Annabelle was a proud woman. Her smooth sailing in the entertainment industry over the years had subconsciously shaped her stand-offish and conceited attitude. It was not until she met Zayn that she realized how average she was, not worthy of even a mention in front of true talent.The stark disparity was too much for her to take in so quickly.She knew that she must not wear an aggrieved expression under such circumstances, but she could not control her emotions and her eyes turned red in an instant. Unable to mask her feelings, she realized she would only embarrass herself if she stuck around.Annabelle stood up again, saying, “Excuse me, I need to use the washroom. Please go on without me.”Without waiting for Zayn to reply, she left straightaway. Her departure felt awkward to Peter, so he rushed to explain, “Sir, Annabelle’s a shy girl. Please, don’t mind her.”Zayn was a little surprised. He did not expect Annabelle to simply leave, and looking at her just now, she seemed aff
Zayn smiled without further explanation.More than ten minutes went by, but Annabelle had yet to return. One of the starlets noticed her absence and asked, “Hey, why’s Annabelle taking so long in the washroom? Is she alright?”Once she spoke up, the other ladies gave her accusatory glares for not minding her own business. They hoped Annabelle would never come back so they would not have another competitor to fight with!Aware of the situation, Zayn became suspicious and told Peter, “Mr. Kavinsky, do you want to call Miss Laking?”Peter nodded and did as he was told only for the line to keep ringing without an answer.“That’s odd. Why isn’t Annabelle picking up? She wouldn’t have passed out in the washroom, would she?” Peter muttered in confusion.Not long after, his phone rang. Annabelle had called back. When Peter answered it, he could hear her sobbing, frantic and helpless. “Sir, save me…”Peter was stunned. By the time he could bring himself to reply, the line was already cut
Something had happened to Annabelle.After she had left the room, she went to the washroom. The more she thought about what happened, the more she felt wronged. The issue was, she could not even understand why she was feeling that way. Zayn was not a friend of hers and a man like him would very commonly find himself surrounded by beautiful women.Nevertheless, she was unsettled by it. Since she was a child, no man ever ignored her like that, more so when she achieved stardom. Zayn’s indifference towards her was a huge blow to her ego. It would have been fine if Zayn was a nobody, but he was not—he was someone Annabelle had to respect and grovel to. She felt inexplicably dejected.Eventually, she cried about the perceived slight. Tearing up, she stayed in the washroom for a bit, wallowing in self-pity. When she finally recomposed herself, she felt ready to head back to the room.As she stepped out of the washroom, she was confronted by three men whose eyes flashed when they saw her,
Annabelle hoped Peter’s reputation would scare the men away, but they were not bothered in the least.“Let him wait then. Have a drink or two with me first.”“No, I don’t drink,” Annabelle said with a shake of her head and prepared to leave.The other man got annoyed and cursed right away, “F*ck! How dare you dismiss Miles like this? Are you f*cking asking to be killed? Do you know who he is?!”Annabelle was used to being put on a pedestal. The men she had met before were polite and deferent. She had never been berated like this before. About to explode in rage, her face fell as well. “I’m warning you to watch your language, or I’ll sue you for insulting me.”Her threat had only made the men laugh again as the man referred to as “Miles” said, “Alright, I don’t have much patience. Come drink with me and I’ll let you go. Otherwise, it won’t be as simple as just a drink.”Discerning the laced threat, Annabelle was distressed. She planned to turn and run, but they knew what she plann
“You don’t appreciate it when I’m being nice. You really think you’re worth my time, huh?!”With a loud bang, Miles slapped his palm on the table. He picked up a glass and threw its contents at Annabelle. The girl shuddered—her garments happened to be quite thin.Her eyes turned red. Since she had gotten famous, nobody ever treated her so savagely.Seeing Annabelle’s shapely figure through her drenched clothes, the numerous men in the room whistled suggestively while gawking at her. She could hear all sorts of crude and vulgar comments. Feeling extremely affronted, she cried, unable to hold it in.“Oh, she’s crying. How weak is that?! Hahaha!”“Haha, it gets interesting when they cry. I like watching women cry, especially the pretty ones.”“Sh*t, you like watching them cry too? Why are our hobbies the same?!”“Hey, hey, this is a superstar. She has millions of fans. Look at how sad she’s now, though?”“Of course. Take a look at Miles’ build. That’s certainly taking a toll on th
The noise took everyone in the room by surprise as their eyes immediately flew to the source. Miles had seized Annabelle and was going to take advantage of her, but he was stunned as well. He loosened his grip, allowing her to wrench herself away.She was petrified. In her state of panic, Peter and Zayn’s appearance was like a ray of hope cutting through the darkness to save her. She ran to them frantically, but in her haste, she tripped and fell forward. Her speed coupled with the heels she wore guaranteed a hard fall, one that would damage her face, so Annabelle yelped in horror.Just as she braced to hit the floor, her vision blurred. Zayn moved at an incredible speed and dashed to her in the blink of an eye. He wrapped an arm around her just in time. Slowing down with a twirl, he caught Annabelle securely in his arms and saved her.Unfortunately, as she struggled in fear, Annabelle shifted her position, resulting in Zayn’s arm coming into contact with her chest. It was awkward
“Uh…” The corners of Peter's lips twitched twice. Miles did not bother to show him the slightest respect at all. However, Miles genuinely could afford not to give him the slightest respect. After all, Everest Group was a super amazing company in the country with its market value exceeding a few billion dollars. Miles was someone that he as an experienced businessman in the media industry could not afford to offend. On the other hand, Miles Morales was also the son of a wealthy man widely known in the social circle. He was known for being imperious, arrogant, and a casanova who dated countless women. Peter was aware of Miles’ impressive reputation that preceded him prior to their meeting. He knew that a rich kid of Miles’ rank was not someone he could afford to offend despite being an experienced businessman in the media industry. All at once, he felt rather troubled. If this person were some other female celebrity, he would have given his consent to Miles right away.However, An
At that very moment, Peter experienced unprecedented stress. The cold sweat on his forehead streamed down his jaw while blood drained from his face. Even the chubby flesh on his face was trembling in fear. The truth was that Peter was an important figure. He was the chairman of Black Athens Media Corp with family assets that amounted to a few billion dollars. He had plenty of experience in managing affairs, so logically, he was mentally very strong. However, the stress that he was experiencing now had surpassed the limit of his tolerance. Panic and terror consumed him whole. It was because he had discovered that not only Miles but a large portion of the people here were rich kids of society as well. They came from powerful families, and he could not afford to offend the combined power of these people with his measly chairman’s position in Black Athens Media Corp!Gulp!He swallowed a mouthful of saliva heavily and said, “You’ve misunderstood me, Mr. Morales. I don’t mean that. Yo