Chapter 13
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Megan’s eyes turned red. She held Yolanda’s hand and said, “Yolanda, I just don’t think you should be like this.
“You don’t know how jealous I was of you back in school. You were so dazzling then, proud like a little princess.”
Yolanda lowered her eyes. The truth was, she had never been proud.
People thought she shined because she was the daughter of the Grant family. But everyone in the circle knew she had been adopted for a marriage alliance. Before the age of ten, she had lived in an orphanage.
For the past two years. Charles had given her 60 thousand dollars every month, but she always sent half of it back to the orphanage.
She never forgot how she had gotten where she was, so she pushed herself to do everything perfectly. In school, she studied hard, determined to take first place in every exam.
But she hadn’t expected that what wasn’t truly hers could never be forced. No matter how hard she tried, Charles still didn’t care about
her.
So she no longer wasted her efforts hoping for Charles’s love.
Yolanda felt a bit tired. Just as she was about to say she needed to rest, her phone rang. It was Charles.
He usually only called when it was about business.
As soon as she answered, his voice came through. “Let’s have dinner at the Sinclair manor later. You’re not home?”
“No. I’m at the hospital,” Yolanda said.
“Your fever hasn’t gone down yet?” Charles asked.
“It’s gone,” Yolanda said. “I’m here visiting a colleague. Come pick me up.”
Yolanda lowered her gaze, grabbed the new clothes Megan had bought, and headed to the restroom to change.
Megan tried to stop her. “Are you crazy? You just had your stomach pumped, and now you’re going to dinner with him?”
Yolanda’s face was pale as she sighed. “It’s about the Sinclair family. I can’t put it off.”
At least for now, none of this was up to her.
She quickly changed, freshened up, and sprayed some minty breath spray, making sure there was no trace of alcohol on her.
Then she earnestly reminded Megan, “Take lan to sign the contract with Zack tomorrow morning. Once it’s signed, he has to join the crew right away.”
Megan felt so bad for Yolanda that she almost cried, but she knew business came first. She sighed, “Yolanda, when you push yourself, you really don’t care about your life.”
Yolanda didn’t have time to say more. She looked toward Ian, who stood quietly in the corner, worried that today’s events might affect him. She comforted him, “Ian, don’t feel pressured. Just focus on your acting. This is only the beginning for us.”
She believed Ian would get more roles in the future.
Ian looked up at Yolanda’s pale face. He pressed his lips together, his hand tightening slightly at his side, then glanced out the window. “Okay.”
Yolanda couldn’t help but sigh inwardly at his withdrawn nature. She smiled a little, and as soon as she went downstairs, she saw Charles’s car waiting outside. His assistant, Jack Nolan, was in the driver’s seat.
Jack got out, opened the door for her respectfully, and said, “Mrs. Sinclair, please.”
Yolanda slid into the seat next to Charles. Papers rested on his knees, but his eyes were fixed out the car window, staring up at the hospital.
He could only see the curtains, but he had just clearly felt someone watching him from up there. The look carried a faint trace of mockery, and it made him very uncomfortable.
Charles pulled his gaze back and looked at Yolanda, who had just gotten into the car.
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He usually couldn’t be bothered to notice her, but today her face was pale, and when the car braked hard, she almost fell right into his
arms.
He reached out, steadying her by the shoulder. “Since when were you this weak?”
Yolanda froze, eyes shut, trying to calm the burning in her stomach. “Just not feeling well.”
“Is this colleague of yours a man?” Charles pressed. He didn’t think the person watching him upstairs at the hospital had been a woman
Even though Charles often told Yolanda to go try other men, if she really did, he would still lose face–and he definitely wouldn’t let her off.
“No, I went to see Megan,” Yolanda said.
Charles didn’t ask anything else.
Her face was ghostly pale now–anyone with eyes could tell she was sick. But Charles just couldn’t be bothered to care.
She held her stomach, leaning back against the seat. She heard Charles ask, “Are you really that bad?”
She pulled at the corner of her lips, her voice sharp because of her bad mood. “Thanks for asking. A few more minutes and I’d probably be dead.”
The moment she realized what she’d said, she quickly opened her eyes–and sure enough, Charles was staring in shock. He had probably never been snapped at by her like that.
She looked away, took a deep breath, and softened her voice. “I’m fine. It’s just my stomach acting up.”
He raised his brows, oddly impressed by that brief flash of temper.
Charles let out a small laugh, watching the scenery slide past the window. “Yolanda, you looked so alive just now I couldn’t help staring. You can be like that with me all the time.”
Yolanda’s eyes flickered with embarrassment. Charles had always liked lively women. After all, the woman he loved most had a lively
character.
So did Sophie.
Yolanda lowered her eyes and simply said nothing.
The next second, Charles suddenly pried her mouth open and shoved in two painkillers.
“Swallow them,” he said half–jokingly. “Now you can’t say I don’t care about you.”
Her cheeks flushed with anger for a moment, but then she heard him laugh as he pushed open the car door. He seemed satisfied, like a prank had worked perfectly.
That was Charles. Part of the reason she’d been stuck on him for fifteen years was because he knew how to charm women.
When he played the part, he looked really charming.
Yolanda followed him inside, stepping into the hall of the Sinclair manor.
Charles’s mother, May, spotted Yolanda and waved impatiently. “What took you so long? Go on, everyone’s waiting for the coffee you’re supposed to make.”
Charles’s younger sister, Renee, lit up the second she saw him. “Charles, you’re here so early today? That’s rare, really rare. Did you get me the gift I asked for on your last trip?”
By last trip,” she meant when Charles had gone abroad the week before. Back then, Yolanda had been at home waiting for him with all her heart, calling him every day with concern–only for him to take Sophie along instead.
Charles sat down nearby. When he saw Yolanda head into the kitchen, he reached out and flicked Renee lightly on the forehead. “I did buy it, but don’t you dare run your mouth in front of Yolanda.”
Renee rolled her eyes and whispered, “You’ve already cheated, even went abroad with Sophie for so long. Why not just divorce Yolanda? What’s the difference between her and a maid in this house? It’s not like we can’t afford one.”
Charles pulled out a set of car keys. The gift he had bought Renee was a limited–edition Lamborghini, priced at nearly six million dollars.
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Chapter 13
Renee instantly wrapped her arms around his and cooed, “Okay, I promise I won’t say a word.”
No sooner had she finished than Yolanda walked over with a pot of coffee.
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That was how the Grant women were–handling everything at home, from caring for the elders to taking care of every little detail, never leaving anything undone.
Even if their husbands cheated, they had to swallow their pride and endure. Because of this, many rich playboys with ruined reputations ended up marrying a woman from the Grant family.
The Grants used this strategy to climb their way into several powerful families. And with the sudden rise of Samuel Grant, the Grants‘ own new star, they had finally secured their place.
Samuel was Yolanda’s brother in name. The entire Grant family pinned all their hopes on him, and he truly was good enough–he was even friends with Charles.
