What are you talking about? So it was you and Kevin and Leena, and who else?" Louisa took a sidelong glance at Claire as she mentioned Leena's name through gritted teeth.
"Ha! Only all the handsome guys and beautiful ladies in the city!" Claire said in a cheerful voice. She had never seen people as eye-catching as Leena's friends before. And not surprising, they were the cream of the crop.
"Bah! You're shitting us!" Louisa grumbled, pursing her lips. She puffed out her chest and tried to act self-important. 'There can't be more hot guys here than at the capital city. And I don't think the big shots here would be friends with Leena,' thought Louisa.
"Believe it or not, there were tons of great guys there — the president and vice president of FX International Group, the president of Leng Group, and the most skilled doctor in the city. And oh yeah, my brother and Gerard too." She sounded like she was intentionally bragging. Because she was. Claire was ecstatic to have hung out with so many extraordinary people.
"What? Gerard was there too? Oh my god! Leena was brazen enough to bring her ex to meet her husband. Wasn't she afraid of pissing Kevin off?" Louisa asked with a teasing smile, but deep inside, she was really envious of Leena. She was way better than her. This was so unfair! 'Why is Kevin so nice to the bitch? She even brought her husband and ex together. Kevin should dump her right now!' she thought.
"What? Who told you Gerard was Leena's ex? Louisa, don't talk this nonsense to my brother. He won't like that." On hearing Louisa's words, Claire was now ticked off. The past few days with Leena were awesome. The more time she spent with Leena, the better she knew her. Leena was not a bad person at all. Why did Louisa hate her so much?
"I already told him. But he's completely captivated by the bitch! He chose to believe her instead of me. No wonder people say 'love is blind.'" Louisa couldn't help but complain to Claire. 'Why did Kevin choose that bitch instead of me? I'm hotter, better educated, more regal — I'm better in every way. Kevin must have been blind to choose her. I can't let Kevin live like this! He deserves a real woman," thought Louisa.
"That's where you're wrong. If you told the truth, my brother would have trusted you." Claire was hesitant about what Louisa had mentioned. Though Louisa was her friend, Claire didn't believe everything she said. Sometimes she was flat out wrong.
"Your brother knew the truth, he just couldn't accept it! Duh!" Louisa thought, 'Leena is a tramp that got lucky. Kevin is a man with a soft heart. If she married another guy, she'd have been beaten up or kicked out of the house.'
"Louisa, I know you have a crush on my brother and want to marry him. But that's too crazy even for you." Claire cast a warning glance at Louisa. She kept telling Louisa that she wasn't Kevin's type. Even if they got married, they wouldn't be happy. Louisa just wouldn't listen to her.
"What? Me? Crazy? Looks like you've taken up with her now! I thought you hated her too. This is not some cray-cray thing I found on the internet. It's 100% true." Louisa was so upset by Claire's words that she almost lost control of the steering wheel. Claire was frightened by the sudden sharp veer and screamed, "Look out! Keep your eyes on the road! God!" Claire patted her chest to calm down. Luckily, it was early and there was almost no cars on the road, otherwise they'd be in an accident. She decided not to argue with Louisa when she was driving. She got too emotional to drive.
"Never mind. She paid you off, that's why you don't believe me. Go ahead. Take her side. You just betrayed your best friend to a woman who stole your brother from you," Louisa said. She sounded indifferent and more than a little self-righteous, but deep down, she wanted to cut Leena into little pieces.
"Betrayal? Come on, stop being dramatic. Besides, Gerard is one of Leena's friends. If he were her ex, she wouldn't have brought him to meet my brother." Claire had to defend her sister-in-law, but this time she tried to mollify Louisa. She didn't want her going crazy again.
"Just shut up, okay? I don't want to hear it. You pinky swore to help me. Now you're on her side. You're just a fake friend!" Louisa snorted and thought to herself, 'You're on her side? Fine! But don't get in my way, or else!'
"Louisa, please don't do this. I wanted to help you, but then I realized that my brother would never fall for you. He only has eyes for Leena. Just forget him. You are so young. There are tons of guys who think you're hot. Why not choose one of them? Besides, if your father knew about it, he'd ground you for the rest of your life!" Claire rubbed her temples as she felt a headache coming on. Louisa was such an unreasonable person, and hard to deal with at the best of times.
"Don't tell me what to do! What if you were me? I want him and I won't give up!" Louisa gave Claire a withering look. She blamed Claire for not helping her.
"Actually, it's not that hard to forget someone. You just have to want it enough." Claire gave her a bitter smile. She was really serious about this. 'If I were as stubborn as her, I'd be in the same boat with Rain. But I just gave him up before I got sucked in. Just because you like something, doesn't mean you need to own it.'
Easy for you to say. You've never been in love." Louisa spun the wheel sharply and made a U turn in the middle of the road, which caught Claire off guard. "Ouch!" Claire cried as she banged her head on the window. She wasn't seriously hurt, but it was still painful.
"Louisa..." Claire opened her mouth to get her to try to stop, but she faltered and changed her mind. She was afraid that Louisa might go crazy again. And just like that, Claire's phone rang.
"Who's that? Never mind. No matter what, don't tell them what we're doing." Louisa stole a glance at Claire's phone. She wondered who exactly was calling this early.
"Why?" Claire asked, totally confused. Why would she want to keep it a secret?
"Don't ask why. Just do it!" Louisa snapped. She got fed up with Claire's questions.
"Okay, okay. I get it." Though Claire wanted to know why, she stopped asking when seeing Louisa's face darken. If Louisa got agitated again, she might go insane and that would be dangerous.
"Claire, where are you now?" Kevin asked, frowning. He took another sip of coffee. He had planned to invite Claire to have breakfast with him and Leena. It was rare that he had a morning meal with his wife and sister. Of course, when he went looking for her, all he saw was a chaotic mess of clothes and no Claire.
"I'm sorry, Kevin. I forgot to tell you that Louisa asked me out. I'm with her now." Claire blinked a bit in anxiety. She felt guilty about lying.
"Well, okay. You two have fun and be safe. You have a problem, I'm just a phone call away." Kevin was a little annoyed when she told him. He didn't like Louisa. If she weren't the commander's daughter, Kevin wouldn't even talk to her. But Claire and Louisa were friends. Kevin couldn't forbid Claire from seeing Louisa. All that would do was make Claire go out in secret to meet her.
"Got it! Bye, Kevin!" Claire answered with a sweet smile. She had spent a lot of time with him lately, and now she was closer to him than ever. Kevin was reliable and always had her back.
"Alright! Bye!" After hanging up, Kevin took another sip of coffee and walked towards his bedroom to check if Leena had woken up yet. He was so drunk last night that he didn't even remember getting back. When he woke up this morning, he felt good, seeing Leena sleeping in his arms.
"Hey, your brother didn't find out, did he?" Louisa asked as she was afraid that Kevin might know what they were up to and stop them. Then, everything she was working for would fall apart.
"Come on, you heard what I said." Claire was a little irritated by Louisa's suspicious look. 'If you don't trust me, why did you ask me to join in?' she thought to herself. The better she got to know Louisa, the less she liked her.