Ch. 61..70
CHAPTER 61
“We got a call about a group of people fighting here. That must be you!” The leading officer got out of the car. He looked around, saw the hired men lying on the ground, and glanced at Bonnie in surprise.
“Did you take on all of them yourself?”
Bonnie nodded and pointed at Sacha. “She brought those guys here to attack me.”
Sacha was shocked and yelled, “W–What nonsense are you saying, Bonnie? You’re the one who brought them here to beat me up.‘
“Oh? Did I do that? Why would I beat them up, then?”
“W–Well. They found their conscience and couldn’t bear to hurt me, so they decided to help me instead. You beat them all up in a fit of rage.
What a wonderful liar. Bonnie couldn’t help but laugh.
“What’s going on here?” The officer asked again. Sacha went to him and said, “I told the truth, officer. Try asking them!”
The officer pointed to the hired men lying on the floor, “Out with it, guys. Was she telling the truth?”
The hired men looked at Sacha. She secretly gave them a look. She had hired them, after all. They had. only gotten a deposit too. They’d only get the rest of the money when this was all over.
“T–That’s right, officer! It was her.” They all pointed at Bonnie. “She hired us!”
The officer turned to look at Bonnie. “Is this true?”
Bonnie said calmly, “Not at all.”
The officer rubbed the side of his forehead and said, “You’re all coming to the police department with me. I want you to call your families too.”
She frowned. If she called Vera and Gresham, they wouldn’t listen to her at all. They’d only force her to apologize to Sacha. She didn’t even want to think about that.
In the end, she had no choice but to call Ivor. He sounded a little unhappy when he picked up. “Why aren’t you back home yet?”
“I ran into a situation.”
That unnerved him. “What happened? Were you in a car crash? Where are you? I’ll be there right away!” Bonnie’s heart went soft for a second when she heard the impatient but worried tone in his
voice.
“I’m at the police station.”
“Huh? The police station? Aren’t you supposed to be at the hospital?”
Bonnie rubbed the side of her head and said, “I wasn’t in a car accident. I just had a situation.”
Bonnie and Sacha sat across from each other in the police station.
“Do you have any identification with you?” Sergeant Zain was in charge of their case.
“I don’t have anything with me.” Bonnie said.
“Neither do I.”
“I guess we’ll have to wait for your families to arrive, then.”
At that moment, Dwayne walked into the station.
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“Is that you, Dwayne?” Sergeant Zain recognized him.
“So, you’re in charge of this case, Sergeant Zain.” He was a little surprised to see Bonnie. He hadn’t expected to see her here. So was Bonnie the person Sacha said was bullying her?
Sacha burst out crying and ran into his arms as he was still in the middle of his thoughts.
“You’re finally here, Dwayne! Bonnie hired a group of guys and tried to beat me up! Luckily, the ment found their conscience and didn’t do it. Otherwise, I would be in the hospital now, Boo hoo…”
He frowned, “Why would she do that?”
“It was all because of the bet. We were just kidding around, but she insisted I shave my head. First, she threatened me in the group chat and said she’d release the video to the public if I didn’t honor the bet. She wanted to make a joke out of me. Then, she hired a group of men to beat me up. She wanted to coerce me into shaving my head. There was another reason…”
“Another reason?”
“Y–Yeah. She told me you tried to come on to her. She also said she was out of your league. She asked me to keep you on a leash.
“She even said you’re not fit to lick her boots and you grossed her out by giving her a million dollars to try to get her to marry you.
He believed every word Sacha said. After all, Bonnie had said that to him in the restaurant. Sacha hadn’t been there, so she couldn’t have known about it unless Bonnie had told her.
Dwayne was already irritated with Bonnie because she had humiliated him in the restaurant. He was beside himself with rage now that Sacha had fanned the flames.
He turned and looked at Sergeant Zain. “It’s like my girlfriend said. This woman here threw herself at me again and again, but I rejected her. That’s probably why she has a grudge against us. She insulted me in front of my girlfriend and hired someone to beat her up.”
Sacha was overjoyed to hear what Dwayne was saying. She had thought quickly and managed to kill two birds with one stone. Dwayne was going to blame Bonnie for this, and he would have zero interest
in her from now on.
Sergeant Zain looked at Bonnie sternly and asked, “Is that true?”
She answered calmly, “It’s their word against mine. There’s no evidence.”
That made sense, he thought.
“There isn’t any evidence?” Sacha pointed at the hired men. “You hired them. They’re witnesses.”
Bonnie slowly turned her head toward Sacha and said, “You say that they’re witnesses and I hired them. Do you have any proof of that?”
Sacha choked. It had never occurred to her that Bonnie would be able to maintain her calm
under these circumstances.
“Bonnie… Her name sounds familiar,” Sergeant Zain muttered.
Bonnie picked up a cup of water from the desk and remembered what had happened in the past She had been at this police station because of an incident once. Sergeant Zain had only been an ordinary officer back then. He had checked her social security card and inadvertently found out that she was the renowned researcher, Ms. Bonita.
“It sounds really familiar…” He kept thinking.
“Ah! 1 know! Is she that Bonnie?” A thought occurred to the officer standing beside them.
Bonnie’s grip on her cup tightened. Had he recognized her?
“Who?” Sergeant Zain asked.
“It is her. Bonnie, winner of the Best Scholar Award!”
“Oh. So, that’s her. My daughter said something about her.” That explained why her name sounded so familiar to him.
Bonnie relaxed a little.
“Where’s your family? Why aren’t they here?”
At that moment, they heard a deep voice at the door.
“I’m sorry I’m late.”
Bonnie turned toward the voice and saw Ivor. His hair was a little tousled, his tie was loose, and there was sweat on his forehead. It was clear that he had rushed over here.
Bonnie felt a little moved.
“I’m the one who should apologize. I dragged you into this.”
“What are you talking about? I’m your fiancé.”
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Fiancé, he said… Bonnic lowered her gaze and tried to hide her emotions.
“Fiancé?!” Dwayne and Sacha exclaimed in unison, visibly shocked. They had seen this man at the school gate and thought that Bonnie had hired an actor. They were shocked to hear that he was her
fiancé
“Impossible! I’ve never heard of him!” Sacha still thought that Bonnie had hired an actor. “She’s lying, Sergeant Zain. She doesn’t have a fiancé. Her ex–fiancé called off their marriage. She must have hired an actor to pretend to be her fiancé because she didn’t have the guts to tell her family about it.”
Dwayne thought Sacha made a fine point.
Sergeant Zain turned to Bonnie and asked with a serious expression on his face, “Is he really your fiancé? You shouldn’t lie to me.”
“He is.” She replied.
Sergeant Zain observed her for a while and looked at Ivor. “Please show me your identification, sir.”
“Ivor gay
it to him, and he passed it to one of his underlings to verify. Soon enough, his
underling came back, sweating profusely, and whispered in his ear.
He jolted and looked at Ivor incredulously. “So, you’re Mr. Ivor Knight. I’m sorry, I didn’t know. Someone get him a cup of tea. The finest tea we have.”
What was happening now? Dwayne and Sacha looked at each other, completely baffled.
Ivor Knight? Who was he? Why was Sergeant Zain being so respectful toward him?
Ivor didn’t drink the tea immediately. Instead, he looked at Sergeant Zain and asked, “Do you believe she’s my fiancé now?”
“Of course I do!” He nodded hurriedly. Naturally, he had heard about Ivor’s engagement. In fact, the whole of Pyralis knew about it. His daughter had said she was jealous of the woman who was engaged to Ivor. It had never occurred to him that he would bump into her today.
“Can I take her home now?” Ivor asked Sergeant Zain.
“Sure! Be my guest!”
“How could you let her walk free, Sergeant Zain?! He might be an important man, them off just because of that.” Dwayne stopped him.
but you can’t let
Sergeant Zain was annoyed. “You said Ms. Bonnie seduced you repeatedly and you rejected her time and again. That’s why she harbored a grudge against you, insulted you before your girlfriend, and hired someone to beat her up. Is that right?”
“Exactly!” Dwayne raised his chin and stared at Bonnie condescendingly. “It doesn’t matter if you’re pretty. You’re beneath me.”
“What a load of crap!” Sergeant Zain smacked the desk loudly.
Dwayne was startled. Before he could say another word, Sergeant Zain started yelling at him. “Ms. Bonnie is the future wife of the Knight Group CEO. Why would she need to seduce you, the son of a lowly four–star hotel owner? Do you think what you said makes any sense?”
“W–What?” Dwayne was stunned. Sacha’s mouth was wide open. She looked at Bonnie, then at Ivor. Was this stunning, exquisite man the most powerful man in the Knight Group? Was he the bachelor every single woman in Pyralis wanted to marry?!
Holy moly! She remembered it now. News of the Knight Group CEO’s engagement had shaken the entire city not long ago!
“Are you saying he’s the Knight Group CEO?” Dwayne pointed at Ivor, his tone different now.
“Exactly. In the flesh,” Sergeant Zain replied sternly.
Dwayne and Sacha finally understood. Sergeant Zain wasn’t joking at all.
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Sergeant Zain took a step toward Sacha, “I’m going to ask you again, Ms. Sacha. Did Ms. Bonnie hire those guys to beat you up?“.
“Well…” Sacha’s mouth opened, and her eyes were wide and round from shock. She had no idea how to answer. Whatever insults she lobbed at Bonnie would be useless because of Ivor’s presence.
Sergeant Zain was right. Bonnie was the future wife of the Knight Group CEO, Who in their right mind would give that up to seduce Dwayne instead?
‘Mr. Ivor. Ms. Bonnie. You can go,” Sergeant Zain said.
“Very well.” Ivor took off his blazer and put it over Bonnie’s shoulders. He spoke softly so that only the two of them could hear. “We have to make sure this looks real.” Bonnie went along with him and tugged at the blazer. She raised her head and smiled warmly at him. “Thank you.”
Ivor’s hands, which were resting by his side, clenched. His breathing quickened a little.
“Let’s move.”
He turned back to Dwayne and Sacha when he was at the door. “I hope no one else finds out about what happened tonight. Otherwise, today will be the last day Prismatic Hotel stays open in Pyralis.”
Dwayne’s face grew pale and his legs trembled. “L–Leave it to me. I won’t tell anyone about this, I swear.”
Sacha watched Bonnie as she left with a mixture of fear and envy.
“Let’s proceed with the case.” Sergeant Zain looked at Dwayne and Sacha coldly. A terrified Sacha fell
to the floor. It was all over now.
In the end, she was put behind bars while Dwayne’s family took him back home. They forbade him from seeing Sacha ever again under threat of not being able to inherit the Prismatic Hotel. Dwayne had brothers, after all. He might love Sacha, but he wasn’t about to ruin his future because of a
woman.
“Ah!” Sergeant Zain smacked his own thigh so hard it startled his underling who was standing next
to him.
“W–What’s the matter, Sergeant?”
“I remember who Bonnie is now!” He gulped.
His underling was bewildered. “I–Isn’t she the future wife of the Knight Group CEO?”
“You don’t know anything! S–She’s Ms. Bonita!”
His underling’s eyes grew wide.
It was very late by the time Bonnie and Ivor left the police station. It was getting cold in Pyralis at
night. Bonnie spotted a taco truck by the side of the road.
“Do you want some tacos?” Ivor noticed where she was looking.
“Yeah. I used to eat tacos all the time in the suburbs. I could never get enough of them.” She looked at him, “I’m going to get one. Do you want one too?”
“I’ll buy them.” Ivor didn’t give Bonnie a chance to reject him. He walked briskly to the taco truck and bought her one. Bonnie gave it to him and asked, “Do you want a bite? I know it’s not as good as caviar, but it’s tasty too.”
“Hold that thought.” Ivor crouched in front of Bonnie.
What was he doing?
She lowered her head and looked at him.
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Bonnie’s eyes began to flicker.
Was Ivor tying her shoes?
Who knew the big shot of Pyralis would act like this?
Bonnie felt her heart stir.
“There.” Ivor stood up.
“Oh. Um.” Bonnie looked a little timid.
Ivor had unexpectedly caught Bonnie being embarrassed. He couldn’t help but adore her. you going to give me a bite of the taco?”
“Weren’t
Bonnie composed herself and offered him the taco. She didn’t know that he would grab her hand, lift it, lean in, and take a bite. Her lips twitched and she stared at him, unsure of how to react.
“Hmm… It is tasty. It’s really good.” Ivor smiled and looked at Bonnie. She averted her gaze and frowned at the taco. She wasn’t usually fussed about sharing food, but something felt wrong after Ivor had taken a bite. She couldn’t put her finger on it.
“Why aren’t you eating it? Hurry up. It won’t be as good when it gets cold.”
“Okay.” Bonnie shook away her thoughts and started eating the taco. Ivor peeked at her as she took one bite after another, his grin growing wider and wider.
As soon as Bonnie returned to her room in the villa, Jim walked out of her bathroom. “What are you doing in my bathroom again?”
She closed and locked her door immediately, afraid that Ivor would sense something wrong. They might not be as lucky this time.
“I’m here because I heard you were in danger!” Jim looked worried.
“I wasn’t really in any danger. It was just a minor scuffle. There’s no need to make a big deal about it.”
“That’s not what I’m doing. This is about who you are. You’re Arvandor’s top researcher. I can’t allow
up to me, you’d be protected by a hundred bodyguards.”
you to be harmed. If it we?
Bonnie smacked her forehead and said, “Do you think I’m some kind of endangered animal?”
“Nope. You’re the last specimen of an extinct species.”
Bonnie had nothing to say to that.
“You might have been fine this time, but we can’t just let this slide. Sacha did a terrible thing. She hired a group of men and assaulted you, an elite member of the nation,” Jim said menacingly as he squinted his sharp eyes.
She waved her hand, “She got what she deserved. She’s spending a few days behind bars. There’s no
need to…”
“No way!” Jim overruled her. “I’ll listen to your orders most of the time, but not when it’s about your personal safety. I won’t stand down on that! Don’t try to talk me out of it. This is my duty!”
Bonnie knew how stubborn Jim could be, so she just shook her head helplessly. “Have it your way.
The next day, Sacha’s family went to see her and told her that the university Sacha had applied to had rejected her, and none of the other higher education institutes would accept her either. Sacha was out of her mind with despair!
The Prismatic Hotel’s application to be upgraded to five–stars was also denied. All their business partners pulled out of their contracts as well. The Moss family went into bankruptcy.
The annual dinner party at the Knight premises was about to start. This was a rare occasion. Every young lady in the family would be occupied with buying a specially tailored dress.
Chapter 66
They were doing it to win honor for their branch of the family. They also wanted to become the stars. of the party.
The
arty wasn’t even close to starting, but Halle and Rowena were picking on Bonnie already.
party
“I guess you’re kind of Ivor’s fiancé now, Bonnie. Don’t embarrass him at the dinner party! You can beg me for a dress if you don’t have one for the occasion. I’m sure I have some things I can lend you.
“They might be outdated, but they’re all expensive. You’ve probably never worn anything like that
as she before. Well? Are you going to beg me for it? I’ll give you something if you do,” Halle said, looked at Bonnie condescendingly.
“I don’t need your pathetic dresses, I didn’t want to say this, but your dresses are beneath me.”
“Go ahead and talk! I’ll be waiting for you to embarrass yourself at the party!”
Halle walked a few steps away with Rowena, then turned back. “Didn’t you used to pretend you were wearing Hamish’s designs? I managed to reserve one out of the three new designs he made this month. I’m sure you’ll be jealous when I amaze everyone at the party.”
Bonnie raised her brows and looked at Halle mischievously. “I can read your fortune. I can tell you that you’re not fated to have any of his dresses. I’m afraid you won’t be able to wear it this month.‘
“Hah!” Halle rolled her eyes at Bonnie and led Rowena away, looking all high and mighty.
Bonnie’s phone buzzed. Hamish was calling. What a coincidence. She had been about to call him.
“I’ve just tweeted three of my latest designs on my official Twitter account, Ms. Bonnie. Two of them have been reserved, but I saved the third and the best for you. I’ve been turning down every request
for it.”
Bonnie checked Twitter and saw that there were, indeed, three designs. The two that had been reserved were definitely fashionable, but the one Hamish had saved for her was in a completely different league.
“Nicely done. I’ll take it.”
“Okay!”
“Has anyone from the Knight family reserved any of your dresses?”
“I did hear that the Knight family’s annual dinner party is next week, and now that you mention it, some of the Knights have reserved my dresses.”
“Do you have a buyer who goes by Halle Knight?” She asked.
“Wait a minute. I’ll check.”
Very soon, he came back with an answer. “There is a Halle Knight.”
П
“Cancel her reservation.”
“Huh? What?” Hamish was stunned, but it soon hit him. “Did she offend you somehow?”
“You could say that.”
“Alright. I’ll cancel it, then. It’s just that the dress is kind of expensive, and she paid a deposit. We’ll have to pay quite a hefty price if we cancel it.”
Bonnie didn’t care about that. “Do you think I can’t afford to pay for that?”
It made sense, Hamish thought. After all, Bonnie, chairman of Tang Fusion Studios, had personally appointed him chief designer and CEO. Their company was one of the ten most prominent companies in the world, so they had unimaginable wealth.
As chairman, she could easily afford to pay for a cancelled reservation.
“Alright. Consider it done.”
“Very well.”
Halle kept demeaning Bonnie to Rowena on their way back. “I just can’t stand her. Ivor must have. had the most rotten luck to be engaged to someone as cocky and useless as Bonnie.
“She even said she knew how to read fortunes and I wasn’t fated to wear one of Hamish’s dresses.
Who the fuck does she think she is?”
“Absolutely. She grosses me out so much I could just puke.” Rowena acted like she was about to throw.
1. up.
“Hmph! We’ll be able to make fun of her at the party!”
Soon, Halle received a call from Tang Fusion Studios.
“It must be about my dress. They must have finished it!”
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Halle exclaimed excitedly and answered the call. “Have you finished my dress?”
“I’m sorry, Ms. Halle. We’ve decided to cancel your reservation for the dress.”
“What?!” Halle’s eyes widened in shock. “H–How could you do that? I paid the deposit!”
“I’m very sorry. The order came from top management, Don’t worry, though. We’ll compensate you for your loss.”
“I don’t want your compensation! I want my dress! I want the dress that Hamish designed!” Halle
shouted.
“We’ve transferred the compensation to your account. Please verify it.”
“I won’t agree to this! I’m… Hello? Hey!”
They had hung up.
Halle was so angry she smashed her phone. “Damn that Tang Fusion Studios! I can’t believe they decided to cancel my reservation just like that!”
“What on earth happened?” Rowena asked, confused.
“How would I know?!” Halle roared. Then, it hit her. She whipped her head at Rowena, who had also
remembered their conversation with Bonnie.
Naturally, they didn’t think it was at all related. It must have been pure coincidence.
Ivor was in his study giving instructions to Floyd. “Give Tang Fusion Studios another call. I want that dress. It’s the most elaborate dress I’ve ever seen. It has to be mine.”
Floyd was troubled. “I’ve just had a call with them. Someone’s already bought that dress, Mr. Ivor.”
“Who’s the buyer? I’ll talk to him myself.”
Ivor was trying to surprise Bonnie, but he didn’t think it would be this hard.
“I asked them. They said one of the people in top management bought it.
“Do you have a name?”
“I’ll ask.”
Floyd managed to find out soon. “It was their chairman, Mr. Ivor.”
Ivor had no choice but to give up.
When Floyd saw how dark Ivor’s face was, he asked, “Should I contact another top fashion designer, Mr. Ivor?”
Ivor waved him away. “Do it.”
The Knight family’s annual dinner party commenced a week later. Ivor had Floyd send the dress he had gotten Bonnie to her room.
“Ms. Bonnie says she has a dress for herself already, Mr. Ivor.” Floyd took the dress Ivor prepared all the way downstairs.
He frowned. Was it because she didn’t want to accept his gift?
Floyd looked at Bonnie’s room and said, “I know this is just a family dinner party, but all the branches of the Knight family will play their games and try to further their agendas there. If Ms. Bonnie is dressed too plainly, they might make fun of her.”
“Let her dress however she wants. I won’t forgive anyone who ridicules her.”
After he heard what his master said, Floyd decided to keep his thoughts to himself.
As their conversation drew to an end, they heard a door opening upstairs.
“Is Ms. Bonnie done? Did she put on any makeup?” Floyd was worried that Bonnie would be dressed too plainly.
However, his jaw dropped to the floor when he saw Bonnie. Ivor stood up involuntarily too, his black eyes trained on Bonnie.
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Bonnie lifted the skirt of her dress a little and walked down the stairs gracefully. She looked
exceptionally beautiful, like an angel who had descended from heaven or a fairy who had walked out of an exquisite painting.
“1–Isn’t this Hamish’s best work?” Floyd stuttered as he recognized the dress.
Ivor came back to his senses and looked at the dress. Wasn’t this the dress he had tried so hard to get?
Bonnie stood in front of them, “Yeah, You’re right. This is Hamish’s best work.”
Ivor frowned. “How did you get it?”
“I got it because I could,” Bonnie said truthfull
“I heard that the chairman of Tang Fusion Studios reserved it.” Ivor continued to frown and stare at
her.
After a pause, Bonnie nonchalantly said, “The chairman of Tang Fusion Studios gave it to me as a gift.”
“Why did he give you such an expensive dress? How did you meet the chairman? What’s your relationship with him?” Ivor’s eyes grew more menacing with each question he asked.
Bonnie felt the room getting colder and connected the dots between the dress and the time when Ivor had told her not to cheat on him. In conclusion, Ivor was overthinking things again.
“Firstly, the chairman of Tang Fusion Studios is a woman. As for why she gave it to me and the nature of our relationship, that’s part of my private life. I won’t reveal that part of me to you, even if you push me.”
“She’s a lady? Did you say the chairman’s a lady?” Ivor sounded surprised.
“Yeah. So you can stop worrying about us having an affair.”
“That’s not what I meant. I didn’t think you’d do such a thing,” He explaiped hastily.
Bonnie just laughed.
Ivor felt embarrassed, but he didn’t let it show.
After that, Ivor took Bonnie to the biggest mountain resort in Pyralis, where the family dinner party was being held this year.
“This place is huge. Try not to leave my sight.” Ivor looked at her with a worried expression and said, “If someone tries to stir up trouble with you, just let me know.”
Bonnie could tell that the last part of the sentence was the most important. He was worried that a hick from the suburbs like her had never seen a party like this.
“Don’t worry. I won’t do anything inappropriate and embarrass you. I’ve been to many events like
this.” She had gone to a palace in a foreign country and had even sat with a prince and the descendants of the nobles. She wasn’t fazed by this party at all.
Ivor train
gaze on her and failed to detect any nervousness from her expression. Was she doing
a good job at hiding it? Or had she really been to many events like this?
At that moment, the steward who was hosting the party came over. “I’m sorry, Mr. Ivor. There’s been
a situation, and we need you to fix it.”
He turned to look at Bonnie. “Do you want to come along with me?”
Was he treating her like a child? Was he worried she’d get lost? Thought Bonnie.
“Go ahead. I’m going to grab some food.”
“Sure. Just call me if anything happens,” said Ivor concernedly.
“Alright. Loud and clear.”
Ivor was still worried about her. He turned to Jim, who looked relaxed, and said, “Keep her safe.”
Jim nodded. “Roger that.”
He clicked his tongue as Ivor left. “I think he cares about you.”
Bonnie raised her brows and said, “Did you learn to gossip while you were out of the country?”
Jim just scratched the back of his head.
Then, Bonnie heard a shrill scream.
“Your dress, Bonnie! Isn’t it Hamish’s best work? How did it find its way to you?!”
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Bonnie looked at Halle and raised her brows. There was a hint of mockery in her eyes.
“Wasn’t your dress supposed to be one of Hamish’s designs? I seem to remember you bragging that you were going to wear it to the party. Why didn’t you?”
Halle gritted her teeth and looked at Bonnie. She wanted to smack her really badly. “Wipe that smug look off your face! Did Ivor get you this dress? That just means you didn’t get it yourself!”
Bonnie’s lips curled into a smile. The cunning and ridicule in her eyes were unmistakable. “How smart of you. Ivor, who’s also my fiancé, went through a great deal of trouble and spent a lot of money on this. I told him to forget about it, but he just wouldn’t listen to me. I couldn’t help it.”
Halle’s face twisted, and Rowena looked even more furious.
Bonnie chuckled when she saw their faces. “You’re his cousin, Halle. And you’re his childhood friend, Rowena. You should try to talk some sense into him. Tell him not to spend all that money wasted a lot on that!”
y on me. He’s
“Why, you! What a load of crap! Ivor hates you. There’s no way he bought you anything! He must have bought this dress because Grandpa made him. I’d even go so far as to say Grandpa was the one who bought you the dress, not Ivor. You just put it that way to make yourself look better.”
What Halle said made sense. Rowena agreed and let out a sigh of relief internally. There was no way Ivor would treat this nobody so well.
“Suit yourself,” Bonnie said. She didn’t give a damn about them.
“Hmph! Since you said that, that must have been the truth. You’re just a hick and a nobody. Why would Ivor spend that kind of money on a dress for you?”
Bonnie stared at her defiantly. “I’m a nobody? How did you figure that?”
“Well…” Halle stopped herself when she remembered that Bonnie was the Best Scholar in the city.
There was more. Rowena had tried to see Master Quenton when she heard he was at the Knight’s to convince him to take her on as his apprentice. To their surprise, Master Quenton seemed to really respect Bonnie. They also found out that her tea brewing skill outmatched Master Quenton’s.
At that moment, Ivor walked over. When Rowena saw him, she tugged at Halle’s arm. “Here comes Ivor. Let’s ask if he bought Bonnie the dress.”
Halle’s eyes glinted. She refused to believe Ivor would buy a dress for Bonnie. She ran toward him and asked, “Bonnie said you bought her the dress, Ivor. Is it true?”
She cast a taunting glance at Bonnie.
‘Just wait and see. I’m going to expose your lies,‘ she thought.
Ivor thought for a few seconds and said, “Yeah. That’s right. Is there a problem?”
Halle and Rowena gawked. Bonnie locked her gaze on him too.
“W–Well. Grandpa must have made you do it, right?” Halle refused to give up.
Ivor’s eyes grew darker. “I bought a dress for my fiancé. Why would anyone need to make me do it?”
His words shocked Halle and Rowena to their core.
“C–Come on, Ivor. You can’t be serious. Right?”
Ivor didn’t answer her. Instead, he took Bonnie’s hand and said, “Let’s go over there. They have your
favorite tiramisu cake.”
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“Okay.” Bonnie didn’t resist and let Ivor lead her away.
Halle and Rowena’s faces went from shocked to disbelief, all the way to denial. It was a sight to see.
“What on earth happened, Halle? Has Ivor really fallen for her? What should I do if that really is
true?” Rowena wa
upset. She looked like she was about to burst into tears.
‘Stop it. Ivor has taste. There was no way he’d fall in love with Bonnie.”
“You say that, but he bought her an expensive dress. How do we explain that?”
‘Maybe he just wanted to preserve the honor of his branch of the family.”
“Well… He held her hand too. He’s never held any woman’s hands, not even mine. How do we explain
that?”
Halle scratched her head. She didn’t have an answer for that. In fact, she would love to know.
When Bonnie and Ivor had walked far enough away from Halle and Rowena, she said, “Thanks for that.” She raised her glass. Ivor lightly clinked her glass with his. “That was my duty. No thanks are
necessary.
“Although…” She frowned slightly.
“What is it?”
She turned her head to look at Rowena, who wasn’t that far away. Then, she shot a deliberate gaze at him. “She seems to really like you. Haven’t you just squandered your chance at a romantic relationship?”
His lips curled into a smile. “Listen to yourself. Are you jealous?”
“I’m many things, but I’m not jealous.”
Ivor had been a little happy, but he looked glum after he heard what she said.
Halle and Rowena were cooking up a plan to teach Bonnie a lesson. They were trying to find a way to
humiliate her.
They approached Bonnie again. Halle raised her voice so she could attract some attention to themselves. “You once told me that you were good at flower arranging, Bonnie. What a coincidence.. Rowena’s good at it too. Maybe you two should have a competition. It doesn’t matter who wins. It’ll just add something fun to the party. What do you think?”
Ivor leaned closer to Bonnie and whispered, “Do you know your way around flower arranging?”
“I know enough to get by, but I’ve never told them that.”
Suddenly, it hit Ivor. They were doing this on purpose.
“Hey, Bonnie! Why aren’t you answering me? Are you going to chicken out? Like I said, it doesn’t matter who wins. It’s just a game. Are you going to disrespect us by turning us down? Or do you just think you’re too good for Rowena?”
The other guests heard the commotion and cast strange glances at Bonnie. They began to murmur.
Ivor squinted at the pushy Halle. As he started to say something, Bonnie stepped up.
“Let’s do it, but we’ll need to have some stakes. Otherwise, it’ll be a waste of time.”
“Sure. What’s on your mind?”