Chapter 156: What Will Zachary Leinster Think of Your Disfigured Face
"I knew it. You’ve got yourself a girlfriend," the man chortled. "It really hurts to know that you didn’t trust me enough to tell me immediately after you started a relationship!"
"I’ll take you to see her another time."
Zachary did not deny it, but the man who had been friends with him for over ten years could tell that Zachary, a man who rarely let his feelings show on his face, had a faint smile on his lips.
Yvonne’s song Heroine was a hit.
It was not just any hit. It was a smash hit.
Since the release of the digital album, the number of online orders had been growing exponentially.
Some professional music critics had even praised Yvonne as "the hope of the new generation in the music industry".
Yvonne’s charming voice, coupled with Ralph’s top-notch production, lent the song a unique and international air.
The VCR she’d recorded that day had received an insanely high number of comments and Likes and been re-tweeted countless times by netizens, all of whom said that she was not only a talented singer but also one of the most beautiful women, and that considering her unique beauty, she would become a superstar in the movie industry as well.
Numerous talent agencies were calling Yvonne, offering to contract her.
Yvonne had no choice but to issue a statement saying that she already had an agency.
Yes, she had indeed been contracted to an agency already.
And she was the only artist that the agency had contracted so far.
All the resources were hers, and the agency existed because of her.
The founder of the agency was none other than Zachary.
"Hey, listen to this. I think it sounds really good!"
The relationship between Yvonne and Zachary seemed to have become more subtle after they made out that night.
When Zachary had found out that he was her first man, he had felt as if his whole being was cured!
Yvonne perceived that he seemed to have become less inclined to go to extremes, and that the vibes between them were quite sweet.
Wearing pajamas which made her look like a tailless bear, she went behind Zachary
who was working and stuck the earphones into his ears.
Zachary stopped typing. "I’ve heard it a long time ago."
"What? You’ve heard it already? Did you download it on my account? Or am I really that popular now?"
"The youngsters in the office play that song every day, and I can’t avoid hearing it."
Annoyed, Yvonne poked him in the head. "What do you mean by that? Is it not good?"
"Your singing is pretty good, but the song is just average."
"Average? Which part of it is average?"
In fact, Zachary rarely listened to music of that kind. He was a busy man and hardly had any time listening to music. Therefore, when he really could spare the time, he tended to listen to elegant, classic music, not popular music.
He couldn’t really tell if the song was good or not, but at the thought that Ralph had been the indirect reason why Yvonne had nearly got drunk the other day, and that Ralph was the one who’d written the song, Zachary, a small-minded man, naturally became unhappy.
"Come on, tell me why you think it’s average! Everybody says it’s terrific!" Yvonne asked, sounding sulky.
"It’s too noisy." Zachary made a three -word remark which was at odds with his true opinion, and then hastily resumed his work.
"You’re an old man having poor tastes!" observed Yvonne bitterly before she quickly trotted off.
His response struck her as quite annoying.
She didn’t know that he was jealous. She mistakenly believed that he really didn’t like her music. She felt terribly aggravated but couldn’t say a word about it.
But she didn’t dare lose her temper with him.
The other day, after she merely hinted that someday, she might leave him, he had gone berserk.
On this occasion, if she argued with him, it might worsen his mental condition and further compromise her chances of getting back to where she belonged.
Yvonne sighed.
Alas.
The real Zachary, her husband.
How was he doing now?
The next day, Yvonne was woken up by the built-in alarm clock of her cellphone.
She groggily answered the call and heard Ralph’s voice coming from the other end of the line.
"Hello? What’s wrong..." She felt so sleepy.
"We got a problem, Yvonne. Have you seen the online news?"
...
"News? What news?"
Yvonne narrowed her eyes to check her news feed.
She unlocked her phone and, at the sight of the pictures, was instantly reduced to swearing.
Son of a bitch!
Which one of those bastards did this? Her new song had only just become popular, and now someone had dug up dirt on her.
There was so much of it, but all the unfavorable remarks were about how she used to chase after Jordan Yale, her poor academic performance, her being a rebellious teenager, her leading children astray, as well as the reason why she should be kicked out of the show business.
Among them, the most intensive description was her various "honorable deeds" of chasing Jordan Yale.
At the sight of those pictures which were a mixture of snapshots and photoshopped photos, Yvonne immediately came to realize that Zachary would be angry again.
She was right. In the headquarters of the Leinster Group.
Zachary looked at the photos plastered all over the Internet. Some of them showed Yvonne being in a nightclub, and some others showed that she was with Jordan Yale. What struck Zachary as the most annoying was those showing Yvonne being with Jordan Yale.
However, the first thing he did was not question Yvonne. Instead, he sent his men to look into the matter and find out who had gone to such great lengths as to spend such a large sum of money to defame her. At the same time, he had his subordinates contact the newspapers and websites one by one, telling them to delete the articles about Yvonne.
Soon, Yvonne’s call came in.
"Hello." Zachary glanced at the caller ID and then impassively answered the phone.
"Zachary!" Her voice sounded somewhat anxious on the phone.
"Those pictures on the Internet are fake. I don’t want you to misunderstand!"
In this life, Yvonne’s main concern was no longer her reputation, but how to keep him from misunderstanding her.
"I see."
Zachary was not that petty, but any man would be unhappy when faced with a situation like this.
"I’ll have someone handle it right away. I’m kind of busy. Talk to you later."
A twinge of heartache ran through Yvonne as she detected the cold tone in his voice.
"Okay then, come back early tonight."
"I’ll try."
After hanging up the phone, Yvonne felt a sense of loss.
Though knowing that in this life, Zachary was acting like this because of his sense of insecurity, she still felt upset as she perceived the manifest apathy in his voice.
She stared unseeingly at her cellphone until it vibrated. It was a text message from Ralph.
"How’s it going, Yvonne? Have you finished packing? "Be careful. These are trying times. Don’t get caught."
She was going out to discuss with Ralph how to tackle those online rumors and minimize the damage. The crisis was also an opportunity. They wanted to figure out a way to help her gain more popularity by capitalize on the public attention focused on this matter.
For the moment, Ralph’s idea was for Yvonne to take advantage of the current situation and release another song, but the two of them would have to consult with each other to finalize the details.
Yvonne collected her thoughts, put on a peaked cap, a black mask and a pair of shades.
She was something of a celebrity now. Over 10 million copies of her digital album had been sold, and she had 2 million fans on Twitter. And now, with such news about her going viral, she must be careful not to get intercepted by paparazzi.
Having got everything ready, Yvonne detoured to the underground garage of Lord Villa to get her car.
Her car was a white Benz which Zachary had bought her.
It was also the only car in the entire garage that wasn’t black. It was very conspicuous.
Yvonne got into the car and started it, but unexpectedly, she had just shut the car door when a cold chain was twined around her neck from behind.
The chain tied her neck to the back of the seat.
Her hands paused on the steering wheel and she held her breath, motionless.
It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
"Wh... What do you want?"
...
A moment ago, Yvonne had only glimpsed a hand in a black glove. She couldn’t see anything else.
"Wha... What do you want?"
She feigned composure, but her voice was quivering in spite of herself.
Who was this daredevil that was so bold as to do such a thing in Lord Villa?
And how had he gained entry into her car?
What did he want exactly? Was he a psychopathic stalker? Or was this an abduction?
Yvonne forced herself to calm down.
"Who are you?"
But the voice that replied to her sounded familiar!
"Drive to the address I give you, or there will be consequences!"
Yvonne was startled.
Wasn’t this guy...
Simon Leinster?
Having come to know that this person was Simon, Yvonne was slightly relieved. At least this man was an acquaintance, not some outlaw seeking to take revenge on the society.
However, though faintly relieved, she was also a little worried.
After all, Simon Leinster tended to go to extremes. If she angered him, he might threaten to cut off her finger again.
Yvonne obediently did as he said. She gave him her cellphone and then drove to a derelict, out-of-the-way warehouse in the suburbs.
The warehouse.
Yvonne parked the car. The area within a 3-mile radius was desolate.
Only then did Simon removed the chain from around her neck and backhanded drew into the warehouse and locked her up.
The warehouse was dark and dank, with bugs and rats scurrying around, and she could barely see anything.
Yvonne was thrust to the ground, aching all over. She gritted her teeth against the pain.
"You’re dating Zachary Leinster?" Simon asked.
"Yes."
Yvonne didn’t deny it, but she pretended that she didn’t know Simon. "Who are you?"
"Ha, it seems my brother doesn’t really like you that much. He hasn’t even told you about the person he hates the most."
Yvonne pressed her lips together.
Right now, Simon looked no different from the man he was in real life.
Cruelty on his face, pale-skinned, he bore some resemblance to a medieval vampire, his eyes glinting dangerously with faint hysteria.
"Are you... his little brother?" Yvonne asked, capitalizing on his preconceived idea.
"Ha."
Simon seemed a tad disdainful.
But just then, there was a flash of ominous gleam.
Yvonne shivered at the sight of the wicked-looking blade.
She thought, "You’ve got to be kidding me. This Simon guy is a psychopath as well."
In the real life, he had attempted to chop off her finger at their first meeting, and now he drew a knife in front of her. "You... take it easy. We can discuss this!"
"They say Miss Taylor is daring and very individualistic, but the way I see it, you’re nothing but a disappointment."
Yvonne, "... " The old her would probably have indeed unhesitatingly lunged at him and fought tooth and nail.
She would fight him without a word.
However, she had lived a happy life after her rebirth, and in her last incarnation, she had suffered a lot of losses because of her personality. Yvonne had changed radically.
Now she would rather outsmart her enemies than overpower them.
Yvonne said tentatively, "Well, I was never as horrible as the rumors say I am. I just wanna live a peaceful life with your big brother. Who would wanna make enemies everywhere when living a happy life is an option for them?"
Yvonne’s words struck Simon as somewhat despicable.
"But that’s not the version I’ve heard.
"Everybody in this city knows you were a troubled kid. Your father divorced your mother to marry his mistress, and you used to quarrel with them every day.
"You dropped out of school, and you scrapped with other kids on a frequent basis. You also smoke and drink... Tsk. It’s all over the Internet," Simon said, cupping her
under the jaw. "Your pretty face is probably your only merit, and I think it’s very likely the only reason why my brother has his eye on you.
"I’ll disfigure your face and see if his feelings for you will remain."