Nikki's clean face became swollen with an obvious handprint visible on her skin. Mister Larson grabbed her hair and tore her clothes rudely."Let go of me! Let go!" Nikki shrieked in terror. "Please! Someone, save me! Ah!"The more Nikki struggled, the more agitated Mister Larson was, which worsened his behavior. The only thing people heard in the bar was Mister Larson's evil laughter and Nikki screaming at the top of her lungs.When Mister Larson raised his hand and was about to slap Nikki again, someone grabbed his hand. It was followed by a man's voice, deep and dark."That's enough." His voice was alluring and melodious like the sound of the piano.Mister Larson, at this moment, was lost in himself and could hardly listen to what people said. He raised his head and looked at the man with his reddened eyes and face contorted in fury. "Who the f*ck are you to butt into my business? You…"Just as he was about to continue cursing the man, he finally caught a clear look on the man
Judging from the way Nikki's eyes looked dull and unfocused, she was probably traumatized. After noticing her torn-up clothes, Tyler casually threw down his suit jacket on her."Put this on."Only then did Nikki realize how she looked. She quickly put on Tyler's suit jacket. "Thank you," she said with her flushed face lowered.Mister Lidell, the bar manager, who had been struck dumb all those while finally came to his senses. He quickly thanked Tyler before leading Nikki away.Seeing this, the patrons began to whisper amongst themselves."I didn't know Tyler Hart was here too…""Yeah. Nikki is so lucky. Things would have ended up really badly for her if Tyler wasn't here to save her.""I wouldn't chalk it down to luck though. He's been here every night for the past few weeks. How do I know? Well, I saw it with my own eyes.""So she's with Tyler… No wonder that old pervert Mister Larson let her go in the end.""Huh? But isn't there a rumor going around saying Tyler is getting b
While Vicky was deep in contemplation, Nikki — dressed in a new set of attire — had already walked back out to the stage. She sat down in front of the piano and scanned the audience quickly. Her eyes immediately lit up and she smiled when her gaze fell on a particular face in the audience.She was a beautiful girl who gave off a cold yet regal aura. A dignified woman, she would never give a person like Mister Larson the time of day. Hence, why she rejected his advances.It was safe to say that she had no interest in wealth or power, nor did she give a d*mn about those rich, spoiled kids who thought they could get her attention by throwing money around. Those kids who came from wealthy families were all the same everywhere — they were either drinking their lives away or banking on their family name to get them out of trouble every day. They were all good-for-nothings. Nikki would be a fool to believe them when they said they were there to support her talent; they were actually the
The surprise only lasted for a while.Tyler was a good CEO and would never allow personal matters to affect his work. Vicky never got him to break this ethic, and neither did Sheila. It seemed Nikki could not do it, too.Vicky had not discovered any similarities between Sheila and Nikki. They did not look the same, and their temperaments did not match. The only similarity was that they were both skilled in the piano.However, Vicky did not think Tyler treated them differently just because they could play the piano very well. Thus, she had a feeling it would be something else, one she did not know of.That was probably why Vicky showed up here every day.The bar was popular, but Nikki was not the only one who performed for the establishment. There were other performers who would showcase their talents, too.After finishing a song, Nikki bowed to the audience. When she was leaving the stage, an affluent young man dressed in branded apparel stopped Nikki with a glass of wine in his
"Are you sure?" asked Nikki.The waitress nodded. "Many of the upper-class people know what Tyler's wife looks like even though people like us might not 'cause she likes to keep a low profile. The young masters and young misses who frequent this bar have met her many times in the banquets thrown by the rich, so they can recognize her at a glance."After a pause, the waitress added, "I asked the bouncer at the door, and he said…"The waitress looked at Nikki and lowered her voice even more. "She's been here almost on all the nights Mister Hart was here too."The expression in Nikki's eyes changed.-Vicky made an exception tonight and decided to stay until Nikki finished playing her last song, but still, Tyler did not appear.'Seems like Tyler isn't coming tonight,' she thought.The final performance of the night was normally done by Nikki.After Nikki had finished playing her last song, Vicky put on her sunglasses and hat and started walking toward the exit when someone sudden
As Nikki dug more deeply into the matter, she chanced upon numerous gossip articles saying Vicky was the one who broke up Tyler and his first love by seducing him into her bed. There was a lot of news about them, but weirdly enough, not a single photo of Vicky could be found.It would be hard-pressed for people who were not from the circle to get to know Vicky. In other words, the masses did not have the right to talk about her.Thus, Nikki could only get a generalized idea about what was really going on between Tyler and Vicky: Vicky loved Tyler, but he did not share the same feelings, and she would rather hold onto the dead marriage than let him go. Therefore, Nikki thought that Vicky was a crazy woman who was paranoid, lunatic, and frantic.In fact, before talking with Vicky, Nikki even thought she was like one of those desperate housewives whose life revolved around their husbands and instead of looking to themselves for the problem in their marriage, they would rather stalk the
"From your tone, I can tell you really hate those mistresses, but if that's the case, why did you become that kind of woman you hate the most? Just as you said, Ms. Shaw, any woman who tries to worm her way into someone else's marriage is a mistress. I seem to recall you were the one who caused Mister Hart to break up with Sheila. Doesn't that make you a mistress as well?" Vicky asked nonchalantly.Vicky was kind of shocked upon hearing that, but it was only for a short period of time.Nikki noticed the changes in Vicky's emotions and thus continued, "Ms. Shaw, I'm sure you've heard of the saying 'what goes around comes around'. Therefore, the pain you caused to others will sooner or later be bestowed upon you one day.""Are you telling me you'll be the one to do that? Bestow pain upon me and whatnot?" questioned Vicky with a straight face.Nikki shook her head. "As you can tell, Mister Hart is only one of my audiences, and we've never overstepped our boundaries, so I'm not the wom
Vicky stood there and asked, "What are you getting at?"Nikki looked slightly hesitant. From their previous conversation, she knew Vicky was a hard nut to crack. Vicky was indeed a formidable character, so anything less than substantial was not going to make Vicky crumble.Nikki took a deep breath and said seriously, "Mister Hart is keeping his heart for someone special, and it's not you. He'll never love you.""And you think you're that someone?" Vicky questioned."I'm not sure whether he'll ever fall in love with me, but I'm pretty sure my chance is definitely higher than yours," Nikki replied."Based on?" Vicky asked.Nikki stared at Vicky. "I know he's not ever going to fall in love with me at my current stage, but you know that? That's fine. Because I'm willing to wait. I'm willing to make sacrifices. I'm willing to take a shot…"Here, she smiled wryly. "I'm even willing to be a substitute or a shadow of the special person in his heart."Vicky's pupils wavered. "A substitu