CHAPTER 121: EVA’S RIVAL IN LOVE MAKES HER APPEARANCE

Having experienced all kind of things in her last incarnation, Yvonne was no longer the kind of girl who would act petulantly in front of her boyfriend or husband as common girls did.

Since she had not been able to be with him in her last incarnation, in this life she wanted to be his loving wife.

"Today’s Eva’s birthday. Just now I called you, but you didn’t answer your phone, so I went out."

Her voice sounded warm and soft, but there was noise coming from the other end of the line.

He could tell that she had drunk some wine, but overall, she was still sober.

Zachary glanced out of the window at the heavy summer shower. "Where are you?"

She gave him an address.

"I’ll go pick you up."

"Uh... that won’t be necessary. I’m calling because I want you to send your chauffeur here..."

"Stay there."

Without another word, Zachary took the car keys and went out.

*

At night.

Eva seldom spent money at ordinary times, and she certainly wasn’t the kind of girl who would fork out a fortune on a birthday party and invite all her old classmates over to show off.

But she had been working in this place for several years, and the manager had offered her a privilege, saying that she could invite her friends over to have some fun in a box on her birthday.

Eva didn’t have many friends. Those she invited were from the Arts Department.

Ralph, Hailey and Yvonne were among the invitees.

It had been more than half a year since Yvonne joined the Arts Department.

Several of the invitees had been sophomores or juniors at that time, but now they were all about to graduate.

It was said that Ralph was working for a music corporation.

Hailey used to work as an anchor, and now she was contracted to a talent agency.

Yvonne had always been on better terms with Ralph. As a musician, Ralph

appreciated Yvonne’s voice, and Yvonne appreciated his talents.

"Ralph, allow us to drink a toast to you!

"Thank you for all the help you’ve offered us these years!"

"Come here, guys, let’s toast Ralph together!

"Our previous roadshows and the centennial celebration of our Alma Mater wouldn’t have been that successful were it not for Ralph!"

"Tell me about it. We outclassed the Dance Team with a single show!

"The Arts Department is now the most famous department in the whole school!

"A recent poll suggests most people want to join the Arts Department!"

Ralph, however, smiled, "I don’t deserve all the credit for what the Arts Department has achieved. We also have the two deputy directors to thank for that, along with every member who contributed to the development of the department, especially Yvonne."

Yvonne had stolen the show in every event held by the Arts Department this year. It could be said that the Arts Department would never have gained such popularity were it not for Yvonne.

The party instantly livened up.

When everybody had drunk a couple of glasses and was feeling a little dizzy, Ralph walked over to ask Yvonne something.

"The fourth year is basically all about internship. I heard that not long ago you participated in a filming session of Belline’s Frobnia headquarters. What do you plan to do after graduation?

"Do you wanna enter the show business?"

Yvonne shook her head and chuckled, "I went there because I didn’t have to show my face in the commercial.

"As for the showbiz, for the moment I have no plans to get involved."

"Considering your talents, there’s no doubt you’ll get super popular and become a superstar in three to five years. It’ll be a shame if you don’t pursue a career like that."

But Yvonne said, "Currently, I’m my father’s only child, and my mother has her own company. For their sake, I think my first choice would be going into business."

"Isn’t it a better choice to let Mr. Leinster help you?"

He had just finished speaking when the door of the box was kicked open.

The one who kicked the door was a young woman wearing high heels and a sumptuous tailor- made dress. She was heavily made-up, seemingly in her early thirties, beautiful and patronizing.

With a cigarette clamped between her fingers, she coldly glanced around and demanded, "Is Eva Loraine in here?"

Then her eyes rested on Yvonne who was the most conspicuous among the crowd, contempt etched all over her face.

"Are you Eva?"

...

Eva was not in. A moment ago, she had walked out to get her birthday cake.

Having perceived the unfriendly air about the woman, Yvonne rose to her feet.

"What business do you have here?"

Slap!

The woman slapped Yvonne’s face hard, leaving a scarlet handprint on her cheek.

Everyone in the box gasped!

This woman actually slapped Yvonne across the face!

Yvonne was now the mistress of the Leinster family!

Ralph immediately interposed between Yvonne and the woman. "Who are you?

"Can you not speak or something?

"Why did you hit her for no reason?"

"Ralph, step aside."

Too angry to massage her delicate painful cheek, her lips pressed together, Yvonne promptly slapped the woman’s face hard twice.

Slap!

Slap!

Two slaps across her face.

The woman was almost knocked out by the force of the slaps from Yvonne.

The woman immediately bellowed, "You hit me?

"How dare you hit me?

"Do you know who I am?

"You’re just a little slut, a filthy bastard whose parents are good-for-nothings, whereas I’m Nicholas Brown’s

Apparently, the woman was still unaware of who she was dealing with.

Yvonne had never heard of Nicholas Brown in Hiltonan before, but it was said that in nearby cities, there were a couple of families that had been thriving, all of which were as influential in their respective cities as the Leinster family was in Hiltonan.

"I don’t care whose fiance you are.

"You showed up and slapped my face without a word. Does your fiance know

you’re so stupid?"

Yvonne was no sitting duck. Even her father had never hit her. Whenever anybody had hit her, she had fought back.

The woman apparently had brought a lot of helpers.

"Someone, come in here!

"Shut this bar down!

"This bitch dared hit me. None of these people is gonna make it out of here!"

With that, seemingly taking it seriously, a group of bodyguards in black really surrounded the box.

It was at that very moment that Eva returned with a cake in her hand and caught sight of the scene in the box.

"What’s going on?"

She frowned. Her face darkened further at the sight of Lydia Evans.

"Lydia?

"What are you doing here?"

On hearing Eva’s voice, Lydia flew into a rage.

Wasn’t this exactly the voice of the slut she had heard on the phone the other day?

"So you’re that slut?"

Eva’s face was steely. "Watch your mouth, Miss Evans. This is a public place."

"Ha," Lydia sneered, hands on hips. "Who are you to tell me to watch my mouth?

"Who are you to judge me?"

This was Eva’s private business, and today was her birthday. It had never crossed Eva’s mind that Lydia would come here to kick up a stink.

"You really wanna talk about it in the presence of so many people?

"I’m just a plain, ordinary person, but you, Miss Evans, are you sure you can afford to suffer the shame?"

Eva’s tone was cold, yet calmer than that of anybody else.

Her composure inexplicably struck Yvonne as admirable.

But Lydia, whose coquettish lips were as red as fire, squinted her eyes, which were glinting with resentment as she stared at Eva.

"Your very existence compromised my reputation in Zoravia. I would be disgraced had I not come here!"

"People in Zoravia will handle what happened in Zoravia. Miss Evans, you came to Hiltonan, made a scene and even slapped my friend’s face," Eva sneered. "You’re unruly in Zoravia because Nicholas Brown is a tyrant there, but this is Hiltonan. Do you know who the girl you just hit is?"

Lydia was from a wealthy family, but it wasn’t among the wealthiest.

She had grown up in another city and naturally had no acquaintance with the upper class in Hiltonan.

She cast Yvonne a contemptuous look. ’’She’s just a little girl who’s pretty in a common sort of way. I hit her. So what?

"Huh?

"Is she a mistress of some local bigwig as you are?

"Am I not allowed to hit her?"

...

On hearing Lydia’s words, the couple of classmates of Yvonne’s were unable to keep their cool.

They were from the same department as Yvonne’s and thus knew, better than onlookers did, what kind of people Yvonne and Eva were.

And now this unknown woman came out of nowhere and hit Yvonne for no reason. Members of the Arts Department were all youngsters full of zeal, who were at the phase of their life when they had the least fear of the privileged.

"Who are you, hag?

"You think you could hit anybody as you please?

"Are you under the delusion that you’re like a queen after watching too many brain-dead palace dramas?"

"Tell me about it. This is a society of laws, old woman.

"You’ve had this bar surrounded? What are you gonna do next?

"Can you hit us?

"You can’t?

"Since you can’t do that, we’re really happy about this. Too many customers will make this place noisy. Thank you, old woman!

"You’re such a nice old woman!"

These people were quite individualistic. Yvonne could tell from the argument between them and the Dance Team caused by the matter of Belline.

Lydia had always been bossy and unruly, but her words carried weight only with the working class in Zoravia.

Faced with a group of students, she found that they didn’t care about her authority at all, and they called her an old woman repeatedly!

Her lips were quivering with anger.

"Shut up!

"Who the hell do you think you are?!

"How dare you mess with me?!"

"I didn’t mess with you, did I?

"Are you gonna hit me with your own hands, old woman?"

"Tell me about it!

"Come on!

"Let’s go a few rounds!"

A couple of drunken students swaggeringly rose to their feet. Caught flat-footed, Lydia backed away a few paces.

It was a somewhat amusing scene, but Eva found herself unable to laugh. Ralph standing on the side also had a rather grave face.

Having grown up in a family of scholars, Ralph had heard of the Brown family of Zoravia. Its patriarch was no less influential in Zoravia than Zachary was in Hiltonan. Rumor had it that Nicholas Brown, the patriarch of the Brown family, was very puissant.

And this Lydia woman in front of him was actually Nicholas’s fiance? If they really crossed Nicholas Brown, everybody present might suffer.

He, Ralph, and Yvonne might be able to extricate themselves from the situation unharmed, but what about their classmates?

Most of them were from ordinary families, and as their leader, he felt obliged to get them out of harm’s way.

"Miss Evans, I’m Ralph Cobb from the Cobb family of Hiltonan. They’re all students of the Arts Department of Zandia University. You’ve been a career woman for a long time, and it’s unnecessary for you to pick on a bunch of college students, don’t you think?"

"Ha, I was wondering who you were." Arms folded over her chest, Lydia glanced at Ralph. "The Cobb family has been pretty famous for several generations, and quite some painters and calligraphers are from the Cobb family, but as far as I know, the Cobbs have spent almost all their accumulation of wealth on their so-called pursuit of art. Your family isn’t even on this year’s wealthiest list, is it?

"Whatever. As the son of the Cobb family’s patriarch is interceding with me, I’ll make some concessions.

"Hand over this little bitch and I’ll have my men let you guys go."

Ralph, however, frowned. "Eva is a member of the Arts Department as well. We’re all in this together, and there’s no way I’m leaving her behind."

"Oh, it surprises me you value friendship so much at such a young age."

Lydia said to Eva sarcastically,

"I didn’t know you were so popular.

"It seems you don’t care about the age of the man you seduce. Even the son of the Cobb family’s patriarch fell prey to your charm."

"Guard your tongue, Lydia!"

Eva had a very ugly look on her face.

At that moment, Hailey walked over and said to Ralph,

"Ralph, I believe she wouldn’t do Eva any harm. Besides, this is Eva’s personal business, and it’s inappropriate to get so many other members of the Arts Department dragged into this.

"Why don’t we get the others out of here first?"