“Grandma, there’s an event today, and I need Sarah to attend with me. I’ll take her now.”
Nicola’s demeanor changed to one of kindness upon seeing Holden. “Alright, you two go ahead.”
Holden saved Sarah from the fire, and she was extremely grateful.
She got into the car and buckled her seatbelt. “Thank you, thank you.”
Mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationships were already hard to manage. Her relationship with Nicola was an upgraded version of that.
Nicola was her mother-in-law’s mother-in-law. And she wasn’t even her mother-in-law’s biological mother-in-law.
Sarah could tell that Nicola was quite shrewd, with one attitude towards men and another towards her.
Sarah sighed. “Luckily, she respects you. Otherwise, it would have been hard to get away from her.”
“Respect?” Holden let out a cold laugh. “From age five to fifteen, I lived in that house.”
He had seen all kinds of tactics and had experienced more schemes and intrigues as a child than many adults ever would.
He should have left Sarah there to face her punishment, considering she took his money. But for some reason, he came back.
The black Bentley quickly drove out of the villa area and headed towards the city.
Sarah started to speak, “My home is-” but the car stopped, pulling over to the side of the road.
People passing by glanced at the expensive car, as such cars were a rare sight.
“Get out,” Holden said. “It’s easier to catch a cab here.”
Sarah sighed. “Alright, no matter how gentle you look on the outside, you’re ruthless at heart. I’ll go find my ex-boyfriend.”
“Correction, Ronald isn’t your ex-boyfriend,” Holden teased. “You never actually dated him. Good luck with your love life, kid.”
Sarah, “…”
Sarah was speechless and left the car, inhaling a bit of exhaust.
She caught a cab back to her apartment complex, only to run into Ronald and Elisa.
Elisa looked around and asked, “Sarah, where’s your husband?”
Ronald stared at Sarah with a grim expression, as if she had cheated on him.
Sarah replied, “My husband is at work. He’s very busy. What are you two doing here?”
Elisa blushed slightly. “We? Ronald bought me an apartment here. It’s really expensive, over twenty million…”
Though the apartment wasn’t in Elisa’s name, it was essentially hers to live in.
Ronald didn’t even know what was wrong with himself…
He tried to prove his love for Elisa by treating her as well as possible.
However, his cash flow was tight despite having many assets, and sometimes he just didn’t have enough cash on hand.
Spending over twenty million all at once on a house wasn’t easy, so he had to take out a loan for it.
Sarah’s heart sank.
Elisa and Ronald buying an apartment here-could it be in the same building where she lived?
She decided to ask.
Elisa felt smug but managed to give a shy smile. “Sarah, we’re living right above you. You don’t mind, do you?”
No matter what, Elisa always wanted to outshine Sarah. Even when buying a house, she had to be one floor above.
Sarah, “…”
This damned storyline.
She had chosen not to compete with the protagonists, yet they still found their way in front of her.
Remembering her original fate in the story, Sarah felt a chill.
In the original book, any female supporting character who went against Elisa met a terrible end, even if they later changed their ways. Sarah’s original ending was tragic, and others faced similar fates.
One plot involved Elisa arguing with Ronald and swearing to start a new job to get away from him. However, her new female boss liked to make things difficult for Elisa, often having her entertain clients. Later, Elisa set up her female boss to get drunk and be violated by clients, and Elisa and her friends posted the photos online. The female boss couldn’t handle the trauma, was abandoned by her family, and ended up in a mental hospital.
“Elisa!”
“Ronald!”
Voices called out, and Sarah turned to see several of Elisa’s friends.
Elisa’s friends were hostile towards Sarah. Upon seeing her, they immediately shielded Elisa. “Sarah, what are you doing here?”
Elisa glanced at Ronald’s expression and quickly said, “Don’t treat Sarah like that… She lives here too, just below me.”
“Oh, I see.” One of Elisa’s friends sneered, “She’s a spoiled princess who married a rich man. She can only live in such a nice place by relying on her dad and husband.”
Sarah smiled, “Yes, unlike your Elisa, who started from scratch and worked hard to live here.”
Their faces instantly darkened. “Sarah, don’t push it!”
Sarah mocked, “Speaking the truth is pushing it?”
Elisa looked down, her eyes reddening as she stood pitifully in front of Ronald. “Ronald, she’s right. I shouldn’t live in your house… I should work hard on my own.”
Ronald shot a cold look at Sarah. “Don’t listen to her. Elisa, everything I have is yours.”
After saying this, Ronald waited to see Sarah’s usual hurt expression.
But Sarah simply smiled and walked away.
Ronald was stunned.
At night, Holden stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, looking at the night view outside.
Butler Ted entered, carrying a glass of water and some pills.
“Mr. Holden, you should get some rest.”
Holden always had trouble sleeping, and there were even more severe issues. Butler Ted knew this well, having been with Holden for many years and witnessed many changes in the Smith family.
In public, Holden maintained a perfect image: elegant and articulate. Those who had never met him thought he was a ruthless, emotionless business tycoon, while those who had met him saw him as a refined gentleman.
Holden’s world was one of solitude, barren and unreachable, like the depths of the ocean where no sunlight or man-made device could reach.
The deep sea always remained calm, revealing no signs of the turmoil within. Just like how Holden demanded his emotions remain calm and indifferent, even if he could actually unleash a tsunami capable of engulfing an entire city.
******
Sarah pressed a pillow over her ears. She stared angrily at the ceiling, wishing she could go upstairs and strangle them.
How could they be so noisy in the middle of the night?
She knew the male lead was highly capable in bed. But did they really have to flaunt it?
The soundproofing in her apartment wasn’t that bad, but the people upstairs were so loud it was like they were screaming at the top of their lungs.
Sarah, who had been single for years, didn’t know if it was truly that amazing, but if the male and female leads didn’t stop, she was going to call the police for disturbing the peace.
Upstairs, Ronald was panting heavily, looking at the shy-faced Elisa.
Elisa contentedly wrapped her arms around Ronald. She knew Ronald had slept with many women. Sometimes, after arguing with her, he would deliberately sleep with other women to provoke her.
But Ronald had never slept with Sarah.
Elisa guessed that Sarah must have wanted to sleep with Ronald.
The Martin and Brown families were of similar standing, and if Ronald had slept with Sarah, she would force him to marry her. But Ronald loved her too much to marry Sarah.
Most of the time, Ronald slept with women he could easily pay off. When it came to women of status, Ronald would consider the consequences before making a move.
“Ronald, you were amazing tonight, like you took something,” Elisa complimented him with a blush. “Why was tonight different?”
Ronald’s face darkened at her words, because he had actually taken a stimulant.
He knew Sarah was right below them. He also knew that if they didn’t make a lot of noise, she might not hear anything.