Seeing that the man was so agitated, the seed of doubt in Ashley's mind grew to become solid
conviction in her heart in the blink of an eye.
Their cakes never had any quality issues all these days, so how could a girl faint when she consumed
them?
Avoiding the perturbed man, Ashley called the ambulance. "Hello, we are now at No. 389, Chaya Road,
Bridge Street. There is a girl who fainted after eating a cake..."
She tried to explain the situation to the man on the other end of the line.
But before she could finish, the father of the child rammed into her, knocking her cell phone to the
ground.
By now Ashley's patience was wearing thin with this man's repeated interruption.
Shooting a stern look at the man, she decided to give him a piece of her mind. "You claim that your
daughter fainted because she ate the cake from my shop. We won't brush off our responsibility in this
matter. But we need to call the ambulance to see exactly what is wrong with your daughter.
Why are you repeatedly stopping me from calling the ambulance? Do you really want your daughter to
be lying here like this?
You have broken two of our cell phones. We aren't sure whether your daughter's condition is caused by
the cake in our shop. If you really think that is the reason, why are you stopping me from calling the
ambulance? We aren't avoiding our responsibility for this nor are we denying it. So what are you so
agitated about?
And if that is not the case, then my guess is that you have hidden intentions."
Now even the onlookers started questioning the man's actions.
'If the little girl has really fainted only because of Memory Bakery's cake, why don't they call the
ambulance first? Don't they care about their daughter's well being?
Moreover, the shop manager clearly wants to shoulder her responsibility, but he isn't allowing her to do
so. Why does he keep hurling their cell phones to the ground indiscriminately?
Even if his daughter fell ill because of their cake, why is the man refusing to call the ambulance?'
Onlookers began to whisper among themselves.
"They just want to call the ambulance so that the doctor can diagnosis the problem. Let the doctor
come for the little girl. Why does the man get so flustered whenever they try to call an ambulance?"
"There seems to be something fishy."
"Fishy?" The group couldn't help but ask.
A passerby's analysis of the situation seemed to be the most logical and reasonable.
"The man said that he bought the cake yesterday. Then he took it back home and his daughter ate it. If
something went wrong, the first thing they would do is take the little girl to the hospital immediately.
Why would they bring her to Memory Bakery early in the morning?"
"It sounds like a reasonable explanation. But why would this man want to do this?
Can't you see? This man is the owner of a cake shop beside Memory Bakery. But before the new
bakery opened here, his shop was the best on this street. He will not keep quiet if his business is being
stolen away by them.
So this was just an excuse for them to buy something from Memory Bakery so that they could defame
them."
As it was the rush hour, people from different walks of life had gathered here driven by curiosity, and
the man's accusations caught their attention.
The obnoxious father could have never anticipated that the onlookers would be insightful enough to
see through his entire plan. It was just like the old saying, 'as you make your bed so you must lie on it.'
Not unexpectedly, hearing these words, his face turned pale.
This was an old trick he would use to drive away those who opened shops in this area. Those who
learned that the cakes made people ill would be put off and unable to think clearly.
Back in the day, this man had enjoyed many benefits.
He thought that his plan would work once again.
But it was a pity that the person he tried to mess with was Ashley.
After graduating from school, Ashley and Ellie entered the real world directly and became street smart.
How could they not see through his devious plan?
The woman sitting beside the little girl heard these words and her face stiffened for a moment. Then
she cried even louder, "Jenny, my poor girl, why are you so greedy? It is because you ate the cake that
this happened to you."
When the man heard the woman wailing, an idea flashed in his mind. "I'm sorry for what just happened.
I am so distressed. Jenny does not like hospitals. It's been like this ever since she was a child. That is
why I refused to call the ambulance," he explained with fake concern in his eyes.
The man's explanation seemed plausible and the crowd stopped talking about the issue.
Ashley looked at the man with her hands folded over chest. "You don't want to go to the hospital, nor
do you want to know what's wrong with your girl. What do you want to do?" she demanded angrily.
'I want you to move out of here of course! Then there will be only one cake shop in this street and the
business of my shop will boom again.' He almost blurted out his inner thoughts but fortunately, he held
his tongue at the last minute.
The man said, "My girl fainted after eating the cake in your shop. Shouldn't you be responsible for
her?"
"I never said that I am not responsible for her! The ambulance will come here at once. When the doctor
checks her, everything will be clear. If our cake is really the reason for your daughter's condition, I will
shoulder all the responsibilities. If not..." Ashley paused to let her words sink in.
"I am not a good bully but if something is really fishy, I will not let it pass easily!"
The man's mind blanked out for a moment, and was replaced by fear when he saw Ashley's calm face.
At the same time he couldn't help but chuckle. He told himself that he had nothing to fear as she was
just a silly little girl.
However, things don't often go as per one's wishes.
"Mom? Dad? Where are we now? I'm feeling so cold." The girl lying on the floor opened her eyes and
looked around with a puzzled expression.
Although the little girl spoke softly, people heard her properly.
Everything became crystal clear when they saw the perplexed look on the little girl's face as well as the
panic on her parent's faces.
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