Filed to story: A Second Chance with My Billionaire Love
Shirley.
“I could say the same about you. You didn’t see the sign either!” Shirley retorted rudely.
“We’re different. Flossie is my bestie, so I’m here to protect her, but you must be here due to ulterior motives. I think it’s already very nice of me that I didn’t slap you.” Coldness shone in Leia’s eyes. She felt that she was very generous for holding back given what Shirley had done to her. She had met many difficult women in her life, but Shirley was the most troublesome. She hadn’t done anything crazy, but she was cunning in the way she went after others. Shirley was like a cockroach that hid in a dark corner, fiddling with Leia’s food from time to time. Although it was not fatal, it was disgusting. Once again, she had the urge to slap Shirley.
“What a bad temper, Ms. Osborne! You can’t just harm anyone you like. Do you see people with humble backgrounds like US as pushovers?” At that point, Shirley raised her head purposely. “In that case, I’ll let you slap me to vent your anger, okay? Go ahead and slap me!”
“How dare you!” Leia was fuming with anger. When she recalled how she had been beaten, she lost her temper and slapped Shirley fiercely.
“Ah!” Shirley screamed and fell to the floor. She gingerly touched her wounded cheek and looked up at
Leia with watery eyes. “Ms. Osborne, I’m sorry. I know that I’ve made you suffer. If slapping me helps ease your anger, just slap me. Take revenge on me for all that you’ve suffered through!” “Hmph, at least you’re not stupid. Well, I won’t say no then.” Leia stopped holding back. She rolled up her sleeves and pointed at Shirley. “Your fans kicked me, shaved off almost all my hair, and nearly stripped me bare. But don’t worry… You’re going to suffer more. It won’t end today.” “Ms. Osborne, I didn’t do it on purpose, but I know that you’ve suffered because of me. I won’t resist even if you want to hit or scold me, shave my hair, tear off my clothes, or spit at me. I won’t take revenge on you either…” Shirley closed her eyes and tears rolled down her cheeks. She seemed to have accepted her fate. “I’m ready.”
“You said it…” Leia did not intend to let Shirley go, and raised her arm to slap Shirley again.
However, someone gripped her wrist hard and stopped her. “That’s enough!
Leia turned and met Xavier’s icy gaze. She had expected him to come here, so she wasn’t surprised.
After watching so many melodramatic idol dramas, she knew that this kind of scene was common.
Besides, Shirley had pretended to be weak and timid, so clearly she had seen Xavier behind Leia, and wanted to shift the blame to her. Meanwhile, Leia gave full cooperation and acted like an arrogant female villainess. She wanted to see how Xavier would react, and he didn’t disappoint her. Predictably, he had tried to save the damsel in distress, which just amused Leia.
“What’s the matter, Mr. Stuart? This is between me and the best actress. Why are you trying to meddle in it?” Leia sneered.
“What happened tonight was already bad, so let’s not make it worse. Calm down.” Xavier had always been a casual and indifferent man, but right now, he seemed cold and unapproachable.
Leia felt like she was looking at a stranger… like she had never really known him at all.
“Is it bad? I find it simple actually.” Leia snorted and looked at Shirley, who appeared pitiful. “I want to avenge myself and vent my anger. I want to beat her up, and she gave me permission to. We don’t think it’s bad, but an outsider like you does, huh?” “I know that you’re mad, so you’re acting out of spite and can’t see the consequences, but I’m rational. I won’t see you go mad like this…” Xavier held Leia’s hand and pulled her into his arms. “Trust me-you’ll regret it if you take revenge on her today.” “What’s there to regret? Will I be afraid that she’ll take revenge on me or are you going to take revenge on me?
Do you want to help her slap me?” Leia was so close to Xavier that he could see the anger and grief in her eyes. She leaned in close and whispered in his ear, “I won’t stop you if you want to save the damsel in distress, but please get in line. We’ll settle our grudges once I’m done avenging myself.”
Then, Leia struggled out of Xavier’s grip and quickly slapped Shirley again as she stood behind her.
Now, both Shirley’s cheeks were swollen, and even her lips had started bleeding.
“Ugh!” Shirley collapsed on the floor, her hair covering her face and hiding the hatred in her eyes. She kept on pretending to be pitiful as she asked shakily, “Ms. Osborne, are you no longer mad? If not, you can keep on slapping me until you are.” “It’s not that easy. I’m covered in injuries, but I only slapped you twice. Plus, I have yet to humiliate you. That’s the important part.” Leia recalled how those fans shaved her hair and laughed at her. They made a scene and cursed her for being a homewrecker who had snatched another woman’s man away. They surrounded her and took her photos, and even did a livestream to mock her.
She couldn’t just let this go. Her pain couldn’t be written off so easily, and she wasn’t a believer in the concept that hardships only made you stronger. She only believed in karma, and that people would reap what they had sown. She just wanted Shirley to feel the same despair she had.
“You… You slapped me. What else do you want? Do you want to shave my hair and strip me bare? I think you’d better stop now. I’m sure Xavier won’t let you do it even if you want to.” Shirley pitifully crawled over to Xavier and tugged at his trouser leg, her eyes watery. “Xavier, I know that I was wrong.
Hurry up and talk some sense into Ms. Osborne. Tell her that my dignity is strong, and nothing is more important than my dignity. She can beat and scold me, but please don’t let her humiliate me. I don’t want to bring shame to you…” “You should leave.’ Xavier ignored Shirley’s words and ordered coldly.
“Leave?” But Shirley didn’t want to go. If not, her sufferings would be in vain. She wanted to see how
Xavier would teach Leia a lesson, so she pinched her leg. She looked flushed and in pain as she whimpered, “Xavier, my legs are numb. I can’t stand up.”
Leia rolled her eyes when she heard that. She had to hand it to Shirley-she was quite skilled at pretending to be pitiful. All she needed was to lower her head or pout and she would look innocent… It was something Leia could never do.
“Oh, your legs are numb? How sad! But that doesn’t mean I can’t beat you up,” Leia scoffed, putting her hands on her waist. She approached Shirley, looking like she wanted to teach her a lesson.
“Don’t… Don’t come near me! My legs are numb. Xavier… save me!” Shirley whimpered, still seated on the floor as Leia approached her. She couldn’t admit she was lying about her legs, so she could only depend on Xavier to save her.
Suddenly, Leia pointed behind Shirley and screamed in panic. “Ah! It’s a rat!”
“Ah! Where is it?” Shirley instantly leaped up and hid behind Xavier since rats were one of her greatest fears.
However, there was no rat to be seen in the corridor.
“Aren’t your legs numb? How did you jump so high? Well, it’s certainly no surprise that you’re the number one actress. You’re so good at acting!” Leia said teasingly as she crossed her arms over her chest, tempted to clap for Shirley.
“How dare you, Leia! You tricked me!” Shirley stamped her feet angrily, but she couldn’t do anything to
Leia.
“Calm down. Aren’t your legs numb? You might break them if you keep stomping your feet like that,”
Leia said mockingly as she pointed at Shirley’s legs. Leia knew all about Shirley’s schemes since she had been reading melodramatic romance novels since the sixth grade, making her an expert in such things. Since Shirley had the guts to do something like that in front of Leia, it had given Leia the perfect excuse to teach her a lesson. Xavier had likely seen through Shirley’s tricks too, but the fact that he didn’t expose them and happily played his part in them probably meant that he was sincerely in love with Shirley.
Shirley felt humiliated when Leia exposed her well-thought-out plan, which had stopped Xavier from playing his part. Her features twisted in anger, and she gritted her teeth. “I… My legs were numb, but they’re okay now after you scared me. Is there a problem?”
“No, it’s fine as long as you’re happy. After all, you’ll always have a loyal audience; he’ll support you even if your acting is bad,” Leia sneered and shot Xavier a cold glance. Her underlying meaning was clear-Shirley was so confident her schemes would work because Xavier would always support her. To some extent, Leia felt jealous of Shirley. Shirley came from a sad background and had no family or relatives to rely on. She started making a living at a young age and suffered a lot, but eventually, her luck turned and she found Xavier, who would always support and help her. He could unconditionally support and protect her, and that itself was a special kind of happiness.
God was fair-if one thing was lacking, something else would be provided. If one had too many things,
God would take some away. It was the same case with Leia. She was bom into a very loving family with parents and a twin brother who doted on her. The luckiest thing in her life was that she had a best friend like Flossie, and they were very close. Leia had already gained a lot of precious things, so it was destined that she would suffer in her romantic affairs. Once she thought about it, she found it fair. She wouldn’t be so stubborn even if she lost someone she loved.
“Okay, stop arguing. We should just wait for the test results.” Xavier finally spoke up because he wanted to put an end to their meaningless fight.
“I don’t want to argue with her, but she came to a place she shouldn’t be in to peek at something she shouldn’t. I asked her to leave but she said no, so I couldn’t be polite to her anymore,” Leia said directly, implying that her grudge against Shirley was because of Flossie and had nothing to do with
Xavier.
“I just want to see what surgery Ms. Ellsworth is having because I’m worried about her! Is that wrong?”
Shirley yelled at Leia arrogantly from behind Xavier.
“My bestie is fine in there with a professional doctor. There’s nothing you should worry about.” “You can’t be so sure about that!” Shirley kept on arguing, “The nurse who performed the test on me earlier was hesitant, so I’m sure there’s something fishy going on. Plus, if it’s just a test, why does she need surgery? You’re her friend, so aren’t you curious about the surgery and its risks?” “What surgery?”
Halston had come over at some point and frowned when he heard what Shirley said.
“Mr. Guajardo, you came just in time…” Pointing at the closed door, Shirley said eagerly like a student wanting praise from their teacher, “Go in and take a look. The nurse said Dr. Wagner is performing surgery on Ms. Ellsworth, but I know that all surgeries have their risks. Shouldn’t her family have signed something in advance? What kind of surgery do they need to hide from you, her husband?
Who’s going to bear the responsibilities if anything goes wrong?”
Halston’s features stiffened as he looked at Leia coldly. “Is what she said true?” “I… I don’t know.” Leia clenched her fists and avoided Halston’s sharp gaze. Flossie was having an abortion, and Leia had signed the consent form. Besides, Leia promised Flossie that she would stay guard and not let anyone approach the room. She would never tell anyone that Flossie was having an abortion. Although Leia did not know why Flossie wanted to hide such a major thing from Halston, the baby’s father, she would help
Flossie since she had asked for her help.
“You don’t know?” Enraged, Halston approached Leia. “I’ll ask you one last time-what surgery is she having? If you don’t tell me, I’ll barge in right now!
Leia kept her head low and clenched her fists, then stammered, “Do… Do you have to know?”
“What do you think?” Halston’s gaze turned steely, his patience running thin. Although Leia did crazy things sometimes, she was acting quite strange. Besides, surgery wasn’t a small thing.
“Okay, I’ll tell you…” Leia took a deep breath and braced herself. “Yes, Flossie is having surgery, but she didn’t want me to tell you guys because… How should I put this? It’s a little personal.” “What kind of surgery is personal?’ Halston growled, “Stop messing around, I won’t go easy on you if anything goes wrong!” “Fine, I’ll tell you…” Leia swallowed and said seriously, “She’s having an appendectomy. Her belly has been hurting lately, so she asked Dr. Wagner to do it for her while they perform the test.”
“Appendectomy?” Halston’s frown deepened as he looked at the door dubiously. “When did she have a problem with her appendix? How come I didn’t know?” “You don’t know because you’re not observant and considerate enough. Flossie’s digestive system isn’t always good, and she doesn’t eat much. If you cared about her, you would have taken her for a check-up ages ago.” Leia took this chance to criticize
Halston, hoping that he would take even better care of Flossie from now on. She knew Halston had been very attentive towards Flossie recently, and Leia couldn’t find any fault with him despite him being a scumbag in the past. Hence, she had stopped fussing over the past and didn’t mind supporting their relationship as long as they could live happily ever after.
However, it was not that easy to fool Halston. He was silent for a while, then asked, “Yes, I wasn’t sensitive and considerate enough, but you said her digestive system isn’t good. Are you… sure?” “Yes, of course. Do you think her digestive system is good?” “I’ve always thought it was. She’s never had diarrhea even when she eats raw, spicy, or cold food. Plus, her appetite… has always been good.”