When I got engaged to my boyfriend, his first love returned from abroad with twins. His ex cried to me, “If you hate me, take it out on me. But Asher and I are truly in love. We already have children together. You wouldn’t want to be the other woman, would you?” I just laughed. Looking down at her with my height advantage, I said, “First, I’m only taking back what’s mine. Second, Asher and I got together after you two broke up. If anyone’s the other woman here, it’s you coming to ruin my engagement party.” When I saw Asher hugging his ex and their twins, I smiled. The way his ex looked at me seemed to say, “What are you so proud of? You’re just a supporting character.” She must think she’s the heroine of some cheesy romance drama. With her plain looks and apparent lack of brains, she wouldn’t be giving me that challenging look otherwise. After all, this was my engagement party with Asher. But I knew this engagement was over, and Asher and I would never make it to the altar. Asher solemnly told me, “Rachel, I’m sorry. The one I truly love is Zora.” The banquet hall suddenly erupted in chatter. After all, I was young, beautiful, highly educated, capable, and from a good family – far superior to Asher’s poor ex in every way. Only Asher’s friends looked at him approvingly, seemingly moved by his devotion. They even gave me pitying looks, as if mocking a jilted woman. Birds of a feather really do flock together. I had loved Asher for so many years, willingly giving him everything. But it only takes a moment to lose all respect for someone. I took off the diamond ring and tossed it at Asher, saying nonchalantly, “Fine. Then let’s settle our accounts.” Asher was stunned. “What accounts?” What a stupid question. “All those years I helped manage your company and invested in you – you think that was all for free? Do I look like some fool who works for love?” Asher seemed shocked by my decisiveness. He was speechless. His ex Zora stepped forward crying to speak for him. “Miss Song, you’re so wealthy. The money you invested in Asher is just pocket change to you. Why are you being so petty?” Asher’s friends chimed in too. “Yeah Rachel, you don’t look like you’re hurting for money.” “Are you just lashing out because you’re humiliated?” “Getting dumped at your own engagement party is pretty embarrassing.” Asher at least had some conscience and tried to stop them. “That’s enough, guys.” “Miss Song…” Zora said tearfully, “If you hate me, take it out on me. But Asher and I are truly in love. We already have children together. You wouldn’t want to be the other woman, would you?” I just laughed. This poor thing thought she had the moral high ground and was trying to paint me as the villain. What a hypocrite. Looking down at her with my height advantage, I said, “First, I’m only taking back what’s mine. Second, Asher and I got together after you two broke up. If anyone’s the other woman here, it’s you coming to ruin my engagement party.” Zora immediately put on an extremely wronged expression, tears streaming down her face. Asher looked pained, as if wanting to defend his precious ex. I spoke up before he could: “Asher, you should know my patience is limited.”
Sure enough, Asher backed down. We went to a private club where I was a member. Oh, and Zora came along with her twins too. Asher and I sat facing each other, while Zora tended to the kids nearby, occasionally glancing our way. Asher said, “Rachel, I’ll pay back everything I owe you, but I don’t have that much capital right now. Could you…” “If you don’t have the money, give me the projects you’re working on.” Since we were breaking up, might as well make a clean break. My decisiveness seemed to keep surprising Asher. He stared at me in shock. Zora was the typical stay-at-home mom type, clearly clueless about business matters. But when she heard I wanted to take Asher’s projects, she immediately spoke up. “That’s not right! Rachel, those projects are all Asher’s…” I was nauseated just hearing Zora’s voice now. She thought she was helping Asher? Wrong! I may be cool-headed, but I’m not magnanimous. Her voice was a constant reminder that my relationship ended because of this homewrecker. “Do you have any right to speak here?” Zora was immediately silenced, looking wronged and pitiful as if I was bullying her. Naturally, Asher was unhappy with how I spoke to his beloved ex. “Rachel, Zora doesn’t know anything about this. Why are you being so harsh?” He turned to Zora and said, “Those projects were all negotiated by Rachel herself. It’s only fair for her to take them.” I laughed, amused by Asher’s naivety. “Of course I’m taking the projects I negotiated myself. I’m talking about the ones you’re working on.” Asher was shocked. “What do you mean?” I sneered, “You said you don’t have capital. So use your projects to pay me back. Is that so hard to understand?” Asher’s expression darkened, as if holding back anger. “Rachel, do you have to be so ruthless? Can’t we even remain friends?” Friends? A man who abandoned me at our engagement party wants to be friends? What a joke. I’d like to demand fairness from Asher, but him dumping me at the engagement was an irrefutable fact – and a lesson learned. I told Vincent very seriously, “I have no obligation to do that.”
In the end, I forcefully took not only the projects I had negotiated myself, but also picked two of Asher’s most profitable ones. These two projects would make a huge profit, far exceeding all the money I had invested in Asher over the years. Having gotten what I wanted, I left. As I walked out, I could still hear Zora’s tearful complaints and the kids’ noisy cries. I couldn’t be bothered with them anymore. My focus now was on cashing in. … For years, I had been busy revolving around Asher, rarely returning to my own company. The project handovers went very smoothly. Besides the ones I had personally handled, one of the projects I took from Asher immediately agreed to work with me. Only one was still hesitant, saying they needed to evaluate further. Since my company’s business scope didn’t overlap much with Asher’s, they were concerned I might lack expertise. The next morning, I had an appointment to meet their person in charge, still at that same club. I didn’t expect the person who came would be Vincent. He was Asher’s uncle. In all my years dating Asher, I had only met him twice, including this time. Vincent had a very strong presence. From the first time I met him, I was a bit intimidated by him. Well, just a tiny bit. Vincent smiled at me, very gentlemanly and elegant, but also giving off an oppressive aura. “Why don’t you come in?” Vincent was like someone who believed in Buddha but acted like a demon. My instincts told me this man was dangerous. Asher was his nephew – why would he agree to work with me on this project? Could he be seeking revenge for his nephew? I walked in and sat across from Vincent, forcing myself to smile. “Hello, Mr. Shen.” Vincent seemed to be in a good mood. “You remember me?” How could I forget such an important figure? I said, “Of course. I met you last year when Asher took me home for dinner.” Vincent kept smiling. “I’m honored to have left such a deep first impression on you.” This was typical Vincent – smiling and speaking pleasantly, but I still had to be on guard. I was afraid he might stab me while smiling.
I decided not to pursue this project anymore. It wasn’t that I was scared, but I knew when to cut my losses. Before Vincent could make his move, I decisively cut off his line of attack. “Mr. Shen, I’m sure you know about my situation with Asher. I think we should call off our cooperation.” Vincent just calmly asked, “Why?” Did he really need to ask? Didn’t he know the reason? “Then why did you agree to work with me?” I countered. Wasn’t it to get revenge for his nephew? Vincent stared into my eyes. “For you.” I was suddenly dumbfounded, not just by Vincent’s words, but by the way he looked at me. That blatant possessiveness made it hard for me to breathe. I also didn’t understand what he meant by those three words. “What do you mean?” Vincent sat up straight, smiling at me. “Can’t you tell? I’m pursuing you.” His tone was light and ambiguous at the end. It gave me goosebumps. I had just broken up with his nephew, and now he was pursuing me? Who would believe that? I was even more furious now. I felt like Vincent was treating me like a fool. “Vincent, do you think I’m that easy to fool?” The way Vincent looked at me seemed appreciative, as if my anger was something very interesting to him. He said, “I’m not fooling you.” I tried to stay calm despite my anger. “We’ve only met twice.” “Who says I can’t fall for you at first sight?” Vincent asked as if it was the most natural thing, his expression unreadable. I wasn’t intimidated by him at all now. Anger made me feel invincible. I challenged him, “I was still Asher’s girlfriend then. You fell for your future niece-in-law at first sight?” “Is there a problem with that? I only started pursuing you after you broke up. I don’t think I’ve done anything wrong.” He spoke casually, making perfect sense. But I just couldn’t believe it. This came too suddenly, and at such a time. I had to be cautious. “I don’t like you…” “That’s why I’m pursuing you,” Vincent interrupted me. “This project is just my way of getting close to you. If it makes you uncomfortable, you can cancel the cooperation anytime. But I’ll continue pursuing you.” He seemed very persistent, as if he really was interested in me. The project matter was temporarily set aside. I stood up. “Let’s end the discussion here. I have other matters to attend to.” I nodded at him and started walking away. Just as I reached the door, I heard Vincent call out to me. He called my name. “Rachel.” I turned to look at him. He had also stood up and was walking towards me. Vincent was even taller than Asher, definitely over 6’1″. With his strong presence, I felt a sense of pressure as soon as he approached me. I hated feeling at a disadvantage like this. I raised my chin. “What?” Vincent stopped in front of me. I caught a whiff of his faint cologne – light and ethereal, hard to pinpoint the exact scent, but very pleasant. He asked me, “Am I inferior to Asher in any way?” I can’t believe Vincent would ask such a question. So he was human after all. “To be honest, you’re better than Asher in every way.” Asher wasn’t my boyfriend anymore. I had no reason to idealize him. Vincent asked again, “Then why don’t you like me?” Vincent’s questions always made me feel like we were talking past each other. I was analyzing objective factors, while he kept subjectively challenging me. I decided to be straightforward. “Vincent, I think you’re trying to get revenge on me for Asher.” Vincent was stunned for a moment, then laughed. “I see. It’s my mistake. I shouldn’t have mixed business with personal matters. I understand why you’re so guarded.” I breathed a sigh of relief. Once things were out in the open, the rest would follow naturally. “Then let’s call off our cooperation.” “Alright,” Vincent readily agreed.
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