Chapter 5
5 vouchers
After everyone got out of the car, Megan noticed Yolanda was staying fairly calm and tried to comfort her. “At least you still have money. Men really are no good.”
Yolanda laughed suddenly. “Don’t forget, Ian’s still here.”
Megan quickened her pace and swiped her card to enter the apartment. “Ian doesn’t count. He’s two years younger than you, still an innocent kid, doesn’t understand all the messy stuff in a marriage.”
Megan was twenty–seven and had married young too.
While pressing the elevator button, she complained to Yolanda, “Most men can’t resist cheating once they have some money. I thought your husband might be different, since you’ve known him so long. And he’s never been short of women, right?”
Yolanda cleared her throat. “Megan, let’s not talk about that.”
Even though lan was younger, he was still a man. And he was at an age where he could still have romantic illusions–Yolanda didn’t want to poison that.
Megan zipped her lips and opened her apartment door. The place was about 800 square feet, fairly clean. In pricey Beloris, the rent. wasn’t cheap either.
Yolanda, used to taking care of everything as a full–time housewife for the past two years, patted the seat next to her and looked at Ian.
“Take a seat,” she said.
He paused for a few seconds before slowly sitting down.
Megan brought them coffee, her eyes shining. “Yolanda, so now that love’s gone, you’re focusing on your career? When we first set up this studio, it was so impressive. Several directors even promoted us on Twitter.”
The more she spoke, the more regretful she sounded. After finishing her coffee in one gulp, she continued, “Look at Ian–so young, so talented, and he wasted two years under my watch. I feel guilty just thinking about it.”
Ian still wore his cap, hair tucked underneath, hiding most of his expression.
Yolanda knew she owed Megan an apology. She had promised to fight in the entertainment industry, but had turned around and gotten married instead.
She took a deep breath and leaned forward to pour coffee for Megan. But she wasn’t used to the height of this coffee table, and the pot nearly slipped from her hands.
At that moment, Ian’s hand reached out from the side and steadied her wrist.
Yolanda was a little surprised and looked at him.
lan glanced up at her, a flash of complicated emotion passing quickly through his eyes. Then he withdrew his hand. “Sorry.”
Yolanda shook her head and refilled Megan’s cup. “You’re right. My love is gone, so I want to focus on my career again. I have some money, and I can reach out to the directors we worked with before. Time to sign some new talents.”
“New talents? What about Ian?” Megan asked. “Yolanda, I’ll warn you–these past two years, lan has been holding up the studio. We can’t betray him. He stayed when the studio was at its worst.”
“I’ll be his manager,” Yolanda said.
lan froze for a moment, then turned to look at her.
Yolanda smiled. “So we’ll be working closely from now on.”
Megan almost jumped for joy. “Great. You know more people than I do, and doesn’t Charles have an entertainment company under him? You could totally divert some resources to lan, right?”
She spoke with conviction. “Better than letting Charles give his resources to his little mistress.”
Yolanda couldn’t help but laugh dryly. She rubbed the cup in her hands. “You don’t need to tell me I’d do the same. Until I finalize my divorce, I’ll try to make up for the losses of these past two years.”
1/2
2.12 AM
Chapter 5
“Yolanda, are you going to get a divorce?” Megan asked.
5 vouchers
She glanced at lan when she asked, then added, “Don’t tell me you still can’t let go of Charles, Men cheat either zero times or countless times. He sleeps with someone else and still comes to sleep with you–don’t you feel disgusted?”
Yolanda’s fingers trembled slightly. Megan’s words were crude, but they were the truth. Even lying in the same bed as Charles last night,
she had felt a bit off.
She leaned back and took a slow, deep breath. “I’m not the type to cling to a failed marriage forever, but the Grant family and the Sinclair family are tightly connected in business. I can’t get divorced right away.
“But this works too. At least I can rely on these two families to build some capital for myself first.”
That way, she wouldn’t end up on the streets with nothing after a divorce.
Megan quickly grabbed a few bottles of wine from the fridge. “Alright. We’ll make lan a top star someday. Come on, Yolanda, I hope you get your divorce soon. Cheers!”
Yolanda rarely drank. The first rufe in the Grant family was that women should be gentle and considerate, staying away from alcohol, which could easily cloud one’s thoughts.
Megan seemed to notice Yolanda’s hesitation. “Aren’t you tired of living like this? So many rules from the Grant family, and I don’t see you being that happy either.”
Yolanda was provoked by this and reached for a bottle to open it. Just then, Ian’s hand reached out. “Let me do it.
He opened the bottle effortlessly.
Yolanda looked at his profile and smiled faintly. “Ian, you really look young, like a college kid.”
Ian, pouring the wine, lowered his lashes and said, “You’re not old either.”
Yolanda didn’t reply. Her relationship with Charles had left her feeling battered and hollow.
She had spent her whole life learning endless rules, never experiencing the vibrant youth of her peers–of course she wasn’t untouched by age. Beneath her appearance lay a weary, numb soul.
She didn’t know how much she had drunk. By the end, she simply collapsed on the table and fell asleep.
Megan was drunk too. She yawned, staggering to her feet. “Ian, could you carry Yolanda to the sofa? I’m dizzy and need to lie down inside.”
Suddenly, only Ian and Yolanda were left. He hesitated for a few seconds, then lifted Yolanda and laid her gently on the sofa. He pulled a nearby blanket over her.
He didn’t sit on the sofa. Instead, he sat on the floor, staring at her face for a few seconds before lowering his head and quietly looking at his hands.
