Chapter 91
Chapter 91
Valerie began to doubt whether her concerns were misplaced.
if Angelo had really been sent by Renata from the start, then why was he so calm now?
But if he wasn’t, then why were these rumors spreading?
She had been distracted for a while when Adrienne called. Valerie stepped out of the karaoke room to take the call.
“Valerie, what are you doing? I’ve been texting you, but you didn’t reply,” Adrienne said with frustration
Valerie wasn’t in the habit of checking her phone when she was with others. Upon hearing Adrienne’s words, she quickly opened WhatsApp and saw that Adrienne had sent several messages.
Aside from Adrienne, there were messages from others as well.
“What’s going on?” Valerie asked.
“Oh, on Friday, didn’t you get in your husband’s car and leave? My God, someone took a picture, and now everyone’s talking about you on the forums. They’re slandering you,” Adrienne’s voice was filled with anger. “It drives me crazy! They have no idea what’s going on, and they’re just making stuff up.”
Valerie asked, “Slandering me?”
“Yeah, a bunch of people on the forum are saying that you’re just clinging to someone powerful, that you’re being kept by a sugar daddy, that you’re a mistress. Otherwise, how did you come back from a long vacation and suddenly seem so rich? Plus, the photos of you getting into that fancy car gave them all the ammunition… It’s a mess! I sent you the link. You should check it out later. This needs to be cleared up.”
Valerie, hearing Adrienne’s furious words, smiled lightly and said, “Alright, I know, I’ll check it out later.”
“I can’t believe you didn’t know! I almost died of anger. Those two in the dorm keep bringing it up in front of me, saying this and that… Anyway, you need to clear things up. I… I told them you were picked up by your husband. You won’t be mad at me, will you?”
Valerie, helpless, replied, “It’s the truth, of course I won’t be mad.”
Adrienne sighed with relief and said, “That’s good. I was just really upset. I wouldn’t have said anything otherwise. After all, you never mentioned anything to people at school, and I was worried you’d be angry. But it’s fine, I told them the truth, so it should be alright.”
Valerie’s heart warmed, and she said, “Adrienne, thank you.”
“What are you thanking me for? We’re good friends,” Adrienne said cheerfully. “Don’t worry, I won’t let them bully you. What are you up to now?”
“I’m with Kelly at KTV…” Valerie said, but suddenly she caught sight of a familiar figure in the distance.
Adrienne replied, “That’s great. Have fun! I’m off to fight my own battle.”
Valerie laughed softly and quickly hung up the phone,
Her gaze lingered on the familiar figure, and the more she looked, the more she felt like she had seen him before.
Unable to resist, she followed the figure, and to her surprise, she recognized him–it was someone she had met once in her past life.
He was a student from a poor background named Payton Richmond.
She remembered him as being incredibly aloof and cold.
In her past life, he had been one of the few people Aiden respected. He was extremely capable, and later, on his own, he managed to ruin a $100 million, deal Aiden was working on, giving Aiden’s arch–nemesis, Camren–Juliette’s brother–a chance to strike and disrupt several of Aiden’s deals.
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Chapter 91
Valerie knew him because she had once accompanied Aiden to an event. When Aiden interacted with Payton, he mentioned that Payton was in orpha and thus he was particularly willing to work for the Shelton family.
Aiden had explained that Payton worked for the Shelton family so wholeheartedly because they had helped him with something in the past.
If she remembered correctly, Payton had been from the financial department at Reano University.
And now, he was crying.
From a distance, she could see his staggered form, clearly very drunk.
Valerie watched as he entered a private room, and as soon as he did, she heard the sounds of teasing from inside. “Payton’s back!”
“Payton, what’s this? Did you go to throw up, or are you crying?”
“Hey, that’s no fun. You said your mother’s in the hospital with heart disease, and you’re sincerely asking for money. You’ve only had a few drinks, and now you’re in this state. How can we help you like this?”
The door to the private room was propped open with a small stool, making it impossible to shut.
It was as if the door was purposely left ajar to let others hear, shaming Payton.
Valerie was all too familiar with this kind of tactic; she had been bullied in this way before.
Payton’s frame was particularly thin, and he was clearly being humiliated, but he still said, “I–I can still drink.”
“Alright then,” the leader of the group, clearly with malicious intent, grinned. “There are ten glasses of liquor here, each containing a different drug- some make you more lustful, others more debauched. One of them… can make you… want to die.”
Payton’s body stiffened. “What… kind of drugs are these?”
“Don’t worry, after you drink it, you’ll feel great. There are a few side effects, though, like you might become addicted to it. If the school finds out, they might expel you. But, look, your mother’s heart transplant is all set, right? If you don’t have money for treatment, you’ll just watch your mother die, right?”
Valerie’s anger surged.
A heart transplant is a difficult thing.
Many people, even if they have money, can’t find a suitable heart for the transplant.
Now, Payton’s mother was lucky enough to have found a matching heart…
Of course, Payton would do everything he could to save her.
It was clear that Payton thought the same way.
He clenched his fists, his body trembling slightly.
Valerie frowned as she watched.
If Payton really ended up drinking the glass with the toxic drug, it could ruin his life forever.
But if he didn’t take the risk now, he might regret it for the rest of his life…
After a long hesitation, Payton finally spoke, How much can you lend me?”
The leader laughed loudly, “You wanted to borrow 100,000 dollars, right? I’ll lend you 70,000 dollars. The remaining 30,000 dollars, you can pay with these ten glasses of liquor. Drink one, I’ll give you 3,000 dollars. Drink all of them, and I’ll give you 30,000 dollars. Then, next year, you can pay me back
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Chapter 91
the 70,000 dollars. How about that?”
Valerie scoffed coldly. ’30,000 dollars?‘
Who knew what side effects those drugs would cause when mixed together?
And just the one toxic drink alone could ruin his entire life.
Was his whole life really worth only 30,000 dollars?
It was absurd.
But what was even more ridiculous was that, after hesitating for so long, Payton gave a bitter smile and weakly said, “Thank you.”
