Chapter 23

Zoey wanted to fight back but Charmine had made her exit, her silver heels clicking against the corridor floor. Even the shadow of her back was straight, proud as it was.

Click, clack, click!

Zoey froze as she watched Charmine leave, and it was only after she was out of sight did she make a phone call. “Amelia, we nearly got her! Why did we let her go? Do you know how arrogant she is? She ordered me to fix her door saying that we wasted thirty-five minutes of her life, so we owe her three hundred and fifty thousand!”

What? 350 thousand?

Amelia was seething, but once she remembered that Charmine had a hold of their call, she began to pile up the blame on Zoey. “It’s all your fault! Why did you call back to report to me? Do you know that she got a recording of our voice call?” she yapped. “You can’t even do a thing right. I’ll take the three hundred and fifty thousand out of your salary, ten thousand per month!”

Her monthly salary was only twenty thousand, so with ten thousand taken away, she would be left with ten thousand per month! Amelia hung up on her before she could even get a word out, but knowing her bad temper, she could only suffer in silence.

With what just happened, Amelia texted Tiffany to warn her, [Tiffany, Charmine is too much to handle. She somehow managed to get a hold of my phone recording. Please warn Julian before she pulls on any trick on him.]

Tiffany read the message with a sullen face. Indeed, she intentionally talked to Amelia last night to instill hate and use her to stop Charmine, but she did not expect Amelia to be defeated so easily! If Charmine could attend the show, and with what she had, what if she won? Would Julian have to live-stream himself eating crap after all?

Never! She had to think of other ways...

Seconds later, her eyes twinkled as though a thought came to mind. She turned and left right away.

...

By then, Charmine already left her villa, waiting to be picked up by the road. The car she had booked was canceled since she was all caught up with Zoey, and since it was rush hour, there were fewer cars available. She might be late if this went on. She had no choice but to keep on walking and pray for some cars to pass by, in hopes of hitchhiking.

Not long after, a few luxury sports cars pulled up around her, surrounding her in the middle. The leading car was a black Porsche, its highly finished body shining in style. The car lights, wheels, and handles were painted pink. The stark difference between black and pink made the car seem classy and fashionable, suitable for ladies.

Tiffany sat on the passenger’s seat, face beaten with makeup that emphasized her exquisite facial features. She was in a white cotton dress, and she looked graceful just like a princess, exuding an air of elegance.

The other luxurious cars were just as expensive with attractive ladies in them, likely to be Tiffany’s friends. They started sneering when they saw Charmine.

“Tiffany, isn’t this your adopted sister? Didn’t she claim to own hundreds of luxurious cars and betted with ten billion? Why does she not have a car now?”

“Oh, who can’t brag? I can brag that I have thousands of those cars, too!”

“Look at what she’s wearing, I’ve never seen this brand before. Living so far away from the city and claimed to own hundreds of cars? Even bet with ten billion? Jokes on her! At least think before you brag!”

“Please don’t say that about her, as she’s still my sister. I believe there are reasons why she had to make up such lies.” Tiffany pretended to side with Charmine in her soft and delicate voice. She looked at Charmine with the friendliest face she could muster. “Charmine, you can tell me if you don’t have a car, and I can give you one. My parents bought me one for my birthday every year, and I ran out of space in my garage. All you have to do is ask. Why would you walk?”

She then continued with her supposed ‘understanding’ look, “Are you heading to the show? You’ll be late if you walk. Get in the car, I’ll give you a ride. I hope you don’t mind Popa at the back. He’s a good boy.”

As she spoke, she got out of the car and opened the back door for Charmine. A big pug was sitting behind, dirty as it was, and seemed to have taken most of the space.

Once Charmine would get into the car, Tiffany would make Popa bite her, one way or another. It would be much better if he could scratch and injure her face. No way could she attend the show if that happened.

Charmine scoffed. Did Tiffany just try to pull on such a lame trick on her? Did she think of Charmine as a Hello Kitty? “With your cheap and stupid car, you want to give me a ride?” she scorned. “Really?”

Cheap? Stupid?

Everyone held onto their breath. Charmine spoke with such arrogance. What was she made of? Even Tiffany was taken aback when she heard Charmine.