Ella was not interested in the gossip. After all, she wasn't the leading lady.
As for the leading actress, someone said that she was a young girl with an angelic appearance called Amber, who had recently become a great sensation on the mainland.
Now even though the leading actor was there, she wasn't there, which proved to everyone that Amber felt superior and arrogant.
In a low voice, Ella was asking Eden about the children, when a group of women squealed in unison, in front of them, forcing her to stop the conversation.
"Oh my God! Why is Samuel here?"
"That internationally known top lawyer?"
"Yeah!" "That's him! Do you see the girl by his side? That's his fiancee." They spoke out loud in high-pitched voices.
Suddenly, one of them glanced back at Ella.
Ella became puzzled. Why would she look back at me? She thought.
Ella was quite happy to see Samuel appear with Catherine, hand in hand.
She hardly knew people here, so it would be fun to play some tricks on Catherine when she was bored later on.
In the near distance, Samuel and Joseph were talking and laughing in delight.
Three minutes after Samuel's appearance, Amber finally showed up, arm in arm with a popular male model.
Wearing a white evening dress, she seemed more angelic than described. Her little slender figure could easily arouse men's tender affections.
People were surprised that Amber greeted Samuel first and then Joseph.
It seemed very clear that Samuel's appearance was quite important at the event.
Swirling her wine glass in boredom, Ella resumed her conversation with Eden.
At this time, two female actresses approached her. They were known as the industry's biggest gossips, always sticking their noses in other people's business.
There was a corridor on the right leading to the backyard garden and the bathroom.
Ella moved inward slightly, to give them space to pass.
However, they moved in Ella's direction, prompting Ella to think that they were approaching her.
"Are you the second leading lady, Ella?" One of them stared at Ella, wide-eyed.
These two women were merely supporting actress, but they were quite beautiful.
Then she smiled slightly, "Yes. I am."
"We heard that you were Samuel's ex-wife, is it true?" The other one asked directly.
Ella was slightly stunned by her direct question, when a familiar figure appeared in the corner of her eyes.
Flashing a charming smile, she swirled the wine glass and responded, "Samuel? That lusty lawyer? I don't know him at all."
Lusty?
This caught Samuel's attention and he stopped dead in his tracks, his face turning red with anger.
The two actresses had no idea that Samuel was behind them. They were surprised and asked again, "You don't know him? If you don't know him, how can you know he is lusty?"
Good question. Ella pretended to think about it for a while, and then said, "One of his many girlfriends told me."
Yes. She herself was one of his girlfriends before. Ella then sipped her wine. Samuel could see her side profile clearly.
They hadn't seen each other for four years. Now, her every move was alluring, sexy and charming.
Samuel smiled and said calmly :"Oh right. After our divorce, Miss Bo got so many lovers. No wonder she can't remember her ex-husband."
After their divorce?
Samuel was really good at distancing himself from this affair, but his words received no reaction from Ella.
"No wonder Samuel is here."
"Isn't it still weird that he, just a lawyer, invested so much money in the play?"
"Maybe it is because he has too much money." The conversations encapsulated the guests with curiosity.
...
Ella had left the cabin and missed the buzz of conversation.
When Joseph saw Ella leave, he excused himself from the people he was talking to, and followed her.
"Hi. Ella." Joseph approached Ella to ask her some questions, at his wife's request.
Ella turned back. When she saw Joseph, she smiled, held up her wine glass and made a toast.
After a sip of wine, Ella said: "Mr. Li, you are still so popular, even after several years in the game and bringing two children into this world. You must be lucky." That's right. Joseph had welcomed his second baby last year.
Thinking about his two sweet kids, Joseph grinned. He bent over the handrail, looked into the distant scenery in the night and asked, "Yes, yes, I must be. Anyway my Lillian, my wife, wants me to ask you where you have been? Why you broke up with Samuel so suddenly? And whether you will leave again?" Joseph asked all his questions out at a go.
Ella was deeply touched by their care and smiled. "I went to France at first, and then America. We broke up because of our conflicting personalities. I will leave as soon as the play is finished." Ella was straightforward too. She answered all of Joseph's questions in one breath.
Conflicting personalities? Joseph thought about that for a while, and knew maybe Ella didn't want to talk about the reason for their breakup. So he let it go.
"Have you been in contact with Lola?"
"Yes. I have been in contact with her on Wechat, about two years ago." When talking about Lola, Ella grinned. Having so many friends made her life worth living.
"That's good." At this point, the cruise ship moved suddenly. Ella grasped the handrail tightly. She felt dizzy as the ship accelerated forward.
However, the dizziness faded away in less than one minute, and then Eden came and told them that the party had begun.
Ella went into the hall where music was light and slow and found that the bright lights that had illuminated the entire hall, before she went out, had now became dim.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Trapped with a Lawyer