As Fourth Cecil did not have an umbrella with him, he was drenched from head to toe due to the rain.
Lucy and her mother were surprised to see him like this.
Before they could make out what was happening, the man bolted into the house and began rummaging around for money.
The mother and daughter combo were scared out of their wits. Despite being unaware of what was going on, they were too afraid to ask as he seemed out of his mind.
Fourth Cecil turned the house upside down but still could not find any money. He sprinted over and grabbed her mother by the clothes, asking, “Where’s the money? Where did you hide the money?”
Lucy finally found out then that Fourth Cecil had a drug addiction.
This was one of the most horrifying things in the world.
Everyone knew that there was no talking sense to a drug addict.
Hence, Lucy was beyond terrified.
She was fifteen that year.
Fortunately, her mother was smart, and to prevent Fourth Cecil from hurting her, she sent her off to a boarding school in the city.
The school adopted a closed-off management style. From Monday to Friday, family was not allowed in unless there was a special circumstance.
She and her mother lived in terror during those years.
Her mother’s body had gradually taken a toil in those same years.
This situation persisted and took a turn for the better when she graduated from the film academy and went to the capital.
Everything in the past flashed in her mind like a movie scene.
Harking back to the painful past, Lucy was surprisingly calm.
It was as though the past that was hard to look back on was a breeze that had brushed past.
She might have felt it and lived it but it was all in the past. There was no turning back so there was nothing to be afraid of.
Lucy woke up late the next day.
Perhaps due to the night of dreams, she got up in low spirits.
As Carina was aware that Lucy got home late last night, she came over at a later time today and ordered a takeaway of nourishing soup since it was unlikely Lucy had breakfast.
After freshening up, Lucy drank the soup while scrolling on Weibo to look at the gossip.
She was scrolling on when her movements came to a halt.
Carina was sitting on the sofa, packing the necessities for their trip today. Realizing she was frozen, she asked out of curiosity, “Sister Lucy, what’s wrong?”
Lucy choked and coughed on the mouthful of soup she had yet to swallow.
She waved her arm. “Nothing.”
However, piqued with interest, Carina still drew close.
On her phone, there was gossip across the headline on Weibo.
“Girl-next-door, Lucy Katz’s late-night date with a trust fund baby. Could wedding bells be next?”
Carina widened her eyes in shock.
There were two blurry pictures, taken without permission, attached to the post. It was the scene where Lucy and Joel came out of the restaurant after dinner.
It might be fear of Joel’s power and influence or some other reason that the person intentionally blurred out the man’s figure. Lucy, on the contrary, was snapped rather clearly.
Hence, even if she wore a face mask and lowered her head with her hair let down, it was still visible that the woman in the picture was her.
“Sister Lucy, this...”
Lucy dejectedly kneaded between her brows.
“It’s fine. There’s a lot of this sort of gossip anyway. Weren’t Simon and I captured not long ago? Hehe...”
A day of wardrobe and makeup changes, and posing, left Lucy so tired she could not straighten her back.
Carina brewed some safflower tea for vitality replenishment. She waited until Lucy took two sips before saying, “Sister Lucy, Sister Susan called earlier and said she posted a statement on your behalf.”
Lucy was taken aback and took several seconds before she realized that this was referring to the matter on the web.
After giving some thought, she extended her arm. “Hand me my phone.”
Carina took out her phone from the purse and handed it over to her.
Lucy tapped on Weibo and as expected, she saw the clarifying post that Susan posted on her account.
Susan was in the dark about the man being Joel and only thought it was just a male friend of hers.
Since Lucy gave her word that she would not engage in any romantic relationships during this period of time, Susan trusted her.
She knew Lucy was busy when she called and it was picked up by Carina. Without asking her the specifics, Susan immediately issued a clarifying announcement.
Lucy let out a sigh of relief after going through the post, making sure there was not a problem before closing the app.
After removing her makeup, Lucy informed the staff members beforehand and took off with Carina.
Meanwhile, Jada, who had been lurking in the dark, was discouraged by the photos online.
Others may not recognize Joel but she had just met with Joel yesterday.
Even if the snitch blurred Joel’s figure and appearance on purpose, she could still tell from the clothes that it was him.
They were together the whole day?
This realization sent Jada to a panic.
She was conscious that Joel did not love her but thought nothing of it in the past.
As long as she could remain by his side and marry into the Foster family, she would not make excessive demands for him to fall in love with her.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Spoiled by the President