Filed to story: A Second Chance with My Billionaire Love
Shirley felt awkward, and subconsciously stepped away from Xavier. “I’m sure MSXEllsworth told you that I’m the heroine of this movie, which is why I’m here with Xavier, the producer of the movie.”
“You don’t have to explain yourself.” Leia shrugged emotionlessly. It’s none of my business if you both are walking a red carpet or a wedding aisle. You don’t have to inform me.”
The atmosphere grew colder.
Xavier’s expression darkened, and he said icily, So whywny is about to start, so you still standing here?”
Leia crossed her arms and sneered. “We’ve been trying to go in, but your staff won’t let US… It’s ridiculous that they don’t even know who the hero of the movie is. Is this the quality of the staff of Universal Entertainment?”
The staffs face turned pale, and he lowered his head fearfully and apologized, “I… I’m so sorry. I should have familiarized myself with the main cast of the movie. It was my mistake.”
“Is that really the reason? It’s clear that you looked down on us!” Leia snapped. “Didn’t you stop us because we didn’t dress to your standards?”
“I… I…” The staff wrung his hands anxiously, looking regretful.
“I recall that we need to show our invitation cards or working permits to get in, right?” Shirley smiled calmly. “Ms. Osborne, don’t you have them?”
“I forgot to bring them!”
“Then, Ms. Osborne, it’s because of you that he got it wrong. You’ve treated this staff unjustly. I hope you won’t make things difficult for him.” Shirley’s gentle words smoothly turned the situation around, making it seem like Leia was behaving unreasonably.
The staff rushed to thank Shirley, staring at her gratefully. “Thank you, Ms. White. You understand how difficult it is for workers like US. I was just doing my job and didn’t mean to offend anyone… I’m so sorry!”
“How could you!” Leia’s eyes widened in outrage. “If you really were working without bias, you wouldn’t have been that rude. You know you were looking down on us!”
“Ms. Osborne…” Shirley said soothingly, “Sometimes more than one person has to be blamed for a mistake. It’s probably that both people involved are at fault. Aren’t you being too stubborn by refusing to let go of this?” Her meaning was obvious-both Leia and Xavier were to be blamed.
Leia instantly understood her implication and scoffed, “Enough with the accusations. I don’t care how many people are to be blamed for this, what’s done is done, and nothing can fix it!” She stormed off, pulling Jeffrey into the hotel.
Shirley watched Leia with a triumphant smirk. With a rival so blunt and easily manipulated, it would be a piece of cake to win Xavierlover. “Xavier, it looks like Ms. Osborne is still mad at you. She’s a rich young heir after all, so she’s not used to such treatment. I already explained to her that there was nothing between US, so why can’t she let it go?” Shirley looked at Xavier and asked helplessly.
Xavier’s face was like thunder. Nobody could tell if he was angry at Leia or Shirley, but after a while, he replied calmly, “She was right.”
“Mm?”
“No one can undo a mistake, and it can’t be forgotten either. It’s normal to be mad and not want to forgive someone.” Xavier seemed to be talking about something else.
Shirley instantly stopped talking. She, of all people, had no right to talk about forgiveness.
The startup ceremony of The Heart of the Grassland began, and the emcee invited the cast onstage to make a self-introduction. As the leads, both Jeffrey and Shirley had to go onstage while Xavier and Leia sat in the VIP seats below the stage, watching them.
“I wouldn’t have come if I knew you’d be here!” Leia muttered crossly, childishly moving her chair away from him.
“Are you that surprised?” Xavier faced the stage, smiling blankly and clapping from time to time. “I’m the head of Universal Entertainment-of course I have to be here. Maybe you came here on purpose knowing you’d run into me.”
“Stop flattering yourself!” Leia huffed defensively. “Flossie has to attend Adie and Abby’s graduation photography session, so I came in her place. If I knew you would be here, I would have just hired an agent to bring Jeffrey here and saved myself the trouble!”
Xavier remained calm, enjoying riling her up. “Why? Am I a ghost? Are you that afraid to see me? Or do you care about me so much that you’re afraid you can’t hold back when you see me?”
Annoyed, Leia folded her hands in her lap, her lips pursed as she fixedly stared at the stage. “You’ve certainly got a wild imagination.”
The emcee smiled brightly at the crowd below him. “We’re glad to have so many big names and supporters here to celebrate the startup ceremony of The Heart of the Grassland. I’m sure everyone is very familiar with our heroine, Shirley… Let’s give her a round of applause!”
The audience immediately burst into an enthusiastic applause. Although her image wasn’t what it was, she still had a certain influence in the entertainment circle.
“Come here, Shirley. Please say something.” Smiling, the emcee called Shirley over.
“Ladies and gentlemen, it’s been a very long time since I’ve been on a stage…” Shirley started, tears welling up in her eyes. Naturally, the audience felt sorry for her.
“Shirley, stop crying. You’re always our most beloved princess!” Shirley’s fans raised their banners and shouted excitedly, “Just walk ahead no matter what happens. No one can take away your future!”
“Thank you so much. Thank you!” Shirley turned away from the audience and wiped away her tears, making others feel moved.
Stunned, Leia asked in disbelief, “Is this a startup ceremony or a fan meeting? Does she have to be so emotional?”
“Shirley’s been having a hard time lately. You won’t understand since you’re not her fan,” Xavier whispered. It was an undeniable fact that he had banned Shirley and made her popularity plummet. Celebrities survived with the help of visibility, and Shirley’s fans fought for her every day online. When they saw their idol in a movie again, of course they were excited.
“Of course you’d feel sorry for her…” Hurt, Leia snapped at him, “Why were you so ruthte’s’s then? You were so fake and implicated me for nothing.
How boring!”
“Did I implicate you?” Xavier sneered.
“Are things really so bad between US that you have to avoid me at all costs?”
“What do you think?” Leia looked dispirited. “I thought you couldn’t make up your mind and were a ladies’ man, but now I see that you’re really a passionate and loyal man. Shirley is the only woman you ever cared about, and I was just a clown for you to make a fool of!” It wasn’t easy for Leia to say those things about herself, but it was the reality she had to face. The fact that she could say those things now made her happy-it meant she was moving on.
“You really see me as a despicable person.” Xavier’s expression turned frigid.
“No, you’re not. I said that you’re loyal and passionate. Isn’t that the best possible compliment for a man?” Leia argued, unsure why he was so dissatisfied.
“Why are you trying to forget the love we had?” Xavier ignored all propriety and grabbed Leia’s wrist, staring at her desperately. “Look at me… Didn’t you ever notice my feelings for you when we were together?”
“What are you doing? Let go of me! We’re in public, and people are looking at us!” Leia hissed. She was used to bickering with Xavier and having him sulk or laugh for a while, but she never expected him to behave like this in front of so many people and paparazzi. Was he trying to put her on the headlines tomorrow?
“I don’t care who is looking at US. I just want you to be honest with me!” Xavier pulled her closer and looked straight into her eyes. “Answer me- were the feelings we had when we were together fake?”
Many people began to notice them, and started whispering among each other.
“What’s wrong with Mr. Stuart and Ms. Osborne? Are they still a couple?
Why do they look so intimate?”
“I heard that they were a couple for a short while, but they broke up because Mr. Stuart couldn’t forget about Shirley!”
“That’s nonsense! Shirley kept pestering Mr. Stuart and refused to break up with him-that’s why he and Ms. Osborne broke up with each other!”
“I guess he didn’t like Ms. Osborne much then, or they wouldn’t have broken up that easily.”
“Well, exes always have the upper hand in things like this. I’m sure Mr. Stuart cares about Shirley more than Ms. Osborne!’
Both Leia and Xavier heard their discussion, and it made the atmosphere very awkward.
“Aren’t you going to let go? Do you always have to make me the laughing stock?” Lela gritted her stock?
teeth, trying to keep her tone calm and not make a scene. However, her patience was running thin.
“Don’t you think Mr. Stuart is a scumbag? He can’t make up hism wake mind. Does he want to have two lovers at the same time?”
Leia overheard that, and scoffed at Xavier, “Do you see it now?? wasn’t everyone can falsely accusing you’d see what’s happening.”
“So, you’re concerned I can’t make up my mind, right?” Xavier asked Leia seriously, not angry at all.
Leia was silent for a while, then decided to be honest with herself and nodded. “Yeah, I hate that you can’t make up your mind. I don’t care what others think-to me, love is exclusive. If we’re a couple, your body and mind should only belong to me!” She knew that Xavier was physically loyal to her when they were a couple, but she didn’t know if his heart had been hers entirely. “Do you remember the one question I asked you repeatedly before we became a couple?” Leia watched Xavier, her eyes watery. “I asked you if you were sure that you had moved on completely and if you truly only cared about me. You hesitated at that moment, and that was when I knew. Maybe that was the beginning of this tragedy.” Back then, she had been infatuated with Xavier’s good looks and just wanted to have some fun. If things went wrong, they could break up and go their separate ways. Unexpectedly, her spontaneous fling turned into infatuation, and it hurt more than when she broke up with her scumbag first love. She had lost control of the situation.