Whilst Mimi finished dressing in her suit and was preparing to leave, Emilia Yimo had already arrived at the birthday banquet.
Emilia stood beside a clear window, the afternoon sun glow illuminating her stunning figure. The girl's long golden locks were braided and draped over her exposed, fair shoulder. Her body dressed perfectly in a blue tea-length satin lace gown.
Emilia focused her gaze on the view and her thick curly lashes fluttered, concealing her silver gems. Her red lips were naturally curved, causing her to appear domineering but possessed a noble and sophisticated aura.
While Emilia appeared relaxed on the surface, internally her heart felt troubled and slightly annoyed. The hand holding her glass clenched.
Hmph! That shameless girl dare be late after she promised to meet her here!
Did something go wrong or did she change her mind last minute?
Emilia immediately dismissed that thought from her mind.
After Mimi revealed her gender to Emilia, their friendship bloomed- the two of them were now as close as sisters.
Through these years, Emilia came to understand various things about the girl…some things she wished to stay unknown.
Mimi wasn't someone to break promises. Especially when it involved showing off or acting perverted.
Though Mimi had an unusual hostility to vegetables, she ate them religiously. Mimi loved sweets and was a shameless pervert at heart.
For anyone who hadn't realized that after knowing Mimi for three seconds was a fool or blind.
To her, this peculiar pervert was her first true friend.
Though that would all change if she didn't appear in the next five minutes!
Just as Emilia was about to sink into her thoughts, she suddenly heard a voice filled with sweet ridicule call out in her direction.
"Oh! Emilia is that you?"
Pulled back to reality by the young gentle voice, Emilia briefly glanced at the approaching figures, her eyes resisting the urge to roll.
The girl standing in front of her was the host of the party, Olivia Bellard. She had been a 'close' friend of Emilia's growing up, both favored and overindulged growing up.
What led to their 'friendship' to fail was both girl's infatuation for Landon Williams.
Emilia, who had been bolder and expressive toward her feelings for Landon, often courted him openly. Meanwhile, Olivia observed and admired him on the side, while misleading Emilia into unfortunate routes.
One day Emilia went to Landon's classroom at school and just so happened to see Olivia trip while carrying heavy boxes and fall into Landon's arms placing on a humble, fragile appearance.
Emilia watched on the side and listened as Olivia 'unconsciously' told him how she had ordered Olivia to carry heavy objects around, but dismissed it bravely by saying she was used to it.
The more she heard, the more Emilia raged inside. Although she was dumbly blinded by love, she wasn't a fool. She knew when someone was trying to intentionally slander her.
In a fit of impulsive fury, Emilia approached her and slapped her in front of everyone, dragging Landon behind her.
In public, she ended their friendship and humiliated Olivia.
From that day forth, they no longer spoke to one another. That was until years later, Emilia was invited to the Bellard's daughter's eighteenth birthday banquet - to her surprise.
Thus, leading to today's events.
"Emilia, I'm so glad you could come! It's been so long since we've seen one another!" Olivia flashed her eyes kindly at Emilia, but a trace of mockery veiled them.
Hmph, not long enough, Emilia inwardly thought.
Though she no longer fancied Landon, who had left the country after his father's company went bankrupt, she still saw Olivia as a scheming [1]white lotus flower.
It was morons like her that made her want to vomit!
Emilia turned a deaf ear and continued gazing out the window. She couldn't be bothered by such a monkey that only voiced sugary words when her mind was occupied with how to berate the late, shameless pervert.
Olivia Bellard saw the girl's coldness to her and gritted her teeth hatefully. A gentle smile concealing the irritation in her narrowed eyes.
Olivia continued, "I heard you've chosen to step back from running your father's company. But don't worry, I believe you made the right decision and your father will come to understand your reasons. The business industry is a challenging and complex world."
Emilia raised a single eyebrow. So that's why she invited her here...to look down on her?
But Olivia's words were correct, Emilia had no interest in taking over her father's position. Ever since she joined Mimi's company and trained alongside her, Emilia learned the harshness and underhanded schemes people used within the industry.
Had it been in the past, she would have chosen to childishly lash out, causing a scene, forcing her power and authority on the other. But now, whether their schemes were petty or malicious, she was mentally prepared for it all.
Emilia finally couldn't resist the urge to sneer at Olivia's words.
"Yes, I've chosen to step down, of course with daddy's full support. I heard your father had tried training you but…" Her eyes scanned the girl's figure from head to toe and smirked. "Well, you were always good at other things. The business industry is tough, I'm sure you can find other methods for supporting your family."
Hearing the emphasis on 'other things' and her scrutinizing gaze, Olivia stiffened. Emilia's eyes stole a glance at the angered Olivia and smiled satisfactorily. Olivia's face had instantly turned white from rage but quickly took in a deep breath, her face contorting back to its soft self.
The group of girls, whom Emilia had finally noticed standing behind Olivia, shot glares toward her, but she looked back with curved, rosy lips.
"Hmph, trying is better than giving up completely." A girl behind Olivia snorted.
Emilia paid no heed to the girl and raised her glass to take a sip. The girls and Olivia stared at her unbothered appearance and felt enraged. One stole a glance beside Emilia, the corner of her lips arching.
"Where's your date? Did you forget or were you unable to snag someone?"
Olivia's eyes brightened and her eyes expressed an innocent surprise, "Oh! How could that be? Ever since we were young, Emilia has always been popular with the men. I'm sure he must be somewhere in the crowd to bring her something."
Emilia froze.
Popular with men? She made her sound like some sort of a loose woman!
Emilia was furious with her words. Bloody hell! How could she have been with any other men when she was so blindly infatuated with Landon in the past?!
Both thoughts made Emilia's mood worsen. She was itching to scratch the girls' faces, stepping on their hands with her heels. However, her outward image in front of the group of girls remained proud and composed.
Emilia chose to say nothing to soothe her annoyance from them and sipped her drink with twitching brows.
A vicious glint flashed across Olivia's eyes, though on the outside, she appeared hesitant and considerate. "Emilia, perhaps you…do you still care for Landon?"
The glass raised to Emilia's lips jolted, and she looked at the girl dumbly.
How did the conversation change so dramatically?
Olivia had sensed her tenseness and could guess from Emilia's expression that she had hit a nail, thus continued innocently.
In a docile and slightly raised voice, she said, "Emilia, I know we've had some issues in the past, but…after everything Landon's done to you, how could you still care for him?!"
Many of the guests were young adults within the industry, thus, they were prone to pay attention to gossip or potential drama. The moment they heard the raised voice and saw the group of girls in a corner, some couldn't help but glance over and focus their attention on them.
Emilia rolled her eyes. "What nonsense are you spouting? Besides, I do have a date, he's just running late."
Olivia's expression grew even more miserable. "Emilia, you don't need to lie! I know you thought I have wronged you in the past, and I apologized, but I was only testing to see whether or not Landon was worthy of you! Based on his past actions, he was no good!"
Those that were listening with perked ears couldn't help but show sympathy toward Olivia. A few murmured among themselves.
"Isn't that Emilia Yimo and Olivia Bellard? Aren't those two enemies?"
"It is! Isn't Bellard the name of the host too? Why would she invite Emilia?"
"Maybe she wanted to rekindle their friendship. I heard a couple of years ago Emilia humiliated her by slapping her in the face in public, and left with Landon Williams."
"So that's what happened! That poor girl, she's too kind trying to befriend such a cruel person who doesn't know right from wrong."
It was obvious to the guests; Olivia had tried to test her friend's lover for whether or not he was worthy, but in the end, she was humiliated and lost a friend.
Listening to everyone's words, Emilia found it hard to hide her annoyance and couldn't help but puff up in rage.
Hey, wait a minute! These morons spewing such nonsense! Did they just create their own fabrication based on a few simple sentences?!
They haven't even heard the full truth, yet dared to slander her and call her cruel!
Hmph, fools - all of them were brainwashed fools!
To her, it was clear Olivia was speaking loudly to catch their attention, thus draw everyone's favor. Those idiots, the purpose of her invitation wasn't to rekindle their friendship, but to humiliate her!
The remaining bit of patience Emilia had slowly shattered - her brows twitching even more intensely. Not too far away, a pathway had opened amid the murmuring crowd. Immediately, a certain figure's arrival attracted the attention of several guests.
"Oh wow! That guy, he's so handsome!"
A girl dramatically puts a hand to her chest. "Ah! He looked over here, I think my heart just skipped! Is this love?"
"Who is that man?"
The sound of everyone's murmurs toward the incoming figure captured the notice of Emilia and the group of girls. They shifted their heads in the direction of the crowd and their jaws gape.
Emilia, who saw the figure felt her agitated heart ease, a sense of pride filling her. A slight smile subconsciously formed on her lips.
The shameless pervert was finally here.
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[1] - White lotus flower. 1. Kind, innocent, lovable, good people. 2. People who pretend to be kind, innocent, and lovable.