Chapter 7: She No Longer Cares
“Such a brilliant design… Why do this to yourself?” Sophia walked in, speaking softly, her heart aching for both the design and the person destroying it.
Pearl tossed the burning sketches into the trash and smiled at Sophia. “If I’m going to let go, I’ll do it completely.”
That was just who she was.
Hearing this, Sophia knew Pearl had truly moved on. She stepped forward and hugged her. “Well done, Pearl.”
“Boss, a Miss Rhodes is asking for AE,” a staff member walked in and reported.
Sophia frowned. “Miss Rhodes? Olivia? She actually dares to show up? Let’s see how I deal with her!”
“No need. I’ll handle it.” Pearl said calmly.
Sophia held her back. “Didn’t you say you wanted a clean break? People like her aren’t worth our time. Just send someone to deal with her.”
Even now, Olivia refused to believe that Pearl was AE. She kept replaying every moment Pearl had spent in the Rhodes family, but there had never been any sign of her holding a paintbrush. Her fashion sense had been utterly ordinary–nothing remarkable.
She discreetly inquired with the staff, but they, too, were uncertain. All they knew was that Pearl had been sent by AE Corp.
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So, at most, Pearl was just AE’s assistant, sent in his place as a judge.
Even if she was just an assistant, it still infuriated Olivia. That idiot Pearl–what gave her the right to be AE’s assistant?!
She had set Pearl up today. Now, it was her turn to strike back!
Just as she was plotting, a staff member walked out.
“Apologies, Master AE has no time for you. Please leave.”
Hearing that AE had sent a mere errand boy to deal with her, Olivia fumed. But remembering her true goal, she swallowed her anger.
“Please tell Master AE that I’m here to expose his assistant, Pearl! She’s been ruining his name under his banner-”
“Watch your mouth! Without Pearl, there would be no AE.Be careful with your words from now on, so as not to be accused of slander!” The staff member interrupted her bluntly.
He was wearing an earpiece, relaying Sophia’s words verbatim.
Olivia had come here today to ruin Pearl. Instead, all she heard was that without Pearl, there would be no AE!
“What do you mean?”
She had to have misheard. Or maybe the staff member had misspoken.
“It means AE can’t live without Pearl,” the staff member repeated before calling security to throw her out.
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His words hit Olivia like a lightning bolt.
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She suddenly recalled the origins of the name AE-“You are the apple of my eye.”
Because of that, not just her, but almost everyone had assumed AE was a man.
“So… Pearl has already found her next target?”
That was the only explanation that made sense to her.
And that thought was a hundred times worse than Pearl merely being AE’s assistant.
That woman had nothing–nothing but a pretty face. How could someone as sophisticated as AE possibly be interested in her?!
As she was being thrown out, her eyes landed on a Koenigsegg One parked nearby.
AE’s car.
Yet he let Pearl ride in it.
…So, it was real. They really were together.
The realization made her chest tighten painfully.
Olivia returned to the Rhodes family, completely dejected.
Caleb was home.
Anya was flipping through a stack of photos in front of him. “All of these women are from noble families. Marrying one of them would be a huge advantage for us. Pick a few to meet.”
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Of everyone, Anya was the most thrilled about Caleb and Pearl’s divorce. She couldn’t wait to introduce him to a more suitable match.
But Caleb wasn’t paying attention.
His head was lowered, eyes fixed on his phone–on a photo of Pearl.
The only photo he had of her.
She had taken it herself, secretly, using his phone.
He had deleted it immediately back then. But for some inexplicable reason, today, he had gone out of his way to retrieve it.
“Caleb? Caleb?” Anya had been talking for a while but received no response. She called his name again, louder this time.
Finally, he snapped out of it, quickly putting his phone away. “I have things to do. We’ll talk later.”
With that, he strode towards the door.
Just as he reached it, Olivia stepped in–and caught a glimpse of Pearl’s photo on his phone.
All the humiliation she had suffered today boiled over. She grabbed Caleb’s arm.
“You’re not refusing the blind dates because of Pearl, are you?”
She expected him to deny it immediately.
After all, hadn’t he always treated Pearl with cold indifference? He should be eager to erase her from his life.
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But Caleb said nothing.
And that silence struck Olivia harder than any outright confirmation.
She lost it. “You can forget about her! Pearl and AE are practically inseparable now! He just gifted her a car worth over a billion! She doesn’t care about our family anymore!”
Caleb’s heart clenched at her words.
He had thought Pearl returned that hundred million today to get his attention–to find a way back into his life.
But the truth was, she didn’t care anymore.
She didn’t need him anymore.
“…Oh, by the way.” Olivia added viciously, her eyes gleaming with malice. “She was already tangled up with AE long before the divorce. He even designed clothes for her.”
She knew she couldn’t bring Pearl down alone.
But Caleb so proud, so high above everyone else–he wouldn’t tolerate this.
And when he struck back, it would be brutal.
< Chapter 8: As Long As T…
