Sarah hadn’t even noticed the paparazzi trailing them. Normally, if they caught something, they’d reach out to her first, trying to extort money before leaking anything.
But Sarah had never really dealt with paparazzi before, and since they weren’t following the usual script, she couldn’t figure it out. She just wondered if she’d somehow offended the company-how else could they not give her a heads-up?
Seeing all the “cheating” talk online, Sarah rubbed her temples.
Holden didn’t fit the traditional image of a greasy middle-aged sugar daddy; before this, many people genuinely thought Sarah’s husband was some wealthy old guy.
Now the internet was buzzing more and more, with all sorts of conspiracy theories popping up. Those analyzing Sarah’s supposed infidelity were so convincing that if she weren’t the one involved, she might actually believe that the star had cheated.
Then Sarah retweeted the paparazzi’s tweet, condemning their invasive behavior.
Before the fans could respond, Sarah replied to a few of them.
Fan A: [Did you really cheat, Sarah? Who’s that guy?]”
Sarah: [I didn’t cheat; he’s my husband. We’re legally married.]
Fan B: [No matter what, I support Sarah.]
Sarah: [Thank you.]
Fan C: [Sarah, I love you! Be with the handsome guy, not with your ugly old husband.]
Sarah: [He is my husband.]
“……”
******
Ronald was caught up with Mimi’s relatives and finally escaped, but after seeing the news about Sarah and Holden, he felt incredibly annoyed and grabbed a few friends to go out for drinks.
Since Sarah debuted, Peter had secretly been a fan of hers. He felt like she had really changed; now, Sarah was confident and graceful, nothing like the proud and conflicted girl who used to trail behind Ronald.
But he would never let Ronald know he was a fan of Sarah.
Peter was terrified that if he praised Sarah, Ronald would turn around and chase after her. He knew better than anyone how awful his friend was.
So when Peter saw the news about “Sarah Cheating,” he thought she was back with Ronald and panicked, clicking to check the photos.
To his surprise, the guy with Sarah looked pretty good. Even though the shot was blurry, he could tell the guy was indeed handsome-tall and well-built.
Peter couldn’t help but feel a little gleeful.
Ever since he heard from Ronald that Sarah’s husband was old and ugly, he’d been bummed about such a beautiful girl being stuck with an old man.
But now that Sarah had a handsome boyfriend, it made Peter feel a bit better about the whole situation.
While drinking with Ronald, Peter kept scrolling through his phone.
He clicked in to check it out and quickly typed, “Sarah, I love you! Be with the handsome guy, not with your ugly old husband..”
In less than a minute, Sarah actually replied to him.
After reading her response, Peter had a strange look on his face, “Ronald, you really met Sarah’s husband before?”
For a moment, Ronald’s expression twisted, and a flicker of resentment crossed his eyes, “Yeah, I met him. Just an average-looking guy, really vulgar.”
Peter pulled up the kissing photo of Sarah and Holden, “Then who’s this guy?”
Ronald was momentarily stunned into silence.
After a bit, he let out a cold laugh, “That’s him. Holden, that lunatic. You think he looks good? This guy’s all show, acting like a big shot just because he has some money.”
Peter was left speechless. He used to think that women had a strong sense of jealousy. But now he realized his buddy’s jealousy was way uglier.
When a woman was jealous of another beauty, she’d just say stuff like, “She’s so cheap,” or “Her face is definitely plastic,” or “She’s a bad person,” but she’d never point at a stunning beauty and say, “That girl is old and ugly.”
But guys had to stick up for each other, right? So, Peter nodded like crazy: “Yeah, yeah, you’re right. He’s definitely not as good-looking as you.”
Sure, the guy was a bit too tall, in great shape, with chiseled features, and had this refined vibe, but what good was that? Looks don’t put food on the table. Ronald’s type was way better, no contest.
Ronald’s expression softened just a bit.
Peter suddenly remembered something, “Oh right, my parents said your family business hasn’t been doing so well lately. What’s up with that?”
A hint of anxiety flashed in Ronald’s eyes.
What was up with that? How could he explain his family’s business?
But he knew his investments in the entertainment industry had been losing money left and right, and now he had to ask his family for cash to cover the losses.
Ronald wanted Sarah to come back to him.
But he didn’t even know what leverage he had left to compete with Holden.
Still, after all those years, he didn’t believe Sarah wouldn’t care about him at all.
After getting drunk, he stumbled back home and flipped on the lights-only to see Elisa standing there, someone he hadn’t seen in days.
Her eyes were red, “Ronald, will you marry me?”
After two failed attempts to get Holden’s attention, Elisa was too scared to make any moves now.
No matter what, Ronald wouldn’t hurt her, but Holden looked like he might actually have his bodyguards do something serious to her.
Mr. Karl had a particularly tough and even shady wife, and even without her, Elisa didn’t want to spend her life with a loser like Mr. Karl.
Ronald looked at Elisa all done up, and he couldn’t figure out why he’d chosen her over Sarah in the first place.
Frustrated, Ronald said, “Let’s talk about this later. I-”
“Are you trying to get back with Sarah?” Elisa bit her lip and said, “Do you really think she’ll come back? Ronald, I’ve spent so many years of my youth with you. I’m the one who’s right for you. If you break up with me, I won’t cover for you with Mimi’s case. She left after sleeping with you, and if that gets out, everyone will tear you apart. Your family business will take a hit too.”
Ronald shot up his head, “Are you threatening me?”
Elisa shook her head, “I just want you to see that you should marry me. We were meant to be together.”
Just like the fairy tales said, the princess and prince living happily ever after.
Ronald lit a cigarette, “Ten million. I’ll go to Sarah and if she agrees to be with me, I’ll give you ten million, and you walk away. If she doesn’t, I’ll marry you.”
Elisa felt her jealousy boil over.
After all that effort, imitating Sarah’s past behaviors and style while Sarah was abroad, even getting her face altered to look like hers, she still ended up just a substitute, a backup.
All those years of hard work seemed to amount to nothing.
She hadn’t managed to replace Sarah, hadn’t driven her out, and hadn’t made herself truly one of a kind.
“Fine,” Elisa bit her lip, “Ronald, I’ll wait for you.”
Seeing Elisa being so obedient and understanding made Ronald feel a bit sad and reluctant, “Don’t worry, even if I’m with Sarah, I’ll still think about you.”
He still know a weakness of Holden, a secret he had painstakingly uncovered. No matter what, he would give it one last shot.