“Your plan did work out well. You and Crystal had indeed put up a good show,” I replied with a polite smile. Frankly, I didn’t think anyone else in my position could still laugh. But knowing that Christopher would always be by my side, everything else just seemed pale in comparison.
“You were going to have a loving and caring motherly figure in your life. Let me ask you, is it worth it to have thrown it all away?” I had always cherished everyone who cared about me; hence, I could never understand people like Monica who was extremely manipulative and would take people’s love for granted.
“Well, I don’t need to answer to you. I’ll just wait and see how you’re going to handle this,” Monica retorted. She then pointed at the television and added, “I suppose you have been avoiding the news. Oh well, even if you haven’t, there’s nothing you can do about it, is there?”
“My goodness! What a vicious woman! I can’t believe I used to sing praises about you being the goddess in our circle. At the end of the day, you’re just another two-faced vixen. Such a waste for the good look you’ve been blessed with,” Sabrina’s voice rang as she stormed in from the door and stopped next to me.
Crossing her arms, she continued to glare at Monica. “Do your family members know that you’re such a pretentious hypocrite? You told everyone you attempted suicide for love. I think it’s fitting that you should end up being alone. My idol is a clever man, that’s why he can easily see through your pretense. Get the hell out of here before things get ugly.”
“Ms. Zimmer, my advice for you is to carefully select your friends. I’m sure you’ve noticed your family business has taken a beating recently because of your close association with Ms. Tanner. Make the wise decision and distance yourself from her if you don’t wish to be ostracized by your circle of friends and for the sake of your family business.” Monica leaned on the sofa. Her upper lip curled in disdain.
At that moment, Monica and Crystal shared the exact same look on their faces as they glared at me, their common object of scorn.
I, on the other hand, was still trying to digest the information that was dumped on me by Monica. I didn’t know that the Zimmers’ family business was affected because of Sabrina’s close relationship with me. Someone must have been pulling the strings behind the scenes.
I thought about what happened to the Smiths’ family business and suddenly everything became clear as day. “It’s you and Crystal. What have you guys done?”
“What do you think? Of course to take back everything that belongs to us.” Monica wiped her hands clean with a napkin. Elegant and composed, the woman slowly got up from her seat and let out a charming smile. “Yvonne Tanner, let me ask you something. What do you think Christopher would do if he were to choose between you and profit gains?”
What kind of options are these? I’m certain that Christopher would not participate in such a demeaning game. But if he were to choose, I’m positive that I am his only option, without question. Not because I’m overly confident of myself, but I have total faith in him.
“You know what, now I get why you two get along so well. Crystal, too, used to ask me the same question about Lyle in the past. Want to guess what my answer to her was?”
I found Monica to be fascinating. She would easily lose her cool and get worked up when there were just the two of us. But as the parties to a conversation increased, so was her patience. Monica turned to me and slowly spoke, “I know what you’re thinking. You are so confident that Christopher would choose you over profits. Truth be told, I think so too. But, what if the circumstances change, and he is now having to choose between you and his family?”
I wasn’t prepared to answer such a loaded and meaningless question. Not long ago, there was a popular hypothetical question circulated on the internet—If your mother and wife fell into the river at the same time, who would you save first? Monica’s question was not unlike this one. I shuddered to think what would happen if things did come to that.
Instead of answering her question, I gathered myself and replied to her with another question, “Are you suggesting that you would use some benefits as bait to keep your loved one by your side? Can’t you see how ridiculous that is?”
