Sarah was at a loss for words. She felt like the prison bars were already closing in on her.
She decided to scare Oswald. “If he ever tries this again, we’ll do exactly what you two suggested.”
David told the two girls to step outside. “We have to take some photos of him, just in case he’s hiding something. If he tries to come after us, we’ll get him back!”
Oswald was drowning in regret.
Pure, deep regret.
He had always thought Merry was just a harmless little bunny. Who could’ve guessed Merry and her friends were like living nightmares? Even if you gave him 800 chances, he’d never dare do something like this again.
The terror they put him through made him wish he’d never met the three of them.
As he watched them leave, Oswald was still shaking, fearing they might turn back.
He stared at his now completely empty phone, hesitated for a moment, and then dialed the police. “Hello, Officer? Someone’s threatening me! I need 24-hour police protection.”
“Tell us what happened.”
“I took some pictures of my ex-girlfriend in bed and threatened to make her give me three million dollars, but instead of paying me, she-”
Oswald’s tiny brain finally caught up to what was happening. Even if he reported this, the police wouldn’t be on his side. They might even arrest him.
Panicking, he hung up the phone.
******
Sarah, David, and Merry headed to a night market to eat.
David ordered a bunch of the house specialties and handed the menu to Sarah and Merry so they could choose whatever they wanted.
“This place is always bustling,” he said. “It’s pretty popular in City N.”
Since it was a street food stall, David had never dared to bring Sarah to such a crowded place before. He knew she’d probably be annoyed.
But things were different now.
David couldn’t quite explain why, but he felt that Sarah had become more tolerant, more down-to-earth.
Since she’d let go of her fixation on Ronald, David noticed that Sarah seemed more genuine and sincere towards him and her other friends.
Despite David’s regret over Sarah and Ronald’s past-he still thought they were a perfect match and that Elisa had been a home wrecker-he felt that Sarah being over Ronald was actually a good thing.
Just then, the crowd grew livelier as a director and crew showed up to livestream a variety show. Elisa was part of a food show being filmed there.
Elisa was supposed to be filming next door, but when she spotted Sarah’s flashy Lamborghini, she directed the crew over to this side.
Smiling sweetly at the camera, Elisa said, “I heard this place is really famous in City N! Let’s go check it out together!”
As she walked, Elisa pretended to accidentally bump into Merry. “Oh, sorry, sorry! I didn’t mean to… Hey, Merry, what are you doing here?”
Merry, initially about to brush it off, saw it was Elisa and immediately snapped. “What’s wrong with you? Elisa, why did you bump into me?”
The livestream chat exploded with comments.
“What’s up with this girl? Why’s she acting so rude? Elisa didn’t do it on purpose, right?”
“If Elisa bumped into me, I’d be over the moon! She seems so sweet and soft.”
“That girl in Chanel must be a spoiled rich kid.”
“Elisa seems to know them, she even called out their names.”
“…”
David, visibly annoyed, slammed his hand on the table and stood up.
Sarah noticed the camera nearby. Being naturally sensitive to cameras, she knew they could twist the truth and magnify both good and bad traits.
She put her hand on Merry’s shoulder, nudging her face away from the camera’s direct view, and said coolly, “It’s fine. You guys go ahead. Little brother, sit down and eat.”
David quickly realized Sarah was referring to him as “little brother” and sat back down.
As soon as Sarah appeared on the screen, the viewers were amazed.
“Wow, Mom, I see a fairy!”
“Which star is she? Her face is amazing-I’d love to look like that in my next life!”
“She called that guy ‘little brother’. Is she his sister? Haha, even though that guy’s pretty good-looking, he’s on a different level. Gorgeous people must be from another dimension.”
“This girl looks like a goody-two-shoes; I don’t get why everyone says she’s so pretty…”
“…”
Elisa insisted on apologizing on camera. Even though Sarah had deliberately avoided mentioning David’s name, Elisa ended up saying all their names. “I’m really sorry, Merry! David, don’t be mad, I didn’t mean it! Sarah, I’ll cover the bill for your table, okay?”
Sarah, “…”
The damn heroine!
Give her a knife-She’d rather stab the heroine first and then go after the author!
Sarah’s tone was icy. “It’s fine, just a little misunderstanding. We’ll pay for ourselves. You guys go do your thing.”
Elisa left with the camera crew. As she walked away, she explained to the camera, “That was my high school classmate… Sarah was our high school queen, isn’t she beautiful? I think she’s gorgeous too! Back in high school, I was just an ugly duckling who didn’t know how to dress up, and I really envied them. The three of them all come from wealthy families-they were the ones everyone admired.”
Elisa’s words struck a chord with many viewers, and the comments started flooding in.
“I was the same way… In school, I was so jealous of the popular kids. But in our school, they were all bullies, total mean girls.”
“So Elisa was like me in school, too. I used to feel so insecure… I like Elisa even more now, she’s so real.”
“That girl Sarah looks mean just from her face.”
Elisa put on a thoughtful expression, like she was reminiscing. “I got bullied back then, but I’ve almost forgotten about it. You can’t live in the past-you’ve got to look forward.”
Elisa didn’t say who bullied her, but everyone assumed it was Sarah and her friends.
Suddenly, the comments were filled with insults and hateful remarks aimed at the three of them.
“What a shame! That girl’s so pretty, but she’s so nasty!”
“Elisa’s such a ray of sunshine! I wish I had your courage… I’m still stuck in the past and can’t move on…”
“Honestly, these rich kids are all the same. I bet 99 out of 100 have bullied someone. They’re all awful!”
“Am I the only one who thinks Elisa and that girl look a bit alike? Maybe she bullied Elisa because she thought they looked similar.”
“People like that should just die; they don’t deserve to live!”
“…”
A little while later, David was eating and decided to check his phone.
“What the hell?!” He swore a string of curses.
Sarah and Merry were happily eating, “What’s up?”
David showed them some of the comments online.
For some reason, Sarah had always attracted negative attention. After what happened earlier, most people had forgotten about David and Merry and were just hurling insults at Sarah. Some of the comments were especially cruel.
Merry suddenly lost her appetite. She’d never been targeted like this before. If one or two people said something about her, she could handle it, but seeing thousands of people trash Sarah was overwhelming.
Sarah, however, stayed calm as she took a sip of cold water. “It’s nothing, just a small matter.”