Chapter 75
Victoria swallowed the piece of meat in her mouth and suddenly felt a little tired of it.
“Do you know why?” Gabrielle asked before she quickly wiped the corner of her eyes which caused the oil on her hand to stain her face. “Because I can get him money for his business. Speaking of which, he was just beside me when it first happened. However, he pretended to be drunk since he knew that man could provide a large sum of money for him. Does that mean my boyfriend doesn’t love me? No, I know he does, but his love for his career triumphs over his love for me. Victoria, human beings are complicated that way, so you can’t be unreasonable in demanding a pure relationship from such complicated beings.”
Victoria handed Gabrielle a piece of tissue before she continued nibbling on the ribs silently. To her, if it wasn’t pure love, then she didn’t want it. In the end, the two of them continued drinking their bowls of soup in silence.
When they were done, Gabrielle cleaned up the ward before she handed the wrapped box to Victoria. “This is for you.”
“No thanks.” Victoria hadn’t the intention to accept it as she felt it was undeserved.
“Hold your horses there.” Gabrielle forcefully pushed the box into Victoria’s arms before she came closer to her and said, “Remember the plan to seduce Mr. Thatcher? This is a tool to help you do that.”
Upon the word ‘seduce,’ Victoria’s pupils shrank as her eyes flashed a hint of gloom. In the past, she had gone through a daily beauty care routine to refine her appearance, yet that wasn’t enough to garner Christian’s attention. Now that her body and face were full of scars, as well as the numerous calluses she had on her hands and feet, she couldn’t see how the man would want to pay any attention to her.
“Thank you, but let’s just forget about it.” Victoria would no longer be so naïve as to hope for a miracle here. She would not delude herself into thinking that Christian would suddenly fall in love with her.
“You’re afraid of failure?” Gabrielle carefully tried to see through Victoria’s thoughts. “Then… are you willing to stay in Delta Club for the rest of your life?”
Victoria clutched the bed sheets beneath her tightly. Willing? How could I choose otherwise? Reality is the one forcing my hands here, she thought.
“If you’re reluctant, then you should just give it a try.” Seeing that Victoria wasn’t protesting much, Gabrielle continued, “Worst-case scenario is that he’ll be angry and punish you when you fail. In any case… Forgive me for being so blunt, but it won’t be any worse than your current condition.”
Victoria had her lips tightly pursed, the light in her eyes gone. Although she didn’t want to admit it, Gabrielle was right. She had her legs broken, was imprisoned for two years, and was now forced to stay in Delta Club just to suffer humiliation. Nothing else would be worse than her current life even if she angered him now.
Although Victoria’s expression had unnoticeable changes, Gabrielle was good at reading people’s expressions from her many years working in the club, so she noticed that Victoria had a slight change of heart. Next, she pushed the box into Victoria’s arms once more and said, “No matter how excellent a man is, they are still a man at the end of the day. According to what you’ve said, the fact that Mr. Thatcher did not reject your advances even though he likes Miss Spritz is proof that he’s not that devoted.”
Victoria didn’t reject the box this time as she received it with her fingers slightly trembling. She didn’t want to live so humiliatingly under the shadows of Christian and Bella any longer. She wanted to leave, no matter what it took.
“See, that’s a good girl. At least if you take a chance here, there’s a possibility of succeeding. Even if you fail, you’ll just be continuing your current lifestyle.” Gabrielle gestured at the box in Victoria’s arms with her chin. “I’ve already asked many others and had even tried them on myself. The appeal of these three lingerie is very positive.”
With both her lips and face turning pale, Victoria’s thick eyelashes trembled slightly while her nose started sweating slightly. She thought that with how Christian was, there was no doubt that he had many other ways to make her suffer more pain. Nevertheless, she had survived the ordeal of him breaking her leg, so she thought it wasn’t a big deal to go through something like that a few more times.
“Why don’t you open it and have a look?” Gabrielle took the box and opened up the wrapping before she took out one of the erotic lingerie that was thin and looked as though it was just a few pieces of cloth stitched together. “If you’re not satisfied with this, you can—”
Click.
Just then, the door opened.
From the moment Gabrielle took out the lingerie, Victoria was already tense all over, so when the door opened without warning, she almost instinctively grabbed the box and the lingerie in Gabrielle’s hand to hide them under the blanket.
“Did I scare you?” Sitting in a wheelchair, Bella bit her lip and said softly, “I’m sorry for not knocking before coming in.”
Standing behind the wheelchair, Lucas shot a cold glance at Victoria. However, when he noticed that the colors had not returned to her face, he frowned and looked away from her.
Upon seeing the two people coming in, Gabrielle, who was sitting on the bed, immediately stood up with her head hung low, afraid of looking at the two people. Her hands trembled slightly beside her body. She had heard a few customers talking about how the Thatcher Family and the Spritz Family were to be joined in marriage, so if the latter family found out that she had helped Victoria in seducing Christian, she couldn’t imagine what the consequences would be.
With a relaxed expression, Victoria wiped the sweat off her forehead and asked, “Can I help you?”
Just as Bella was about to answer, Lucas shot another glance at Victoria with a tinge of conflict in his eyes and said, “Bella, I’ll wait for you outside. Call me if anything happens.”
“Okay, I’ll do that.” Bella smiled while nodding.
Lucas then turned around and headed for the door.
“It’s best if Mr. Spritz stays,” Victoria said. Then, with a hint of contempt in her expression, she continued, “Aren’t you afraid that I’ll bully Miss Spritz when she’s alone with me?”
Lucas’ hands stopped on the door handle. He turned around and stared daggers at Victoria with a furious expression.
Gabrielle cleared her throat and tried her best in making eye contact with Victoria. Nonetheless, it was in vain, as the latter did not pay any attention to her currently. So, she lowered her head a little more as she tried to reduce her presence here.
“It’s fine. You can leave if you want to, Lucas. I believe that Victoria was just possessed back when she hit me two years ago. She’s not a bad person,” Bella said with a sincere expression.
However, no matter what his sister said, Lucas was not at ease and insisted on staying.
“To what do I owe the pleasure for you two to visit me?” Victoria’s eyes flickered with disgust for the two siblings. “If there’s nothing to say, then I’d like you two to leave. You two can consider that you’ve already done something good today.”
Lucas furrowed his brows. “Bella came all the way here just to apologize. Why must you be so hostile here?”
“Apologize?” Victoria smiled without the slightest hint of joy in her smile. “If you two are here to apologize, then consider it done. You can leave now.”
Hearing this, Bella struggled to get out of the wheelchair, while Lucas immediately wrapped his hands around her to prevent her from falling. Next, she said, “Victoria, it’s my fault for accidentally spilling the hot water on you that day and causing you to be hurt so badly.” Then, she gave a ninety-degree bow and said sincerely, “I’m sorry.”
Looking at Bella indifferently, Victoria thought it was inevitable that she had lost to her.
“Yesterday, Christian had already come by Delta Club and punished me for it. I have nothing to say to that since everything was just deserts for my actions.” She straightened herself up and continued gently, “But I’m truly sorry for accidentally hurting you, so I hope you can forgive me.”
