It was quite cool for Clarissa to have a female bodyguard with her.
She was finally permitted to go out, but there were not many occasions for her to leave.
Apart from going to the studio, she would look for Ellie.
However, shortly after, Mimi contacted Clarissa to ask for a meetup again.
They decided to meet nearby. As soon as Mimi saw Clarissa, she narrowed her eyes in dissatisfaction. Her cousin looked like she had gained weight and had been living well.
“Clarissa, you must have grown fat from pigging out on delicious food all day. Meanwhile, you made me stay in a run-down hostel where I had to squeeze with others and eat sub-par food. How can you be so selfish?” she complained.
On the contrary, the hostel that Mimi stayed in was not as bad as she described.
The majority of the residents were students that had to take their exams nearby. There were single rooms, double rooms and rooms that catered to more than two.
As students living together, they could talk to, rely on and learn from each other. It was the most suitable environment for Mimi.
Unfortunately, Mimi did not understand the intentions behind Matthew’s arrangement. She assumed Clarissa deliberately talked behind her back, and it annoyed her to see her cousin living better than she was.
As Mimi took a seat, she noticed the short-haired woman beside Clarissa. That tan woman had an indifferent expression on her face and a sharp gaze. Frowning, she questioned, “Is she your friend?”
“It’s none of your business. Did you call me out to complain about your accommodation? If you don’t want to stay there, you can always move out and look for your own place. There is no loss to me since I am the one paying for your current hostel.”
Hearing that, Mimi froze. She pouted and could not refute that point.
Instead, she vented her frustration by ordering a variety of food, especially those that were expensive. Clarissa could not be bothered to pick on her.
After some time, Mimi tried her luck and suggested, “Clare, why don’t you let me stay with you? I promise I won’t touch your things. The hostel isn’t an ideal space for me to study as it isn’t quiet.”
“Haha…you actually study?” Clarissa mocked.
Feigning being hurt, Mimi protested, “Of course! I have to maintain my good grades.”
Unfortunately, the act did not fool Clarissa. “If you are serious about studying, you can do it anywhere.”
Mimi glanced at the woman opposite her in disappointment. She doesn’t give in.
Refusing to give up, Mimi continued, “Whatever. You can continue living with that useless man, and I will not disturb you. Anyway, my classmates have registered for classes, and I plan to do so too. Teachers from the film academy started holding tuition classes outside of school, which will be very helpful for us.”
“Go ahead and register for it. I’m not stopping you,” Clarissa pointed out.
Cautiously, Mimi whined, “But I don’t have enough money. It costs a few hundred per lesson, and my parents don’t have the money to support me. Clare, can you pay for my classes? When I become successful and earn big bucks in future, I will be sure to repay you.”
To her dismay, Clarissa took her request lightly and coldly responded, “If you can’t afford it, you will have to rely on yourself. I am not obligated to cover both your accommodation and your school fees.”
“You…”
Mimi was furious. She slammed her fork on the table and raged, “Clarissa, I’ll pay you back once I start earning. Why are you so petty? You have a good income, yet you can’t even lend me some money? What will your readers think of you? Are you disregarding your family member now?”
Clarissa scoffed, “Are you threatening me again?”
Immediately, Mimi kept quiet, while her eyes were still burning with anger.
Clarissa had dirt on Mimi, so the latter’s threats posed no weight.
Besides, she was not familiar with D City. Therefore, she had to beg Clarissa if she wanted to stay here.
Changing her expression into a pleading one, she begged, “Clare, I’m begging you. I really need to attend this tuition class because it will greatly help with my exams. At the very least, I can write an IOU for it, okay?”
“Sure! You can write it now,” Clarissa readily agreed.
Overjoyed, Mimi started to draft the IOU on the spot. As soon as she was done with it, she waited for Clarissa to pass her the money.
Unexpectedly, Clarissa began to interrogate her, “Where is your tuition class held? What is it called? I will personally pay the fees for you.”
“It’s okay! I don’t want to bother you with it. I can pay the fees myself,” Mimi quickly blurted.
However, Clarissa shot her a sharp look and snorted, “If I hand you the money, you may end up spending it elsewhere for all I know.”
Mimi chuckled nervously, trying to hide her guilt. “Why would I do that?”
“Let me pay the fees then.”
Mimi could not argue against that.
At first, she asked for more money so she could spend the excess. Now that Clarissa wanted to pay for her tuition fees at the centre, she would figure her underlying intentions.
Mimi could not help but worry.
After the meal, Clarissa drove Mimi straight to the tuition center. As she was nervous, Mimi could not sit still and started to poke around while she was in the car.
Suddenly, she exclaimed, “Clare, I know this car! It is a luxury car. Do you earn that much money to afford the car and a chauffeur too?”
More thoughts attacked her the longer she was in the car. Although she was jealous, she thought she could benefit more from having a cousin like Clarissa.
Anyhow, Clarissa did not answer Mimi’s question.
When they reached the destination, there were students everywhere, and Mimi alighted in a very arrogant manner. Noticing the stares at the car and her, she smiled proudly.
She hurriedly hugged Clarissa’s arm. Although the other party gave her a death glare, Mimi ignored it and pulled her into the building.
There, Clarissa asked about the course herself and did not hesitate to pay after registering for it.
As it was such a large sum of money, she could not mindlessly hand it over to Mimi.
Turning to her cousin, Clarissa reminded, “I have the IOU. When you have money in the future, I will not hold back to ask you for it.”
Mimi replied, “Of course! Thank you, Clare. Let’s go, why don’t you send me home?”
Clarissa rejected her request.
After they left the center, Mimi watched Clarissa’s car leave with a pout.
At that moment, someone greeted her from behind, “Mimi, have you paid for class?”
Mimi turned to see her bunkmate. Instantly, she changed her expression and smiled triumphantly.
“Yes, I just paid for a few classes in a go.”
The girl asked, “Really? Who was the person who fetched you here?”
“She was Clare, my cousin.”
In awe, the party continued to probe, “Your cousin? She is so pretty! Oh my gosh, she was driving a luxury car too. Is she rich?”
“Haha…she’s well off. Oh, and she doesn’t drive the car herself. She has a chauffeur who drives her around,” Mimi boasted.
“Woah! If your cousin has so much money, why are you staying in the hostel with us then? Why aren’t you staying with her?”
Momentarily, unhappiness flashed across Mimi’s eyes. She quickly regained her composure and responded, “I have to get my act together for my exams. I came here together with my classmates, so how can I stay with my cousin by myself? Furthermore, the hostel isn’t a bad environment, and I have company while staying there. I have people to talk to and study together. Meanwhile, my cousin is a busy woman. If I stayed with her, only her maid would be available to entertain me. Ah, let’s not talk about it. Are you heading back to the hostel? Let’s eat together. It’s my treat!”
“Okay…” Her roommate replied.
Since Clarissa was already out of the house, she decided to head to Ellie’s office to tell the latter that the police investigation was over.
“Who is the mastermind then? Are they still figuring it out?” Ellie huffed.
“They don’t know at the moment, but the culprit will surely give himself away in time to come. I don’t believe that a person who wants me dead can hide in the shadows for that long. Moreover, the more he wants me dead, the happier I have to live my life. It would make him furious to see me like that while in hiding.”
Ellie nodded. “Though that makes sense, you should still be careful.”
“Well, I’m not scared since I have Gina,” Clarissa confidently stated.
Gina was Clarissa’s chauffeur and bodyguard.
Glancing at the woman beside Clarissa, Ellie thought she seemed cool, serious and ruthless all at the same time.
I’ve discovered another new model!
Whipping out her camera, she enthusiastically pulled Gina aside and took some shots of her on the spot. After obtaining permission, Ellie displayed her photos in the shop and made her one of her models.
There was no need to worry about a clash in styles since Clarissa and Gina had differing styles.
Amused, Clarissa thought Ellie was born to be in the business industry.
In the evening, a plane landed in D City.
With a pair of sunglasses on her head, Shermaine, with a cold temperament, ignored her fans who were welcoming her at the airport. Without greeting them, she quickly got into the car to leave.
Within minutes, she turned to Lizzie, who came to pick her up, and declared, “Just cancel the movie I agreed to star in the last time.”
“What? Shermaine, you have signed the contract. We will be breaching the contract by withdrawing your interest now. Furthermore, it is a good movie, why…”
“Just go ahead and terminate the contract. I don’t want to shoot it, and I mean it. I will accept any shoots between New Year and Valentine’s Day unless they are in D City. Do you understand? That’s my request.”
Lizzie felt helpless.
How can she progress in her career when she is this stubborn?
“Shermaine, do you want to advance your career?” she challenged.
“Shut up! I don’t want to do it. Please get out of my sight now,” Shermaine retorted.
Instantly, Lizzie’s expression darkened. She felt like quitting too.
Unfortunately, the company requested for her to stay with Shermaine for the time being as a rich heiress like her was not reliable with her poor work etiquette.
Initially, she agreed to take Shermaine under her wing, convinced that it would help her career take off.
Yet, she did not imagine things to turn out this way.
Luckily, the company assigned another new artist to her too. Since Shermaine was not interested in her career anymore, she would not mind giving the job to the rookie.
“Alright, I understand. I will try my best to win jobs in D City for you. During this period, you should get more rest. I will inform the company about it, but I’m afraid you will have to explain it to the president yourself.
“Sure, I will do that.”
Grouchy and upset, Shermaine headed straight to her room when she arrived home and called someone.
“What do you think you were doing? How can you be so stupid? What is the point of feeding you? You can’t even settle a woman. Forget it. You can stop working for now. I will deal with this b*tch myself.”
After the call, Shermaine squeezed her phone and gritted her teeth. “This dumb a**, damn…”
