Chapter 29

*CORA* Those words seemed to hit him hard and he just stared at me wide- eyed. I scoffed. I will never let him see how much his actions were hurting me. Phoebe chipped in. “Tristan,I don’t want to live in her room.I think it might be dirty…” “Dirty?”I laughed.”That’s rich coming from you because you seem to accept all kinds of trash in the form of a man.” “You…”Phoebe glared at me and then turned to face Tristan. “Tristan,she’s never going to change,she’s so mean.She sees you as trash.” I’m pretty sure Tristan heard that. She didn’t need to explain it to him but if she needed to hurt him more with my words,then so be it. **************** *TRISTAN* I was nothing but trash to her? Did she see me as trash the entire time we were married? She said I was something she didn’t want anymore. Wow. This woman never ceases to surprise me.And the more vile things I found about her,the more vile things I wanted to do to her. Bringing Phoebe into this house was part of it. I was so going to torment Cora for taking me for a fool. Even if I felt guilty about everything I had done to her so far,I tried to hide it. She deserved everything I was doing! Everything and more. I watched as she headed upstairs. Didn’t it bother her that Phoebe was going to be living here?! I glanced at the dog and asked Winnie. “Since when did we have a dog in the house?” “I…it’s been a week,sir.”She replied,nervously. I was too upset to worry about a damn dog so I dropped the issue. I watched as Phoebe walked up to the dog and tried to pet her but the dog barked and moved away. Winnie hurried up to her and explained. “Lily is scared of strangers.” Phoebe came to the couch and sat beside me. “I’m going upstairs now…to my bedroom.” I just nodded,curtly at her. ******************* Phoebe smirked as she headed up the stairs. She was overjoyed. Living in was just the first step.In the future,there would be plenty of opportunities to deal with Cora. Moreover,Tristan had always been on her side so Cora must feel terrible right now. Thinking of this,Phoebe felt so happy. ********************* *CORA* When I got back to my bedroom,I screamed into my pillow thinking of how to coexist with these lovers. I will never forgive Tristan for treating me like this. My cellphone rang out and I sat up. It was Dylan. “Hello,Cora,have you thought about the cooperation we discussed?Have you come up with a specific plan?”He asked. “Not yet.I have a lot of things to deal with recently.I have gone over the details of the cooperation but I haven’t settled them yet.It’s estimated that we can make it in two of three days.Of course,if you have any suggestion of condition,just let me know.”I replied. “Let’s find time to meet during the week to talk about it.Mehn,I’m really so busy these days.It’s hard being a businessman.”Dylan laughed,heartily and I laughed too. After hanging up the phone,I heaved a sigh of relief. I decided I needed to go out of the house and clear my head,afterall,it was just 7:30. I changed into a light green low cut dress and headed out. Tristan was in the living room but I walked away without saying a word to him though I could feel his eyes on me. I wanted to go shopping with Zoe and have a nice time. I had just driven out my newly bought blue Porsche when I dialed Zoe’s number. “Zoe,I want to go shopping.Come with me.” “Okay.I’ve long wanted to ask you to go shopping and buy some new clothes.Look at you.What kind of life go you live after divorce?I know you’re busy with work but you need to maintain your beauty at all times.” Hearing that, I took a deep breath. Had I really being looking haggard recently? After hanging up the phone,I drove to the shopping mall at ease. When I arrived, Zoe was already waiting at the gate. She was wearing a lace shirt,leather trousers and high heels.She had dark shades on. “You look like a gangster.”I teased. She took off the glasses.”This outfit makes me look powerful.” I shrugged.”Gangsters are most times powerful.” Zoe smiled.”Well,not everyone wants to be a goddess like you.”She gestured at my dress. “Do I look pretty in it?” “Very.” I beamed at her and we went into the building. The shopping mall was an open-air four square building.The whole design was revolving and the elevator was piled up. “Why are there some many people here tonight?” I shrugged. This particular shopping mall was the favorite of the high society.They had all kinds of top brands abroad.From set of clothes to silk scarves.They were was naturally not low but they were something that ordinary people would never be able to afford in their whole life. The wives of rich families were basically regular guests here.The shop owners all welcomed guests warmly and everyone took what they needed.The rich ladies satisfied their hearts while the owners made a fortune,with pleasant satisfaction on their faces. It was said that the circle you are in determined your social circle.I’ve already seen several acquaintances here. One was Mr Aiden’s wife,Freda.Her husband ran a construction company.I also met Mr Joshua’s wife, who husband had a well-known restaurant. The two of them were buying jewelries hand in hand. Freda finally caught sight of me and she greeted Zoe and I politely and then went into the shop to buy what she wanted. Pointing at a shop in front of her,Zoe suggested.”Cora,let’s go get some clothes in there.You can try some new styles.You don’t have to be like a fairy all the time.” I didn’t say anything but just went with her into the shop. The attendant asked us what kind of clothes we wanted but Zoe just told her that we would choose by ourselves. We went through the racks searching for any clothing we liked. I felt happy shopping with Zoe. Raising my head,I stared at a red backless short dress. Zoe said.”It looks so sexy.You have good taste,Cora.” I smiled and walked into the fitting room to try it. When I walked out,I asked Zoe,excitedly. “How is it?” “Stunning.”She smiled. “Thank you.”I gave her a mock now. She picked a few more clothes and told the attendant to pack them up for her. After walking out,Zoe took me to a jewelry store nearby. She knew a lot about jewelry and jade. Unusually,I didn’t care much about jade.I didn’t even know what kind of jade we were looking out but I felt that it was beautiful. Looking at the jade pendant in front of me,I was enthralled. When I was about to reach for it,I suddenly heard the voice of Phoebe. “What a coincidence,I didn’t expect to run into you here,Cora.” Surprised,I glanced back at her. Was she following me now? “I honestly felt too tired to leave the house but Tristan insisted that we go shopping.”She bragged. I sighed. I really couldn’t catch a break from them. “So did you search everywhere in the mall to find me?” Phoebe eyed me.”Why would I?I just said it was a coincidence.” “You’re despicable.”I shot at her. She smiled.”I seem to smell the sourness of a loser.” Zoe stood beside me.”If it isn’t Phoebe the psycho,I heard what happened with Dylan.” Phoebe crossed her arms.”So?” Before I could stop Zoe,she moved closer to Phoebe. “Well, for your information,I’m not Dylan who would hold himself back because you’re a woman,if you don’t have,I’m going to beat you up right here.” That seemed to frightened Phoebe for she took a step backwards. I stifled a laugh. She shouldn’t be so scared, after all, she loves hurting herself. Just then,Tristan walked in. He stared at me then at Zoe and Phoebe. “Cora,are you sending another of your friend to attack her again?” Before I could say anything,Phoebe held Tristan’s hand and smiled. “It’s okay, Tristan.I’m fine.Let’s just go.I don’t like the things here.Let’s go to other stores.”Holding his hand,she headed out of the shop.” ****************** As soon as Phoebe walked to the door,she heard a sharp voice. “Why is the precious Bodhi jade missing?It was here just now.” Eugene raised his eyebrows and stopped.There was a playful look on Phoebe’s face. She had her people in the media room mess with the CCTV while she played a little trick to humiliate Cora even more. She derived so much joy from making Cora suffer. “Hello,ladies and gentlemen.You can’t leave for the time being because there were only 4 of you in the shop just now.In order to prove your innocence,we must conduct a search.”The attendant tried her best to be respectful. After all,she didn’t want everyone to be too embarrassed,not to mention that the guests here were all rich and powerful. “Are you accusing us of theft?”Tristan asked, feeling disrespected. “Sir,please rest assured.If we can’t find anything,we will make an apology and let you choose a product of medium price in our shop.But if we find out the truth,no matter what happens,It can only be paid double and you can still take the product away.We won’t spread the news to others.” The storekeeper came to deal with this matter after the shop assistant’s emergency report.It sounded reasonable.Besides,it also protected the privacy of the guests.” Pulling Tristan’s sleeve,Phoebe said in a low voice. “Let’s listen to the manager.It might sound insulting but it’s their policy here.” A bad feeling suddenly flashed through Cora. “Let’s start with this lady.”The shop manager looked at Cora who was carrying a shopping bag. It seemed that she could hide a lot of jade in there. Phoebe smiled. Recalling the scene that Phoebe had deliberately touched her just now,Cora couldn’t help but hesitate. But Zoe winked at her and said.”It’s okay, Cora.Let them search you.” Nodding,Cora handed out the shopping bags to them. The shop manager took out the clothes inside and checked carefully but found nothing. Then she checked Cora’s body but there was nothing there either. Obviously,Cora didn’t take it. They also searched Zoe and found nothing then they walked towards Phoebe. Phoebe pretended to be calm with an unbelievable look on her face. “It’s impossible!You didn’t search them carefully.I’m sure they must have taken it.” Zoe crossed her arms.”You’re sure we must have taken it?Did you see us take it?” “I…I’m just saying.Since the jade is missing,one of us must have taken it without paying.” “Well,we can only wait to find out.”Zoe smirked. The manager walked up to Phoebe to search her. Phoebe couldn’t understand what was going on. She had clearly dropped the jade in Cora’s bag,unnoticed but why wasn’t it found yet? She gave her bag to the manager, confidently and to her surprise,the jade was found in it.