Filed to story: A Second Chance with My Billionaire Love
“What are you talking about, Mr. Guajardo? I’m your subordinate. If you leave Guajardo Enterprise, I won’t stay, and I definitely won’t work for your enemy. You underestimate my loyalty,” Elijah said firmly, upset by
Halston’s words.
“I believe that both Jovan and I want to make Guajardo Enterprise better, so it’s the same even if you work for him,” Halston comforted Elijah. At the same time, he felt a little guilty. “I’ve always seen myself as an ambitious man who values my work, but now, I realize that I care more about my relationships. I’m exactly the kind of person I used to despise in the past, and your talent will be wasted if you work for me. You should have a better opportunity.”
“Mr. Guajardo, please don’t say that. I—” Elijah wanted to continue but Halston just shook his head and smiled before leaving the company. He turned to look at the skyscraper before getting into the car. That building was a legend in Beach City as well as Aeos. It had made endless wealth, and many people coveted it, but Halston might never step into it again. He felt a little sad to part with it, but he knew he couldn’t be greedy. He would end up with nothing if he didn’t make a choice.
It was late at night when Halston reached Ellsworth Manor.
Flossie’s sleepiness had become worse. She wanted to spend twenty hours in bed every day now, and was fast asleep when Halston came back.
However, it was relatively lively in the living room. Owen, Leia, and Xavier were there, inspecting new applications for the eye donors. They were not obligated to do it, but they all wanted to find a donor as soon as possible in order to help Flossie.
“Did you find anything today?” Halston walked into the living room and asked leisurely.
“There are a few suitable applications. We can contact them and have a check-up done at the end of the month.” Leia pointed out the information of the candidates she found suitable. All the women shared a similarity-their eyes were very pretty, just like Flossie’s.
Owen had said that people who resembled Flossie had a high possibility of a perfect match, especially those whose eyes looked like Flossie’s. Hence, they had to choose people who looked like Flossie.
“Thank you so much.” Halston took off his coat and handed it to Margaret, then sat with the others and started screening for suitable candidates.
Owen was reading the news when an article caught his attention. It was an exclusive interview with the best actress, Shirley. Shirley looked charming, sweet, and vulnerable in the interview, and openly expressed her regrets about her relationship with Xavier. The interview had caused an uproar, and it was obvious that Xavier’s change of heart was because of Leia’s involvement. Shirley’s fans condemned Leia on the Internet, and photoshopped ugly photos and videos of Leia. They even investigated her and spread rumors about her, making Leia a social outcast. She now had to be cautious when going out.
“Guys, stop…” Owen clicked on the interview and waved at the others. “Come and take a look at this.”
Everyone looked at Owen’s tab. When they saw Shirley and her reckless statement, an awkward silence filled the room.
Halston used to be an aloof man, but he was forced to mediate the situation. “Owen, why are you being such a busybody? Hurry up and turn it off!”
The issue between Xavier and Leia was yet to be resolved, but they were staying under the same roof in order to find a pair of eyes for Flossie. However, they barely talked to each other because Leia was utterly disappointed in Xavier. She ignored all his attempts at talking, and after several failed attempts,
Xavier became uneasy and stopped trying to please Leia or speak to her. Thus, they just stared at each other grumpily most of the time. When Owen showed them Shirley’s interview, it was like rubbing salt into the wound.
“No, why should I turn it off? Don’t you think it’s… special?” Owen pointed at Shirley and asked urgently. Since he was always engrossed in medical research, he never paid any attention to the entertainment circle, and didn’t even know Shirley existed until now.
“Oh, she’s special all right,” Leia glanced at the video and scoffed coldly. Shirley’s interview claimed she and Xavier were a perfect match, and that destiny had brought them together. Xavier had saved the damsel in distress and helped promote Shirley to her current level. Shirley loved Xavier passionately and was ready to marry him, but suddenly, a rich young lady appeared and snatched away Shirley’s love. Consequently, Xavier had a change of heart, and not only abandoned Shirley, but also suspended her from all work.
Anyone who paid attention to the entertainment circle would know that the so-called rich young lady was Leia. In short, Shirley made herself out to be a pitiful and innocent woman in the whole tragedy, and Leia was just a homewrecker who had snatched away Shirley’s lover.
“What?” Xavier had been watching Shirley’s interview, and tried to say something to infuriate Leia.
Calmly, he commented, “She’s telling the truth—her first encounter with me was rather sentimental. If I didn’t help her in time, she would be sold to those men. I even helped with her medical bills and saved her family, then helped her get a role in a movie with my connections . She even got a grand prize and became the best actress…” He purposely tried to make Leia jealous, because he wanted some sign that she still cared about him.
“Wow, what a touching love affair! But how did it end up like this? Is it because of that rich young lady?
Was she a homewrecker?” Leia sneered sarcastically.
“It’s not the only reason, but it’s one of the reasons!” Xavier answered honestly. He had been obsessed with Shirley before he bumped into Leia, and had been very much in love with her. He had wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, but when he discovered that she had been fooling around with his father, he started to doubt everything in his life. He no longer wanted to believe anyone, let alone fall in love… until Leia came into his world. Maybe he saw it as some kind of salvation or maybe he just wanted a distraction, but Leia had undeniably helped him get rid of that ill-fated relationship. So, in a way, she had meddled in his love affair with Shirley.
“Are you out of your mind, Xavier? What does it have to do with me? You can’t protect that witch like this! How dare you blame me?” Leia snarled furiously, getting to her feet to fight him.
“I was being honest. I did have a change of heart because of you, and I couldn’t help it since you’re so charming. Can you please stop being so attractive and seducing me?” Xavier stood up and flirted with
Leia arrogantly.
“How dare you…” As expected, Xavier’s words threw Leia off guard, and she didn’t know what to do.
“What’s wrong with what I said ? Do you think that you’re not attractive? Or do you think you didn’t seduce me?” As he spoke, Xavier moved closer to Leia and held her wrist. “You bewitched me, then ignored me. You’re more detestable than Shirley!”
“Shut up!” Leia turned beet red and struggled to get free. “I… I don’t buy it!”
Owen stared at the two of them, utterly confused. He turned to Halston and asked him slowly, “Are they always so dramatic?”
Halston shrugged, glad that someone else was here to suffer through this too.
Xavier and Leia were both dramatic people, and because they hadn’t gone through many difficulties like Halston and Flossie, they hadn’t realized how meaningful and precious a relationship could be.
However, even though they could be childish sometimes and quarrelled often, it was obvious that they still cared deeply for each other.
Owen sighed in exasperation, unable to tolerate such drama. He waved and said, “That’s enough, you two, we don’t have much time. Let’s stay focused, okay?”
Xavier and Leia immediately turned to glare at Owen. “You were the one who brought it up!” Owen had brought up Shirley for no reason, unknowingly adding fuel to the fire.
“No, I think this woman might be the answer to our problem, ” Owen said seriously.
Halston turned to Owen and asked sternly, “What do you mean?” He had initially assumed that Owen had wanted to gossip about Shirley, but Owen wasn’t the type to create drama, so there had to be another reason he mentioned her.
“Don’t you think she looks very much like Ms. Ellsworth?” Owen found Shirley’s photo and enlarged it as he asked the others.
“Yes, you’re right!” Xavier raised his brows and said eagerly,”
She looks so much like Flossie that Halston chose her to be the female lead in ‘Guajardo my Ellsworth’, a movie about pure love. Yes, they’re two peas in a pod in certain aspects, which is why I…” He trailed off, suddenly realizing something, then glanced at Leia and kept quiet.
Leia was no fool. She calmly continued his elaboration.” That’s why you fell head over heels for her.
So, she’s your second choice. You couldn’t get your first love, so you found consolation in a woman who looks like her.” She knew that Xavier had been deeply in love with Flossie many years ago, and had even challenged Halston, his closest friend. Unfortunately, it was just an unrequited love. After that,
Shirley came out of nowhere, looking just like Flossie. When Xavier rescued her, he was bewitched, and sacrificed all the resources of Universal Entertainment for her.
Leia’s bestie was her beloved’s first love. If this was a novel, Leia would have fallen out with Flossie, but when she found out about it, she felt no jealousy or resentment at all. She merely found it a pity. If
Flossie did not love Halston that much, or if Xavier was bolder and more passionate, Flossie might have found happiness with Xavier. At the very least, Leia felt that a shameless and funny person like Xavier would be good at making Flossie happy.
“Okay, let’s not talk about the past,” Halston interrupted sharply, not wanting to talk about it.
It was clear that Halston didn’t want to bring it up.
He fell out with Xavier because of Flossie back then, but he couldn’t blame Xavier for fancying such a thought because Halston was different back then. He refused to admit that he cared about Flossie.
Xavier had felt sorry for Flossie for having to suffer so much by being with Halston, so he had challenged
Halston to a fair competition. The incident had been put aside and forgotten ages ago, and neither
Halston nor Xavier ever mentioned it. It was almost as if it had never happened.
“But it’s not the time to talk about love affairs now…”
Owen continued seriously, “Even after all this searching, there’s no one who resembles Ms. Ellsworth more than Shirley, so… maybe her eyes will suit Ms. Ellsworth best.”
“What?” Xavier yelped, looking at Owen as if he was crazy.” Shouldn’t we look at the compatibility first?
Aren’t the requirements very strict? How can you come to such a conclusion just because they look alike? Isn’t that too rash?”
“No, it’s based on medical facts. If their eyes look alike, their external compatibility should be high, which will cause less resistance. That’s why we’ve been screening for such a long time. First, we need to pick those who are around the same age as Ms. Ellsworth, plus, they should resemble her in terms of looks and temperament. There will be a higher chance of similarity of their genes and cells if they look alike, ” Owen explained patiently, but the others just looked at him in confusion.