then did the young woman come to realize how selfless and kind Sheryl was, and that the woman would do everything to help her. She then followed behind Sheryl with gratitude. When some of the models saw Sheryl turn her back on Holley overtly, they threw a look of disdain at her. One of them expressed her views scornfully, "You're just so pretentious. I know you're a mother of two children. You don't have to brag about this. No one's asking you to sell your body. Besides, I doubt anyone would want you as you're a mother. You're not a virgin anymore. I just don't see what the hell you are afraid of."

Another model who was irked by her defiance also made a personal comment, wanting to insult Sheryl. "So shameless and slutty. When I think of the way she seduced Charles Lu, I can tell she's really good at seducing a man. If she can't go to the banquet, it's really a waste of chance..."