Chapter 35 Replay
Chapter 35: Replay
Golden didn’t walk back to the room, she fled. The moment the door clicked shut behind her, her knees buckled. She slid to the floor, back against the wall, and replayed the pool party video.
Allan laughing. Allan with Linda in his lap. Allan surrounded. Allan… happy without her. The tears didn’t burst out. They slipped out silently, steadily, like tiny betrayals leaking from the corners of her eyes.
Her chest rose and fell in shallow bursts as she watched it again. And again. And again. Each replay hurt less like heartbreak and more like self-destruction.
She knew she should stop watching it, but she couldn't bring herself to.
It was like something possessed her to keep watching even if it broke her.
Alex was halfway down the hallway when her phone rang.
It was a call from Varney.
It was like the guy was a bug in his sister's stomach and knew when something was wrong.
“How is she?” He asked from the other end of the phone.
“Not so good. She fled to the room after seeing the video.”
“Do you need me to come over?” he asked visibly trying to control the anger that was beginning to slip into his voice.
Alex looked at her phone stunned for a few seconds. But she wasn't that surprised.
This was Varney, he would do anything to protect his sister.
“I think you should stay put for now. Let me try to handle it first. Would let you know if I can't.” Alex said quickly.
There was a moment of silence and Alex thought Varney had hung up. Then she heard him
“I've just pulled down the video. Please take good care of her.” he hung up.
Alex breathed a sigh of relief. She figured Varney had hacked the site to take down the video.
Then she quietly opened the door of the suite. Golden didn’t look up. She was still on the floor. Still staring at the same screen.
Alex’s chest cracked.
“Gigi…” she whispered, kneeling.
Golden didn’t blink. She didn’t speak.
Her shoulders just trembled, the only sign she was still human and not a broken statue.
Alex gently pried the phone from her hands.
The video was gone from the internet…
…yet somehow still playing on Golden’s screen as if it refused to let her breathe.
Alex deleted it from the phone, then closed her eyes and pulled Golden against her chest.
This time Golden didn’t fight it. She just crumbled.
“It hurts Alex. Why does it hurt so much?” Golden asked with a broken voice.
Alex felt her chest tighten. She felt her heart break for her friend. “Shh! It's okay Gigi, I'm here for you.”
Linda sat on her bed, scrolling through her notifications with a scowl.
“What the hell?” she snapped.
The video was gone.
Someone had wiped it completely, even from her cloud. She tossed her hair back, sparks in her eyes. Golden had embarrassed her in front of everyone.
Golden had made her look stupid.
How dare Golden accuse her of wearing knock off goods in front of everyone?
She reduced her to nothing in front of the entire class.
She had been too ashamed to show her face for the rest of the week. And when she finally came back, she still felt people stare at her differently.
It was all Golden's fault. Golden came for her crown, she would go for her heart. Golden needed to learn that she wasn't one to be truffled with. Linda opened her gallery.
She found the photos she took, the ones from moments she manufactured, exaggerated, angled to look intimate.
One of her holding Allan’s head to her chest. One of her sitting on his lap. One of Allan holding her waist where she’d made sure the camera was watching.
She smirked and hit send. Golden wasn’t going to forget her place. In this game, Linda was Queen...
Happy Place Resort
Back at the resort, Alex had managed to calm Golden down.
She tried to distract Golden with stories from her holiday in Bejing and it was working.
Fabulous had come to their suite to apologize for his initial slip and asked Golden how he could make up for it.
“...I thought my Nana was kidding when she asked me to dress up in a Qipao.
I humored her and wore the attire.
Then she took me to a friend's granddaughters wedding.” Alex continued.
“I only realized it was a wedding when we got there and I couldn't back out so I stayed.
Then my crazy Nana suddenly left my side.
At first I thought, well she was going to greet some friends. But she came back with a young man.
She introduced us, but I couldn't care less so he left.” Alex stopped for a dramatic pause and resumed her story.
“I noticed different young men kept coming to our table to greet us. They would leave and write something in a small note pad.
Some would even smile at me and nod their heads.
I took a break to use the bathroom and that's when I overheard some ladies gossiping in the bathroom.” Alex stopped and sighed at this point.
“They were talking about the pathetic girl her grandma had organized a matchmaking event for.
How the girl couldn't find a husband even though she was studying abroad to become a doctor.”
Fabulous couldn't help it. He fell on the floor rolling with laughter.
“No she didn't! Pathetic Alex can't find a husband.” He continued laughing.
“You're just making jokes right? That didn't happen ” Fab asked.
“I wish I was. Tell him Gigi.” Alex said noticing Golden was at least smiling now.
“She's definitely not lying. Nana Chen is very capable of pulling that off” Golden said with a soft smile.
“She tried matchmaking me with her grandson the first day she met me”
Fabulous bursted out laughing again. “Please when can I meet your grandma?” He asked in between laughs.
The trio soon left the suite to the lounge.
Golden was doing her best to act okay or at least functional. She sat with Alex and Fabulous at the lounge, sipping juice, staring at nothing.
Fabulous was trying too hard.
“…and then I told the waiter I don’t eat anything that still has eyeballs…”
Golden’s phone dinged. She didn’t think. She just looked. Three pictures. The world dropped. Her fingers jerked. The phone slipped. It hit the table with a dull thud.
Her face drained of color instantly, like someone unplugged her spirit.
Alex sat up straight. “Gigi? What is it?”
Golden’s voice broke on a whisper.
“I can’t… see that again.”