Filed To Story: The Scarlet Vengeance: Justice of a Framed Beauty Novel (Grace & Jason)
But this kind of “love” was like a mirage in the water, shattering at the slightest touch.
“So, would you risk your life to save me when I’m in danger?” Harley asked, “Would you face all the criticism around you for my sake? Would you believe in me no matter what happens? Even if many people doubt, would you still firmly stand by my side?”
Lornell frowned, his thin lips pressed tightly together.
Harley gave a light smile, “You can’t do it, can you? You can’t give me the ‘response’ I’m looking for, because it’s not just about words, but also about actions. Lornell, your so-called response to me is far from enough! So, let’s just call off our engagement.”
Lornell’s face darkened, “Do you know the price the Hart family would have to pay to break off this engagement?”
“Mm, I know a bit,” she said. “The Hart family is also willing to pay this price.”
She was the apple of her parents’ eyes. They would do anything to ensure her happiness. She didn’t want to let them down. If she continued with this arranged marriage, she feared she might never find true happiness.
“You won’t regret this?” Lornell asked in a deep voice.
“No regrets.” Harley heard his own voice saying.
“Alright then, since you say you regret it, I won’t have any regrets either.” Lornell said, looking at Harley with an indifferent expression, “Our engagement is off!”
Harley was stunned, “Really?”
“Yes, I agree to break off the engagement. The official date for the termination of the engagement will be communicated to the Hart family by the Quentin family in due course,” Lornell said.
Harley pursed her lips slightly, “Thank you.”
“Thank you?” Lornell raised an eyebrow. “What are you thanking me for? For agreeing to break off the engagement? The Quentin family isn’t at a loss. On the contrary, it’s the Hart family that’s going to pay a hefty price.”
“Thank you for agreeing to peacefully break off our engagement, and for saving me all those years ago,” Harley said.
“No need to thank me,” Lornell said. “I told you, breaking off the engagement comes at a cost to the
Hart family, not me. As for saving you back then, it was merely out of curiosity.”
“Even if it was out of curiosity, it was your curiosity that saved me. If you hadn’t asked the Quentin family to rescue me, I might not be alive today, Lornell. Thank you!” Harley said sincerely.
Lornell stared at the woman before him, listening as she continued, “Over the years, falling for you, loving you, I have no regrets. It was you who saved me, and you who made me understand what it feels like to love someone. The only regret is that I couldn’t make you fall in love with me. I hope in the future you can truly meet a woman you can love, and I wish you happiness.”
The corners of Harley’s lips lifted in a slight curve, a smile as refreshing as a spring breeze. It was as if she was telling everyone that she had truly let go!
Lornell was a bit dazed. Could he really meet a woman he could fall in love with?
So from now on, he and Harley would just be two people with no special relationship. Would he really not regret this?
At this moment, he suddenly felt a sense of doubt.
Although the Quentin family and the Hart family didn’t make a public announcement about calling off their engagement, word still got around in their social circles.
“You really called off the engagement?” Karen looked at Harley in disbelief after hearing the news.
She thought Harley would get married right after graduation, but he actually called off the engagement!
“Sure,” Harley replied.
“But didn’t you like Lornell? Could it be that Lornell has another woman, so the Quentin family is…”
“No, that’s not it,” Harley said, “He doesn’t have another woman. We’re calling off the engagement simply because we feel we’re not right for each other.”
“Not suitable?” Karen asked curiously, “You two are a good match in terms of social status, what’s not suitable about that?”
Although the Quentin family was a member of the Crypt families, not many people were aware of this fact.
However, the Snee family was also part of the upper crust in Emerald City, so they knew a thing or two about the Quentin family’s affairs.
“Does being from the same social class guarantee compatibility?” Harley said with a laugh. “Don’t you think that sharing the same values and loving each other is what truly defines compatibility?”
Karen touched her nose, “Would you really be able to let go?”
After all, Karen had always been a witness to Harley’s fondness for Lornell.
“If it’s not right, no matter how hard it is, you have to let it go,” Harley said. Rather than being unhappy for a lifetime, it’s better to endure a brief pain now, so you can move on from this situation.
Karen exclaimed, “Let’s have a good meal together tonight, I’ll keep you company!”
“I’m afraid you’ll have to take me out for dinner some other time, I have plans tonight,” Harley said.
“An appointment?” Karen was taken aback, “Who is it?”
“Calvert Elledge,” Harley said.
“Who’s that?” Karen quickly sifted through her mental list of the prominent Elledge family in Emerald
City, but she couldn’t recall anyone named Calvert.
“He’s a student from our school. Last time he treated me to a meal, but due to some issues, we only ate half of it. So, today, I’m returning the favor,” Harley said.
“You went out to eat with someone from our school? Just the two of you?” Karen quickly asked.
“Yeah, is there a problem?” Harley retorted.
Karen was momentarily speechless. Wasn’t there a problem here?Harley had just broken off her engagement, and then she had dinner with another guy. Surely, people thought there was a story behind this.
“Why did you agree to let them take you out for a meal last time?” Karen asked.
After all, Harley wasn’t the type to casually accept invitations. In the past, many people had extended various invitations to Harley, all of which he had turned down.
Harley’s eyes twinkled slightly.
Why… Perhaps it was because of the carefulness in Calvert’s invitation, or maybe it was the inferiority in his eyes, that made her want to accept his request.
Harley didn’t want Calvert’s self-deprecation to deepen, nor did he want to see the other party wallowing in self-pity.
“I just want to say yes,” Harley responded.
At this moment, Calvert, standing at the school gate where he and Harley had agreed to meet, felt a bit nervous.
Calvert didn’t expect to get a call from Harley. She was asking when he was free so she could invite him out for a meal.
He originally thought that when she said she would return the favor last time, it was just a polite remark.
But he didn’t expect that she would actually do it.
After what felt like an eternity, a melodious voice suddenly rang in Calvert’s ear, “I’m sorry for keeping you waiting.”
Calvert suddenly looked up, and what caught his eye was Harley’s handsome face.
“It’s okay.” He quickly said, feeling his initial unease transform into a sense of relief. He hadn’t expected
Harley to actually show up.
“Have you been waiting long?” Harley asked.
“No, I just got here too,” Calvert said. But he was lying. In fact, he had been waiting for quite a while.
“So, where do you want to eat?” Harley asked.
“Whatever.” He stuttered, still in disbelief that he was actually going to have dinner with Harley.
And what’s more, it was Harley who initiated the invitation!
“Then I’ll choose the location!” Harley said.
“Alright,” Calvert responded.
“Let’s go get the car from the parking lot first,” she suggested.
When Calvert climbed into Harley’s car, that familiar feeling of inferiority surged within him again.
This car was a luxury vehicle. Although Calvert didn’t know the exact model, he recognized the logo.
This car probably cost several million dollars.
Several million dollars was an astronomical figure for Calvert. It was perhaps an amount of money he could never have earned in his entire life.
Harley drove Calvert to a fancy restaurant in the city center.
“I’ve eaten here a few times and it’s pretty good. I wanted you to try it,” Harley said.
“Thank you,” Calvert said, his head bowed.
In such a luxurious restaurant, Calvert felt out of place. Perhaps he shouldn’t have accepted her invitation in the first place.
Coming to a restaurant like this only made Calvert see the distance between him and Harley more clearly!
As the waiter was leading the two toward a table, a voice suddenly rang out, “Harley, what a coincidence!”
Harley turned around and saw Laurel Blair. The Blair family and Harley’s mother were distant relatives, so she had known Laurel since they were kids.
But they had only met a few times when they were kids. It wasn’t until middle school when the Blair family leveraged their relationship with Harley’s mother to get a job at Hart Group, that they moved to
Emerald City. Only then did she start seeing Laurel more often.
However, Harley didn’t really like the Blair family. In fact, the Blair family was from the same village as
Harley’s grandmother.
Of course, since Harley’s mother was an orphan, Harley’s grandmother was actually an old lady who had saved Harley’s mother back in the day. Later on, Harley’s mother started to consider this old lady as her own mother and brought her to live together in Emerald City.
Even though Harley’s grandmother has passed away, Harley’s mother still cherishes the kindness she received from her.
Harley’s grandmother was buried in the village cemetery, so every year, Harley’s father would accompany Harley’s mother to the village to pay their respects to her.
The Blair family, on the other hand, was constantly trying to establish a relationship with the Hart family, leveraging their distant kinship with Harley’s grandmother and the favor they had once done for her.
They even went around boasting about all the kindness they had shown to the grandmother in the past.
Later on, Harley’s father arranged a cushy, high-paying job for Laurel’s father at Hart Group. This finally brought some peace to the Blair family.
Harley once asked his father, “The Blair family only owes a small debt of gratitude to our grandmother.
At most, they could just give some money. So why did you arrange things this way?”
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.