Filed to story: A Second Chance with My Billionaire Love
Leia clenched her fists and tried to calm herself down, then she said to Shirley politely, “I’m here to negotiate a business deal with you. It’s big… so big that it can satisfy all your requests. Would you like to discuss it with me?” “A business deal?” Shirley’s expression changed a little and she scoffed.” You’re probably just lying to protect yourself. I don’t think there’s any business deals you can offer me.”
Leia rolled her eyes as if she was talking to a stupid person. “You need to get something straight, okay? I’m fearless, so I don’t need protection. Plus, I wouldn’t have come in if I thought I was in danger.
I’m here to sincerely negotiate with you.”
Shirley met her agent’s eyes cautiously and said, “Fine. Let’s talk in the inner room.” She waved at her fans and smiled at them. “Go ahead and enjoy yourselves. I’ll settle this and come out right away.”
Shirley’s fans immediately stopped her, looking concerned. “No, this woman is cunning. You’ll be bullied if you go with her.” “You don’t have to be polite with such a shameless woman. We’ll make her get down on her knees and say sorry to you first!”
Shirley’s agent tried to mediate the situation. “Calm down, Shirley will be fine. Just let them talk privately. We can always get revenge for her if anything happens.”
The fans let it go since it made sense.
The private room was big, with a small inner room of around eight or night square meters generally used for couples who wanted to have some private time. Leia and Shirley both entered the room, and the atmosphere in the small space grew tense.
“What would you like to talk about?” Shirley closed the door and sat on the sofa with her legs crossed, staring at Leia coldly.
“I want to ask if you still like Xavier and want to be with him.” Leia stood in front of Shirley and clenched her fists as she tried to stay calm.
“Why are you asking? Did you come here to humiliate me since you’ve won and Xavier is fawning over you?” Shirley’s face, which resembled Flossie’s, twisted in jealousy. She gritted her teeth and sneered,
“Listen-you haven’t won as long as you and Xavier aren’t married. I have many ways to make him come back to me, so don’t be too smug.” “Really? You think you can make him go back to you?” Leia snorted sarcastically.
“Yes!” Enraged, Shirley continued, “Do you think he cares that much about you? If he did, he would have sought revenge for you when my fans bullied you. When he tried to promote me, he would always ban my enemies when they exposed my past. Isn’t is obvious that he doesn’t care about you?”
Leia was jealous when she heard Shirley talk about how Xavier took care of her, but she wasn’t sad. It was the truth-Xavier had helped promote Shirley, and anyone who paid close attention to the entertainment industry would know how much Xavier had doted on Shirley. That attention had earned
Xavier the label of ‘top kiss-ass in Beach City’. It was old news and Leia know it, so she remained calm when Shirley brought it up.
“Anyone who read the news would know how much Xavier doted on you, but that’s all in the past. He doesn’t care about you, and if what I heard is right, it looks like he’s going to suspend you from work,”
Leia retorted.
“How dare you!” Shirley did not expect Leia to stay unaffected, and abruptly stood upto slap her.
Leia grabbed Shirley’s wrist and said coldly, “Do you know what kind of relationship causes the most regret? The kind you had with Xavier. Did he love you? Yes, he loved you so much that he doted on you without any boundaries. He helped you get your glory, but then he had a change of heart. You must be grieving because of it, right?” “You…! What is it you want? I knew you were here to make fun of me.
I even thought that you had some kind of bargaining chip…” Shirley cursed angrily and tried to struggle free. Her face twisted as she threatened, “If I scream, my fans will enter the room. Then, they’ll drag you out and teach you a hard lesson.” “Yes, I’m aware of that. After all, fans always take after their idols!” Leia let go of Shirley’s hand and continued aloofly, Don’t worry, I didn’t have to come here to argue with you. I’m just here to confirm whether you still love Xavier and want to be with him.” “Of course!” Shirley couldn’t figure out what Leia wanted, but she knew Leia wouldn’t come here on purpose to humiliate her. There must be a huge favor Leia wanted to ask her for, and the bargaining chip was most probably Xavier.
“What are you willing to sacrifice for the chance to be with him again?” Leia asked Shirley icily.
“What does it have to do with you?” Shirley narrowed her eyes at Leia suspiciously.
“Yeah, it’s none of my business, but it’s related to whether or not you can get Xavier back. If you want to get back together with him, stop being so rebellious and just answer my questions honestly,” Leia snapped at Shirley.
“I didn’t think I loved him that much, and just used him as a tool to gain power… but I know what I felt when he was disappointed in me and went to you. I guess I really do love him a lot. If you want to know how much I’ll sacrifice for him, I can’t really say for sure… Maybe… My life?” Shirley frowned and said mockingly.
“No, it’s not that serious. You just need to give up something of yours.” Leia stopped beating around the bush and got straight to the point.
“Something of mine?” Shirley glanced at the jewelry she was wearing, then sneered. “Oh, what did you take a fancy to? Will you return Xavier to me if I let you have these? But you’re the rich young lady of the Osborne family, and you’re friends with Ms. Ellsworth, a powerful figure. I’m sure you won’t take a fancy to my jewelry.” “Well, I don’t take a fancy to your jewelry but…” Leia met Shirley’s gaze and said firmly, “I want your eyes.”
“My eyes?” Shirley looked bewildered for a second, but then her expression turned smug. She stroked her cheek and said, “Yes, I’m pretty, and so are my eyes. When I made my debut, people said my eyes were as bright as the moon. But… it doesn’t matter. Even if you’re jealous of me, I can’t give you my eyes!” “I need your eyes. If you’re willing to give them to me, Xavier will be yours from now on,” Leia replied bluntly.
However, Shirley was still confused. All she knew was that Leia seemed to be very interested in her eyes, but she definitely wasn’t stupid enough to give them to Leia. “Hah! Are you kidding me?” Shirley crossed her arms and laughed mockingly. “Firstly, I won’t let you have my eyes. Secondly, Xavier is mine-l don’t have to give up my eyes to get him.” “I know that my request is ridiculous, and of course you won’t say yes… but I’m just here to remind you. If you give your eyes to me, I have ways to help you get back with Xavier. If you say no…” Leia paused, then said coldly,” There are some people who will use extreme measures to get your eyes. Then, you’ll lose both your eyes and Xavier.” She was referring to Halston, herself, and Quinton. They were willing to go through hell for Flossie, and if the negotiation failed, they would use force. Leia had already prepared herself for the consequences.
“Are you threatening me?” Shirley stared at Leia as if she had gone mad. “I know that your family is powerful, and it’ll be easy for you to take my eyes, but I’m not a pushover. I won’t let you do as you like with me.” After that, she suddenly opened the door of the room, and her eavesdropping fans who had been leaning on the door almost tumbled inside.
“You all heard her, right? This arrogant woman stole my man, and now she wants my eyes. She wants to ruin my life and send me to hell!” Shirley sobbed pitifully, putting on an act for her fans.
“I…” Leia wanted to explain, but this was Shirley’s territory. Besides, Shirley was right. Taking a deep breath, Leia admitted, “Yeah, I took a fancy to Shirley’s eyes, and I want them. If her eyes are gone one day, you’ll know that I’m the one who dug them out.” If she had to become a villain to help Flossie regain her eyesight, she would do it. After all, her reputation was already ruined, and she was strong enough to handle any insult.
Her statement created an uproar among the fans.
“What a wicked woman! How dare she want to dig out Shirley’s eyes!” “I’ve never met such a shameless and wicked woman. She’s not even human…” “She’s more despicable than normal homewreckers. If we let her go today, she’ll definitely harm Shirley one day!” “I think we should fight fire with fire and dig out her eyes…”
After getting drunk, Shirley’s fans become more reckless and irrational.
They rushed over, wanting to teach Leia a harsh lesson.
“Hey, what are you doing? Let me go!” Leia panicked as they grabbed her.
Leia knew basic self-defense, but there were too many people attacking her. Amidst the chaos,
Shirley’s fans pulled her hair and scratched her face, and some of them even tried to tear her clothes off…
Shirley watched everything from nearby with a victorious smile.
Her agent became worried. “Shirley, will it be dangerous if this continues?
She’s the young lady of the Osborne family, after all..” “Of course it’s dangerous since so many people are beating her up… but it’s none of my business. My fans did it, and they were so crazy that I couldn’t do anything about it. Plus… didn’t we leave long ago? We didn’t see anything.” Shirley smiled coyly, then raised her head and left the private room proudly.
“Ah!” Leia screamed pitifully and tried to struggle, but the fans had become more extreme after getting drunk.
Meanwhile, Shirley bumped into Xavier the moment she exited the club. ■’ Xavier…” She looked at him in surprise, then panic gripped her. If Xavier knew that she purposely instigated her fans to beat Leia up and humiliate her, he would be furious. She had to prevent Xavier from finding out about it.
“What a coincidence. It’s so late though; are you here to talk business?” Shirley asked Xavier calmly, acting like nothing was amiss.
Xavier was looking around anxiously, distant and aloof towards Shirley.” Did… you see Leia?” “Ms.
Osborne?” Shirley shook her head. “I had a gathering with my fans tonight. They were drunk and crazy, so I left early, but I didn’t see Ms. Osborne…” “You didn’t see her?” Xavier frowned doubtfully.
“Yeah, I didn’t…” She turned to her assistant and agent. “Did you see her?”
Both of them shook their heads.
“What’s the matter? Did she want to see me?” Shirley asked innocently. “I know she must be mad at me because of all the bad news about her online… But you know that I couldn’t do anything about that.
I’m helpless in all this too. When I made my debut, I suffered more criticism than her, but didn’t I soldier through it? I never blamed anyone.” “Anyway, since you didn’t see her, I’m going to go.” Xavier clearly didn’t want to listen to Shirley’s complaints, and turned to leave. However, after a few steps, he paused and turned to Shirley. “Why don’t you go abroad to further your studies for a while?”
Shirley raised her head and locked eyes with Xavier, her gaze soft. “So… You’ve been worried about me all this time. You still care about me, don’t you?” “I just think it’s better for you if you further your studies now.” Xavier’s expression was icy, with no emotion on his face whatsoever. In his mind, Shirley was a part of his past he couldn’t get rid of. He has sacrificed a lot for her, and it might have been out of habit or pity that he didn’t want his former girlfriend to have her eyes gouged out. Shirley was someone he used to love, and Halston was his childhood friend-he would hate for either of those relationships to be ruined. It was best to make Shirley leave Beach City and lay low in a place where Halston couldn’t find her.
‘Til go if you think I should leave Beach City.” Shirley was not as averse towards the option now, and for the first time, agreed with Xavier about it. She could foresee that Leia would do anything to get revenge on her after tonight, and Xavier might not defend Shirley, so it was wise to leave Beach City now.
“You agreed?” Xavier looked surprised. He remembered that Shirley had firmly objected to it when he mentioned it the other day. She cried and said that he was purposely trying to ruin her, but now… she was okay with it.
“Rumors keep following me, and you don’t care about me. Maybe you’ll fall in love with me again if I leave Beach City and come back in two years,” Shirley smiled and said teasingly. She did have a lot of negative news about her circulating thanks to Leia’s and Santiago’s fans, who gathered bad things about her and exposed them. Santiago’s fans liked Leia very much and always argued with Shirley’s fans for Leia’s sake. They had managed to expose a lot of negative things about her that year. 0. The other hand, Santiago had released a statement hoping that Shirley would manage her fans well and not trouble innocent people. He had also expressed his desire to never work with Shirley, and since
Santiago was the top male actor, he had a lot of shares and power in companies that supported him.
Consequently, those subsidiary companies had also refused to work with Shirley.
As the rumors spread, the people in the entertainment industry had started to follow the trend. Santiago had openly boycotted her, and Xavier had long given her up. It had been a long time since she received any opportunities, so if she went abroad to further her studies now, she could leave the battle and make her fans see her as an innocent victim. All the rumors about her would disappear too. It was like killing two birds with one stone.
“I’m glad you’ve realized.” Xavier didn’t dwell much on it. He merely felt that Shirley had finally come to her senses and realized his good intentions. He sized Shirley up and then glanced into the club. When he found nothing amiss, he said casually, “Okay, I’m going.” “Don’t!” Shirley approached him and held his arm. “Since I might be leaving, why don’t you spend some time with me?”