Meanwhile, Sarah learned from Director Colby about Holden stepping in as an investor for the film.
Knowing Sarah had a bit of a temper, Director Colby preemptively explained, “I didn’t seek out Mr. Holden for investment. He heard I was planning to make a movie and came to me with an offer of eighty million!”
Sarah raised an eyebrow, questioning his reasoning.
Director Colby coughed, realizing that his excuse wasn’t that solid. But he quickly regained his confidence. He was a big-time director with box office numbers over a hundred billion-why should he feel bad about having an investor?
“Mr. Holden appreciates my work and my talent, which is why he’s investing so much,” Director Colby assured her. “Sarah, just trust me to make a great film!”
As the largest investor for Sarah’s new movie, Holden was bound to be someone everyone on set would want to keep happy.
Then Colby added, “But you and my grandmother are completely different in temperament. You need to read a lot over the next few weeks, okay? I’ll make you a reading list with all her works.”
Getting the essence of a writer’s character wasn’t easy; it required a lot of background knowledge. Sarah thought it was reasonable. After all, when she trained for action scenes, she often spent months getting ready. Acting as an artsy young woman would require her to read extensively to capture the right vibe.
“Oh, and you need to learn French, enough to hold a conversation,” Director Colby continued. “My grandmother translated many French works.”
That might be a bit challenging for Sarah, but she didn’t turn it down. “Sure.”
After wrapping up their call, she noticed a few missed calls from David.
Curious, she called him back. “What’s up?”
“Sarah, your high school reunion is next week. Are you going?” David asked.
Normally, Sarah would skip these kinds of events. Plus, she didn’t know much about the old Sarah’s past experiences in high school yet. It seemed pointless to go when she wouldn’t recognize anyone.
“I’m not-”
“Elisa and Ronald will definitely be there,” David sighed. “If you don’t go, people will think you’re still hung up on Ronald. They might even trash-talk you.”
Sarah was taken aback. Well, she figured it might be worth going to avoid more rumors and just to see what was up.
Holden was the type who was too busy to come home much. As a multinational CEO with assets in the thousands of billions, he was often in one hemisphere during the day and flying off to another at night.
On the day of the reunion, Sarah mentioned the location to Holden, asking if he could swing by and pick her up on his way.
Holden had a meeting at the office, so he adjusted his tie. In his tailored suit, he looked cold and distant, almost untouchable, but he didn’t say no to Sarah’s request.
When Sarah arrived, Merry was already there, bored and scrolling through her phone. The moment she saw Sarah, her face lit up. “Sarah!”
Elisa and Ronald had arrived early, too-together. Elisa, as always, was easygoing and friendly, greeting every classmate warmly, unlike Sarah and Merry, who kept to themselves. No matter what people said about Elisa online, to their old classmates, she was now a star. And being the girlfriend of someone like Ronald, a wealthy heir, made her friendliness feel even more impressive to everyone.
Sarah wasn’t the kind of person to force herself to be bubbly or charming. She figured life was exhausting enough, so if she could take it easy, why not?
But people always seemed to prefer those who were more social and welcoming, and some couldn’t help but compare Sarah to Elisa.
A couple of guys exchanged glances between Sarah and Elisa. One muttered, “Honestly, Sarah’s more like the untouchable dream girl type, but Elisa? She’s wife material.”
The other guy agreed, saying, “If you bought a $300 handbag for Sarah, she’d probably toss it in the trash. But if you gave it to Elisa, she’d be over the moon.”
“Man, Ronald’s living the dream,” one of them sighed. “A gorgeous dream girl used to crush on him, and now he’s got himself a sweet girlfriend.”
David had just come back from outside and happened to sit down next to them. Hearing their conversation, he gave them a look like they were complete idiots.
Sarah crushing on Ronald? That was ancient history.
These fools were acting like they were royalty, picking between women as if they were choosing concubines. And thinking Elisa would be thrilled over a $300 bag? What a joke. Sure, she’d put on a happy face, but she’d turn around and call them broke losers without hesitation.
David hated hanging around guys like this, so he got up and went to sit next to Sarah and Merry instead.
Merry leaned in with a mischievous grin. “David, I heard your ex got locked up. Is that true?”
David shrugged, unfazed. “If she likes prison food, that’s her business. I’m focused on making money now.”
William, meanwhile, had racked up a mountain of gambling debt and disappeared when his creditors tracked him down-probably ended up somewhere in Southeast Asia, getting a kidney stolen.
Nora, after her miscarriage, landed a new job but couldn’t resist the urge to steal. She got caught taking a diamond bracelet worth over three hundred grand from a customer and was sentenced to serious prison time.
Whether any of this had to do with David, Merry didn’t know, and no one else did either. David always seemed harmless and unbothered, like nothing could ruffle him.
As the three of them chatted, Ronald watched from a distance.
Sarah was wearing a simple blouse with jeans that perfectly outlined her slim waist. Even without makeup, with her golden wavy hair casually draped over her shoulders, she had an effortless elegance that stood out more than Elisa, who had gone all out in a frilly dress.
To Sarah, this reunion was just another casual meetup, so she’d grabbed whatever was comfortable from her closet without a second thought.
Ronald’s brow furrowed ever so slightly as he watched her.
Elisa had been chatting with a few of the girls for a while. Despite the terrible things being said about her online, some of her old classmates couldn’t believe it-especially those who hadn’t known her well back in school. They still thought Elisa was kind and easygoing.
Elisa gave a helpless shrug. “What can I do? Someone’s out there trashing me on purpose. I don’t have any power or connections, so all I can do is take it.”
The former class president, Vicky, however, didn’t buy it. She barely remembered Elisa from school, only that she used to be this plain, quiet girl. But Sarah? Sarah had always been distant and aloof.
In Vicky’s mind, it had to be Sarah-bitter about not winning Ronald-who was out to bully Elisa.
Now that Vicky had become a team leader at work, she loved telling others what to do. She wasted no time walking up to Sarah. “Sarah, we’re all classmates. Let’s look out for each other, yeah?”
Sarah smoothly clinked her glass of orange juice against hers but said nothing more.
Vicky frowned at Sarah’s attitude, thinking once again how much better Elisa was at playing nice.
“We all know you used to love Ronald,” Vicky continued, her voice low but pointed. “But he’s with Elisa now. There’s no need to target her just because of that. We’re all classmates-let it go, okay?”
Merry’s eyes sparkled with mischief. “By the way, Rose just posted in the group chat that she didn’t even know about the reunion. She said you never told her. Are you still not over the sports captain?”
Back in school, both Rose and Vicky had a thing for the captain of the sports team. But after graduation, the captain ended up with Rose, not Vicky.
Vicky’s face stiffened. “I’m married now. Why would I still care about him? Merry, you’re reading too much into this.”
Merry grinned. “Then you’re the one reading too much into things.”
Sarah gave a cool glance. “I’m married too. I don’t care about any other man, and whatever happened years ago, I’ve forgotten it.”
What was even worse than forgetting everything? Sarah had no memory of it in the first place. She didn’t even know who Vicky was.
Since she barely remembered these people, there was no way Sarah could pretend to be as friendly as Elisa.
But Vicky and the others refused to believe Sarah had really moved on from Ronald. They’d heard rumors that Sarah’s husband was rich, sure-but also old and ugly. And once a woman loved someone like Ronald, a handsome and wealthy heir, it was hard to imagine her settling for anyone else.
After all, once you’ve seen diamonds, how can you go back to plain stones?
If Sarah hadn’t come today, the gossip about her would have been endless. They’d have said she was too heartbroken to see Ronald and Elisa together, spreading rumors online about how bitter she was.
But the fact that Sarah had shown up-and didn’t even spare Ronald a glance-completely shattered their assumptions.
Just then, the door to the private room swung open.
A tall, unfamiliar man stepped inside, and Vicky froze in shock, her face turning bright red. She stammered, “S-Sir, this is a private reunion. I think you’ve got the wrong room.”
Without a word, Holden walked over to Sarah’s side and gave David a look.
David blinked. “Huh?”
He had no idea why, but he found himself standing up and sliding over to the next seat, making room for Holden.
Holden sat down smoothly, his voice calm but distant, as if the whole setting didn’t quite fit him. “Sorry, I’m late. I’m Sarah’s husband.”