Chapter 42
The couple upstairs didn't stop having sex end until three o'clock in the morning. Bonnie had long fallen asleep. Lying on the other side of the bed, Diana tightly wrapped herself with the quilt, and closed her eyes but didn't fall asleep all night.
At six in the morning, the alarm clock rang on time.
Bonnie sat up from bed, yawned, and picked up her phone to order takeout.
It was the finalization day of the magazine once a month, so she had to go to work early. No matter how sleepy she was, she had to get up to wash up and put on make-up.
After dressing up, Bonnie looked upstairs and saw Diana sit up slowly and lean against the head of the bed.
While wiping the excess lipstick, Bonnie asked, "Why did you wake up so early? Did my alarm clock wake you up?"
"No."
Because Diana didn't fall asleep at all.
Bonnie didn't ask anything else. Glancing at the clock, she said in a hurry, "I have bought the breakfast. The milk, sandwiches, and bread are on the table. If the food has turned cold, you can heat them in the microwave oven for thirty seconds. Besides, I've put the door card on the table. Remember to eat breakfast. Oh, I have to go."
"Okay, bye."
Diana replied to Bonnie. Then she wrapped her knees with her arms and put her head on her knees. Her heart was beating so fast because she didn't sleep last night. Hearing Bonnie close the door, she didn't move and closed her eyes quietly.
It had been two days since she heard the news. She was less excited, and her heart had returned to calm.
However, after returning to calm, she was at a loss. She had never felt so confused about her future life.
In fact, when she misunderstood that Josh had a love affair with Kate, she was confused, too. How should she support herself if she divorced Josh?
Later, when she hesitated to participate in the programme, she seriously considered Bonnie's suggestion that she should have her own career. However, she had been living a comfortable life since she was born, so it was hard for her to think of danger in a time of peace and think things over.
The facts were that she could hardly divorce Josh and she was a loser after she left Josh. Although she argued with Bonnie and didn't want to face the reality, she thought a lot and reflected on herself when she couldn't fall asleep in the middle of the night.
She wondered if Josh would apologize to her and take her home.
She realized that she had fallen in love with Josh, so she wondered if she could maintain the nominal marriage with him. Could she accept it if he never loved and respected her?
Besides, she wondered if the root of the problem was that she was not good enough.
The days got shorter after the Summer Solstice. When autumn changed into winter, it didn't get light until seven-thirty in the morning.
The street was crowded with people and vehicles again, and Bonnie had joined the flow of cars. Closing her eyes and lying on her side, Diana covered her face with both hands, curled up, and fell asleep in a daze.
......
Diana didn't wake up until two o'clock in the afternoon.
When she got up, the sun was very hot.
Going downstairs, she swiped open her phone and checked the bill. Yesterday, she bought skin care products and household products casually, but she had spent most of the money given by Betty.
She looked through the messages sent by The Designer. It turned out they had paid her for participating in the programme, but she didn't notice it.
But she didn't pay attention to the little money at that time. She just filled in the card numbers casually. Besides, she didn't bring the card with her, and she didn't tie the card with her phone number. She didn't even know where the card was.
Therefore, she only had tens of thousands of dollars left.
After sitting quietly for a while, she picked up the door card, changed her shoes, and went out.
The magazine where Bonnie worked was not far from Star Park. Diana went to a nearby tea restaurant to buy some sweets and went straight to Zero Degree.
It was the finalization day. Everyone in the magazine was very busy. They went back and forth because of work and had no time to pay more attention to Diana.
Diana saw a familiar assistant, stopped her, and asked, "Where is Miss Smith?"
Knowing that Diana was Bonnie's best friend, the assistant pushed her glasses up her nose and said in a dilemma, "Miss Smith... is now in the editor in chief's office. She's being lectured." She said the last few words in a very low voice.
Diana asked, "Why is she being lectured?"
The assistant said cautiously, "Yesterday, Miss Smith asked for temporary leave, but she didn't hand over the work well. There was a problem with her work, so it's particularly troublesome for us to finalize the drafts today. We need to change the whole page, so..."
Diana was stunned.
The assistant said again, "Miss Swift, if you are looking for Miss Smith, you might as well wait for her in her office."
"There's no need." Diana suddenly gave the sweets to the assistant and reminded her on purpose, "Eat this. Don't tell others it's bought by me, and don't tell Miss Smith that I've been here."
Diana finished her words and left. "Ah?" The assistant looked at Diana's back and then looked at the sweets in her hand. She was dumbfounded.
......
In autumn and winter, the days drew in and the mornings got darker in P City. At six o'clock in the evening, the sunset was nowhere to be seen. On the way from the horse ranch to the club, Sam reported the progress of the follow-up work in X City to Josh.
With his eyes closed, Josh was leaning against his seat and having a rest. He didn't reply to Sam.
After reporting it to Josh, Sam paused. His tone didn't change as he changed the topic and said, "Mrs. Hunter went out at half past two this afternoon and went to a tea restaurant to buy sweets. Then she went to Zero Degree at three and came out at ten past three. She walked along Central Road to the supermarket on Light Road and bought a bag of ingredients. Then she walked back to Star Park at half past four and didn't come out anymore."
Josh still didn't reply to Sam, but he changed the directions of his crossed arms.
They were heading for Night Breeze.
On this day, Nathan came back to P City to meet a professor from a chip research and development team, so he made an appointment with Josh by the way.
Nathan was deep in love recently. He was in a good mood, and he would like to give others suggestions. Josh seldom drank when they met in private, but he ordered a bottle of whisky as soon as he came in. Nathan smiled meaningfully and said, "Do you know you have a weakness?"
Josh raised his head slightly.
Placing his arm on the back of the sofa, Nathan tilted his head slightly and looked lazy. The cigarette glimmered between his fingers. In the cigarette smoke, he said in a hoarse and lazy voice, "Your weakness is that you become hesitant when it comes to love. You can't deal with the George family decisively, and you can do nothing about your wife."
Josh lowered his head. He never smoked in ordinary times. However, he lit a cigarette with Nathan's lighter this day. He held the cigarette between his fingers and watched the end of his cigarette glow red.
Nathan was interested and continued to say, "Do you remember that Diana liked you so much when you first went to Luxury Bridge? She took snacks and went to play with you every day."
"Is that so?"
Josh only remembered that Diana was very delicate and childish. It seemed that she once isolated him together with several children.
"Of course! At that time, Rein laughed at her every day because she was warm to you though you treated her coldly. Rein even said that she had forgotten Toby so quickly and she was ungrateful."
When Nathan mentioned Toby, Josh remembered something.
Rein and Toby had been close to each other. Therefore, Rein didn't like Josh at first. They became friends later.
Nathan flicked the ashes and said, "In fact, I quite appreciate Diana's character. She's simple and straightforward."
Josh glared at him.
"Don't get me wrong. I just want to tell you that you should be straightforward when you get along with a woman like Diana. What happened between you and Mandy is not worth mentioning, but it has caused an uproar in the city, so you should take most of the blame."
Rein and Eric didn't know Josh as well as Nathan. Nathan witnessed the love story of Josh and Mandy.
He didn't believe that Josh would divorce Diana and marry Mandy regardless of the friendship between the Hunter family and the Swift family. On the one hand, Josh wouldn't be blinded by love. On the other hand, Mandy wasn't charming enough.
Thinking of something, Nathan suddenly joked lazily, "Don't blame me for what I'm going to say. You know what... When you heard that Diana was mad, you came back in a hurry, and you drink and smoke to relieve your worries. When I quarrel with Jean, I do these things, too."
Josh paused for a moment and stubbed out the cigarette in the ashtray. He said in a bland voice, "Since you know I'll blame you, just shut up."
Nathan chuckled.
Of course, they didn't meet to chat together. Nathan didn't like to meddle in Josh's love life. After a while, they talked about the cooperation project again.
......
At nine o'clock at night, the land was enveloped in a curtain of darkness.
Josh and Nathan talked in a low voice in the private box. Bonnie finally finished working extra hours and rushed back to Star Park.
She was worried that Diana didn't have dinner. When she came home, she saw Diana squatting in front of the tea table and looking for the medicine box, her finger bleeding.
"Diana, what did you do? What happened to your finger?!" Bonnie was so worried that she went forward without changing her shoes. She stared at Diana's bleeding finger and asked, "Does it hurt?"
"Nonsense! Of course, it hurts!" Diana wrinkled her face pitifully. Seeing that Bonnie was concentrated on applying the plaster to her, she endured the pain and pretended to be fine. She said, "But it's okay. My finger was just scratched. It won't hurt in a while."
Bonnie was slightly relieved and continued to ask, "What happened? What scratched your finger? I was so scared!"
Diana said, "I want to cook some dishes for you because you work so hard."
Bonnie asked in confusion, "You? Cook?"
She looked back at the kitchen. To her surprise, the cooking utensils had been used indeed. She asked, "Where are the dishes?"
"You're so annoying." Diana patted her hand with displeasure, got up, and sat down on the sofa. Then she said confidently but a little guiltily, "I lack practical experience, and I'm a long way from being a top chef, aren't I?"
Bonnie was not surprised that Diana failed to cook. What shocked her was that Diana, the pampered young lady, suddenly wanted to cook.
Diana wanted to skip this embarrassing topic, so she sat up straight again and said to Bonnie seriously, "By the way, Bonnie, I have thought about it carefully today. I think you are right. I can't rely on Josh and my family to support me all the time. Betty learned something through the grapevine today. She told me Lux Hotel Group withdrew the fund from Mandy's film two days ago."
"Oh, isn't it a good thing? I told you there must be some misunderstanding between you and Josh. Wait... But why do you suddenly think that you can't rely on others..." Bonnie couldn't figure out what Diana was thinking.
"Whether he dealt with this matter according to official principles or he didn't know the content of the film, it's a fact that he didn't think about my feelings and didn't respect me."
"He didn't respect me because he believed I was a pet he raised, and he didn't have to respect me. In the final analysis, it's all my fault. I want money and respect, and it's too much. What's more, my family members believe that I can't live without Josh, don't they?"
Bonnie was shocked by Diana's serious face. After a while, she said hesitantly, "Are you going to make a fresh start in life?"
"Stop kidding. I'm serious." Diana patted her and said, "Everyone is working hard to make a living, don't they? Although Josh is mean, his working attitude is commendable. I heard from his assistant that he once slept only three hours a day for half a month because of a merger case. What's more, you work so hard every day, and you were scolded by the editor-in-chief because of me. I should..."
Bonnie interrupted her subconsciously, "Wait. How do you know I was scolded by the chief editor?"
Diana paused. She reacted quickly and said smartly, "What's wrong with you? You interrupted my thinking. I forget what to say all of a sudden." She glanced at the time and said, "It's almost ten o'clock. Aren't you going to bed? Bonnie, you should go to work tomorrow, shouldn't you?"
She pulled Bonnie and pushed her upstairs. Bonnie tried to say something several times, but Diana stopped her.
But Bonnie was not stupid. She had long thought of the sweets sent by her assistant this afternoon.
This night, Diana and Bonnie both went to bed early. With her eyes closed, Diana thought of what she heard in the magazine this afternoon and the street vendors she met when went back dejectedly, and she grabbed the quilt unconsciously.
Since everyone in the world was working hard to make a living, why couldn't she?
She had to admit that she was a little happy when she received the message from Betty. But if she went home spinelessly like this, Josh would look down on her all her life. She was too greedy. She not only wanted Josh's money but also his respect. She wanted him to love her and wanted to win his heart.
......
When Diana and Bonnie went to bed early, the nightlife in P City had just begun.
Josh was a very restrained person in ordinary times. Apart from socializing, he seldom took part in Gene Hall, and he didn't go to nightclubs.
However, Nathan was here this day, and Rein kept calling them and asking them to go to the club. Rein said that he wanted to apologize by buying them a drink, so they agreed.
This club was the one where Diana helped Betty. After Gene held a birthday party here, it had become a new popular entertainment place for the young people who led a voluptuous life. Those who played here were familiar with each other in ordinary times.
When Josh and Nathan arrived, the atmosphere was the liveliest. Young men and women were dancing on the dance floor, and the lights were colorful.
Josh and Nathan walked along the booths. In the music and noise, Josh suddenly heard that someone mentioned Diana's name. He followed the sound and turned his head slightly.
"Diana's parents have died. I don't know why she can be so proud all day! She even wants to divorce her husband. It's ridiculous. If she divorces her husband, pigs might fly!"
"We all know it will never happen! Ha-ha!"
"No wonder she wants to divorce her husband. Her husband wants to invest in a movie about his first love. D*mn! It really gives Diana a slap in the face. Her husband is absurd."
"I heard that the movie is about the love of Mandy and Diana's husband. Diana will never stand it. Don't you know how noble and aloof she is in ordinary times?"
"Oh, Diana is so beautiful. It would be nice if she divorced her husband. I'd like to sleep with her and see how it feels..."
Before the man finished his dirty words, a white light flashed across his eyes. Some warm liquid seemed to be flowing down his forehead slowly.
"Ah!"
"Oh! No!"
The ladies in the booth screamed and hurriedly got up to avoid the broken glass fragments of the wine bottle.