Chapter 28 - 27: Tasting One’s Own Bitter Fruit

A bright moon rose in the night sky, a gentle breeze caressing the clothes, bringing with it a refreshing coolness. Joy stood alone by the balcony, her hands on the railing, gazing into the distance. She had returned to South City, staying at Elliana Lyle’s house. Although she could no longer perform in South Wind Song, Joy’s mood was not affected in the slightest. In fact, it was because of this that she had the time to come back. Now, without the busyness, it seemed like everything had calmed down. Knock, knock, knock. "Joy, are you asleep?" The voice of Bella Hue, Joy’s aunt, came from outside the bedroom door. Joy hurriedly went inside from the balcony to open the door. "Auntie." Joy said with a warm smile, seeing her aunt holding a doll about the same size as her. "Joy, I remember you were scared of sleeping alone when you were a child. Since Elliana is not home, I brought you one of her dolls." Aunt Hue said with a gentle smile, placing the doll on the bed after walking into the room. It was a large pink bear, and Joy remembered that it was a gift Elliana received for her 17th birthday. Back when she was 18, Elliana was just 17. After embarking on her acting career, she was not well-received by her family, but Joy’s uncle and aunt’s family treated her extremely well and even let her stay with Elliana for a year. It was from that time that the relationship between Joy and Elliana started to become close. "Auntie, you’ve really gone to great trouble." The smile on Joy’s face deepened as she accepted the doll without refusal. Being afraid to sleep alone was something from her childhood, but her aunt still remembered it fondly. "Joy, go to sleep early. I don’t have much to do tomorrow either, so we can go out and shop." "Alright, goodnight Auntie." After escorting Aunt Hue out, as soon as Joy closed the door, her phone buzzed with a message notification. It was from Elliana. Elliana: "Sis, I just got back from the set. Are you at home yet? How’s Mom’s foot?" Even though Elliana had already asked Aunt Hue herself, she still felt a little uneasy. She always felt a bit indebted to Joy, but thankfully, Joy didn’t stop liking her as a sister because of it. This morning, Joy comforted her instead, telling her not to worry, as it’s all company matters and has nothing to do with them. Seeing Elliana’s message, Joy smiled softly. Every time she planned to visit her uncle’s house, Elliana would always ask "Sis, when are you getting home?" This time was no different as she asked if Joy had arrived, words that always warmed her heart. Joy replied: "I’m home, getting ready to sleep. Auntie seems well and invited me to go shopping with her tomorrow." Elliana: "Then you should hurry and sleep because when Mom goes shopping, she can be pretty terrifying." ―――In North City, at Vicars Hotel. Elliana was curled up on the sofa, sending Joy a goodnight message on her phone. "Miss Lyle, have some warm milk." Lana placed the warm milk in front of her. She met many people on the set today, and Director Li said shooting would officially start in three days, giving her time to get familiar with the script. Norman Bennett hadn’t returned yet, sending a message saying he was busy and would come back late. After drinking the milk, she settled into a comfortable position and started browsing Weibo on her phone. Seeing it scared her! She was trending on the headlines! Yet, surprisingly, the second trending topic was... Shane Southwell? "Shane Southwell rescued a kitten? That’s not like him at all." Elliana commented as she read, her words slightly sarcastic. Lana laughed, saying, "This morning, it wasn’t this; it was about Mr. Southwell getting involved in a scuffle with a café staff member." "What? There’s that too?" With a complete ’gawker’ mentality, Elliana thoroughly looked through Weibo to understand the whole story. Whether Shane really saved the kitten was uncertain, but hitting someone was true because that café was the place Shane had mentioned for their meeting. After getting the full scoop, Elliana began to focus on her own matters. The news wasn’t good, and she was hesitant about dealing with it! South Wind Song urgently replacing the female lead, shockingly with the originator of all gossip, Elliana Lyle! ... Alright, there’s no need to look, it was obviously not good news. Then she opened her homepage. She’d been verified as an actress suddenly, with her followers skyrocketing by more than three million. She suddenly realized it was probably Manager Wang’s doing. Apart from that, Manager Wang also sent her a still and script notes... There were already numerous comments, curiosity forcing her to open them. The most liked comment, however, wasn’t criticizing her. Heart of Snow: "Wow, I used to be a Snow fan, but Elliana looks so stunning, I’m a fan of her looks now." Below were a few people quarreling. Bunny Radish: "Your morals follow your aesthetics? Elliana chasing Shane Southwell back then was disgusting, shameless. Our Shane brother never liked her." Second Camp’s Italian Cannon @Bunny Radish: "What’s wrong with her morals? Isn’t she a good young lady? Chasing love isn’t unprincipled." Bunny Radish @Second Camp’s Italian Cannon: "Wasn’t it because of Shane brother’s money that she was a gold digger?" Heart of Snow @Bunny Radish: "Please, stop being sour. Check out Elliana’s family background, richer than Shane’s family." ... Elliana felt speechless, wanting to find a crack in the ground to hide in. Please stop talking about Shane Southwell! Bzzz~ Luna Detective: "Alright, see you tomorrow at Vito Steakhouse." ... When was this message sent? Responding only now. Kitten: "Alright." "Young Master, you’re back." Lana’s voice startled Elliana, who quickly sat up. She saw Norman Bennett handing his coat to Lana before walking towards her. The scent of alcohol mixed with lotus fragrance wafted into her nose, prompting her to ask, "Norman, have you been drinking?" "Mm, social event." Norman sat beside her, loosening his tie with his long fingers. Lana had already gone to the bathroom to fill the tub with hot water. "Hold me." Elliana instinctively snuggled into the man’s embrace. Even after drinking, Norman’s face remained cold and aloof. Pressing her small face against his chest, she looked up and said, "Norman, the shooting officially begins in three days." "Mm." Norman held onto his little girl while pinching his brow, looking somewhat tired. Seeing this, Elliana got up from his embrace and obediently said, "I’ll give you a shoulder massage." "Alright." While massaging his shoulders, Elliana slowly said, "Norman, I want to go out on my own tomorrow, can I?" "Mm, just come back early." By this time, Lana had already prepared the hot water. While Norman went to bathe, Elliana felt a bit sleepy but still wanted to wait for him. About half an hour later, Elliana had already fallen asleep on the sofa. Lana initially wanted to carry Elliana to her room but felt this was something she shouldn’t do. "Little girl?" Freshly bathed Norman still had a lingering fragrance. He called once, but the little girl had no reaction, indicating she was truly asleep. He carefully picked her up and carried her to the main bedroom. Despite being as gentle as possible, placing her on the bed woke Elliana. Dazed, she looked at Norman and quickly rubbed her eyes. "Norman, you’re done bathing?" Elliana’s voice was hoarse yet soft. "Mm, sleep now." "Will you sleep with me? Please?" Not knowing where her courage came from, Elliana asked, desiring Norman’s embrace as she fell asleep. Because it made her feel at ease. "No." Norman firmly refused her request. Not that he didn’t want to, but he wanted it too much.