Harry dropped the bun he was eating. His eyes glued on the television as the credit for Hot & Spicy Ginger played. What was this? That woman actually portrayed Ryn as the bad guy indirectly with her words. She did not say it out loud but the way she "confessed" made it seemed like Ryn was the third party between her relations.h.i.+p with that man."You mean Catherine, the model in the same company as yours, is a boyfriend stealer?" Mia gasped in shock.
"No!"
Both the mother and daughter looked at Harry in shock.
Harry took a deep breath to calm down. He leaned down to pick up the bun he dropped. He put the bun on the plate on the coffee table and stood up.
"Don"t believe anything she said," he said coldly.
"But... Jennifer will not lie," Mia cried. Jennifer is her favourite singer. Mia is even the VIP in Jennifer"s fan club, the Dearest.
"You believe her?" Harry snorted.
"Harry, stop making your sister sad," his mother reminded quietly.
"Mother, she"s a singer. She"s in the entertainment world. She"s not naive and innocent to be able to be in this industry for years," Harry said desperately.
"She"s not a liar," Mia cried stubbornly. "It"s obvious that Catherine cannot accept that Jeremy is with Jennifer so she tried to get between them."
"I know Ryn. She is not that kind of woman," Harry stated firmly.
"But..."
"That"s enough, Mia. Stop making a.s.sumptions before you listen to everyone"s side," Harry stared at his little sister.
Mia looked at their mother sadly.
"Harry!"
"Mother, this is a gossip entertainment program. They create gossips, they create stories to sell their program. How do we know what they say is the truth? We haven"t heard what Jeremy says yet. Even if we look at the video, it"s clear that Jeremy doesn"t care about Jennifer," Harry said.
Mia wanted to argue but this time Mrs Si put a hand on her daughter"s hand, shaking her head to stop Mia from saying anything.
"Ryn is not that kind of girl. I know her. She doesn"t care about relations.h.i.+p right now. Her mind is full with study and work," Jeremy added.
"I know you think Catherine is not what Jennifer portrays she is but..." Mrs Si paused, "Even you don"t know who Catherine really is. Do you know her more than a year? Are you two close enough for you to know her personally?"
"Maybe she"s a gold digger," Mia said without thinking.
"If she"s a gold digger, she will try to be closer to me. But she did not even bat an eye when she knew dad"s company. She did not even care that I"m popular in the campus. She treats me like she treats others. She doesn"t even care about money. She earns a lot from her oversea works," Harry muttered.
"Maybe she"s pretending," Mia muttered.
"Mia, shut your mouth," Harry warned.
"Mother~" Mia cried, hugging her mother in fear of her big brother.
"Mia, stop making your brother angry," Mrs Si told her daughter gently and glared at her son, "Stop making your sister scared, Harry."
"She should learn to think before she speak," Harry muttered.
"She"s still small. She still needs to learn," Mrs Si defended her daughter. Mia nodded rapidly. She was the baby in the family.
"She"s eighteen years old," Harry pointed out.
"She"s still a baby," Mrs Si stated firmly.
"Stop spoiling her too much. She needs to be treated as an adult," Harry said desperately.
"She"s still a baby," Mrs Si repeated with a warning glare.
Mia stuck her tongue out at Harry.
Harry gripped his fists to control his temper. Deciding that it was better to not seeing that face of his little sister, Harry went upstairs to grab his car key and then went out to drive away.
"Where do you think you"re going, Harry? It"s already late," Mrs Si shouted but her son ignored her.
Harry simply walked out of the house, into one of his cars and drove away. Staying in this house was driving him nuts!
He drove aimlessly. He just needed to be left alone. He needed to calm himself before his temper get the better of him.
That program actually opened up his eyes how dangerous it was to be popular. Everything and anything was scrutinized by everyone, even though they do not know the person personally. They could create a.s.sumptions and rumours based on what they think is the real personality or behaviour of that person.
No wonder Ryn never cared about popularity. She just did her own work and did not spend time outside without her manager or best friend, in order not to give the opportunity for the paparazzi to catch her in any compromise situation. She spent more time in the house rather than outside like some other girls in the campus. Heck, it was hard for him to find her doing nothing at the campus other than studying or working out in the gym... or eating. Other than these three activities, she would not be in the campus.
Ryn also did not care what the students in the campus talked about her. When the advertis.e.m.e.nt of the university came out and everyone realized she became the main "spokesperson" during the whole video, she just shrugged it off and continued her life like it was nothing. Even when some of the girls accused her of doing something behind the scene to get her "spotlight", she just pointed out about the girls" lateness and inability to meet Jack"s requirement. It made people think of Ryn as being arrogant but she just shrugged it off.
"Why should I care what they think when I know I"ve done nothing wrong? Besides, I get paid to do it so I should do it perfectly," Ryn told him when he asked whether she felt hurt with the treatments received from the students, especially from the girls.
This answer actually made him determine to do his best in his job too. If she could ignore what others think about her as long as she does everything expected of her and actually good in it, why couldn"t he follow her footsteps and become the best version of himself? He did not want to be labelled as a model who is depending on his family"s wealth to get jobs. He wanted to be known for his own talent and professionalism.
That was why he could not believe what this so-called "kind-hearted" and "talented" singer claimed about Ryn. He would not believe his Ryn would do such thing. She was too busy to be in any relations.h.i.+p!
"No. You are not like that. You would not deliberately break anyone"s relations.h.i.+p because of jealousy. You"re too kind to do that," he muttered.
He did not know how but he found himself in front of Ryn"s house. Well, actually the car stopped in front of Angel"s house. He shut the engine off and got out of the car. Then, he went to her house, standing at the gate of the house.
It was dark.
Ryn was not inside. No one was inside the house.
Harry sighed a bit. Until now he had no idea where Ryn was. He tried to contact her but she refused to answer all his calls and messages. Was she angry at him? What had he done wrong?
"Ryn, stop hiding from me. I need to know what"s going on with you," he muttered. His hands rested on her gate.
He spent there about fifteen minutes before he gave up waiting and drove the car away, bringing along his broken heart.
*~*~*~*
Ryn woke up from the ringing of her phone. At first, she wanted to ignore it but the caller was so insisted to talk with her.
With a groan, she reached for her phone and tapped it.
"h.e.l.lo?"
"Ryn, where are you right now?" it was Mei Li and she sounded desperate.
"Home. Why?"
"I"m on my way to pick you up. Get ready."
"Huh? What?" Ryn wanted to ask more but Mei Li was already ended the call. Ryn frowned, looking at the phone in puzzle. What was going on?
Ryn walked sleepily into her bathroom to wash her face. She was still so sleepy. What time was it right now?
She changed into black denim jeans and black s.h.i.+rt. As the day was getting late, she also put on her white knitted sweater. Her hair was pulled into the usual ponytail and covered with a cap. She grumbled to herself the reason why she had to get ready this late and why Mei Li sounded so nervous on the phone. Couldn"t it postpone to tomorrow instead? She could spare several hours before visiting Mika.
She did not wait long when she received the call from Mei Li. Her manager had arrived and was waiting downstairs. Ryn reached for her backpack and housekey. She locked the door, only to unlock back.
"Luckily I haven"t moved yet," she murmured and went into her room to get her phone. She almost forgot to bring her phone along!
She walked casually to the elevator, holding to her sleepiness desperately. She still wanted to sleep but had to move. Wasn"t this a cruel thing to do to her? Forcing her to stay awake when all she wanted to do was sleeping?