SWNOVELS Chapter 17
Chapter 17 Settling Our Engagement
In the early morning of the next day, Anna woke up to the ringing of the phone. It was Raul calling, his voice slightly raised and sounding cheerful. “Get ready today, and I’ll pick you up for the cruise party tonight.”
Anna was taken aback. Last time he asked her to be a stripper. What role did he want her to play this time? Raul seemed to sense Anna’s hesitation, and he immediately hit her weak spot, “As long as you obediently follow me, I’ll tell my family to settle our engagement.”
With no means of self–rescue, Anna had no power to refuse. It was already a stroke of luck that she could survive the torrent of reality with her shattered will. If she were to break away from the Rubin family at this moment, Brad would only drag
her down to hell.
“Okay…” She agreed without reason.
“That’s settled then. Dress up nicely, cover what needs to be covered and reveal what needs to be revealed, you know what I mean,” Raul happily hung up the phone.
The Rubin family might be saved!
Now Raul changed from his initial disgust towards Anna,
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because he suddenly realized that Anna’s presence was like a windfall for a poor family – both had the same effect of saving a family on the verge of collapse.
Meanwhile, Anna hung up the phone, feeling a pang in her heart at the words “cover what needs to be covered.” Her strip dance last night exposed too many past experiences in front of Carlos. Those bruises, some even brownish in color, became a mark of her humiliation. She hated it, yet she had to
bow down to the whims of fate.
What else could she do?
In Carlos‘ heart, she might have never been a wealthy young lady, so her status wasn’t that important after all.
After washing up, she went downstairs quietly and sat across from Todd for breakfast. She fiddled with the cutlery, slicing through a steak, and the scapulae on her back rose high like a pair of wings about to undergo a mutation.
Todd felt sorry for her and handed over the plate with egg whites. He knew Anna didn’t like eating egg yolks, but egg
whites.
Anna looked up and gave a polite and sincere smile, “Thank you, Mr. Perkins.”
Now, calling him Mr. Perkins had become more natural, but Todd’s heart grew increasingly gloomy.
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“How is it with Raul? Is it going well?” His caring gaze, filled with concern, could only be expressed through these few words, hoping that Anna would understand his intentions behind this casual conversation.
After Todd’s inquiry, Pier dragged a chair over and sat down next to Todd. His eyes burned with scorn, directed straight at Anna. Anna dared not look up. She knew the kind of gaze the person across from her would use to deal with her, so it was best to avoid it.
“Raul is a nice guy. We’ll spend more time together and see how it goes,” Anna replied appropriately and humbly. But Pier couldn’t be easily deceived. He thought of Raul’s behavior last night, as well as his cowardly demeanor when Ronnie intervened, and Anna actually still thought Raul was a nice guy? Well, birds of a feather really flock together!
Pier didn’t understand why he felt the need to defend this woman before him. He tried to endure, waiting for the spectacle of Anna facing backlash. But he couldn’t control his emotions, and a disdainful snort escaped his nostrils. Gradually, he even lost his appetite, perhaps because he was sitting across from a spineless person.
“Dad, I’m not coming back for dinner tonight. I’ve made an appointment with some friends for sea fishing.” The sound of his cutlery being placed down was sharp, causing Todd to furrow his brow. “You’re only taking a few bites?”
Pier took the opportunity to express his dissatisfaction, “It’s
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all because I saw a disgusting person early in the morning. It really spoils my appetite!” With that, he ignored Todd’s scolding and left the house straight away.
Todd didn’t dare say much and could only reassure Anna not to mind. How could Anna mind? Being dependent on others was always better than struggling for survival and enduring hardships. She could tolerate such trivial grievances.
“Mr. Perkins, it’s fine, don’t worry. Tonight, I’m going to the cruise party with Raul, so I won’t be able to have dinner with you.“‘
Todd was overjoyed when he heard that the relationship between the two had progressed, “That’s great! That’s great! Just be careful and stay safe.”
“Thanks, Mr. Perkins, I will.”
In the evening, Anna had already dressed up. After saying goodbye to Todd, she waited outside the Perkins mansion for Raul’s car. She glanced briefly at the Scott mansion; it was brightly lit, but the bedrooms and offices upstairs were completely dark. He must have gone out for socializing again.
It could also be a date. A person like him, just like herself back then, must have a lot of women throwing themselves at him.
Just as she was lost in her thoughts, Raul’s car slowly pulled up in front of her. The window rolled down, and Raul’s
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eyebrows twisted into knots. “Is this what are you wearing?”
Anna looked down at her own attire – a pure white bubble- sleeved dress. It covered all her scars, so as not to embarrass Raul, but it also had its share of shortcomings.
Raul would naturally not let her go out in such a maid–like outfit – that could reflect poorly on him. He instructed the driver, “Let’s go to the VW counter first.”
–
The car stopped in front of the shopping mall, and Anna got out, adjusting her skirt nervously. Her mind was filled with anxiety. How was she supposed to handle the scars on her body that she didn’t want to expose when Raul brought her here to buy clothes? Stand in front of the dressing room mirror to be ridiculed?
Before she could figure out how to deal with it, she lifted her eyes and met a familiar cold gaze.
Carlos and Pier were approaching, carrying fishing gear. Clearly, Carlos had spotted Anna, and his frosty gaze grew colder. They were only a few steps apart when he suddenly answered a phone call. It was then that Anna noticed Carlos holding a brand–new phone.
So, this was how he dealt with anything related to her. He would discard anything involved with her. And even the phone that indirectly connected them, he abandoned without hesitation.
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But it didn’t matter. Sorrows and worries could no longer fit into her troubled memory. Anna simply averted her gaze and waited for Raul’s next order.
As usual, Raul greeted Carlos and Pier with familiarity, his tone dripping with flattery and servility. After confirming that the two had no intention of staying, Raul finally left with Anna. But before leaving, he couldn’t help but add a flattering remark, “Well, I’ll take this woman away first so she won’t kill your mood.”
He foolishly saw things from a one–sided perspective, assuming that Anna was the person Carlos and Pier despised, forgetting that Todd had been supporting Anna. Pier cast a sidelong glance at Raul and silently muttered a few words to himself, “What an idiot!”
Carlos had no intention of staying any longer; it was a waste of his precious time. As they brushed past each other, a woman’s voice echoed through Anna’s ears from Carlos’s phone. She couldn’t discern to whom that sweet voice belonged, but she knew that she was no longer qualified to pursue Carlos.
Carlos said to the woman on the phone impatiently, “I’m going fishing tonight. I don’t have time!”
After hanging up the phone, he seemed to realize that the woman who had been right in front of him just disappeared out of thin air.
As he turned his head, he saw Anna obediently walking alongside that scumbag Raul, taking each step docilely.
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That thin and fragile arm, which he had pushed away countless times before, now fell into someone else’s hands…