Meanwhile, Tiffany laid on the ICU bed in a hospital, exhausted. Due to her torn scalp, her head was shaved in a large area only to have nine stitches on it. After the anesthetic wore out, she grimaced in so much pain that she could not even open her eyes. The nurses threw dirty glares at Tiffany as they quipped: “She deserves everything that happened to her!” “The wound is just on her scalp. She’s obviously pulling this just to get away with being sent to Africa.” “Exactly! People usually end up with a wound on their forehead when they’re slammed against the wall, but she just got her scalp torn. She doesn’t want her face to get disfigured.” “She’s so evilly thoughtful! What a fake b*tch!” “She snatched her brother-in-law and planned to steal her sister’s assets! She’s incredibly shameless!” Tiffany was already suffering from the overwhelming pain, but when she heard the comments directed at her, she tightly balled her fists tucked underneath the blanket. What a bunch
None of the nurses wanted to attend to Tiffany, thus nobody was watching over her. This gave her the chance to fish out her phone and texted Ronnie the following: [Charmine can’t get the awards, and she can’t attend the Night of Glory at all! Talk it out with Kelly Milan, and tell her my plan.] Tiffany sent the text with a unique software that would instantly destroy texts once it was sent and read. Even a very skilled hacker would not be able to recover the conversation history. All she had to do was to patiently wait for Charmine to be destroyed. She wanted Charmine to feel her pain! …At the Bailey family’s mansion... Ever since the wedding ceremony, she had stated to the public that she would not take on any shootings and jobs. She even postponed all her engagements to later dates to show them how upset she was, all to avoid suspicions. In truth, she had been with Chris inside the mansion every day. She ate with him, did homework with him, and exercised with him.
It was back 10 years ago when Charmine was just a 13-year-old. Known as the Jordan family’s adopted daughter, she was just in seventh grade when—under Tiffany’s influence—she fell in love with gothic fashion. While everyone dressed elegantly, she wore weird-looking clothes. She even went to school in wild and afro-textured hair, and she became everyone’s object of hatred despised especially the Jordans. At the time, Tiffany merely assured her, “Charmine, you have to remember this: Everyone has the right to be unique and beautiful. Not everyone has to live like one another, and Julian likes you to be unique! Even if the entire family hates you, you still have us!” Charmine was played for a fool under their wicked influence, and she even thought that her family did not understand her and did not support her hobbies and preference. During one of their fights, Charmine ran out of the house and bumped into D.K by chance. D.K was—at that period—a mere local designer. His given name wa
[I’ll pay one extra buck for whatever Kelly Milan asks for.] This caught the interest of many of the people on the live-streaming platform. [One extra buck? Hahaha! Who’s this? An interesting offer!] [It must be a Kelly Milan hater. They’re doing this on purpose to provoke Kelly Milan!] Kelly Milan was seething in anger. She wanted to find out who it was, but the person’s username was a series of numbers that offered not a single clue! Kelly Milan merely typed a reply, [Who are you? Are you doing this to me on purpose?] Charmine replied: [Going against you? Sorry, but I’m not interested. I’m just a genuine admirer of Mr. Kingston’s design of the gown that I need to have it.] A viewer typed: [Another high-handed woman! I wonder who will end up getting this gown.] [Must be Kelly Milan, I guess Kelly Milan is one of the wealthiest in America, and she’s not short of money at all!][However rich this unknown user is, how could she possibly compete with Kelly Milan?] On th
Everyone went wild on the platform. [Sell it to her? Why so?] [Mr. D.K, aren’t your gowns always sold through auctions? Why do you insist on selling it to her?] [And with just one billion? The final asking price of this gown would be way more than that!] Everyone was engaged in a heated discussion, and even Charmine was shocked by his decision. Did Mr. Kingston mean it when he said he would sell the gown to her? They had only met once ten years ago, and it was when she was still ugly... “That’s right, you didn’t hear it wrong,” said Mr. Kingston to the camera. “I’ve indeed made up my mind, and nobody could change my decision.” Kelly Milan was dumbfounded. She had prepared at least ten billion for it, ready to best everyone who dared to bid against her. Little did she expect D.K to make up his mind right away! Was he looking down on her? Was he insulting her? She bitterly texted, [Why did you make this decision? She’s paying you 1 billion, but I’ll pay you 1.5 million! I
Just as Charmine was thinking of ways to resolve the crisis, Mr. Kingston received a text. Once he read the text, he said to the camera, “My apologies, but I won’t sell this gown anymore as someone’s buying it for ten billion. Ten billion bucks.” Ten billion bucks?! “How is that possible? Who’d spend ten billion to buy this foolish gown?” whined Kelly Milan in her high-pitched voice. Mr. Kingston’s brows furrowed in displeasure. “And this is customer’s privacy, which I’ll never disclose. Ms. Milan, please mind your attitude. That’s the end of today’s auction. Goodbye.” With that, he left the platform, and the live-streaming auction ended as he turned it off. Kelly Milan felt waves of white-hot anger within her. Was this old man actually asking her to mind her attitude? He merely made a foolish gown, so what rights did he have to tell her off? He was the one going against the rules in the first place! Still, what annoyed her most was the two people: One called against her on
Kelly could feel the threat in Charmine’s tone even through the phone, and her expression turned stormy at that moment. Charmine was threatening her with litigation! If the artists did proceed with litigation, the court would call for a subpoena, and if this was not satisfied, it would be regarded as a voluntary waiver of rights. Charmine was so mean and evil! Was she really going to destroy HollyOak Entertainment completely? What mayhem! At that moment, Kelly’s assistant approached her. “Ms. Milan, a woman named Ronnie came for you. She said she’s the assistant of Tiffany Jordan, and she wants me to pass on this letter to you.” Tiffany Jordan? Kelly frowned. Although she was HollyOak Entertainment’s director, she never really cared about the company as she only invested money just for the sake of it. Even many of the staff in the company did not know about her. In fact, many people did not even know she was HollyOak Entertainment’s director until a certain incident that
“Correct. Tell me right away if something catches your eye in the near future,” said Anthony with a deep and elegant voice. Charmine’s heartbeat disappointingly skipped a beat. He spent ten billion just because she liked the gown? She looked at him and asked, “Why are you so kind to me?” They never owed each other anything; they were only fulfilling the contract. She made it clear that she would leave in two months. Anthony looked at her with doubt, though he had a faint smirk on his face. “Are you sure you want to hear the reason?” That voice… That tone... “No need,” Charmine hastily replied. “Well… I’ll go and accompany Chris. Thank you.” With that, she hurriedly walked away with the gift box in her hands. Anthony would have surely confessed his feelings once more had he truly replied; he would have told her that he fancied her. Rejecting him too many times could really hurt his ego, thus it was wiser to walk away. Still, as she walked away with the exquisite box
There was an unnoticeable glint in Sonia's eyes. She nestled herself further into Harry's arms as she added, "Let’s go to Pares. We'll come back after I give birth to the baby.""Alright."Harry stayed by Sonia's side as he watched over her, cared for her, and talked to her until she finally slept in his care.He stood up tiredly and walked out of the room to sit in the living room.Thuck!Something fell out of his pocket.He narrowed his eyes to the source of sound and spotted a USB.Since when did he have a USB in his pocket?With a small frown on his face, Harry curiously picked it up and noticed the front side of the USB glowing. Something was carved onto its surface, too.[Granger].Was it Dior’s USB? Why was her USB inside his pocket?Harry’s clear fingers held on the USB tightly. He thought for a moment before he took out a laptop, turned it on, and plugged in the USB.A moment later, the screen showed what seemed to be peculiar surveillance footage with a descriptio
Dior was still lost in her storm of thoughts when a shadowy figure zipped past her and ran toward Harry.When she spotted this familiar figure, she reacted quickly and held onto him."Let go of me!" growled Guy. "How dare he slap you and misunderstood you? I have to beat some sense into him!"Harry broke free and chased after Harry.Dior, despite having lost all hope and life in her, mustered the last strand of her will to chase after Guy and reeled him back. "Brother, don't," she muttered, "spare your energy…" Her sorrow clouded her eyes as she mumbled, "He’s the man I love. Even though he hates me, I won’t allow you to hurt him. As for the explanation…"Dior smiled ironically. "Whatever. That slap decimated every beautiful daydream I have about him, anyway."She no longer expected anything from him.He had no trust in her, so what would it matter if she finally got him? He did not even love her, and he did not trust her either.Dior smiled elegantly, but her eyes were fille
Dior looked forward to that new shift.She watched as Harry made his way into the restaurant silently, unable to deter her mind from the daydreams she had of him, of the new chapter of their story they would have.He would apologize to her, trying to redeem himself, and kiss her dearly as he embraced her. Later down the line, they would have a child of their own, too.Harry's long legs walked in strides, his dark gaze trained on Dior.The bright light shone on Dior’s delicately stunning face, and she also wore a red dress.He remembered her wearing this back in Mount Village.He could remember how alluring she looked back then, how they stayed in the same room, how she put down her ego to treat him with so much gentleness.Harry’s cold face mellowed down, but recalling a certain memory, the vague wistfulness in him vanished and he sat in front of her.Dior looked at him fondly, like she always would. "Long time no see."Her eyes burned brightly as if she wanted to drink in his
Dior examined the footage the moment she received it.True enough, it showed Sonia and George talking about their little deal. It also showed how Dior was telling the truth while they both ganged up on her.Dior’s frail heart felt as though it was rejuvenated once more, feeling as though blood was once more pumped into her heart. Her dull eyes devoid of hope regained their lost luster once more.Not thinking twice, she dialed Harry's number with this evidence, though he had to be busy, seeing as he did not pick up even after the phone rang for a long while.Just as she was about to hang up, Harry picked up the phone."What do you want?"On the other end of the call was the voice that she had missed for so long. His low, hoarse voice sounded so cold and emotionless.Hearing his voice brought Dior back to the image of his handsome face, and her heart skipped a beat.She tried her best to restrain her fluttering emotions as she tried to speak calmly, "Do you have time? I’d like to
At Mount Village…Inside the elegant bamboo house was Dior, dressed in a beige dress. She sat in the front yard as she took sips of her wine.The sunlight shone past the leaves and illuminated her, yet she exuded an air of loneliness.She swirled the glass and could not help recalling the moments she spent with Harry.In the beginning, she was attracted by his looks; he looked so gentle and elegant.She gave him money, kept him company, and continuously showed up around him in hopes of conquering him.Alas, she ended up in this state.The time she spent with him in Mount Village was the happiest time she had ever had. They had lived inside the bamboo house together, where he took care of her and claimed her to be his woman.They even laid inside the same room.Everything was so beautiful.Cursed was her luck, however, that it was just an illusion. He had been using her from the start, while he chose to stay with the woman who lied to him and even hurt him!No matter how mu
"Although Susan was unhappy, she should've voiced out her displeasure instead of bottling things. Cheating is wrong, regardless. Furthermore, if she wanted a career, she didn't have to stay home and depend on her husband."Grandma Bailey halted.Was that what Charmine truly thought of?Grandma Bailey thought Charmine would find Susan too aggressive unto herself.Charmine glanced at Susan again and apathetically commented, "She doesn't want to make money on her own, but she wants to be rich while complaining about her man not making time for her and taking care of her? If a woman has no ability of her own and also blames others for her miseries, all she's worth is to sit quietly at home and wait for her husband to come home. She also has no right to cheat! This is how the world works."Charmine patted Grandma Bailey’s shoulder and held Anthony’s hand, her words met with everyone's evidently surprised gazes and their silence.Grandma Bailey was shocked. Sure, Charmine sounded rathe
The colossal cruise started to drift away from the pier.Eric stood on the cruise and let the wind blow at him, loneliness and hatred still oozing from his being.He stared at the blue ocean ahead of him as Charmine's words rang in his mind unceasingly.'Will you really feel good after you've killed them?''You saw Susan suffering from a serious wound; would you still kill the one sibling you have left in the world?'"Forgive them and yourself.'Deliberating everything carefully, his lips curled into a bitter smile.It was true, after all, that Charmine understood him the most.Eric poured himself another drink and downed it with loneliness as he allowed the cruise to bring him wherever it would take him.…Susan was still inside the operating room when Charmine and the rest of the Baileys rushed into the hospital.Darryl stood before the room, his expression blank, his figure lonely and helpless.So many things had happened in half a day.He found out about his wife's inf
"No one's stopping you now. Eat!"Anthony clenched his hands tightly and took another glance at Charmine. He was more determined than before, and he was close to eating the pills in the bottle.Charmine, who was held hostage, gradually opened her eyes at that moment. Her gaze drifted toward Eric before she asked, her tone challenging, "Will you really feel good after you've killed them? You saw Susan suffering from a serious wound; would you still kill the one sibling you have left in the world?"Eric halted, and his eyes darkened.Charmine had just woken up, yet what she said…He cast a cold glance at Charmine. "It's my business, and it has nothing to do with you!"They were his family, and he did not want a family like this!Charmine looked squarely at him. "Eric, I don’t care if you used me or plotted against me all these years; I've treated you like a true friend, nothing more nor less. You were the only person who stayed by my side in the past five years, so I hope that you
Anthony's breath hitched when he saw Charmine.He clenched his fists and, without doubting himself, relented "I can agree to your terms, so let her go right away. This has nothing to do with her; you only hate me after all. As long as you let her go, I'll take the pill. Everything will end right away."Susan shook her head. "We'll die after eating the pill. I’m not taking that!"She had just reunited with Eric, and she did not want to die yet. She looked at Eric and begged, "Please let Anthony be, why don't you? He’s your brother, after all, and he doesn’t even know about your existence. If you’re really angry, just kill Charmine, and I'll make it up to you—"Anthony's expression contorted in sheer fury upon hearing Susan's plea, and he glared at her with murderous intent."This was all your fault, so what right do you have to make Charmine take your blame?!""What on earth are you going on about?" snapped Grandma Bailey. "Charmine has been kidnapped because of you, yet you want