Chapter 6
Azel Group was currently the largest entertainment company at home. It was founded in the early 1990s. Now Aaron was in charge of this company. Thanks to him, the company almost monopolized all domestic entertainment-related fields, including film and television, brokerage, and entertainment marketing.
At 9:30, Aaron got out of the elevator. His secretary immediately greeted him and reported his schedule today when walking.
"You will have a meeting about the acquisition of Azor Group at 10 a.m. and then have lunch with Mr. Guerrero of Farrs Group at noon. At 2 p.m, a meeting will be held to screen key projects that will be launched next year. At 4 p.m, you will interview the applicants for the position of Advertising Director. Then, you will meet the representative of Fishie Video at 4:30, and attend the award ceremony of the Capital Film Festival at 7 p.m.."
Aaron was used to such a tight schedule.
He entered his office and found someone sitting on the sofa.
The secretary explained helplessly, "I'm sorry, Mr. Jensen. I failed to stop him."
"It's OK." Aaron closed the door of his office and was not irritated.
The person in Aaron's office was Sally's agent and also an employee of Azel Group.
Sally's agent stood up awkwardly. "Mr. Jensen, Sally is ignorant and thoughtless. Could you please give her another chance?"
"Sally is ignorant, so are you?" Aaron walked past him and said in a low voice. But there was a trace of coldness in his tone. "You are under the command of Azel Brokerage Film. Your managers and directors are your superiors. Who gave you the right to come to my office?"
"I just want to beg you. Please don't embarrass Sally at the award ceremony tonight. Anyway, you used to help her shoot to stardom in person."
"So what?" Aaron leaned back in the chair lazily and raised his head to look at Sally's agent. "Since I can help Sally succeed, I can also ruin her."
"Are you willing to do that?"
"Sally damaged her career prospects herself."
Sally's agent was lost for words.
He wanted to defend Sally, but he also knew that Sally had made an unforgivable mistake this time. People working in show business all knew well about Aaron.
Aaron never gave the wrongdoer a second chance.
Sally's agent knew that there was no room for argument, so he had to leave the office sadly.
Aaron watched him close the door indifferently and was about to call his secretary. But he happened to see his cufflinks.
He was distracted and paused for a moment.
He suddenly thought of Yolanda's fingertips, which were warm and soft to the touch.
After a long time, he realized that he was distracted by a cufflink. He frowned and felt it was ridiculous.
He looked away and called his secretary, "Bring me Azor Group's financial statements for the third and fourth quarters of last year."
"I got it."
Usually, Aaron would hang up soon after giving orders. But today he was different.
The secretary carefully waited for Aaron's other orders.
After thinking for a long time, Aaron said, "Ask Lenny to buy something for me."
After Aaron left home, Yolanda had some food and then went back to her room.
Gone were the days when she could enjoy yoga, spa, hearty afternoon tea, and various parties.
Now she could only stay in her room in a trance.
So Yolanda began to think about what excuse she could use to go to the hotel. She wanted to take back her bag, especially the passport inside it.
The hotel had promised to help preserve her bag but also set a two-week time limit.
In other words, Yolanda had to return to the hotel within two weeks.
She thought about finding an excuse for a day. At dusk, Ms. Twelve came to find Yolanda and told her that Happer bought a lot of things for her.
Yolanda was stunned and controlled her wheelchair to move her to the living room.
There were shopping bags of various sizes scattered on the table. Inside those bags were clothes, skin care products, and hygiene products for women. It was obvious that the person who purchased them was considerate.
Happer said, "I took a half-hour off. I have to leave soon. I bought these things according to my daughter's preference. Have a look. Tell me if they don't fit you."
Yolanda was touched.
She wanted to cry.
Happer didn't buy Yolanda goods from famous brands, but Yolanda felt the greatest kindness unprecedentedly.
Yolanda held back her tears and said with a smile, "The things you bought are good. Thank you."
After a short chat with Yolanda, Happer hurriedly left. Yolanda carried all the shopping bags to her room. When she sorted out the things inside the bags, she found a new phone!
It was an ordinary smartphone. The SIM card had been inserted, so she could use it directly.
It was such a surprise.
Yolanda immediately turned on her phone and then received a message not long after.
[Hello, I am Happer. This is my phone number. You can call me directly if you want anything.]
Yolanda replied to Happer happily. [Ok!]
With the new phone, Yolanda's life became less boring.
She quickly created a new account on WhatsApp and added Phoebe's account to contacts.
Phoebe saw the word Walter in the friend request and confirmed the request. Then she sent a message to this strange contact.
[Who are you?]
Yolanda was in a mood to joke with Phoebe. She texted Phoebe back. [Do you know many people whose surname is Walter?]
Yolanda noticed Phoebe was in tying status for a long time. Then she received a message full of exclamation marks.
[Oh my God! Where did you go? I sent you lots of messages on WhatsApp and called you numerous times. But you didn't respond to me at all. I am so worried about you!]
Before Yolanda could text a reply, Phoebe made a video call to her.
"Where are you now? Are you fine? I almost put out a bulletin to find you."
In the past, Yolanda always took care of Phoebe who had a humble origin. So the upper-class people in Darlington mocked Phoebe as Yolanda's servant and thought she moved into high-society circles by flattering Yolanda. But Yolanda knew that Phoebe was good to her.
Now Phoebe's eyes were red and watery.
Yolanda wanted to cry but appeared calm. "I am fine. Don't worry."
"Some people said you might have committed suicide. I am frantic with worry."
"Who said that? Who wanted me to die?" Yolanda frowned with anger.
"They are Wendy and her fellows. The news that your family had gotten bankrupt trickled out. After that, Wendy's fellows ridiculed you and even went near your house to catch you. They said you dared not to answer the phone."
Yolanda was speechless with rage.
She had foreseen that many people would gloat over her misfortunes after her family was bankrupt.
Even Yolanda's boyfriend James kicked her when she was down, let alone others.
Yolanda remained silent. Phoebe asked anxiously, "Where are you now?"
Yolanda paused for a moment, then said, "I live in my friend's house now."
"Your friend? "
"Yes. He is not local. You don't know him."
Phoebe signed a breath of relief. "Alright. Just stay there and come back after the tempest caused by your family subsides. Otherwise, I am afraid that you will be upset."
After the video call, Phoebe transferred 1500 dollars to Yolanda's account and also sent a message. [The money is for you. I will work hard as an actor and support your life.]
Yolanda wanted to laugh and weep all at once.
She used to say similar words to Phoebe before. In the past, she always said, "Don't be an actor anymore. I am rich. I can support your life."
Unexpectedly, Yolanda needed Phoebe to support her life now.
Yolanda lived in Aaron's house to recover from a leg injury, so she needed no money. She knew Phoebe was very hard up.
After Yolanda was fully recovered, she could raise money by selling her sports car and house.
She didn't want to be a burden on Phoebe.
So she rejected the transfer.
After making contact with Phoebe, Yolanda became less restless. Phoebe seemed to be a prop in her trying times.
Yolanda surfed the news about her father's company online. Just as she guessed, the bankruptcy news broke the night two days ago. At that time, she happened to be hit by Aaron's car. Darlington was in an uproar over the news. Yolanda's family also became an object of ridicule.
Everybody hit a man who was down.
Yolanda was inured to the ups and downs of life. So she only glanced at those remarks full of satire and didn't care about them.
Yolanda spent a boring evening, and Aaron still didn't come back. She felt happy because she didn't need to say goodnight to him. She came to the living room in her wheelchair and was about to drink a glass of water before going to bed. But Yolanda suddenly saw Ms. Twelve rushing out of her room and standing at the door with a pair of slippers in her hands.
Ms. Twelve stood bolt upright and showed great respect.
Two minutes later, she opened the door.
"Mr. Jensen, welcome home. It's 11:55 in the evening. The indoor temperature is 22 degrees Celsius, and the humidity is 70 percent. I prepared you almond tea. It's good for your health and tastes good."
Yolanda was shocked.
She thought big shots had arrived.
Aaron entered the house, followed by Lenny.
Yolanda knew Lenny was Aaron's bodyguard. Lenny held several colorful shopping bags in his hands.
Aaron also saw Yolanda.
Yolanda met his sharp and cold gaze for a while and looked away.
It was because she was guilty. If she continued to meet Aaron's gaze, she felt her secret would be laid bare.
Yolanda coughed to hide her awkwardness and greeted Aaron actively, "Welcome back."
Aaron sat down on the sofa and lowered his head to pull his tie loose. He did not respond to Yolanda.
Yolanda consciously kept quiet and bent over to pour herself a glass of water.
Then she heard a conversation between Aaron and Lenny.
"Sally is safe now." Lenny added, "But now a lot of media have called to ask for her. What should be done?"
Yolanda was surprised to hear Sally's name.
She thought, "Sally?"
"Is she that bad woman at the concert?"
Yolanda didn't know what had happened after the concert that night. Out of curiosity, she slowed down her movements and wanted to hear the following conversation.
But the next moment, Aaron's casual words startled her.
"A popular star committed suicide in her apartment. This news is enough to attract everyone's attention. So the media vie to be the first one to report the news and make it front-page news."
Yolanda was stunned.
She thought in disbelief, "Suicide?"
"Since Sally wants to make a scene, I'll satisfy her. I can also use her to catch people's attention." Aaron showed no sympathy for Sally and said with sarcasm.
Then Aaron stopped talking with Lenny.
Yolanda was struck dumb until she heard Aaron talking to her coldly.
Aaron turned to look at her, "What are you doing?"
Then, Yolanda suddenly realized that her water overflowed the glass and even wet the ground underfoot.
She stuttered an apology, "I'm sorry."
Yolanda was flustered. Fortunately, Lenny handed over some tissues, which temporarily relieved her panic.
She calmed down quickly and also came up with a perfect excuse. She got closer to Aaron in her wheelchair and said in a low voice.
"I just want to wait until you are done with your work. I will go to the hospital for a check and a dressing change tomorrow. If you have spare time, could you accompany me?"
Aaron glanced at Yolanda indifferently and was about to say something. But he suddenly saw her mobile phone in the wheelchair storage box.
He asked, "Who gave you?"
"What?" Yolanda didn't understand what Aaron was talking about.
"Where did you get the phone?"
Yolanda said, "Uncle Happer gave it to me. He came here this afternoon and bought me a lot of daily necessities, changes of clothes, and this phone."
She stopped for a moment, and then added, "Uncle Happer is so nice."
There came a silence.
After a while, Aaron turned around.
He did not speak.
Lenny coughed embarrassedly and looked down at his shoes as if he hadn't heard Yolanda's words.
The atmosphere in the house was strange. But Yolanda couldn't tell why.
She didn't know what Aaron was thinking. She decided to lighten the atmosphere, so she took out her mobile phone.
"Aaron, can you tell me your phone number? I can chat with you when you are bored."
There was an embarrassing silence again.
Lenny said nothing and only observed Aaron's expression secretly.
Aaron lowered his eyes that shone with aloofness.
He spoke after a while.
"It's unnecessary."
"I never feel bored."