“I don't like receiving excessive attention from others, and I don't like the idea of putting my entire life on the stage to perform for the public. I’m sorry. I’ve gotta go.” Scarlett left her seat and walked out of Stella’s office.
Before she had reached the bus station, Scarlett received a call from Niki.
“What's up, girl? I never expect you to call” Scarlett was a bit surprised.
Niki had always been the most successful in their dorm in her career and relationships too. She was the Student Union vice president and the leading debater of the school’s nationally ranked debate team. She was lively, cheerful, and caring, and she had many friends from departments too. Undoubtedly, she was much more popular than Scarlett in the department, but that didn’t get betwee
She was a little desperate. Her eyes were full of helplessness and despair. It was like being pushed to the edge of a cliff. Scarlett walked a step closer to Niki and asked calmly, “You really made up your mind?”“I’ve got no choice. I thought he would be responsible. But after I told him the news, he just froze and ran away without saying anything. Can you believe it? He ran away and disappeared! I was desperate and cried every single day… Then he texted me the other day…you read it yourself.”Niki took out her phone and handed it to Scarlett.The text read, “I’m sorry, Niki. But I’m not ready to be a father. I’m sorry.” Scarlett threw the phone on the bed, “Asshole.”“I know, I
“How dare you reject my calls? I called you three times! Care to explain why you haven’t been home in two days? What the hell is wrong with you, girl?” Francis’s deep voice was so loud. It felt like he was right next to Scarlett at that moment. She could even hear his furious breathing.Scarlett sensed that he was sulking and unhappy. She patiently explained to him in as gentle a voice as she could manage. “Honey, listen, just calm down. I haven’t run away. Why would I do that? One of my friends had a major emergency, so I accompanied her to the hospital to sort everything out. Didn’t you receive my messages?”Scarlett heard the sound of pages turning from the other side of the phone and suspected that Francis must still be working. She wished she could be with him at the moment.
Scarlett secretly returned to Francis's villa the next day, but the housekeeper told her that Mr. Sandler had flown to France this morning and would only come back in a week.Scarlett was supposed to breathe a sigh of relief because that meant that she could avoid an awkward face-to-face talk, or more likely, a quarrel with Francis. But somehow, she felt a lot more disappointed not to see him at home.Standing at the door for a while thinking about what she should do, she finally sent Francis a text message:I’m back home, but the housekeeper told me you flew to France this morning. I haven’t seen you in a while. I miss you. Take care!After sending the message, Scarlett put on her shoes again and told the housekeeper not to prepare any lunch for her
Scarlett raised her eyebrows and said, “Wasn’t your uncle’s marriage also for political and commercial benefits?"“Yeah, exactly! So I guess he can understand my suffering better than anyone…”“Think about it, bro. Even your determined, eloquent, and powerful uncle couldn’t win the battle against his marriage, what about you, little pawn?” Scarlett’s words made him even more deflated.“But I think you could probably learn something from his experience… So just tell me about Francis’s divorce! You know what, even the most genius agent needs enough intelligence to solve a problem!”“What the fuck do I know? They got divorced, and that’s it…” Chuck had no interest
The scenery along the way was not all that fascinating, but Scarlett still enjoyed the ride. Passing mountains and plains, she felt at peace. Alice had fallen asleep right after eating some snacks, so Scarlett got some moments of calm and quiet all to herself. Just as Scarlett got tired and nodded off silently, the train arrived at the small station in Manbuca.Scarlett shook Alice awake gently, and the two hurriedly took their luggage and followed their teammates to the front. It was very cold at four o’clock in the morning. Scarlett tightly buttoned her thick down jacket but still felt cold deep in her bones.No one bothered to talk in such weather along the way since opening their mouths meant expending energy.The bus that was supposed to pick them all up had not arrived yet, so the group, with six people
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” Mr. Underwood turned to Alice and said, “Make sure you sleep properly tonight, Alice.”Then the group followed Mr. Underwood and headed to their residence in the village.Everyone was relieved when they saw the house they were going to live in for the following month. It was located right next to the primary school, which meant it would be very convenient for them to get to the school every morning. Apparently, it was an old house but was clean and well-equipped with almost all the supplies they would need in their daily lives.Everyone set their luggage down inside the house and immediately decided that the two girls would take the rooms on the second floor, and the four boys would share the two rooms on the ground floor.
“Good, good, everyone is right! I’m happy for you because you all learned some important lessons from the game! And one more thing I want to tell you is that our life is just like a basketball game– we have ups and downs in it, that is…sometimes we shoot and score, but sometimes we get blocked and find no way out…” Scarlett looked around and smiled at the crew of kids.“But no matter what happens, you have to stay determined and just keep going! Victory belongs to those who fight till the last minute. Just like our MVP today, Feynman Young!” Scarlett encouraged the kids to give warm applause for the most outstanding player in the game and then dismissed the kids for doing whatever they wanted.After another busy day, Scarlett returned to the house and laid down on the sofa. She suddenly realized that she hadn&rs
Hanging up the phone, Scarlett felt as though she had just been warmly embraced. But her thoughts were interrupted by a student who came over to invite them to the football pitch.When they arrived, they saw all the students of the school were gathering there, and the principal was standing in the front making a big announcement that they are going to have their own library and gymnasium by next year. Students were all excited to hear this good news, and everyone was cheering loudly.It turned out that the special fund for developing education in ill-conditioned areas also covered the fees for building supporting facilities like libraries and gyms.Since the good news came two days before the teachers were getting ready to leave the school, a big farewell party was arranged for them. They invited many students to jo
When Scarlett woke up, it was eight o’clock in the morning. She rolled around in bed for a few moments before sitting up. Her head felt heavy.“You’re awake!” Francis said as he walked into the bedroom from the balcony. He smiled at her. “I thought you’d be out for hours. Aren’t you jetlagged? How long was the flight from Lisbon to Irving anyway? And didn’t you have a stopover in Dallas?”Scarlett rested her head on Francis’s shoulder and said, “Well, I wanted to go to bed early last night. No thanks to you, we ended up staying up so late! I barely got enough sleep. You’re exhausting me, Francis!”“Oh? Am I? I’m so sorry, Scarlett.” Francis teased. He kissed her neck and tousled her hair.
“Don’t you miss me?” Scarlett laughed on the other side. Her hair was wet, and she was wearing a champagne-colored nightgown. She looked as pretty as ever.“Of course I miss you, but I can’t do anything about it, right? I can’t cry on daddy’s shoulder as Brittany did.” Francis said. He came to the balcony and lit up a cigarette and felt a little relaxed.“Brittany cried?” Scarlett asked in surprise.“Yep, she cried for over an hour,” he said as he breathed out a plume of thick smoke.Upon hearing that, Scarlett felt kind of guilty. Was she selfish? Was she a bad mother, a bad wife?“Francis, do you resent me?” Scarlett asked as she Skyped with
As Carlos grew up, he learned the fact that his father was very powerful. But he couldn’t tell his mother what to do.“I gotta fly to Portugal for business... I’ll be gone for a month,” Scarlett said one evening.“Why do you have to be gone for such a long time? Can’t you just get one of your associates to go instead? What’s going to happen to us while you’re gone? At least try to see if you can come back sooner….” Francis moaned unhappily. He hated being away from his wife.“Carlos will take care of his sisters, and besides, Brittany and Shannon are very good kids.” Scarlett comforted gently. “You don’t have to worry about anything.”“I’m not talking about them. I&rsqu
Francis suddenly grabbed Scarlett in the crowd, who walked next to Eve and then tightened his grip around her waist. He pinned her against the pillar and gazed at her without looking away.“What are you doing?” she blushed as she noticed that he was staring at her.Francis moved his hand from her hip to her waist. He was turned on by her sexy figure– as always.After that, he kissed her fiercely– just like he was kissing her for the very first time in his life.Scarlett was taken by surprise and kissed him back passionately as the fireworks blazed on.They parted breathlessly and stared at each other with lust in their eyes.“I hope you’re glad
Scarlett looked up at Skyler. He smiled at her and said, “I’m very relieved that you’re gonna get married to Francis. So now you don’t need to worry about anything in the world.”“You’d better be quick. I will open the door now!” Eve said with her hand on the handrail.Scarlett and Skyler smiled at each other and felt that there was indeed nothing to be scared of anymore. They had, after all, suffered deeply for two decades. Now that was all over. They couldn’t dwell on the past; it was time to step into the future and embrace happiness.“Go ahead, I’m ready!” she smiled, readying herself for the walk down the aisle.As the door opened, Scarlett walked out with Skyler gripping her arm. He was smiling
There was a minute of silence over the phone– Francis and Scarlett said nothing to one another. Scarlett pouted and asked, “Wait a minute… are you laughing at me? You’re making fun of me, aren’t you?”“No, I’m the same as you. I feel nervous,” he said in a low voice.“What?” Scarlett asked curiously.Francis was standing in front of the window of his study room with his hands in his pocket, looking out at the vast, blue sea outside.He took a deep breath and smiled, “I said, I’m much more nervous than you are. I’m sure of it. You have no idea how nervous I’m feeling right now.”Scarlett laughed gleefully. Hearing that Francis was
Scarlett was about to drink up from her can of beer, but on the command of Eve, she was made to down an entire bottle of whiskey instead.“For our lovely and beautiful bride!” Eve said.With that, they blasted some tunes and began dancing wildly. Eve approached Scarlett and said something in her ear.“Say it again! I can’t hear you!” Scarlett shouted loudly.“I’m saying, don’t be a housewife! Live for yourself now and forever.” Eve shouted loudly.Scarlett just laughed and had a drink with her.“Cheers!” she said.The party didn’t come to a close until 4 am the fol
At this moment, Carlos took Shannon by the hand and walked in slowly, and said, “Brittany, mommy is tired. Please go play by yourself.”But Brittany just ignored him and took Scarlett to jump on the balcony. She was excited about the big blue swimming pool in front of them and said, “Mommy, I want to swim. Mommy, please go swimming with me.”The setting sun shone on the swimming pool; it was very quiet.“My sweetheart, could you ask daddy to go swimming with you a while later?” Scarlett said as she touched her head.Though Brittany was unhappy about this, she was not a stubborn kid; after that, she turned around to go look for Francis. Carlos was a little worried about her, so he instantly followed her.
Eve was pissed off and almost fainted from how angry and frustrated she was feeling right then.Damon immediately held her around her waist and said smilingly, “It’s our wedding day, Eve! I know you’re stressed out and panicking about this whole pregnancy thing, but this is actually good. You’re not pregnant! We’re in the clear! So let’s just try to enjoy this day now, why don’t we? What do you think?”As the guests left, Eve and Damon checked into the presidential suite at the hotel. When they got in the room, Damon suddenly realized that Eve was on the first night of her period. She may not be interested in having sex with him.“You know I don’t mind that you’re bleeding down there at all, right? A real man braves the red tide.”