Love or Leave Behind Novel

Chapter 11

During this entire time, no matter how difficult it got, Shelmaine hadn’t shed a single tear. She had been holding it all in.

The truth was, she had once genuinely loved Samuel Now, with reddened eyes, she couldn’t hold her tears in anymore. She bit her lip, her voice trembling as she said, “Samuel is sch abastard. He’s a complete scumbag.”

“Yes, yes, he’s a scumbag! Isabelle echoed her anger flaring up even more than Shelmaine’s, “I should’ve

‘we stopped you back then!” tabelle continued, her fury growing. “You’re too kind, Shelmaine. That’s why everyone thinks that they can bully you.

“No. I have to confront Samuel What does he mean by this? He said that he’d give you the house in the divorce, and now he wants to give it to his mistress? What the hell is that Hipposed to mean?”

Shelmaine stopped her. “No, Belle, there’s no need. Just let it go.”

“And you’re just going to let this be? Isabelle asked.

“I won’t sell the house to him,” Shelmaine firmly said.

It wasn’t that she was unwilling to sell it to him, but she refused to let Samuel toy with her. After all, why should she help him please Natasha

“I’d rather sell it at a loss to someone else than give it to him”

“Yes! Don’t let them get what they want!” Isabelle agreed.

Isabelle didn’t believe for a second that it was just a coincidence. After all, there was no way Natasha just happened to want that house.

It was obvious—Natasha just wanted to make Shelmine uncomfortable, to spite her, and maybe even drive her away and keep her far from Samoel

“Here’s what we’ll do -I’ll ask my friends to find a buyer quickly. We’ll sell it to anyone but them!”

But Shelmaine had a bad feeling about it. She sensed that Natasha wouldn’t let things go, and that included the issue with Felicity.

The matter with Felicity wasn’t over yet. And since Natasha had spread the story online, the plagiarism accusations were gaining more traction.

Public opinion was on Natasha’s side, and the studio’s reputation was taking a hit. Even Jennifer Larson, another partner at the studio, had heard about it and called Shelmaine right away

After Sheimane explained everything, Jennifer said, “This is getting out of hand. Going to court would be a waste of time and energy, and even if we win, it might not repair the damage.

“We should try to settle this quietly, Shelmaine, you know how hard we’ve worked to get the studio to where it is.

“Shelmaine, you need to face reality. We can’t win against them. Just apologize to Felicity. Whatever terms she asks for, we’ll accept, as long as she doesn’t escalate things any further, okay? I’ll arrange a meeting with Felicity so we can talk it out over dinner.”

Before Shelmaine could respond, Jennifer hung up.

Shortly after, Jennifer sent the location and time for the dinner, repeatedly reminding Shelmaine not to be late.

Shelmine arrived on time and saw that Jennifer was already there.

Jennifer then ushered her into a private room where Felicity was waiting

Felicity barely acknowledged Shelaine’s presence and merely continued to chat with her friends and ignored Jennifer.

It was clear that she wasn’t going to be friendly.

Jennifer gave Shelmaine a look before tuming to Felicity. “Mrs. Westwood, I’m so sorry to have kept you waiting.”

“Apologies, Felicity,” shelmaine apologized as well

But Felicity didn’t respond to her. Instead, she turned to Jennifer and said, “Jenny, what’s going on here? Why did you bring someone who shouldn’t even be here?”

“Oh, come on, Mrs. Westwood,” Jenner replied with a forced smile, “Shelmaline and I are here specifically to apologize to you. We were too immature before and caused you unnecessary stress. We’re truly sorry”

Shelmaine bit her lip but still picked up the wine bottle and poured Felicity a drink. “Felicity, I apologize for what happened last time. I’m sorry for offending you.”

“You know, having some buckbone is good, but you can’t just refuse to admit when you’re wrong, it’s only when things blow up in your tee that you learn your lesson. If you hal

shown this attitude from the start, we wouldn’t be in this mess now, would we?” Felicity remarked.