Chapter 4

The celebration gradually receded, and the only ones left in the garden were members of the Jordan Family. Worn out by today’s celebration, Senior Jordan decided to retire to his room and rest.

The moment Senior Jordan left, however, Joey Young turned her hate-filled eyes at Charmine. “You’re an evil and cruel adopted kid,” she growled. “Tiffany had been protecting you ever since you were a kid and loved you dearly. How could you do this to her?!”

“I didn’t do anything. Did I make her buy the fake meteorite stone?” came Charmine’s nonchalant reply, undismayed.

This only fueled Joey’s anger. “She was scammed, and you didn’t even bother to warn her? You even humiliated her in front of everyone! Is this how you treat your sister?!”

“Someone please drag her out. The Jordan family cannot accept this kind of person!” Adam Jordan, the patriarch, barked to his men.

Several securities came forward, ready to drag her out. Charmine merely shrugged them away and coldly fixed her jacket. “No need. I can walk.”

She did not intend to stay at the mansion anyway.

“Charmine, where else can you stay? Mom and Dad won’t be angry for long, so just apologize to them, will you? I’ll be heartbroken if you stay on the streets…” Tiffany frowned. Of course, she was not genuinely ‘heartbroken’; quite the contrary even.

“No need. I actually bought a villa group, some twenty blocks of houses. I’m actually quite busy collecting rents.” With a faint smile, Charmine pulled out a few hundred sets of keys and swiftly turned away. The sound of keys jingling accompanied her every step.

Everyone stared with eyes wide like saucers. She bought so many properties! Where did she get her money from? How did an adopted kid get so much money?

Charmine then approached Tiffany and stood next to her, shoulder to shoulder. “Hey fraud, you better get ready,” she spoke in a hushed tone, though the warning was more than palpable in her tone.

“Now that I’m back, I’ll be taking what’s mine. Oh, and those who hurt me before? They better pick a god and pray.”

Though she had a non-threatening smile on her face, Charmine’s ‘smile’ was akin to a monstrous piranha in the dark; deadly.

Tiffany turned paper-white as her legs went weak. She was terrified. The Charmine who used to be quiet and shy had turned into this woman with such a powerful aura. Charmine continued to walk to the exit, proud of herself.

[She’s left the mansion!]

Charmine put on her helmet and left on her motorbike. Now was not the right time to make her official comeback. Even if she stayed, everyone would have tortured her for being ‘the adopted kid’ except Grandpa. After all, Charmine came back for revenge; not for them to treat her badly. The day she would make her official return would be a mass celebration, welcomed by everyone.

The sleek motorbike sped from Burlington City to the villa. Not long after, her phone rang. Stopping at the side of the road, she answered the phone. She heard panting from the other side before the person spoke, “Miss Jordan, why didn’t you let us know you’ve returned? We could’ve arranged your transportation. My boss has prepared for you a five-star villa—”

“No, it’s fine,” Charmine interrupted. “I’m only back for some personal business, so I won’t be staying over.”

“But—”

“I’ll contact you when everything is resolved. But, if you’re too bored, do help me check the identities of all the guests at Phoenix Hotel on Valentines’ Day five years ago, especially all the men who were on the top floor.”

Charmine lost her chastity in Phoenix Hotel five years ago in 2015, and her life was ruined from that night onward. She wanted nothing more than to find the man who destroyed her life; she would make him pay when she did.

“Of course, I’ll be on it right away,” Kay, the person on the other end, replied.

Once she ended the call, Charmine started her motorcycle once more and sped off. She was so focused on making plans that she was completely unaware of the van closely following not far behind. Situated outside of Burlington City, the villa was only 800 meters away, but no outsider would come as it was very quiet and secluded.

Everything happened too fast. The sound of a vehicle was heard, loudly so, and it came from behind her.

Bam!

The van powerfully rammed against Charmine’s motorbike, and the impact threw her high up in the air before she fell onto the side of a road near a steep slope.

Weakened, Charmine squeezed her eyes shut and gripped onto whatever she could to keep herself from falling. However, this did little to no help, as she rolled down the hill, with nothing to break her fall. The motorbike crashed and broke apart, with black smoke coming from the remnants.

Once he got down from the van, the driver immediately looked at the dangerously high and slippery hills.

As his eyes searched the area where Charmine had fallen into, his fingers fumbled on his phone.

“Miss Jordan, Charmine jumped from her motorbike and rolled off the hill.”

“Look for her immediately! I want her body; dead or alive!”

*

With serious injuries all over her body, Charmine rested at the bottom of the hill. Unfortunately, Charmine would not have her time to recuperate as she heard noises that came from the road above her. They were coming for her!

She would have given them a piece of her mind had she not sustained this much pain. Once she collected her thoughts, Charmine scrutinized her surroundings carefully and, not long after, saw a cave covered by bushes. Without wasting any time, she went inside. In the silent cave, Charmine rested against the walls of the cave and sighed.

However, the silence was broken when a child-like boyish voice called out, “Mommy! Mommy!”

Before Charmine could react, a soft and warm body coated with mud ran into her arms. When she looked down at this small figure, her eyes were met with a small yet round face, paired with watery doe eyes. The boy looked up at her and blinked.