Instead of the pain Odelia was expecting to feel, her body hit a hard-muscled chest. For a moment, she was in a daze, her heart beating wildly in her chest from the narrow escape.
The funny thing was that Anna was rather sprawled on the floor in an embarrassing and unladylike way. When she pushed Odelia, she was not able to maintain her balance and wanted to hold onto Adam to steady herself, but who knew Adam would move away from his spot to save Odelia instead and forget about saving her?
Adam, who realized what he had just done, could only return to his fiancee to help her get off the floor. In the heat of the moment, he had wanted to prevent Odelia from falling but didn't even know when Don Gardner appeared out of nowhere and caught Odelia instead of him.
"Don't you think that Odelia is more beautiful than Anna?"
"Yes, seeing them stand so close, the contrast is like heaven and earth."
"Maybe it's because Odelia and CEO Gardner look so good together, so the universe decided to let CEO Gray break up with her?"
"Yes, maybe it was fate; look at them; they look like a match made in heaven."
"But doesn't CEO Gray look as if he's still smitten by his ex?"
"Yes, what are the odds? Maybe he's still into her?"
The more Anna heard, the more she felt like she was burning all over, but she could only maintain her signature gentle smile, even though in her heart she wanted to slowly and painfully torture Odelia, cut her beautiful face into several gushes, and then cut her body into several tiny pieces before burning the pieces up. That was how much she hated Odelia.
'Why is everything different than she imagined? Why is it that Odelia is stealing the spotlight without even doing anything? And that stupid Director Nick, why isn't he still here?' Anna thought, panicking in her mind. She felt that everything was crumbling before her eyes, but on her face, there was a gentle smile. She turned to look at Adam beside her, acting as if she were deaf, not hearing all the hushed whispers, and said demurely,
"Can you accompany me to the changing room? I want to change out of my dress; it's ruined."
Adam, seeing Anna's misty eyes and pitiful appearance, began to feel guilty. What was wrong with him? It was because of Odelia, that vicious woman, always torturing Anna because she was too kind. She was manipulating him, and he had fallen into her trap. He became furious, thinking he had seen through Odelia's plot.
"Of course, let me take you there," he said gently, and he carried Anna in a bridal style, making the people who were watching gasp at the intimate and caring gesture. Mr. and Mrs. Graham had also seen everything and breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Adam carrying Anna away.
People were like that; whenever they saw something beautiful or aesthetically pleasing to the eyes, such as public shows of affection, it tended to catch their attention. Making them wish they were in such circumstances.
When Odelia came to her senses and realized in whose embrace she was, she abruptly stepped out of his embrace as if he were an infectious virus and bowed slightly before she said in an appreciative voice,
"Erm… Thank you for catching me."
After she thanked him, she turned to go out for some fresh air when his next words stopped her in her tracks.
"Is that all?" Odelia gazed at the man in front of her calmly. Why did he seem angry? Did she say something wrong? Why was his countenance so scary? It made Odelia uncomfortable seeing him like that.
"Is there something else CEO Gardner wants?" Odelia asked in her humblest tone.
Don Gardner searched Odelia's face with a probing gaze. Her expression was truly ignorant and perplexed as if she didn't comprehend what he meant. But why did that discovery bother him?
"Apart from thank you, don't you have anything to say?" He asked in a baritone voice. If any other woman had been in her shoes, she would have clung pitifully to him and not let go. Some shameless ones would even offer to invite him to dinner to thank him "in a special way", but why did it look as if she was uninterested?
The gears in Odelia's head turned, and she looked up at him with a cautious gaze. 'Was this a trap? Did he want her to say something and later turn her words against her?'
"No, I don't have anything else to say; thank you again," she said and turned to leave as if fleeing for dear life, not even waiting for his response.
Because Odelia was in a hurry, she didn't watch where she was going and bumped into someone.
"Sorry, I'm..." The words died in Odelia's mouth when she saw who it was. It was the third person she hated most; Director Nick, and he looked drunk with the smell of alcohol all over him. He grabbed Odelia roughly and stared at her beautiful face with a filthy grin on his lewd face.
"Hello little girl, do you miss me?" He said, leaning towards Odelia and fanning her face with his drunken breath.
"Let go of me," Odelia warned in a relatively low voice to avoid drawing attention to herself.
"Why are you pretending? Weren't you the one who threw yourself into my arms right now?" Director Nick was drunk, so his voice was a pitch higher and drew the attention of the people present. Everyone turned to watch the commotion. Odelia tried to wiggle out of his embrace, but his grip was too strong.
"You slut, do you think you can mess with me? Weren't you the one who asked me to come here?" Director Nick said, eliciting a gasp from the crowd.
Odelia's eyes narrowed, and she looked up only to see Anna smiling at her from behind the crowd. After putting two and two together, she realized what might have happened. Without holding back, she raised her leg and stomped on his foot with her 10-inch high heels.
Director Nick howled in pain, letting go of her and falling to the floor in an embarrassing state, howling from the excruciating pain.
"The next time you tell such lies, I will sue you for defamation and slander," Odelia spat in a cold voice, exuding such an oppressive aura that everyone present felt intimidated by her. After saying her piece, she walked away from the wailing man like the queen that she was. She was so cool and graceful that some people wanted to applaud her.
Don Gardner, who had been walking towards the scene, stopped in his tracks when he saw Odelia had taken care of everything herself. Julian had received a call from the main mansion and had approached him, so his attention had been diverted and he had just seen Odelia and the man.
"Let's go," he told Julian, and together, he offered the birthday woman some good wishes and bid Mr. and Mrs. Graham goodbye. Don Gardner felt he needed to get out of there before he did something inexplicable; he didn't understand why the urge to help Odelia felt so strong. It was as if he didn't want her to suffer any form of injustice; he just couldn't explain how he was feeling.
'Maybe it was because of the news he heard from Thomas concerning Roxanne. Yes, he was just rebelling and distracting himself with Odelia because of the news he heard. Roxanne was the only one for him. Soon, very soon, she will realize he was the best option and return to him, and he was going to make sure that happens.'
Don Gardner walked to his car, and the chauffeur drove off into the night.
Odelia also felt the party was boring and decided to leave. She had been anticipating more tricks from Anna, but it seemed she had overestimated her fake sister. Since Mitchell Hotel had been the venue for her wedding, she knew the place like the back of her hand, so instead of using the main entrance like she did when she arrived, she used the back door that led to the changing room area only to come face to face with Anna, who had an evil smirk on her face.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the black sheep of the Graham family, the discarded fiancee," she sneered at Odelia.
"I can see you don't need to pretend anymore since we're the only ones here. But I don't have time for the likes of you. Can you get out of my way? I don't want to catch any infectious diseases from a mad dog," Odelia replied to the woman with equal venom in her voice.
"You." Anna pointed her trembling finger at Odelia in anger, but she calmed down after some time and sized up Odelia with mockery in her eyes and hissed.
"I'm not the one who made a pointless effort at a comeback. What? Did you think going to such lengths and putting on such a show would make people see you in a different light? You would always be a lowlife, a country bumpkin, a discarded woman, an ex-convict, and a disgrace to society," Anna glowered, looking at Odelia as if she were some filth.
"Are you done? If you're done, then get out of my way; I have important things to do," Odelia said. She wanted to push Anna out of her way but didn't expect her to hold onto her hand with a strong grip and not let go.
"Do you think you are better than me? No worries, I would make sure everyone hates you; I would destroy you and send you into a deeper hell, where you won't be able to come back from," Anna said and began to cry out in a loud voice.
"I didn't do it; I'm your sister; please, you are hurting me; don't kill me, please!" Anna continued to yell, drawing people's attention.
Odelia saw through her plot and firmly held onto her hand to prevent her from falling, as there was a flight of stairs behind her but Anna, seeing what Odelia was doing, also pressed her sharp-edged manicured fingernails on Odelia's hand, making her let go of her due to the pain.
This was the scene everyone witnessed when they arrived at the scene; Odelia shoving Anna away from her and letting her fall down the stairs.