Filed To Story: The Scarlet Vengeance: Justice of a Framed Beauty Novel (Grace & Jason)
Camille Strickland said excitedly, “Could it be fake? The producer told me! I heard Gloria had turned down the role at first, but for some reason, he agreed in the end. You’re so lucky.”
Valda Theller thought she was lucky too. After all, Gloria was said to be picky about the projects he chose to star in.
“Alright, now that Gloria is playing the male lead, the drama’s success is almost guaranteed. By the way, what’s going on with you and your boyfriend?” said Camille Strickland, “I guess we’re familiarizing ourselves with each other,” said Valda Theller.
“Is he looking for a fake girlfriend because his family’s forcing him to marry or something?” After all, there was a lot of such news. Renting boyfriends and girlfriends was popular nowadays.
“Probably not, but he never told me the exact reason,” said Valda Theller.
“Aren’t you going to ask him?” Camille Strickland panicked. She was worried that her best friend would get fooled.
“Everyone has their secrets. At least he’s not a bad person. Besides, he made it pretty clear to me at the beginning of our relationship. We’re just like ordinary friends every time we go on a date. He doesn’t touch me,” said Valda Theller. On the contrary, she was the one who almost touched him.
“But then again, do you feel nothing when going on a date with a man with a face like that?” Camille Strickland asked. The man was mature and elegant. His delicate facial features were as good as those of movie stars, especially those phoenix eyes. Even though Camille Strickland had only seen them once, she was impressed by them.
After all, she had rarely seen such beautiful phoenix eyes on men.
Valda Theller said, “No, I have the impulse to draw him, but I won’t have feelings for him. He warned me that he won’t fall for me from the beginning, so he asked me not to fall for him.”
“Huh? He did that?” Camille Strickland looked surprised. “Did he… say such a thing because he’s romantically wounded?”
‘Romantically wounded?’ Valda Theller recalled Brian mentioning a friend who used to work at the small noodle shop before it became the small restaurant they dined in that day.
She would not have met Brian again at the small restaurant if he had not missed that friend.
Could he be romantically wounded… by the ‘friend’ he talked about?
“Hey, what’s come over you? Did you recall something?” Camille Strickland’s voice rang in Valda Theller’s ear.
“Nothing. I’m just wondering what kind of woman could wound him romantically,” she mumbled. Camille Strickland speculated aloud, “She must be a beautiful woman, a city socialite, a celebrity, or something like that.
Didn’t you say he introduced himself as a company’s project leader? Besides, I saw that the clothes he wore that day weren’t cheap. He would probably be rich if he isn’t a fraud.”
‘But I’ll probably never get the chance to meet the woman.
who hurt Brian romantically,’ thought Valda Theller.
Gifts After chatting for a while, Camille Strickland said, “By the way, remember to attend the booting ceremony in three days.”
“Okay, got it,” answered Valda Theller.
“Remember to buy a nice outfit and dress up for that day. Don’t come without dressing up. There’ll be a lot of reporters at the booting ceremony. They’ll probably include you in their shots.”
“Okay, okay, got it. I’ll dress up for the booting ceremony!” replied Valda Theller.
When she was on a date with Brian the next day, Valda Theller said, “Can you go shopping with me? I want to buy a new outfit for the booting ceremony.”
“Which shopping mall do you want to go to?” he asked.
“Maybe we should go to Harbour Building downtown. There are more boutiques there,” said Valda Theller.
“Sure.” Brian started the car and drove toward Harbour Building. On the way, he asked, “Is the drama starting so soon?”
“Not really. We’ve been preparing this for some time. We just hadn’t decided on the male lead, but Gloria has agreed to take the role this time. He happens to be free right now, so we hurriedly started filming.” Valda Theller could not help but sigh again as she mentioned this. “It’s just like what you said the other day. He’s starring in the adaptation. According to Camille, he almost rejected but agreed afterward.”
“Camille? Your friend?” he asked.
She said, “Yes, Camille Strickland. She’s the editor for my comics as well as my friend. She was the friend on a blind date you met at the restaurant that day. Camille’s very kind to me. She’s the only one who believed in me, stood by me, and helped me when I was alone and bullied. Without Camille’s help, I probably wouldn’t be where I am now.””
“You have a good friend,” said Brian.
“Yes, Camille’s really good!” She was lucky to have a friend like Camille.
The car drove to the mall, and the two got out. They went up to the second floor and shopped for women’s clothes.
“Does it bore you to look at women’s clothes with me like this?” Valda Theller asked. After all, men generally did not seem to like shopping.
“It’s not boring. At least I get to learn some of your preferences through shopping,” he said.
Valda Theller pressed her lips together. ‘Does he want to learn my preferences so we’ll look more like… a couple to others?”
He chose me as his girlfriend because she once said she could withdraw her feelings for someone even if she fell for them.
Somehow, Valda Theller’s heart filled with bitterness that even she could not explain.
The two shopped around. Valda Theller took a fancy to a dress in a women’s boutique. The same dress came in two colors-pastel purple and mint green.
Valda Theller said to the shop assistant, “Do you have it in purple and size M? I’d like to try it on.””
“Okay,” the shop assistant responded. She was about to look for the purple dress in size M when Brian’s voice suddenly rang out. “Let’s go with mint green.”
Valda Theller looked at Brian in confusion. Brian looked away uneasily.
“Okay, I’ll take mint green, then,” Valda Theller said to the shop assistant.
“Okay, mint green is in trend this year, and the color sells very well here,” the shop assistant said as she brought over a mint green dress in size M.
Valda Theller took the dress into the fitting room to try it on, while Brian stood in the boutique’s open space and glanced at the pastel purple dress hanging on a shelf not far away.
Purple was Grace’s favorite color. He once told her that he would buy her a beautiful purple dress.
Later, he bought a lot of purple dresses, but none of them were delivered to her.
Those dresses were proof of his longing that was hidden with pain. These dresses were still in his mansion’s wardrobe, and no one was allowed to touch them.
When Valda Theller wanted to try the purple dress, he subconsciously asked her to change it to a mint green one. It meant he had not let go of his feelings for Grace.
With that in mind, Brian looked away from the dress and looked somewhere else.
However, his pupils shrank immediately as he caught sight of a familiar figure.
It was… Grace!
Brian did not expect to see Grace here.
Moments later, Grace seemed to also feel the gaze and looked up in Brian’s direction. Their eyes immediately met.
Grace slowly walked up to Brian. “What a coincidence to see you here. Are you… here to help someone buy something?” After all, he was standing at a women’s boutique.
“I’m accompanying someone shopping,” said Brian as he looked down at Grace’s baby bump.
One could easily tell that she was pregnant now. Her face was rosy, and she seemed to be in good health. However… he knew the baby in her belly was a ticking time bomb.
“I asked Lina to accompany me to buy some maternity clothes.” Grace smiled. “Lina and I gotta go first.”
“Wait!” Brian could not help shouting. It was not easy for him to run into her, and he did not want her to leave his sight so soon.
“Is there anything else?” Grace asked.
“How are you… these days? Are you physically…” Brian asked, “Everything’s fine,” said Grace.
The nearby Lina also said, “Would Jason let her go shopping with me if there’s something wrong with Grace’s body?”
Brian pressed his thin lips together tightly. Just then, the fitting. room door opened, and Valda Theller walked out. She was about to ask Brian whether the dress was suitable for her when she saw two women standing in front of Brian. One of them had a slightly bulging belly. She must be pregnant.
The three obviously knew each other.
Valda Theller froze, not knowing whether she should walk up to them or pretend she did not know Brian.
The shop assistant said to Brian, “Sir, your friend is out.”
Brian turned his head and looked at Valda Theller. Valda Theller smiled drily. Before she could say anything, Brian walked forward and took her hand naturally, “Here, Valda. Let me introduce you to my friends.”