Cupid's Arrow Hit On Me

A Night Among Elite

Serenity went to her sister’s place.

She opened the door and went inside the house to find her sister was already up. Liberty was busy in the kitchen.

“Liberty.”

“Seren, you’re here.”

Liberty came out of the kitchen and was happy to see her little sister. “Have you eaten? I’m making a pot of pasta. Do you want a plate?”

“I’m good. I had breakfast. Have you started cooking? You don’t have to if you haven’t because I brought you and Sonny breakfast.”

“Not yet. Sonny had a fever last night. I didn’t sleep much the whole night, so I got up late. Your brother-in-law had to get breakfast from the shop. He wasn’t happy about it. He accused me of doing nothing all day and I could’ve made him breakfast since all I did was look after a child.”

Liberty was hurt.

Serenity was furious for her sake. “Why did Sonny have a fever? You should take him to see a doctor later even if the fever’s gone in case it comes back. Seriously. I can’t believe your husband didn’t bother to help and even yelled at you when your child was sick.

“Is my brother-in-law still insisting on going Dutch after I moved out, Liberty?”

Liberty took a seat on the sofa and unwrapped the food. She dug in and said, “I’ll take Sonny later. He’s still insisting on splitting the expenses. He said that all I do is spend money rather than earn my keep. He mentioned that I have no idea the pressure he’s under. As part of the family, I should contribute to the household expenses.

“I bet his sister taught him that. My sister-in-law can’t stop poking her face into our affairs after she got married. My husband used to be good to me, and his sister ruined that.”

Prior to handing in her resignation letter, Liberty worked her way up to the financial chief position. She was paid handsomely. Liberty gave up a lot for love and marriage but received hate from her in-laws in return.

Liberty only spent her money on the home. The clothes she bought were with Serenity’s money. The shopping only came once in a while, and buying things like cosmetics were less frequent than new clothes.

However, her in-laws would kick up a fuss about Liberty’s spending whenever she bought new clothes and cosmetics. Even if Liberty explained that it was with Serenity’s money, her in-laws would argue the gifted money was a joint a*set with her husband, so she had no right to use it for herself.

“Liberty, why don’t you send Sonny to a kindergarten? You can pick up your career again and earn as much as, if not more than your husband.”

Serenity felt sorry for her sister.

While Serenity was living under the same roof with her sister and family, Serenity would take on all the housework to help her sister out. Now that she had moved out, Liberty got more on her plate.

“Your brother-in-law said to wait until Sonny is three or four before enrolling him in a kindergarten.” Liberty was interested to return to the workplace. If nothing else, the burden of a car loan, mortgage, and elderly care was weighing heavily on the family.”

Serenity frowned as she got the sense that Liberty’s husband was treating Liberty like cr*p, and it was only getting worse. Serenity had to ask, “Do you think your husband is seeing someone else?”

Startled, Liberty uttered, “I don’t think so. I know how much he’s making. He doesn’t have extra money to keep a mistress.”

“But your husband’s been increasingly rude to you. You must think about your future. Don’t be a misunderstood stay-at-home mom without an income.”

Liberty fell silent for a moment before stating, “We’ll see. Don’t worry about me, Seren. I’ll be okay. How are you doing? When is your husband coming back from his trip?”

“It’ll be a while. He can be busy since he’s working in a major corporation.”

Liberty inquired about Serenity’s life at the new home in detail. She was able to relax once she was sure her little sister was doing well.

Now that Serenity had spent some time with her nephew, Liberty urged her to get back to the shop.

While riding her e-bike to the bookshop, Serenity reflected on her sister’s messy life. Distracted, Serenity failed to pay attention to her surroundings and nearly rammed into a car. With her fight-or-flight instincts kicking in, Serenity swerved to the side and narrowly missed the car. At the same time, she hit the brakes.

The car also came to a screeching halt.

Serenity glanced at the car. It was a Roll Royce, a luxury sedan!

Behind the Rolls Royce was a row of identical vehicles. The people in those cars must be the bodyguards of the person in the luxury sedan.

Since Wiltspoon was a metropolis, luxury sedans were not a rare sight.

Serenity made a gesture of apology to the driver before starting her e-bike and slipping away.

There was no way she was going to wait to be yelled at.

The driver turned his head over to the man in black in the backseat. “Mr. Zachary, it’s the missus.”

Zachary’s face fell as he clearly witnessed Serenity almost knocking onto his car. She was obviously distracted. To have an absent mind while riding on a busy road, was she trying to get herself killed?

Let’s go.”

Despite tearing into Serenity in his mind, Zachary had no intention to say or do anything about it.

Serenity was his wife on paper, but they were no different than strangers.

Too scared to say anything, the driver started the car.

Serenity had no idea she nearly ran into her man’s car. She sped off on her e-bike and made it to the shop in no time. Jasmine always arrived earlier than Serenity since the former lived nearby.

“Seren.”

Jasmine ordered breakfast after she was done setting up the shop. She was enjoying breakfast when her best friend entered the scene. Jasmine asked with a smile, “Have you eaten?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh.” Jasmine went on to finish the most important meal of the day.

“I brought you some desserts. They’re delicious. Try them.”

Picking up a bag by the cash register, Jasmine told her best friend.

Serenity placed her bike key by the cash register and sat down before pulling over the bag containing the dessert. “You can’t go wrong with desserts. I saw a Roll Royce on my way to work, Jasmine.”

Jasmine replied, “I see. It’s not strange to spot a Rolls Royce in Wiltspoon, but it’s not a common sight. Did you see who’s in the car? Is it just like in the books – a hot and single CEO?”

Serenity stared at Jasmine without a word.

Jasmine chuckled. “That’s what it’s like in the books. Why are the young, hot, and rich CEOs eluding us?”

“The storylines are made up to cater to the market. Would anyone read a book if it’s about your average wage earner? The leading man has to be society’s elite even if he isn’t a CEO.”

Jasmine burst into another bout of laughter.

“That reminds me. Are you free tonight, Seren?”

“You know I’m either at home or at the shop, right? What’s the matter?”

Life was simple to Serenity as it only revolved around managing the shop and caring for her sister’s son.

“There’s a dinner party tonight. It’s a gathering of high society. I got an invite. Do you want to come along and have a peek into their world?”

Serenity turned down the offer. “I don’t run in the same circle as them. I’m not interested.”

Although she earned quite a bit, the upper crust was beyond her reach. She had no intention to elbow her way into the community, nor did she have the means to.

To be frank, Serenity might be mistaken as the server if someone of her social status were to attend such a refined dinner party.

“I don’t want to go either, but my mom begged my aunt for an invite. I can bring a plus one, so I thought of taking you. Seren, oh Seren. Please come with me to see what it’s like. Wait, no. I need you there to be my rock. I don’t want my mom to nag at me.”

The Soxes were wealthy and locals of Wiltspoon. They owned several properties and half a block of stores, making their millions through rent. However, wealth could not buy social standing.

Mrs. Sox took pride in her daughter’s pretty face as marrying her daughter off could be the ticket to a higher social cla*s. Jasmine’s aunt happened to marry into a rich and powerful family. It had been a few tough decades, but it finally worked out for the aunt as she was now rubbing shoulders with the upper cla*s.

The aunt doted on Jasmine and believed her niece had just only what it took to bag a wealthy and influential bachelor. Since Jasmine’s mom asked, the aunt was happy to make it happen for her niece.

“Is Mrs. Sox pressuring you to get married again?”

“All mothers are the same. They can’t wait to kick their daughters out and make them another man’s problem once their daughters turn eighteen. I can make my own money and be financially independent. I don’t need a man to enjoy a good life.

“I think you shouldn’t marry out of your social cla*s. I don’t want to marry up. Although my aunt is mingling well with the circle, it took her decades to get there. She faced a lot of difficulties when she first married her husband. She used to cry to my mom when she visited back then. She knows what it’s like.”

Jasmine was all for freedom and not being bound by the upper crust’s unwritten rules.

“Come on, Seren. Just tonight. We’ll be in this together. We get to see how the top 1% live. My aunt said there will be a lot of young eligible bachelors attending tonight. They’re all Wiltspoon’s finest and richest. We can check the scene out even if we’re not there to snag a man. It’s a dinner party, so there’s going to be lots of good food.”

Serenity was not one to say no to food.

So was Jasmine.

It was that common interest that brought the pair together.

It took an hour of convincing before Serenity gave in to her best friend’s request. They closed the store early to attend the event.

Serenity called her sister and asked about her nephew. Her nephew had seen a doctor, and the fever was only a case of the sniffles.

It put Serenity’s mind at ease.

She then told Liberty about attending a dinner party with Jasmine.

“It’s nice even if it’s just for the experience. Of course, you could make some friends from that circle.”

Liberty was in favor of Serenity attending the party.

It was not for any other reason than to witness the other side of the world.

The shop was closed right after lunch just to attend tonight’s party. Jasmine dragged her best friend home to put on some fancy dress and slap some makeup on.

Since the Soxes adored Serenity, they had no problem with Jasmine bringing Serenity along to the dinner party. Serenity was married anyway, so there was no concern that Serenity would steal the limelight from Jasmine.

Just after six in the evening, a sedan arranged by Jasmine’s aunt rolled into the Soxes’ driveway.

“Have fun.”

Seeing the girls off at the door, Mrs. Sox said to Serenity, “Help me keep an eye on Jasmine, Seren. Don’t let her stuff her face. Get her to socialize with the young bachelors.”

She told her daughter, “Jasmine, your aunt has done a lot for you. Don’t let her down.”

Serenity replied with a smile, “Don’t worry, Mrs. Sox. I’ll help you keep an eye on Jasmine so she doesn’t wander off to the buffet.”

They would hang out at the buffet together.

“I feel relieved with you around.”

Mrs. Sox was fond of Serenity because the girl was sensible and independent. Had it not been because her son was a lot younger than Serenity, Mrs. Sox would have played matchmaker for them.

It was regrettable that Serenity was taken. There were a lot of youngsters in the Sox family. Serenity could have picked any one of them if she wanted to walk down the aisle.

It was what it was. There was no point talking about it since it was not like Mrs. Sox’s regret could change anything.

With Mrs. Sox urging them to hurry up, Jasmine, dolled up in glamorous makeup, white gown, and jewelry, pushed her best friend into the sedan arranged by the aunt.

Seeing that Serenity was married and acting as a plus-one, she did not bother to dress up. She wore her usual clothes and put on natural makeup. Nevertheless, her natural beauty still shone through despite her plain attire.