Book 1: She Becomes Glamorous After the Engagement Annulment

Chapter 27

Chapter 79: Cherry Looks A Little Familiar

Justin’s heart suddenly stopped beating for a moment. It was only when he saw that she managed to regain her balance that he finally relaxed.

When he wanted to see what she looked like, rows of airplane icons suddenly swept across the screen.

After studying the interface with a frown for a while, he finally turned off the virtual gift visual effects. However, by the time he looked again, he found that sweetcherry had already turned off the camera.

For some reason, he felt a little disappointed.

He shook his head, finding his behavior rather comical.

She was just a child that he had interacted with a few times. Why was he so curious about what she looked like?

He tossed the cell phone aside. The little girl’s tender voice rang out in his earphones. “Thank you for the airplanes, Grandpa! Mwah!”

For some reason, Justin felt a little unhappy.

He had gifted her so many airplanes, but why didn’t she blow him any flying kisses?

As a result, yet another row of 9999 airplane icons scrolled across the screen.

After sending the gift, he came back to his senses. He felt that he must be out of his mind…

Then, he heard the excited little fellow exclaim, “Wow, Daddy! You’re so amazing, too! Mwah!”

Justin’s lip corners couldn’t help but curl upward.

Two hours later, Cherry stopped playing and got ready for dinner.

After ending the live stream, she sat on the chair with her chin propped on her hands and looked at the two highest-ranking names on the fan list.

Sponsor Grandpa was still in top place with a total of almost $800,000 in tips.

Daddy was ranked second place with a total of about $600,000 in tips.

She felt justified and didn’t have any qualms about taking money from her father.However, it seemed like Sponsor Grandpa didn’t know her at all.

Cherry opened a private chat window and sent him a voice message.

At the Smiths.

Although he had asked for steak the day before, Ian had stopped eating after taking just a bite.

He rested on the bed in a groggy daze all the way until now.

Watching sweetcherry’s live stream seemed to have become the only thing he looked forward to every day.

Ian was frowning.

On his attractive visage, there was a contemplative look in his eyes.

He had seen what sweetcherry looked like when her mask dropped off just now, and he found her face vaguely familiar.

It was as if he had seen it somewhere before.

Even though he couldn’t recall where he might have seen a face like that before, it nevertheless gave him a sense of kinship.

Ian smiled bitterly.

Perhaps life was just too boring. Or perhaps it was because she simply looked so adorable and clever?

He was about to toss the cell phone aside when he heard a sound notification.

When Ian picked it back up, he found that sweetcherry had sent him a private message: “Sponsor Grandpa, do you wanna play games? I can guide you, yeah!”

Games?

To be honest, Ian wasn’t interested, but he didn’t have the heart to refuse the little girl’s kindness.

Thus, he replied: “How are you going to guide me?”

Beep! Another notification rang out.

He tapped on it: “Let’s add each other as friends first! Do you have a f*******: account, Sponsor Grandpa?

After we add each other as friends, I’ll be able to add you into the game from my friends list.”

Ian replied: “Yes, I do.”

Sweetcherry sent him a link to her f*******: page.

Ian logged in to the f*******: account that he hadn’t touched in years. He had only registered the account because of Yvette in the past.

He cast his eyes down, suppressed the discomfort in his heart, and added sweetcherry as a friend.

Her f*******: name was Cherry Smith.

She approved the friend request as soon as he sent it.

After that, Cherry sent him several pictures.

Puzzled, Ian replied with a question mark: ?

Cherry sent him a voice message: “Sponsor Grandpa, you’re under my care from today onward. You must remember to log in to f*******: every day and send me messages, okay? We must maintain the sparks of our friendship!”

Sparks?

Ian was confused.

Cherry sent another message: “We mustn’t let the sparks of our friendship extinguish!

Once we send each other messages for seven days, our sparks of friendship will burn strongly! After another few days, our little boat of friendship will sail off and eventually become a giant ferry!”

“…”

Ian fell silent. He couldn’t help but feel that children came up with some pretty ridiculous things these days.

However, when he thought of what she said again, he replied: “Okay.”

After he replied, it was time for dinner. The caretaker came in and asked, “Sir, how about having some oatmeal?”

Ian clenched his jaw.

He didn’t have any appetite, but when he thought of his promise with the little girl…

He would drag his life on for a few more days, he supposed. If he passed the next day, the little girl would probably be sad.

He said dispassionately, “Okay.”

—

Elsewhere, Nora had reached the dance studio after being dragged there by Sheril.

The classroom was very big and featured mirrors on all four sides.

The moment she walked in, she saw that there were a few young men and women there. They were currently standing around a girl in the corner and chatting.

At the sight of Sheril, a thin man came over and smiled bashfully at her. He said, “Sheril, you’re here!”

Sheril blushed and nodded. Then, she introduced him to Nora. “Nora, this is my boyfriend, Caden Hayes.”

Her boyfriend?

Nora sized him up carefully. She couldn’t help but feel like the man made people feel a little uncomfortable.

However, she didn’t say much.

Sheril introduced Nora to Caden and the two of them said hi to each other.

At this point, the chatter from a distance away reached them.

“Really? Your family is so amazing!”

“Wow, Rachel, are you going to meet Tanya Turner? I’m so envious!”

“…”

Caden was taken aback for a moment. Then, he asked with a smile, “Tanya Turner? What are you guys talking about?”

Someone answered, “It’s Rachel! Her mother heard that Ms. Turner will be coming back to the States in a few days, so she specially invited her to go to their place to hold a few dance lessons for her!”

After answering him, the group of youngsters gathered around Rachel and asked, “Can we also join the class, Rachel?”

At the sight of everyone swarming over there, Caden looked at Sheril and said, “Sheril, Rachel is your cousin, right? Can you ask her to let us join the class?”

Sheril’s expression immediately changed and she looked as if she had been put in a spot.

Nora, on the other hand, was taken aback. “She’s your cousin?”

“Yes, Rachel is Sheril’s uncle’s daughter from the maternal side of the family.I’m sure she’ll agree if Sheril asks her!”

Nora looked at Rachel Wood, who was surrounded by everyone and basking in the limelight.

She had wavy hair, a slim and graceful figure, and a delicate aura around her. The scholarly aura around her was a little similar to the one that Melissa had.

It was just that even though Melissa looked delicate, she also had a very dignified aura around her.

On the other hand, Rachel’s imitation was lacking and it fell flat, making her seem somewhat chintzy.

With the wall of people in between, she spoke with a great sense of superiority and said, “It’s very difficult to get Ms. Turner to open a class. It’s not about money at all. My mother only managed to ask her to open a class for me after asking a lot of people for favors.”

Someone who was trying to flatter her said, “It’s rare for Tanya Turner to come back to the States, so I heard that her schedule is totally packed. It’s really amazing that your family could get her over!”

Rachel suddenly looked at Sheril. “There are already a lot of people in the class, Sheril. I may not be able to let you join this time.”

Chapter 80: Tanya Turner!

As soon as she said that, everyone looked over.

Sheril immediately felt her face flush in embarrassment as though she was living on someone’s charity.

Rachel, however, didn’t let her off. She continued and said, “You can ask your mother to make an appointment for you, though. That way, you’ll also be able to attend her classes! By the way, does your mother have any connections?Do you want my mother to hook her up with the relevant people?”

After the Anderson's fell into decline, as Simon’s wife, Melissa’s status had also dropped.

However, not only did her family, the Wood's, not help her in any way, but they even rubbed it in.

Take, for example, what was currently happening. What Rachel said had in no uncertain terms told everyone that even though Melissa had been part of the Wood's in the past, her current authority and connections were actually not as good as the Wood's.

Sheril clenched her fists and tried her best to make herself look calm as she replied, “No, it’s fine. I’m not very interested in dancing anyway…”

Rachel curled her lip. “Is that so?”

She glanced at Caden. Then, as though she was talking about Sheril yet also as insinuating something else, she said, “What a shame.”

After that, she turned and looked at the other people there.

However, when she did, she saw that everyone who had been circling around her and asking about Tanya just now was instead now staring curiously at Nora.

The young woman, who was dressed simply, easily became the focus of the crowd just by gracefully standing there.

Rachel frowned. She took the initiative to walk over, held Sheril’s hand with a smile, and asked gently, “Who’s this, Sheril?”

Sheril suppressed her awkwardness and embarrassment and naturally made the introductions. “This is Nora, my eldest aunt’s daughter.”

A surprised Rachel immediately exclaimed rather loudly, “Huh? So that’s who you are! I totally couldn’t tell from your figure that you’ve given birth before!”

The words “you’ve given birth before” astonished everyone there.

Rachel covered her mouth and looked at the two of them apologetically. She said, “S-sorry, I accidentally spoke without thinking for a moment there. Nora, you don’t mind, right?”

To outsiders, premarital pregnancies were seen as immoral behavior. Under normal circumstances, even if one’s family didn’t help them to hide it, they wouldn’t publicize it like that, either.

However, Rachel had mentioned it the moment she came over. This made everyone instantly look at her in a different way.

Nora could hear someone nearby whisper, “Tsk, she looks pretty pure and innocent. I didn’t expect that she already has kids.”

“Why is someone like her here to dance? Is she trying to hook up with someone?”

Sheril frowned. She stood in front of Nora and said, “Don’t spout nonsense, Rachel. Nora’s just here to learn how to dance!”

Rachel cast her eyes down and smirked. “In that case, does she have a dance partner yet?”

Sheril looked at the other people there.

Most people who came here to dance didn’t come at fixed intervals. Neither did they have fixed dance partners. She had originally thought that it would be very easy to find Nora a dance partner since she was so pretty.

However, Rachel’s words just now had obviously made everyone averse to Nora.

She was about to say something when Nora smiled and said, “It’s okay, Sheril. I’ll just watch you dance.”

Sheril said, “Nora, you…”

Nora cast her eyes down. “It’s fine, really.”

Sheril knew that trying to comfort her further now would only result in the opposite effect, so she could only give her a resigned nod.

When the dance teacher arrived, everyone split into pairs and started to dance.

A bored Nora leaned against the wall and played with her cell phone while she watched Sheril out of the corner of her eye.

Caden was unexpectedly a pretty good dancer.

International ballroom dancing was performed in pairs of men and women. In particular, if the men were strong enough, their dancing would be very exciting to watch when they led the woman.

Caden was likely a professional. He held Sheril by her waist and danced, the two of them forming a dazzling sight. Gradually, they became the center of all the dancers in the room.

While they were dancing, Sheril was also constantly looking at Nora.

She suddenly suggested, “Caden, why don’t you dance with Nora later?”

Caden was a little reluctant. He replied, “I wanted to say this just now, but someone like her who became pregnant before marriage must have a very profligate lifestyle in private. Sheril, you shouldn’t associate too much with her.”

An unhappy-looking Sheril said, “You don’t even know what Nora is like or anything about her past. Why would you say that?”

Caden frowned. “Okay, okay, I won’t say any more. She doesn’t look like she’s danced before, though. I’m a professional; it may not be appropriate to have me lead her in a dance.”

His eyes were downcast and he looked obviously reluctant.

After the dance, Sheril cast Caden aside and went to Nora.

Next to them, Rachel clenched her fists when she saw what she did.

Although her dance partner was also pretty good, he ultimately still couldn’t compare with Caden.

Sheril obviously didn’t dance as well as her, yet because Caden was the one leading her, she had actually danced better than her!

Furious, Rachel narrowed her eyes. Then, she suddenly walked toward Caden…

Sheril had a good temper and a cheerful personality.

Although she found Caden’s words unpleasant, she knew that he ultimately wasn’t aware of her cousin’s circumstances, so it was understandable that he would misunderstand. Thus, after she counseled herself a little, she decided to explain to Caden what had happened to Nora.

She didn’t have a profligate lifestyle. Rather, she had been deceived.

But as soon as she turned around, she instead saw Caden and Rachel walking toward her together.

The two of them behaved intimately, which made Sheril frown.

Caden seemed a little awkward, but he nevertheless bit the bullet and said, “I’m having the next dance with Rachel, Sheril.”

give him a few pointers, too. It’s mutually beneficial for both of us after all! You won’t mind, right?”

Sheril was so angry that her hands were shaking.

She looked at Caden with her eyes red.

He had refused to dance with her cousin when she asked him just now, yet he was going to dance with Rachel now?

He clearly knew that she and Rachel were at loggerheads!

And that she was always looking for opportunities to bully her!

Sheril felt her throat going tight and she felt like she had been betrayed. She asked, “Are you sure you want to do that, Caden?”

Caden replied in a low voice, “You know I major in dance, so I’ll have to participate in international ballroom dancing competitions. If I can get some pointers from Ms. Turner, I’ll definitely benefit a lot from it!”

Sheril clenched her fists and said, “Caden, I’ll let you choose—either you dance with me or we break up, in which case you’re free to dance with whomever you want!”

Caden frowned and said, “You’re being unreasonable, Sheril!”

Rachel also said calmly, “Sheril, I’m just asking Caden to dance with me. Why are you making such a huge fuss? How can you hold Caden back like that?”

She sneered, “It’s the Anderson's who can’t get Ms. Turner as a dance teacher, yet you’re forbidding me from helping him? If you were able to get her as a teacher and have her give Caden some pointers, he wouldn’t have chosen to dance with me, either!”

Sheril turned pale and she tried to hold her tears back.

At this point, an extremely cold and indifferent voice reached them. “Who says the Anderson's can’t get Tanya to teach us how to dance?”

Chapter 81: Name Your Price, Mr. Hunt!

The few of them turned and looked at Nora.

She stood quietly beside Sheril, her eyes drooping a little, making her look very sleepy.

She looked at Sheril casually and said, “I’ll give her a call when she returns to the States and have her come over to the Anderson's to give you some guidance.”

“…”

The few of them fell silent for a while.

Caden was the first to recover. He asked eagerly, “Can the Anderson's really invite Tanya Turner over?”

He really did like Sheril quite a fair bit.

Among the wealthy young ladies who were there to dance, not only was Sheril the prettiest, but she also had a gentle aura around her.

In particular, she had both a good personality and good values, and had never once looked down on him despite her background.

Even when he bought a necklace worth about $150 with the money he earned from his part-time

job and gave it to Sheril to test her reaction, she had immediately taken off the four-leaf clover motif Van Cleef & Arpels necklace she was wearing and put on the necklace he gave her instead.

She liked dancing, but only as a hobby. She wasn’t addicted to it.

Instead, she preferred to stay in the laboratory to carry out pharmaceutical experiments, and was a typical technology geek.

Caden had once taken her to his rental apartment before. It was just a 430 square feet studio apartment that might not even be as big as her bedroom.

But she had sat on the sofa with a cushion, smiled, and said, “A smaller place feels cozier.”

She had such a good personality.

Even though she did occasionally show a bit of a rich young lady’s temperament like how she had gotten angry just now when he refused to dance with Nora, she usually cheered up after he coaxed her a little.

Therefore, if the Anderson's really were capable of getting Tanya over, why should he make her angry?

But as soon as he said that, Rachel laughed softly. She looked at Sheril with a faint smile and asked, “Sheril, does your cousin not know who Tanya Turner is?”

She looked at Nora again and said dispassionately, “Ms. Turner will only be back in the will only be back in the States for a few days to take part in a dance program’s filming. Her schedule is very packed. Even the Woods only managed to contact her after asking a lot of people for favors…”

Several people next to Rachel who were trying to curry favor with her also chimed in:

“Yeah, do you really think that Ms. Turner is that easy to invite over? When she was overseas, she only held classes for nobles and aristocrats!”

“I heard that even Whitney Lowe invited her to give her daughter guidance during her return to the States this time! Tanya Turner and Whitney Lowe participated in the international ballroom dancing competition together.Tanya was the champion.”

“We wanted to ask Whitney to hold a few classes here, but even she wasn’t willing to, let alone Tanya…”

“That person probably thinks that they can get anyone over just because they are rich. Many of us here are richer than the Andersons, but even so, we don’t make it sound as easy as she did…”

“…”

Amid their chatter, Rachel said, “Alright, let’s not say any more. Sheril’s cousin isn’t from around these parts, so maybe she doesn’t understand how things work in New York… Let’s not gather around here anymore!”

She took Caden’s arm and said, “Let’s go and dance.”

Caden glanced at Sheril again. When he saw that she was keeping quiet with an awful look on her face, he left with Rachel in disappointment.

When the music for the next dance started, Sheril grabbed Nora and led her out of the dance studio.

It was already evening by then.

The streets were full of traffic and neon lights flickered in the dark. The colorful lights at the dance studio’s entrance shone on Sheril’s face, and one could see the tears that she had been holding back finally rolling down her cheeks.

After staring at her for a while, Nora reached out and held her by her shoulders. Her eyes looked a little cold in the light.Suddenly, she turned around and started walking back to the dance studio.

Sheril grabbed her wrist. “What are you going back there for, Nora?”

A displeased Nora said, “I’m going to drag him out here and make him apologize to you.”

Sheril shook her head. “No, it’s okay. You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink. Besides, Tanya Turner is all he has on his mind. His heart isn’t even with me anymore!”

Nora said, “Then I’ll get Tanya over. He’ll be willing to come over and apologize if I do that.”

Sheril was stunned. “Are you able to get her here?”

Nora didn’t keep it a secret from her. She nodded and replied, “We’re friends. We met abroad.”

Friends…

No wonder Nora had said just now that the Anderson's could get Tanya over!

Sheril gave her a resigned smile and lowered her head. She said, “Even if we get Tanya over and he returns to me, what if it happens again? If he keeps being tempted by external factors all the time, what can I do the next time it happens?”

Nora frowned. She said clearly and bossily, “As long as you desire it, I can help you control him forever!”

When one was strong and capable enough, getting a man they wanted was as easy as ABC.

If being with Caden would make Sheril happy, then they would just need to make it such that he would never be able to leave her, right?

It was just a little troublesome in her case because Pete’s father was Justin.

Had it been someone else, she would have already taken her son with her.

While Nora was secretly thinking about it, she noticed Sheril looking at her flabbergasted as if she was shocked by her theory. “Is that even possible?”

This instead puzzled Nora. She said, “You’re rich and you’re pretty. Isn’t it something easily achievable for you?”

Sheril, “??”

She actually found herself a little convinced!

Seeing that she seemed to be moved by the idea, Nora asked, “Do you want to go back then?”

“No, it’s fine.”

Although Sheril wasn’t crying anymore, she was still feeling very down. She said, “I already know that he’s someone who’ll sacrifice me for the sake of benefits, so why would I still want him? I may be sad now, but I’ll meet better men in the future! Moreover, he isn’t handsome anyway.”

She cheered herself up and said, “Let’s go to the bar, Nora.”

“…”

Actually, what she wanted more was to go home and sleep.

But seeing how dull Sheril’s usually bright eyes were, Nora sighed. “Alright.”

Sheril looked very sweet and docile, and her straight bangs made her look even more student-like.

Therefore, Nora had thought that she would just drink a can of beer at most.

In the end, when they sat on the steps in the park, she instead took out a bottle of vodka and some pairing snacks from the plastic bag of stuff that she bought at the supermarket.

Nora, “…”

She suddenly found her very down to earth.

The night gradually got darker and moonlight shone brightly.

The sky looked as if it were wrapped in a layer of grayish gauze.

Most of the people exercising in the park had already gone home.

Nora rarely drank, so she didn’t know how well she could hold her liquor. After having a couple of sips, she vaguely felt like she was seeing double.

Sheril took a big gulp from the bottle and popped a few snacks into her mouth. Then, she drank again…

A dizzy Nora tilted her head and asked, “Sheril, why are there two of you?”

Sheril chuckled and said, “You’re so terrible at holding your liquor, Nora! You’re drunk!”

Was she drunk?

Nora stood up. She suddenly picked up her cell phone, entered a series of numbers, and dialed it.

Someone quickly answered the call.

Justin’s voice rang out on the phone. “Ms. Smith.”

Nora’s voice was low and cool. She said, “Mr. Hunt, I’m drunk, so…”

Justin had just come out of the bath.

When he heard what she said, he paused and asked, “So?”

“Name your price!” The young woman slowly said, “I want to buy you…”