"Arrogant," Savannah said, pacing across Mia’s living room. "Narcissistic and extremely dumb!"
Mia sat curled on the couch with a cup of tea, watching Savannah with amusement. She had never seen her friend curse someone before. And she was absolutely loving this version of hers.
"Go on."
"Ansel Locke runs a billion dollar empire. He out-negotiates entire boards before breakfast. But put a pretty girl with fake tears in front of him and his brain just... stops working." Savannah turned on her heel. "He is just like CEOs from those romance novels. Powerful enough to buy a city but too stupid to tell real from fake."
"You think Celeste is pretty?" Mia was genuinely confused. "I find her a walking cosmetic store."
The comment was supposed to make Savannah laugh but she wasn’t in the mood.
"If it weren’t for his resources, I wouldn’t spare that man a glance on the street. I hate him, Mia. I hate him."
"I understand but..."
Mia stopped as her phone buzzed beside her.
"Just a second," she said, picking it up.
She glanced at the screen and froze.
"Savannah. You need to see this," Mia whispered.
Savannah walked to her and took the phone from her. A short and blurry video was playing on the screen in a loop. It was the video of Celeste falling into the pond and from the angle, it looked like Savannah had pushed her.
The caption below it read:
Jealous Sister Pushes Lucky Quinn Girl.
"Posted thirty minutes ago," Mia said quietly. "By Sienna Locke herself and that too from her main account."
Savannah scrolled down, reading the comments.
Gold digger strikes again. Lol.
She slapped Locke heir and pushed her own sister?? lock her up!!
Psychopath...honestly.
Has anyone noticed how unlucky everyone around this woman is? Savannah Quinn curse is real!
And just like this...by morning...she was the most hated woman on the internet. But things took a serious turn when she received a call at nine in the morning.
"Miss Savannah Quinn?" A woman’s apologetic voice came from the other end. "This is Janet from Whitmore & Cole."
Savannah’s grip tightened on her phone at her words.
"Three weeks ago, you interviewed at our firm for junior associate position," Janet said. "You were excellent. But given the... recent controversy... we regret to inform you that..."
"You’re rescinding it," Savannah cut her off.
The woman on the other side paused for a second before speaking again.
"The firm is very sensitive about its reputation. I’m sorry."
"Thank you for telling me directly," Savannah said. "Please thank the partners for their time."
She hung up and kept standing on the balcony, thinking about what to do next.
"Say the word and I’ll post everything that happened yesterday on my account. The fact that Sienna filmed it herself..." Mia said, who was standing beside her and had heard everything.
"No."
"Savannah..."
"Anyone who defends themselves online looks even more guilty. Moreover, we don’t have any proof," Savannah said, turning from the railing. "We don’t need to fight on their ground. We need a better ground."
"Which is?"
"The gala."
Mia groaned.
"The Harlow gala?"
Savannah nodded.
"That gala is the only option for me right now," Savannah explained. "If I can get inside..."
"If..." Mia pretended to think for a moment then she started typing on her phone. "I’m buying a ticket in my name. You can come as my plus one."
Savannah stared at her in surprise.
"But that ticket is so expensive. You didn’t..."
"I already bought it," Mia showed her the confirmed ticket on her phone. "But don’t worry, when you become rich and famous, you’re buying me a house."
Savannah smiled and pulled her into a tight hug.
"Thank you so much," Savannah said, tears stinging her eyes. "I don’t know what I would have done without you."
"Don’t thank me yet," Mia said. "We still have to survive the gala."
Just then the doorbell rang. Mia broke the hug and frowned.
"Expecting someone?" Mia asked.
"No," Savannah replied, shaking her head.
They both went inside and Mia opened the door, her smile disappearing from her face.
Ethan Moore stood outside, holding two paper grocery bags.
"Ethan," Savannah whispered behind Mia.
"Hey!" Ethan’s voice was rough as if he hadn’t slept in ages. "Can I come in?"
Mia stepped aside. She knew it wasn’t her place to deal with Ethan since he hadn’t done anything wrong...yet. So she gestured for Savannah to talk to him.
"Why are you here?" Savannah asked, walking towards the door.
Ethan sighed.
"I didn’t know what to do, so I just came here," he smiled bitterly. "The internet is calling you all sorts of names. I couldn’t just sit and do nothing. I needed to see you."
"Ethan..."
"I watched the video a hundred times," Ethan continued. "And I still don’t believe it. I know you. Savannah. You can never do something like that."
Savannah didn’t say anything. This was Ethan, the man she had loved for years. The man who knew her the best. If someone had told her that this guy would cheat on her after their marriage, she would have sent them straight to a psychiatrist.
But not anymore. She knew what he was and what he would become in the future.
"I’m not here to ask questions," he said. "I’m not even here for an explanation. Just come back to me. Whatever is going on with you...whatever this is...we’ll figure it out together."
"Ethan." she finally spoke. "You can’t take me back. There’s nothing to take back."
"Savannah...."
"Stop it," she stepped back from the door. "Let’s just go our separate ways from now on."
Then she shut the door. Mia walked to her and pulled her into a tight hug again.
"It’s okay...everything will be okay soon," she whispered.
"I know," Savannah replied, smiling through her tears.
Across the city, Ansel sat in his study watching the garden’s security footage on his monitor. He was reviewing the pond incident video. Unfortunately, the angle was bad and he couldn’t see everything but the fall was clear.
He saw Celeste falling into the water and Savannah’s hand reaching out to her a second late. On his third watch, he noticed how just before she grabbed Savannah’s wrist, Celeste stepped backward.
Ansel replayed that exact moment three more times. But still couldn’t find anything conclusive. The frame was too blurry to prove anything.
"It doesn’t matter," he told himself. "Both Quinn daughters are performers. All they care about is money and fame."
He turned off the monitor and picked up his whiskey glass. He had just taken a sip when Leo knocked and came inside.
"Sir. I have some news. I think you’d be interested."
"What is it?"
"The Harlow Foundation charity gala opened its ticket window this week. And I’ve received information that Mia Hart has bought one ticket."
"Mia Hart? Who is she?" Ansel asked, confused.
"Miss Savannah’s friend," Leo replied. "She is staying at Miss Hart’s place after her father kicked her out."
Ansel set his glass down, his mind racing.
Why is she so interested in Harlow Gala? That she even made her friend buy such an expensive ticket? What is she planning?