"But dad! How could you be mad at me? I am your daughter!" Lauren tried to reason, she no longer cared about the fact that everyone was looking at her right now in her sorry state. Tears stained her face and her mascara was ruined. Black streaks appeared on her cheeks making her look very pitiful when her father scolded her so harshly. "You fool! If you don"t come home right this instant, I will send my men to fetch you there, and it will not be a pretty sight! Do you want to be dragged out of there in front of your friends?! You are such a disgrace as a daughter!" Father w.a.n.g chided, his voice full of anger.
He had been working hard for the company and he had gained the support of the mighty Elder Cho with the help of his father, Elder w.a.n.g. It was not easy to convince the old man to invest billions for this huge project. But his daughter managed to have billions of dollars pulled out because of her overbearing ways in just a few minutes.
"I am truly ashamed of your behavior! I cannot even ask you to beg for another chance so that Elder Cho will retract his order of withdrawing his investment" He could only wish but he knew that begging him would never make him change his mind especially when he knows that his daughter had crossed the line. Once Elder Cho orders something, his words are final.
Before Lauren could even respond to her father, the line was already cut off. She looked at her phone and more tears had flown. Her gaze shot up to Samantha Kim and she was enraged.
"You!! You did this to me Samantha!" she pointed a finger, her eyes filled with fury.
Crossing her arms, Samantha had a gentle and knowing smile on her face like she was not even the least bit bothered by what was happening. Grandfather Cho saw this expression on hers and he felt proud that she was not a weakling.
"I don"t know what you are talking about, Ms. w.a.n.g. I was merely enjoying the party and drinking my wine when you approached me. What could I ever do to the School"s Queen?" Samantha answered, opening her hands in front of her like she was shrugging.
"You enjoyed the spotlight so much, are you happy that everyone in here talks about you now?" Lauren spoke through gritted teeth.
"Ms. w.a.n.g, since everyone is talking about me… couldn"t you at least check the facts right? I suggest that you utilize your brain. It is, after all... free for you to use," she said as she raised her index finger to touch her temple. "You are always on your phone, I"m sure a quick search on google is all you needed."
Sure enough, a few in the crowd started to type in Samantha"s name on the search engine and found all the related information.
"Woah, Samantha"s husband is so handsome."
"How could Lauren not think about it? She sure is a blockhead."
Lauren clenched her hands into fists. She was very tempted to check it herself but she thought that it will just make her feel worse knowing that she had really been very stupid and wrong all this time.
Oliver, on the other hand, was so quick to see for himself. And when he clicked on the link, he saw Samantha"s social media page wherein the most recent post was from weeks ago as she did not intend to post anything else after that for some time. That post was her most viewed, shared, liked and commented ever since she became an influencer.
Oliver"s brows knitted as soon as he saw the picture of Samantha and another man in a loving pose with the caption:
//"People may think that being someone"s first love is great. But for me, being someone"s last is beyond perfect!
"Sharing a photo of tonight"s dinner date. A celebration of marriage with my husband, Daniel Cho."//
Seeing everyone"s reaction, Lauren felt very embarra.s.sed and she faced Samantha again. "You knew that I had mistakenly said some things and yet you did not stop me! You planned all of this! You wanted to humiliate me!"
A chuckle escaped from within Samantha and she looked even more radiant, mesmerizing the sea of people around here, a total opposite of the sorry looking Lauren w.a.n.g. "Hannah told you to shut up, did she not? But you ignored her words and kept on spouting nonsense. You humiliated yourself, Ms. w.a.n.g. It was all you."
Lauren stepped forward and lashed out her final words to Samantha, "You will regret this Samantha! Karma will find you!" she dared to say before she hurriedly walked out of the scene, the crowd giving way to her.
The room"s temperature suddenly dropped and steady footsteps were heard not far from them. Lauren kept her head down as tears continued to fall while she walked. Not looking at where she was actually heading, she b.u.mped into someone"s firm and muscular figure.
"Aah!" she cried out when she fell down the floor. Immediately, Lauren barked at the man who was in her way, "Can"t you see where you"re-" her voice trailed off when she saw the person in front of her.
A tall and charismatic man in a tailored tan suit stood before her in all his glory. Looking so gorgeous in his outfit, Daniel Cho"s presence overshadowed even his grandfather"s.
Lauren"s mouth hung open, shocked by the beautiful creature that suddenly appeared out of nowhere. "Who is this man?" she thought while she shrunk in fear when she felt his frightening aura looming at her frail figure.
With his threatening stare, he looked at her in the eye. "The only person karma will find is you!" he hissed. His voice was not very loud however it was unexpectedly impactful as the people near him suddenly stepped back unconsciously.
Grandfather Cho shook his head when he saw his grandson. This grandson of his surely knows how to scare people even without raising his voice.
Daniel Cho only spared a brief look at Lauren that lasted only for a few seconds and ignored her after he spoke. Without even helping her up, he walked past her and walked towards his wife who was currently surprised at his swift arrival.
Watching his every move, everyone looked towards the direction of the man who was walking like a King in his own Kingdom. He had a stance that is fitting to be called a magnificent leader. No one spoke as they were all busy gaping at his entrance.
As soon as he was nearing, he took off his coat and flicked it over Samantha"s shoulders, protecting her bare arms from the cold temperature of the room.
Samantha looked up at her husband who was slowly leaning towards her. Slowly closing her eyes when she felt his cool lips press against her forehead. Her worries instantly vanished as he held her hands in the most comforting way she could ever feel.
Pulling back slightly, he brushed her hair away from her face and tucked it behind her ear before he spoke, "I"m here now, my love."