Scarlett’s POVI shiver at his words.Sebastian catches me by my waist, rubbing my cold limbs before he turns to Damian Vanderbilt like a pissed-off lion. I pull his suit and stop him.I deserve it. I chose the baby over Lilith when I should have gone with Jack Fuller’s men. She was tough, but she was still just one woman who boxes as a hobby. She could have been hurt if Sebastian wasn’t here.“I’m sorry--” I mumble, but Damian Vanderbilt wouldn’t hear it.“You should be!” He grunts coldly, “Next time deal with your own shit instead of getting others in harm's way for you!”Though I know I was at fault, I can’t stop my eyes brimming and my ears burning when his words sting so harshly. Oliver Scott comes out of the crowd, standing between me and his friend with a sad look.He is not saying anything, but his existence magically cools the air down a little.“Mr. Vanderbilt, please!” Lilith lifts her head from his arms. Her tone is gentle but firm: “It’s MY decision and she is MY friend.
Scarlett's POV“Ava, is that you?”Sebastian asks and I look away. I wouldn’t look too good if I saw the pain and care on his face.“Sebastian, I’m scared...” Ava begs in a crying tone.“It will be fine,” He comforts her patiently, “Can you give the phone to your dad? I need to talk to him, alone.”A short moment of silence before Jack Fuller’s voice comes through again: “I’m here.”“I don’t want Ava to hear this,” Sebastian insists, waiting.I don’t want to wait anymore. I have waited for him long enough. I turn and leave, but he grabs my forearm and pulls me back to him. Bumped into him, I cover my mouth just to not make a sound when the damn phone is right in front of me--“She can’t hear you,” Jack Fuller answers calmly.“Good,” Sebastian nods slightly, “Sounds like Ava is not dying of blood loss, so what are you requiring Scar’s presence for?”Dead silence.I shoot my head up in shock, staring at him as if seeing him for the first time. Lilith, too. Damian Vanderbilt exchanges a
Scarlett’s POVI slept in the bedroom I had slept in for the past five years.Alone, but it already gives me a long-lost peace. Sebastian kept his promise and gave our house all to myself. I woke up to my routine in my own house, to a refreshing mood that nothing could have ruined.Until I remembered, Ava's birthday was in three days.Her birthday parties had been one of the fanciest events in the city every year, with all kinds of celebrities attending. Sure she has been raising as a young actress -- her roles bought or earned aside -- but these people are far beyond the league she could befriend. They are not here for her, nor for the second teir last name, Fuller.They are here because Sebastian has been the star of her birthday party for as long as I can remember.He didn’t participate in the planning this year. His name has been far away from her birthday party, even from the guest lists. This sends an abnormal message, and a lot of important people has been holding off a reply o
Scarlett's POV“I appreciate your trust,” This is the first words from Sebastian on our way to the Fuller’s.“I’m not letting you be with Ava alone,” I fold my arms and look away.He lets out a slight laugh.I do trust him. I trust that he doesn’t lie, and I trust that he thinks he has been doing the right things. But that’s it. I am not trusting him with a lot of things, even with things about Ava aside. He doesn’t know about my conncections with the Vanderbilt, and he doesn’t know about Ava’s lie, and...our baby.“I--” I hesitate, weighing which secret might be the slightest to tell, “What changed your attitude toward me, all of a sudden?”I want to know if I can trust him with any of my big secrets.He glances at me in the rare view mirror, and a bitter smile crawls onto his lips with a shade of irony.“What?” I frown.“Nothing,” He looks straight at the road, answering as if he is in an interview, “I guess I have always felt like I was forced to be with you, but the divorce lifted
Scarlett’s POV“Are you here to gloat?!”The whole villa was covered in the twilight’s dim orange glow, casting a surreal bloody shade on the lake’s clear green surface. Sebastian stops by the beech tree closest to the lake, and I walk over to Ava, who stands on the dock that reaches over the water, arms folded in front of her chest. These are her first words when I approach.I look back at Sebastian. He leans against the beech tree with one leg curled up casually, too far to see clear of his look.“Why didn’t you say that when he could hear you?” I retort back, and Ava turns around with a deadly calm look. At the moment, I do not fully understand this look.“You finally stole him from me. He won’t reply to my texts, and he won’t even talk to me anymore. Are you happy now?” Ava says coldly, ignoring my sarcasm, “You don’t even love him. You took him away just because I love him.”“That’s exactly what YOU did to me! You stole him from me when you didn’t even know him!” I laugh in disbel
Scarlett’s POVIn shock, I savor her words slowly, only to make sense of them when I remember today’s headline--Pictures of a private party could leak out, but only because they are allowed to be leaked. Jack Fuller WANTED the picture of Ava with my mom’s necklace so he could mislead Damian Vanderbilt! I would have thought that a handsome extortion for raising the Vanderbilt’s daughter would be their best shot, but I underestimated the Fuller’s greed--He wants Ava to take my place!How ridiculous was I when I came to warn her in case she was hurt because I didn’t want Damian Vanderbilt to realize my true identity, when Ava has been trying to be my imposter all this time.They deserve each other.“Do you even know what it means to claim that title?” It’s ridiculous to even say it out loud, when I stare at her in disbelief. She has no idea what Damian Vanderbilt is like. It still gives me chills when I remember his cold tone when he told Oliver Scott that “Dad might not need to know o
Scarlett's POVHer scream soon attracts attention.The first one responding is Sebastian. I think he came over even before I threw her into the water, because he jumped after her almost instantly, and pulled the struggling Ava to the up. She coughs in panic, keeping that horrifying cry up this whole time. But as good an actor as she is, the panic she puts on her face is nowhere near the panic I’m feeling inside.I pushed Ava Fuller, the delicate princess of the Fuller, into a freezing cold lake, with the witness being my own husband.The case of my crime could be closed and sentenced already.I dare not imagine the anger of Jack Fuller, the disappointment of Anne Fuller, the vicious revenge from Gabriel and...Damian Vanderbilt. I don’t even know how to face Sebastian at this moment.“What’s going on here?” Damian Vanderbilt’s august voice demands, and I freeze in fear.“I’m sorry!” Ava bursts into a louder cry, sobbing at him as she “tried and failed” to stand up, “Damian, I lost Mom’
Damian’s POVShe knows.Scarlett knew that she was my baby sister. She knew I was looking for her, and she watched me going after the wrong girl, probably even helped in that. She knows everything and she chose to keep them secrets.That realization aches me to my core.I can’t even begin to comprehend how she would hate me so much when I’m basically a stranger to her. So much so that she wouldn’t even come home to wealth, fame, and her own father?I thought Ava was Alice for like a day. But the more investigation comes back about their past, the clearer it got: Ava was the favored, the spoiled, the bully, and the liar. A stupid one no less. All this time she has been trying all she could to get my attention. She comes off as the tamed daughter, even with a lousy story about how she was adopted, too.Even if I can overlook Scarlett’s adoption history, and the fact that Scarlett appeared conveniently after Mom’s car crash in North Dakota, I wouldn’t have ruled her out just for her purp
Prepared for this question, Scar answers unnecessarily fast: “I couldn’t risk anyone helping Ava to get MY Mom’s necklace. That’s why.”Her answer dims the pleasant light in Sebastian’s eyes.“I know…” Sebastian nods slowly, hiding the disappointment in his eyes, “But you didn’t have to come help because of that, did you?”Scar snorts coldly: “I’m doing this for Granny, not you.”“Granny kicked me out of the company for what happened five years ago,” Sebastian lets out a light laugh, “I’m pretty sure she would be the last one who would want you to help me right now.”Scar raises her eyebrows. She didn’t think Granny would be so cruel to Sebastian, but then again, there weren’t too many who could rip Sebastian’s title easily.“What did you tell her?” Scar frowns.Scar blamed Sebastian only because he trusted the wrong person. Legally, or any other aspect speaking, he wasn’t the killer five years ago. He just protected the killer was all. But Ava was never convicted, and Scar didn’t thi
“You want to meet early?” Scar glances at her phone to make sure the caller is indeed Damian, “Sure thing, but how early can dinner be?”She’s a bit surprised that Damian would move their dinner plan forward, but considering how he has been making effort to build a connection, she persuaded herself.“Authur, could you--?”“Yes, Miss Green,” Authur answers swiftly, “After you deliver the card, I will drive you right over.”Scar: “…”This time she’s really not trying to dodge that bullet! Didn’t he hear that it was Damian Vanderbilt who--… Whatever.Standing in front of Sebastian’s new building, Scar is still grumbling Silco’s name, along with his evil loyal driver, Author. Sebastian’s new building is not the same as before – the modern design of Z-house as its own symbol. This time it’s just a normal building, low-key to the extreme, considering its owner’s usual luxurious style.A sour wave washes Scar’s heart.Kind and gentle, Sebastian was never low-key. He was the shining prince of
“Why do I have to do it myself?!” Scar huffs, glaring at Silco.Sitting on the sofa casually with his legs crossed, Silco glances at Scar from above the papers he’s reading, amused. A moment ago the girl was crying in his arms, and now she’s like a kitten with her tail stomped on.“I can send Arthur over!” Scar pouts.“If you can command him,” Silco answers almost gently, but the laughter in his voice is not hidden at all.Scar rolls her eyes.“I’ll just--I--” Scar blurts, fidgeting around, “You already gave up on Sebastian’s company, so why are you making the one last step so hard for me?!”“Sorry, I didn’t think delivering a card to a fancy office building with a driver at your service all the time would be a horrifying chore,” Silco answers, still with that annoying smile.“You KNOW that’s not what I’m talking about!” Scar snaps angrily. If she had been grateful to this man with her full heart a moment ago, she is now annoyed 120%, “You can send anyone but me!”“I’m spending two bi
All the way home Scar feels like something stuffed in her chest. Over and over again she tells herself that she doesn’t care about Johnny Vanderbilt, but it doesn’t seem to work.A car seemed to have followed her for a while, but it was gone at the last turn.She lives in a house in the upper part of the town now, a community better and safer than the Fuller’s villa. Silco rented her this place, along with the guards. When she arrives, Silco is not yet home.Scar throws herself into the sofa, frustrated about Johnny Vanderbilt, and herself. Not only did she have to take all the garbage about him from Jack Fuller, but she also had to see with her own eyes that the man was not interested in making up with her. Not that she cares, but still, it doesn’t feel good.She is getting mixed information about that man.In Damian’s eyes he was a loving husband, a strict father who spoils his own daughter. But Emma left him for cheating, Anna was convinced that he was still into her, and from what
With Ava and Jack Fuller hovering at the front door, Scar doesn’t even step out of the elevator, but just remains inside for the underground parking lot. She is so drowned in Damian’s words that she barely makes it out before the door closes on her—“You are a lot like Mom,”That’s what he said. Even now Scar’s heart is pumping fast at that. Is she? She doesn’t even remember being held in that woman’s arms. She doesn’t remember the home she briefly stayed in. She doesn’t even remember the car accident which should have left some impression even in her childish mind.But she grew up into a woman a lot like her angel-like mother?What did she blurt? She was so daunted in the face that she murmured: “I have always imagined her to be like one of those…”Elegant ladies. Those who would sit in a café at 3pm, watching out the window with 20-dollar-coffee in hand.“Like a lady, huh?” Damian grins, seeing through her easily, “Nahhhh. Far from it. Mom is cool, almost hippy like. She would drive
I got Mom’s necklace. Even when completing the process in the office after the auction, it still feels surreal. Anna Fuller’s appearance was unexpected, but what was the real surprise was how easily Johhny Vanderbilt gave up on the necklace in the end when I called my price.I can’t take the necklace away, not till the bank processes the deal. But I got all the papers the Fuller’s provided for its authenticity. Finally, the first step of my revenge, is grasped in my palm. The plan is to get the papers and send them to prison –Silco would freeze the card after I win the necklace, giving me exactly three days to prove the Fuller’s guilty on faking the files. I want Mom’s necklace, but I don’t plan on making that bloodsucking family billionaires by buying something originally mine from them.It’s them who have to pay.“So…” I turn to Damian, feeling a bit awkward. I have been really mean to him ever since I met him, and yet he came to my help today without hesitation. I’d be lying if I
The love-and-hatred show is still on as Scar and Damian quarrel. Johnny Vanderbilt would raise his plate instantly after the host announces Anna’s call or even faster, and Anna would pout, bite her lips, and glare over before she raises again. Her face is like a painting plate, changing color in seconds as if every one of his calls is like a bomb blowing up on her face.The phone call comes in at that moment--Anna’s phone rings, breaking the silence in the room, loud and clear. She glances at it with an indifferent face, not picking it up. But her hand hesitates to raise her plate again.“Who could be calling her?” Scar murmurs to Damian. All of Anna’s family is down there by her side. Her parents died years ago. So who could be so important to her that a phone call from him could hesitate her decision?Seeing all these, Johnny Vanderbilt suddenly raises his plate again, this time announcing himself: “Two billion.”Anna’s tears break out as her hand drapes powerlessly -- it’s not the
Tears flow down Anna Fuller’s cheeks, the plate raised halfway in her hand is shaking hard because she was not expecting Johnny Vanderbilt to be so cruel to her—He knew she was going for the necklace, and he did not only bid for it, but actually gave her a price that told her to keep away from it.One billion. What a cold number.Jack Fuller didn’t want her to come. In fact, Jack Fuller didn’t tell her about the auction of the necklace. But she knew. She knows everything about Johnny Vanderbilt, the man who was supposed to be on the sacred altar with her. How could Jack Fuller expect her to not come?Ava is beyond excitement at Johnny Vanderbilt’s bid – to Ava, it’s just a number unnecessarily high for an item they stole with a reserve price low as 30 million. But whatever. Maybe the riches just like to brag about how much money they have. The more the better – for her.The item is listed under her name, and she takes the bigger part of the final price.Scar raises her plate in a has
Scar didn’t think it would go this smoothly.She prepared several other reasons and actually rehersed in her head on her speech to persuade Damian, who known to be an ironwrist in the courtroom, shouldn’t be persuaded easily. But maybe just eager to maintain the peace with his long lost sister, Damian jumped on board without so much as a nudge.All parties are set, and now between Scar and the necklace, remains only “the last minute”.Everyone knows “once, twice, sold,” but few know that after the host announces the upset price, bidders have 60 seconds before the item is announced unsold. This time is called “the last minute” because it’s the most crucial battle between bidders—to decide, fake, trick, or hide their strategies over an item.You don’t want to show your cards too early too clearly. Some would wait for the last few seconds to call, and others use this time to feel out the bottom price from other bidders. Once the first call is announced, it’s a bloody war.Ava wants an un