Reborn, Reawakened, Rekindled novel Chapter 156

"Ali, let's get some breath?"

The moment Russel showed up, Barbara quickly stood up, grabbed Alicia, and left. Both of them, like Stella, believed that Russel had a thing for me and even encouraged me behind my back to accept him. They thought it would not only piss off Neil, but also would get me a good man.

But of course, I flatly refused. I didn’t want to exploit Russel's feelings.

The more genuine people are to me, the less I want to take advantage of them.

"Dr. Russel, you're looking dashing today!" I complimented him sincerely.

"How dashing am I?" Russel sat down beside me, asking with a smile.

In a teasing tone, I said, "So dashing that half of the young women in the room are sneaking peeks at you. Haven't you noticed? Or are you shortsighted?"

Russel glanced around the room. Indeed, there were many young women, all beautiful and affluent.

His gaze remained steady, then he turned to me, "What about you? Have you been sneaking peeks at me too?"

I awkwardly avoided his gaze. Of course, I had been watching him, but my watching was different from that of the other women. I was merely observing how popular Russel was.

With his good looks, I could not help but admire Bonnie for being the only one he liked in my past life.

Bonnie truly had a perfect alignment of time, place, and people in conquering Neil and Russel. Karina's heart and her own tactics were both indispensable.

In this life, Russel was not in love with Bonnie anymore but seemed interested in me.

Although I felt a little embarrassed, deep down, I felt a bit triumphant. His liking me was proof that I was attractive.

"It's not quite accurate to say 'sneaking a peek' in our case, is it?" I answered with a smile.

"That doesn't sound right indeed," Russel smiled. "Didn't you invite Neil?"

My family and the Whitmores have some business collaborations. Business isn't like marriage; you can't just divorce it.

If we were to cut off everything in a fit of anger, it would definitely harm both families' interests, and my family's loss might be even greater.

Our not inviting anyone from the Whitmore family could be seen as my mom's deliberate provocation for the Whitmore family, a topic of gossip for others.

"Why would I invite him?" I retorted indifferently.

"Is there absolutely no chance of you two getting back together?" Russel seemed to be testing me.

I answered earnestly, "No, aren't you aware of the situation with Karina?"

Although I hadn't told Russel, I believed Mitch must have mentioned it to him privately.

Karina's heart was transplanted into Bonnie, a shocking piece of news.

As expected, Russel was aware of it. "I know. I didn't expect such a twist. I think Neil doesn't truly love Bonnie. He just feels guilty about Karina and can't let go for now."

"Is a heart that important?" I suddenly asked.

"Do you find what I'm saying hard to understand?" Instead of showing a look of contempt, Russel earnestly explained, "Suppose you love Neil deeply, and then he leaves you. Later you find out another man has his heart inside him. How would you feel?"

I said with a smile, "You should take good care of your parents' health."

"Yes, I will," Bailey nodded.

Not long after my mom's birthday, I learned from Stella that Bonnie was discharged from the hospital.

Her physical resilience amazed me. She seemed weak but was actually very strong. I shouldn't underestimate her.

I wasn't like her. In my past life, I was diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer. The disease progressed rapidly, and I died soon after.

I had not dreamt about my past life for some time, but recently, I was plagued by nightmares again. Each time I woke up, my face was wet with tears, and my body was drenched in sweat.

I felt uneasy but couldn't pinpoint the reason.

It wasn't until photos of Oscar and me embracing appeared online that I realized the unease was a premonition.

Besides those intimate shots, there's also a picture of me dancing at Cielo Nocturno, raising the hem of my dress to reveal my waist. My face looked a little abnormal from drinking.

The photo was a bit blurry, like someone had zoomed in from a higher floor, the angle clearly from top to bottom.

I started to freak out. In comparison, this dancing picture was way more risky. If it caught the public's eye, it would definitely rain on my dad's parade at work.

Then Halley texted me, "Ms. Finch, I've got some dirt on what you asked me to check out. Those shots were indeed taken by a fellow paparazzo, he fessed up. Initially, he wanted to shake you down for some dough, but later decided to cut a deal with Neil. So, all the photos are with Neil now."

Did Neil break the news? To get back at me and my parents? He's not a good guy. A guy who could run Whitmore Co. at such a young age wouldn't pull any punches. He's played all sorts of games with his competitors long ago.