Filed To Story: The Scarlet Vengeance: Justice of a Framed Beauty Novel (Grace & Jason)
Valda Theller was stunned as she looked at the smile on Brian’s face.
If his smiles earlier had only been faint ones, this smile was more jubilant than before.
“What’s the matter?” he asked when he saw her looking at him blankly.
“You look good when you smile,” she said as she could not help raising her hand and stretching it toward his cheek.
His smile gave her the urge to draw it. She wanted to record the way he smiled with her eyes. It was just like the snow slowly melting in early spring.
Brian looked at the fingers coming closer and closer to his cheek.
She would have missed as long as he turned his face slightly to the side.
Other than Grace, he disliked other women’s touch, but Valda Theller… was gradually becoming an exception.
Maybe because they were in a relationship, touching seemed to become natural for them. If he resisted her touch, he might expose himself in front of Grace in the future.
Therefore, maybe it was better for them to get familiar with each other.
Brian did not avoid Valda Theller’s hand. Her warm fingers pressed against his cheek and put him in a trance. It felt like Grace was caressing his face.
With his eyelashes quivering slightly, Brian gently looked down. Grace had touched his face in the same way and told him she was not the one he was looking for.
Grace must have made her choice at the time. She chose Jason, while he was just someone who was abandoned in the course of time and could not get out.
He never regretted falling in love with Grace, and he had no intention of falling in love with anyone else in his life.
However, if Grace hoped he could get over her and fall for someone else, then… he would do it. He would do anything to make her happy.
There was a cry of surprise. Then, the warmth disappeared from his cheeks. Brian looked up at the blushing face.
“I’m sorry. I… I didn’t mean to…”
“It doesn’t matter even if you meant it. We’re a couple. It’s natural for us to touch each other,” said Brian.
‘Huh? Natural?’ Her heart seemed to suddenly skip a beat when he said that.
‘A couple… We’re only a fake couple, but he said that so naturally.’ “Also, don’t think I’m not gonna do anything to you. Don’t think too highly of me, and don’t think too lightly of yourself. Even if I tell you that I won’t do anything to you, don’t let your guard down,” he said.
“You won’t,” Valda Theller said affirmatively.
His phoenix eyes narrowed slightly. “What makes you think I won’t? Or have you forgotten that I’m a man?”
“Because if you said you won’t, then you won’t. I believe you,” she said. She knew that his heart was with another woman. He dated her for the person he loved.
Brian’s eyes flickered. Moments later, he slowly said, “Don’t believe in me too much. Maybe I’m not what you think I am.”
“Okay,” she replied, but her clear eyes were still full of trust.
The trust pressed on his chest like a heavy weight, making him feel a little uncomfortable…
Raymond Bowman found Camille Strickland and asked, “Where’s Valda Theller?”
Camille Strickland was full of disdain. “Why should I tell you? Haven’t you caused enough trouble for Valda? If you hadn’t harmed Valda like that, would the reporters crowd her so much that she can’t even go home?” “So, she hasn’t been at home these two days?” Raymond Bowman asked. He had been to Valda Theller’s house, but no one answered after he rang the doorbell for a long time. No one showed up after he waited in front of her house for quite some time as well, so he came to Camille Strickland.
Based on Camille Strickland’s relationship with Valda Theller, she must know where Valda Theller was.
Camille Strickland said impatiently, “Raymond Bowman, what on earth do you want? It’s none of your business where Valda is!”
“Why is it none of my business? I…” Raymond Bowman’s voice stopped short, and he did not continue speaking.
“You what?” Camille Strickland looked at him in confusion.
“Nothing.” Raymond Bowman let out a breath. No matter how much he told Camille Strickland that he was worried about Valda and wanted to protect her, Camille Strickland probably would not believe him.
After all, he had made too many mistakes in the past.
“Tell me where Valda is and how she’s doing,” Raymond Bowman said again.
“What’s the matter? Are you going to pretend to be nice this time? Raymond Bowman, I won’t tell you where Valda is staying, but she’s doing well now. Her boyfriend is taking care of her. There’s no need for your fake kindness,” said Camille Strickland. However, Raymond Bowman’s eyebrows furrowed when she mentioned the word ‘boyfriend. “How much do you know about her boyfriend? She didn’t have a boyfriend a little over a month ago. Don’t you think it’s strange that she has one out of the blue?”
Camille Strickland froze. She did not expect Raymond Bowman to know that Valda did not have a boyfriend not long ago, but… “What’s so strange about that? She and her boyfriend fell in love at first sight, and their relationship is blossoming fast! Did you think Valda would be in love with you forever just because she used to be in love with you? If she’s fallen for someone else, then does it mean there’s something wrong with the person she fell for?
Raymond Bowman, you think too highly of yourself!”
Camille Strickland’s statement made Raymond Bowman’s expression ghastly. “I just don’t want Valda to get fooled.”
Camille Strickland said with a fake smile, “You’re the biggest fraud Valda has ever met!”
With that said, she walked away without looking back. Raymond Bowman stood there with his hands clenched.
If possible, he would like to go back to the time when he had not fooled Valda, but it… was impossible…
In the next few days, Valda Theller saw that there was no more news about her online. Even if her name was mentioned in the film’s marketing campaign, it did not cause much of a ripple.
It reassured her slightly.
She knew that without Brian’s help, it would take more time for the incident to calm down.
Brian spent most of his time in the serviced apartment she rented on their scheduled dates.
He would sit and read a book or watch a TV show. Meanwhile, she would draw him on a sketchpad.
If she was quick, she could finish drawing in 15 minutes. If she was slow, she would take more than half an hour.
She often liked to draw close-ups of his face. His delicate facial features and indifferent vibe made people find him icy, but his phoenix eyes seemed to contain various emotions when they seemed to be cold. It made others want to take a good look at them.
However, the more one wanted to see, the more one could not.
The contradictory feeling was increasingly appealing. Brian was casually watching a reality show that recorded the true happenings in the emergency room on TV while Valda Theller was drawing Brian on a sketchpad.
Valda Theller wanted to watch the emergency room reality show because the female protagonist of her new comic was an emergency room doctor, so she was watching the show to find out more about things related to the emergency room.
She had been watching it alone in her room when Brian came and joined in.
Although she drew close-ups of his face on her sketchpad later, she also listened to what was happening on the TV.
In the show, a mother and son were pinned down by the collapse of a house. After they were rescued and treated by the doctor, the mother and son were in critical condition. They only had a survival rate of 50 percent. There would be many after-effects even if they were saved. They could save the mother’s leg, but it would cost a lot of money.
Money was a heavy burden for an ordinary rural family like them. In the end, the mother chose a relatively cheaper amputation operation and lost her right leg to save as much money as possible forher son’s treatment.
“Sacrificing the possibility of saving her leg for a child whose survival is uncertain… There’ll be after-
effects even if the child does survive. What’s the point?” The indifferent voice escaped from his thin lips.
He disagreed with the mother’s choice.
“It’s because the mother thinks her child is more precious than her life. She’s willing to take a bet with her leg regardless of whether or not she can save him. Even if the child suffers from after-effects, she’ll accept it!” Valda Theller said as she stopped and turned to look at the screen.
“Is it worth it to take a bet with such a huge price?” he asked.
Valda Theller said, “Yes. At least I think it’s worth it. If it were me, I’d be willing to bet all I have for a chance if my child were ever in danger.”
Bet for a chance…’ Brian was in a slight trance. Valda Theller’s figure seemed to overlap with Grace in front of him, and his heart experienced a clenching pain.
‘Why would the two of them sacrifice everything to bet for their children? ‘Are children so important?’
“What’s the matter? You don’t look very good. Are you okay?”
Valda Theller said suddenly.
“Nothing. I just don’t understand why you think kids are so important,” he murmured.