Rich Radiant and Over Him (Alicia and Vincent) novel Chapter 542

Clayton Holloway's residence.

Jade White was still standing outside the door. These past few days, she had been showing up on time, waiting right outside, hoping for the moment Clayton would finally be willing to see her.

After all, Clayton was her only way out now.

Brandon White was at a dead end. Although his relationship with the Gentleman was deep, a useless pawn would eventually be discarded.

Jade knew she was nothing more than Brandon's pawn, too.

In Brandon's eyes, his daughter was just a tool to be utilized. The moment she lost her value, he would kick her to the curb without hesitation.

She couldn't lose. She absolutely couldn't lose.

"You have three days. If you still can't get Clayton to agree to an alliance, then pack your bags and get the hell to Europe. Don't ever come back and embarrass me again." Brandon's ultimatum rang in her ears.

Jade gripped her phone, her fingers trembling.

Because of Alicia, she had become the laughingstock of the entire industry. And because she was now the discarded outcast of the White family, those who used to flatter her were now dying to trample her into the dirt.

Jade clenched her fists in burning resentment. Dark clouds gathered overhead, and soon, a heavy rain began to fall.

Clayton's butler asked Jade to leave, but she stubbornly remained standing outside the door, refusing to budge.

In that moment, she was violently thrown back to her childhood.

Brandon was an illegitimate son, shunned by society. Worse still, he was the product of her grandmother's deceit—a former maid who had stolen her employer's birth control to conceive a child.

So Jade's childhood was exactly as Tyrone had once described it—like a rat scurrying in the gutter.

That was the root of Jade's extreme personality, the reason she would stop at nothing to achieve her goals.

Jade clung tightly to the puppy she had saved, happily thinking that she and her little dog were getting a new home.

But Brandon snatched the puppy away with a look of pure disgust and brutally slammed it against the ground, killing it instantly.

Brandon told her that filthy, worthless strays had no place in high society. He said her grandfather hated dirty things, and demanded she be smart, obedient, and valuable so that her grandfather would favor her.

Little Jade didn't know how to make people like her.

But staring at the puppy's lifeless body, a brutal truth dawned on her. If she didn't fight tooth and nail to stand at the top, she would be the next stray dog smashed against the pavement.

During those years back in the White family, she tried desperately to play the good girl, working exhaustively to prove her worth. She fought to be the top student in her class, doing everything she could to win her grandfather's affection.

Yet Reginald's eyes always held nothing but contempt when he looked at her.

He would always scoff, turn his nose up, and dismiss her coldly. "If Nicole were by my side, she would be a hundred times better than Jade."