"Hey, have you heard of Nina and Ann?""Yeah, I heard their company had declared bankrupt overnight, and they were forced to leave school because they could no longer afford it."
"What could possibly have happened to those two?"
"I don"t know. They just packed up and left without a word."
"Where did they go?"
"Beats me."
"Who could have done it? To cause Chu and Roger"s enterprise to go bankrupt overnight. That company must be very powerful."
Amidst the gossips, the real culprit was sitting comfortably at her chair while gazing down at the window, her chin held on her palm.
When the cla.s.s finished, like yesterday, Evangeline was once more on detention. Her punishment this time was to water the plants, and like always, it was Eric who had done her ch.o.r.es while she was sitting on a bench under the shade of a tree as she watched Eric did his usual cleaning routine of sweeping the pathway and throwing the trash – after he had done all her ch.o.r.es that is.
At first, Eric wanted for her to wait inside the cla.s.sroom, but Evangeline strongly disagreed. Eric didn"t know why the woman was so adamant about keeping an eye on him. But when she saw that Evangeline was determined and too stubborn to back down, he just let it be. It was not like, he was utterly oblivious to the woman"s motives.
For Evangeline, the reason why she didn"t want Eric to leave her sight was simply because she knew that the moment she did, Eric would be bullied again.
Hmp! As if I allow one of my people to be bullied by others.
So another peaceful day had ended – for Eric at least.
As for Evangeline, another troublemaker was walking towards her in a loud tick-tocking heels.
Evangeline was busy searching information on her phone about the girl named Satele Risova when someone barked her name.
"Evangeline!"
Evangeline secretly rolled her eyes.
"h.e.l.lo, Miss Combrelle. What can I do for you today?" Evangeline raised her head from her phone and looked at the arrogant girl who was crossing her arms and tilting her body to the side while glaring at her.
"Where is Asher Cole?!" Jen demanded.
In truth, Jen didn"t want to waste her saliva on Evangeline, much less see her. To her, ever since the rumors about Evangeline Heart had fallen from grace, she no longer eyed the woman as anything but a prost.i.tute.
However, these past few days, she could no longer stand not seeing Asher that it was driving her crazy. She had even went to the extreme of using her father"s connections to search for the man inside Fate Academy only to found out that Asher was out of the country.
To where, no one knew.
She even went to BlackPine country to meet with him in the pretense that she was going to do business, only to be slapped with the information that Asher had gone to another county for business. No matter how much threat she said or her father"s ident.i.ty she used, no one in the Cole Enterprise would tell her where the man had gone nor when he would be back.
Evangeline blinked. To say that she was not shocked that the girl knew her cousin was a lie, though her face appeared calm and haughty as ever.
Evangeline fixed her sitting position as she too mimicked Jen"s body language. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and tilted her head to the side.
"Now why would I tell you?"
Those simple words and Evangeline"s smirking lips were enough to make Jen fumed in anger. Jen was always the one to act as she pleased whenever her father was not around. She was used to arrogantly doing what she wanted like she was ent.i.tled to everything and anything without fearing the consequences. Since who would dare to act against her? The prime minister"s only daughter?
And besides that, Evangeline was already a woman who sold herself for money. She no longer had Robert Krisnov behind her nor Daniel Richardson"s protection.
The thought urged Jen to become even more aggressive and arrogant.
"Don"t pretend to be all so high and mighty when you"re nothing but a wh.o.r.e who sells herself to older men. I"m warning you, stay away from Asher, or I"ll personally deal with you!"
Evangeline"s brows stretched in a challenge while she stood up in her full height causing Jen to slightly step backward since Evangeline was a little taller than her and more – intimidating.
"I like to see you try."
It was Evangeline"s usual voice, calm and soothing, but the edge of her tone couldn"t deny that immense oppression. Even the air turned stiff and suffocating.
What Evangeline hated the most was someone pointing a finger at her, and the girl was asking to be humiliated.
"Tell you what. I"ll give you a tip from one who knows Asher for many years. What he hated the most are vulgar women who paraded and chaste after him like a b.i.t.c.h in heat. So I suggest you changed your tactic from being an old maid starve for s.e.x into... let"s say... a proper lady that is born to the house of the prime minister? What do you think?"
Jen bit her lower lip while her face changed colors in shades of red before she burst out.
"YOU! You! You wh.o.r.e!" Jen was at a loss for words, and her mind momentary blanked out from fury.
Evangeline beamed. "At least men are the ones who come for me. I"m not starving in that department. Compared to someone who shouted wh.o.r.e this and that, yet is currently thinking of banging a guy that doesn"t even like her? Wait..." Evangeline"s lips curved in a taunting grin. "Doesn"t even know her..."
"B-b.i.t.c.h! I"ll destroy you!"
Jen was about to storm and grab Evangeline"s hair when a deep voice resounded from their back.
"What"s going on?"
The two women turned towards that voice, and they saw Max together with his friends with their backpacks. They seemed to be about to go home from basketball practice based from their dump hairs and flushed faces.
"Max!" Jen"s face lit up and she immediately ran towards the man.
When she reached Max"s side, her look instantly turned supple and tender as her eyes rounded, covered in moist. "Max.... *sob..." Jen didn"t say anything as she lowered her head and continued to sob while she yanked Max"s sleeve, appearing very pitiful.
Max was surprised. He had never seen Jen acted so weak before. She was always headstrong and arrogant.
Something must have happened to her.
His eyes instantly narrowed at the cold, beautiful woman.
Upon seeing this scene, all the boys turned to look at one another and then their scrutinizing eyes locked towards Evangeline.
What else could it be but Evangeline doing what she does best.
Humiliating people in broad daylight!
Only, they didn"t think that Evangeline had the guts to bully the prime minister"s daughter. If she still had her father"s backing, they wouldn"t be puzzled. But now that she had fallen from her grace...
While Evangeline remained calm and indifferent, the icy smile on her lips didn"t diminish one bit as she looked at the actress and the idiots, amused.
This day can"t get anymore worst.
"What"s wrong?"
Then, at the corner appeared Daniel with Sisley in hand, walking towards Max and Jen and the others.
Evangeline sighed.
Great!
Sisley, upon seeing that Jen was crying which was unusual, it was years since she last saw Jen cried, she immediately felt worried and dashed towards her best friend in a comforting embraced.
"What"s wrong, Jen? Why are you crying?" Sisley rubbed Jen"s back when the later buried her face against Sisley"s shoulder.
"I-I... I didn"t tell you this but... b-but I... I had like Asher Cole since two years ago... and... Evangeline somehow knew and... and... t-threatened me for money. If I agree, she will help me with Asher... but if I don"t... s-she will say bad things about me to Asher." Jen let out a sobbed as she rubbed her eyes against Sisley"s shoulder.
"W-what? Y-you like Asher Cole?" Sisley was surprised since Jen never once mentioned the man to her.
Jen nodded and continued "I... I love Asher... but w-where can I get a million dollar...? My father has that money but... but I can"t possibly ask him... *sob." Jen wasn"t able to finish her sentence as she choked in her sobs.
Upon hearing the story of the distressed girl, everyone looked at Evangeline in disgust and contempt. Especially Sisley since Jen was her best friend and the girl rarely cried unless she was really upset.
Everyone knew that Evangeline had somehow known Asher Cole from Fate Academy at that time at the interschool sports festival. And judging from Asher and Evangeline"s short interaction, everyone could digest that their relationship wasn"t just regular friends.
Especially Daniel and Sisley, the two of them had seen from their very own eyes how Asher had threated Evangeline during at that time in the mall.
"Evangeline, don"t you think that"s too much? Toying with someone else"s feelings like that just for money?" Sisley glared at Evangeline, not minding the woman"s intimidating icy air.
Daniel remained tight lip as his forehead creased in a frown. He still couldn"t believe that Evangeline would do that. But with all the rumors circulating that her father no longer sent her money and was prost.i.tuting herself, Evangeline hadn"t denied the claims. He felt vexed, skeptical, angry and disappointed.
While Max was blunter. "Evangeline, if you need money. I can give you money for a night"s f.u.c.k. How "bout that?"
"Max!"
Daniel couldn"t believe that his friend had just said that. True that Evangeline was no longer her girlfriend, but she was still his ex. At the very least, if Max didn"t respect the woman anymore, he still should respect him, his friend!
But before Daniel could word out his complaint, another agreed and another and another until Daniel was at a loss of what to say.
"Yeah! Evangeline, why don"t you try me for a night? I"m a rich customer."
"How about this, why don"t you try all of us? We promise that you"ll be rich for a lifetime in just a single night."
Everybody chimed in and chuckled mockingly in l.u.s.t and malice.
Instead of feeling humiliated, Evangeline just softly giggled which caused the boys to feel somewhat – cold.