Sylvia rolled up the car window, effectively ending the argument. Joann knocked heavily and rapidly on the glass but Sylvia had turned her head away, paying her no heed. She said something to the man sitting beside her and after some obvious hesitation, the man started the ignition and the car pulled away.
Joann staggered back for a few steps from the sudden movement of the automobile. She stomped on the ground heavily, yelling at the top of her lungs, "Sylvia Xu, where in the world are you going? Stop right there!"
Her shout though was swallowed by the drone of the car engine. The car carrying her daughter and now she realized was really Sylvia's male colleague, turned the corner and disappeared into the night.
The fire was still burning within Joann and her daughter's escape only made it worse.
If Xu Jing did not know what was happening before he got down from the car, he definitely had the full idea from his wife and daughter's very public argument. He caught onto the situation quick. He was thankful the hours were already late and there was no one around or else, they would have to deal with an even bigger issue the next morning.
He could already envision the headline, "The celebrity, Joann Fong lost her cool and her mind at a local residential area. Crazed celebrity caught harassing innocent bystander!"
Thankfully, it did not come to that.
Xu Jing took careful steps towards his wife and when he was close enough, put his arms around her. The man could feel his wife go weak in his arms like the air had gone out of her after the huge explosion.
He turned Joann around and led her towards the car. He did not say anything other than, "Let us go home for now. I am sure she will come around after she gives it more thought. We will wait for her to come home."
Joann nodded weakly and allowed herself to be carried away by her husband.
What Xu Jing said did not happen. Even though it was already way past midnight, there was still no sign of Sylvia. Xu Jing left Joann in the living room and he wandered off into the kitchen to give Sylvia a call.
He was afraid that his call might go unanswered but it was eventually picked up after it was left to ring for a very long time. Sylvia probably also hesitated before deciding to answer his call.
"Sylvia!" Xu Jing began in a worried voice.
"Dad, I am fine. I am staying with my girlfriend tonight. Do not worry about me," Sylvia answered. She felt guilty towards her father. After all, he was the innocent party who was caught between the mother and daughter war.
Xu Jing sighed and said, "Sylvia, why don't you come back home? I am sure no matter the problem we can talk it out peacefully. Do you know how much your mother worries about you?"
Sylvia scoffed as some of the residual anger started to flicker, "Worried about me? She is more likely to worry about herself and how my job is going to affect her reputation! As if she has time to worry about me."
"Sylvia, that is very unfair to your mother and you know it. She only wants to protect you. She has your best interest at heart."
"Dad, if you are calling just to defend her and persuade me to go apologize, then this conversation is over."
Xu Jing sighed under his breath, both the mother and the daughter were equally stubborn. He wondered how he was going to fix this. "Fine, fine. We will talk about something else."
Xu Jing tried his best to placate Sylvia but it was too no avail. She was too caught up in the heat of the moment for Xu Jing's words to have any use. Xu Jing hung up after he had tried his best. He failed to persuade Sylvia to come back home or even talk to her mother on her phone but at least he knew she was safe and sound.
Since he could not persuade Sylvia, Xu Jing had to find a different opening. Perhaps he might be able to persuade his wife instead and he knew just the person to call.
...
When Xiu Ling received the call from Xu Jing, her first reaction was shock and fear. This was the man she was about to expose within the next twenty four hours. 'Did he somehow find out about my knowledge of his affair and he is calling me to warn me off?' thought Xiu Ling as she picked up the phone.
She hesitated whether to answer it or not but ultimately she did. She did not have it in her to leave a call unanswered because that was such an uncivilized thing to do.
The urgency of Xu Jing's voice on the phone unsettled her. The first thought that came into her mind was something bad had happened to Joann.
After Xu Jing assured her that everything was fine with Joann, he started to fill Xiu Ling in on everything that had happened that night. Xiu Ling's frown deepened as Xu Jing told the story.
To be perfectly honest, she could see where Sylvia was coming from. Her best friend had the tendency to be overly focused on her point of view. A not so nice way of putting it would be Joann could be rather selfish.
Then again, this was a characteristic shared by many headstrong individuals, they were merely fighting for the right to stand firm in their belief. They knew what they want and they would not budge.
This was a praiseworthy quality but everything taken too far would turn negative. This became a problem when your belief failed to align with others. Then, one might be perceived as pushy or overly forceful.
However, this did not mean that Xiu Ling agreed fully with Sylvia either. She thought the young woman had acted rashly and had approached this the wrong way. Starting it off by hiding her job as a secret was already the wrong first step.