On Ronald’s birthday, even if Sarah didn’t want to go, she had to.
David came to pick her up. “Sarah, you seem like a different person. A few days ago was such a great opportunity. If we had just kidnapped Elisa-”
Sarah sat in the passenger seat with her eyes closed. “Do you want me to buy you a copy of the Criminal Code so you can see how many years you’d get for that?”
David was startled but still tried to argue, “That’s impossible…”
Sarah’s tone remained cold and indifferent. “Whether it’s possible isn’t up to you; it’s up to the police. You don’t really want to throw away half your life for my so-called love, do you?”
David was stunned. No one had ever spoken to him like that.
David’s family was similar to Sarah’s. They were neighbors, and their fathers were good friends. Sarah’s mother couldn’t stand it and divorced, while David’s mother, being more submissive, couldn’t bring herself to leave.
When they were kids, Sarah’s stepmother wouldn’t feed her, so David’s mother would bring her to their house for meals and make David give up his food for her.
David, a poor student, admired the beautiful, proud, and academically successful Sarah. Whatever she asked, he did without question.
David still insisted, but his tone wavered. “After all those years with Ronald, are you really going to let some intruder take him away? Elisa imitates you in every way. Doesn’t it disgust you to see her with a face so similar to yours, stealing your man and your looks? One day, she’ll destroy everything about you.”
Hearing David’s words, Sarah paused.
In the original story, Sarah had her pride and persistence, unwilling to lower her head. But while she refused to bow, Elisa was willing to do so. Thus, everything slipped away from her.
Elisa became more and more like the once proud and beautiful Sarah.
Watching everything she desired slip away, Sarah grew twisted, using any means necessary to hurt Elisa, doing all kinds of malicious things.
Through numerous incidents, Sarah transformed from an unapproachable dream girl to a despised villainess.
Elisa successfully turned from an unnoticed ugly duckling in school into a beautiful swan, with a beautiful appearance and a rich husband.
Sarah shook her head. “David, as long as I stay true to myself, no one can steal me away.”
David watched his friend give up on a great love and felt heartbroken. “Oh, you… I know you still love Ronald. What did you get him for his birthday today?”
Sarah replied, “What did he give me for my birthday?”
“When it was your birthday, you were just happy if he showed up. Did you really expect a gift from him?”
Sarah retorted confidently, “Well, if I show up at his birthday, he should be grateful. He better not expect me to spend a dime on a gift for him!”
Outside Ronald’s house, Sarah, Merry, and David gathered as the infamous trio.
Merry secretly disliked men like Ronald, but she had no choice. Sarah loved him so much that she was ready to give him everything, even her heart and soul. So Merry forced herself to look for Ronald’s good qualities-like his successful career and handsome looks.
Merry noticed Sarah wearing a simple ivory silk dress, her long hair flowing behind her, and no makeup. She was a bit surprised. “Sarah, this is such an important occasion. You didn’t put on any makeup?”
Being a straight man, David couldn’t really tell if Sarah had makeup on or not. To him, the difference was just in the shade of her lips. But Sarah’s beauty was undeniable. With her excellent bone structure and fair skin, she didn’t need much makeup to look stunning. Even without any makeup, she was still breathtaking.
Being a second female lead in a CEO romance novel, beauty was her strongest asset. Even if she had nothing else, she had to have beauty.
After a while, Merry whispered to Sarah, “I understand why you’re doing this now.”
At the Smith household, there were no maids or cooks. The villa was too far out for hot takeout, so Sarah had to cook for herself.
After eating her own cooking and then indulging in the desserts and drinks ordered from a five-star hotel at Ronald’s party, Sarah found herself suddenly ravenous and focused solely on the food.
Hearing Merry’s words, Sarah looked up, curious. “Why?”
She was just being lazy, thinking there was no point in dolling up for a jerk like Ronald.
Merry clenched her fists. “You want to prove that you’re naturally beautiful, that even without dressing up, you can outshine Elisa who’s gone to great lengths. People will see you as the real deal and Elisa as the fake.”
Sarah was stunned. Did she really have such a deep motive?
Recently, Merry seemed to be reading a lot of novels and had an uncanny knack for saying just the right thing. “Just by standing here doing nothing, you’ve already beaten Elisa.”
Sarah took another bite of the banana pudding. She wanted to enjoy herself while she could, before she got into a film crew. If the director picked her and asked her to gain or lose weight for the role, she wouldn’t be able to eat these desserts even if she wanted to.
It turned out Merry was right.
As soon as Ronald arrived, his eyes were involuntarily drawn to Sarah, who was standing not far away. She wore a light-colored dress, her golden hair cascading naturally over her shoulders. Her makeup-free face looked as pure as a freshly bloomed white flower, attracting many admiring glances from the men around her.
There were also many high school classmates present. To a lot of the boys, Sarah was their high school crush, their unattainable dream girl. It was hard for them not to notice her.
Elisa felt a bit stiff. These past days, she thought Sarah was plotting something against her, so she was always on guard.
To make a stunning impression at Ronald’s birthday party, Elisa borrowed jewelry from a wealthy friend, secretly used Ronald’s credit card to buy a dress similar to the one Sarah wore at her graduation, and spent over three hours at the makeup artist.
She had even shown the makeup artist photos of Sarah from high school, asking to be made to look like her, hoping to outshine the present-day Sarah by resembling her past self.
But today, Sarah showed up without any makeup, without any jewelry, wearing a simple light-colored dress with her golden hair loose over her shoulders. Her every move was captivating.
In this world, the person who most resembled the old Sarah was still Sarah herself.
By comparison, Elisa looked like she was cosplaying the old Sarah.
Elisa glanced at Ronald. As expected, Ronald was lost in memories, his expression a bit dazed.
Elisa bit her lip. “Ronald…”
Ronald finally snapped out of it and coldly responded with a “yes.”
Elisa’s feelings were incredibly complex. “Ronald, today’s your birthday, and yet Sarah didn’t even bother to dress up. It seems she doesn’t take this occasion seriously.”