A bouquet of gardenias lay quietly in the middle of pale green wrapping paper, the outside adorned with mesh pe
The attached card bore no signature, just a teasing message that read, “You didn’t think the flowers were for you, did youû Please give them to Silles for me.”
With that tone, it was obvious who it was from without even nessing to guess, but at least Pete’s sudden gesture of sending flowers fad pulled me out of the difficult decision I’d been grappling with moments before.
However, Silas had just put me in an even bigger dilemme. He took the flowers and brought them up to his nose for a sniff. Then, the frown on his face finally relaxed.
Now in a good mood, he asked me, “Do you know what gardenias symbolize?”
I looked at him, confused. “No, I don’t.”
He smiled and handed the flowers Back to me. I don’t dare accept these.”
I thought the evening would end peacefully, but when we stepped out of the restaurant, I found that the entrance had been completely blocked by a crowd of Zachary’s fans.
As soon as we walked out, a group of women rushed at us,
screaming and scattering our team Even Silas and Yasmine were lost in the sea of fans, disappearing in an instant.
1 baptis (3144
+25 BONUS
Facing so many strangers filled with malice, my heart pounded. uncontrollably.
The fangirls took out their phones and aimed them at me as if they were about to snap pictures of Zachary himself. They nearly shoved their phones in my face.
I barely managed to protect my head, trying to avoid being hit by their fists, but someone noticed my defensive gesture and seized the opportunity to accuse me loudly.
“You’re Ariana Jones, aren’t you? Why are you covering your face? Are you too ashamed to show it?”
“How much did Cindy pay you to betray your conscience and hurt Zach?”
“Aren’t you supposed to be some socialite from Radiant City? Is all your money earned through such heartless means? Or is your entire identity fake and just a persona you created?”
“Do you even know what it’s like to love someone? Zach is depressed all the time now. He’s even turned down several endorsement deals. Can you afford to compensate for that loss?”
I kept silent throughout, but seeing my silence, some of the fans began cursing at me. They didn’t just curse me. They cursed my family too.
However, they were destined to be disappointed because I had no family left. Growing up, I had never experienced the crush of people on a crowded subway.
J’d heard that when the trains were packed, you didn’t need to hold onto anything because the crowd would be so tightly packed that
wweat even be room to away
APAR UNSASSIN, Thought I finally understood what that was like, but
www.ted the civility of subway riders.
messed around, stumbling from side to side “urrounded by the thing of and the chaotic day of questions …d insults being
ANVAS Md with a sea of heads and cold, unblinking phone
Ms. No matter which way I turned, my current disgrace was
NOWN from every angle.
egged at me. Since Nicholas gave me the silent treatment, I
defend the bodyguards that Frances had assigned to me.
INAS underestimated the ferocity of celebrity fans. I had thought TN they only threw coffee or eggs at me, I could handle it. But 100, 1 hát a deep, hopeless despair.
No matter what I shouted, it would be drowned out by the chaos around ine. Tonight, I had gone out for dinner without anyone
Knowing
A succen thought struck me. I remembered that when Yasmine called me. Claudia had been at home. Could it be that she overhead the call? What if someone tipped off Zachary’s fans about my OURING?
it started to make sense. No wonder I kept running into Zachary’s fans every time I left the house recently. They had even recognized
e right away
If that was the case, it wasn’t impossible that the homeless man
nocent could happen again. Only this time, the knife wouldn’t slash Caude’s arm. It would be aimed at me.
+25 BONUS
A chill ran down my spine, and I felt a sudden, inexplicable sense of dread.
