Chapter 12. Deal Closed. Done!
Jacintha quietly pinched her own thigh to steady herself in front of the nurse, then smiled and said, “But I feel this might be a unique mark on my face.”
The nurse smiled at her: “You’re truly optimistic.”
The nurse was not wrong—Jacintha was truly far more optimistic than most people. At eighteen, she had already shouldered the entire family's living expenses, cared for her younger sister with a heart condition, and the newborn named Jack. Without any advanced qualifications, Jacintha could only take on lowly, exhausting jobs at first. Then Cara noticed her because her face resembled Sharon’s, and guided her into the entertainment world.
But the entertainment industry was a complicated stage of fame and fortune; relying on beauty alone was not enough for artists to thrive. They needed to find investors to back them; otherwise, no matter how beautiful they were, they would be useless and gradually fade away.
At first, Jacintha refused to attend parties to flatter directors and investors. Cara didn’t force her but coldly said, “Fine, keep your purity. When the time truly comes, you’ll regret it!”
Afterward, Cara really abandoned her, and Jacintha could only get small supporting roles, most without lines. The role she appeared in most often was the heroine’s maid. But in that series, she only acted for six episodes. The director always praised her emotional acting, saying she was born to be an actress, and even planned to cast her as the second female lead in his new film. Yet later, that role was replaced by a new artist.
In this entertainment world, no matter how good her acting skills were, they were useless without a powerful backing behind her. And so, Jacintha could only continue taking minor supporting roles. If not for being cornered by usurious debts, she would never have agreed to become Raphael’s sex toy.
Over the past six years, she endured great suffering—being made difficult for, humiliated, even pointed at and scolded in public. All those experiences taught her that the entertainment world was truly a place where people trampled on one another to rise to the top.
If Jacintha hadn’t thought so optimistically, she would have collapsed long ago.
After a long struggle, Jacintha understood clearly that there is no such thing as a free lunch in this world. If she wanted to take six hundred thousand dollars from Raphael’s hands, she had to pay a price. At first, she thought she would have to make six cuts to get the money, but unexpectedly, after just two cuts, Raphael handed her the cash. By calculation, she had already made a profit.
After treating the wounds on her face, Jacintha went home. When she arrived, Jack was already asleep, and Mira was doing homework in the living room.
Seeing Jacintha return with injuries, Mira immediately stood up and asked, “Sister, what happened to your face?”
“It’s nothing. Tonight during filming, I accidentally got hurt. It will heal in two days.”
Jacintha had been injured several times during filming before, so after hearing this, Mira didn’t doubt her and said, “There’s still some fried chicken at home. I’ll warm it up for you to eat.”
“Okay, it’s been a while since I last had fried chicken.” Jacintha didn’t eat much that night; her stomach was empty and aching, and the wound on her face throbbed painfully.
She went into the bathroom and stared at the two fresh cuts on her face in the mirror for a long time without moving, until Mira called her out to eat the fried chicken, which finally lifted her spirits.
Early the next morning, the loan sharks came to collect the money.
Seeing Jacintha actually hand over six hundred thousand dollars, the man raised an eyebrow and said, “Hmph, you really have guts. Here’s your IOU. If you need money next time, just contact us.”
Jacintha replied coldly, “There won’t be a next time.”
She absolutely would never borrow money at such high interest ever again!
The loan shark left. Mira looked at Jacintha’s facial wounds and silently guessed something. “Sister, did you trade those wounds on your face for the six hundred thousand dollars?”
Jacintha’s expression darkened slightly. She hugged her younger sister’s shoulders and walked toward the dining table. “No, don’t overthink it. The six hundred thousand dollars is the breakup fee Mr. Wulfhart gave me.”
Mira immediately showed surprise. After a moment, she lowered her voice and said, “Sis, we’ve paid off all the high-interest debts. From now on, please don’t go to his place anymore, okay?”
She didn’t want Jacintha to suffer the humiliation of serving that man ever again.
Jacintha nodded with a smile. “Alright.”
With the debts cleared, both sisters felt a lightness in their hearts, as if the heavy burden they had carried for years had finally been lifted. The atmosphere at home grew noticeably more relaxed.
“Mommy!” Jack ran out from the bedroom, rubbing his eyes before rushing straight like the wind into Jacintha’s lap.
Looking up at the wound on Jacintha’s face, the boy was initially stunned, then furrowed his brow and asked, “Mommy, you’re hurt. Does it hurt a lot?”
“It doesn’t hurt, it’s just a small wound.” Jacintha lifted Jack onto her lap.
Jack gently kissed Jacintha’s forehead, then looked at the wound on her face and puffed his cheeks, blowing softly: “Mommy, you must be in pain. Let me blow on it a bit, and it won’t hurt anymore.”
Previously, when Jack had gotten vaccinated, the nurse would blow air on his arm while slowly pushing the needle in, as it helped reduce the pain. Jack had remembered this well and thought that blowing on a wound would stop the pain.
Jacintha hugged her beloved child and smiled, “Thank you. Tonight, let’s go eat at the buffet, okay?”
Jack loved buffets because they had lots of ice cream and drinks, and he could eat many different dishes. It was truly a magical paradise for a five-year-old.
Sure enough, when he heard Jacintha say that, Jack’s eyes immediately sparkled, and with innocent excitement, he said, “Yes, please!”
Jacintha held a few vouchers for a high-end buffet in her hand. Raphael had casually given them to her before. She had never used them and planned to use them tonight to treat Mira and Jack to a full meal.
She was pretty sure Raphael wouldn’t like dining in a noisy place like a buffet, which was why he gave her those vouchers—and obviously, he wouldn’t go to such places himself.
But it seemed she had been wrong.