Chapter 36: "No, That’s Too Cruel to Her!"

Third Person POV

In the Bell family villa.

Eva slipped into the expensive custom-made wedding dress and stood before the mirror, admiring her graceful figure.

In the reflection, she looked beautiful as a princess.

She fantasized about wearing this dress and walking into the wedding hall with Gavin, becoming the mistress of the Adams family, becoming the object of everyone's envy.

Just then, an urgent phone ringtone interrupted her fantasy.

Eva frowned and answered the call.

On the other end was Ivan's assistant translating for him.

"Miss Eva, we have a problem!"

"What problem?" Eva asked impatiently. "Didn't I tell you not to contact me recently?"

"I didn't want to contact you either," Ivan's assistant translated, "but the Adams Group just unilaterally proposed ending their cooperation with our company!"

"What?" Eva's voice instantly rose. "End the cooperation? Why?"

He answered: "It must be Mia. She seems to have said something to Gavin. I received the termination notice this morning."

Ivan was now sweating with anxiety.

He had only followed Eva's instructions to deliberately cause trouble and threaten Kai, trying to raise some profit for himself in this cooperation.

But he never intended to end the cooperation!

Now that negotiations had broken down, he also faced the risk of being fired by his company.

Eva's face instantly twisted.

She cursed: "That damn bitch! How could Gavin terminate such an important project because of her?"

"I thought after Gavin saw that video, he would definitely abandon her immediately!"

Ivan's voice carried a trace of anger, but his English was truly terrible.

His assistant mimicked his tone.

"How should I know?! Eva, I can't worry about that much now. You must help me!"

"My situation is terrible right now. I need money. Buy me a ticket back to Russia."

"And to help you, I've lost my job now. The cost far exceeded my expectations. You must compensate for my losses!"

After hearing his words, Eva was so angry she nearly went crazy.

To ruin Mia, she had given Ivan all the money she'd saved over the years.

But now, not only had Ivan failed to accomplish the task, he'd also exposed himself. Gavin might already be suspecting her.

Eva gritted her teeth: "Damn it! I don't have any more money! Ivan, I'm warning you, don't call me again!"

She decisively hung up and blocked Ivan's number.

Then she opened the school forum.

She had wanted to enjoy those vicious comments to calm her terrible mood.

But she quickly discovered that all those videos and posts were gone.

She clicked on a new forum post and found it was a photo of Gavin walking out of the principal's office with Mia.

In the photo, Gavin protected Mia behind him, his eyes coldly staring ahead.

And Mia looked so pitiful and beautiful in the photo.

In the comments below, people began speculating whether Mia was Gavin's real fiancée.

"Ahh!"

Eva angrily threw her phone, smashing it into the mirror.

The mirror instantly shattered into pieces, reflecting her face twisted with jealousy.

Mia's POV

After Gavin finished calling Kai, I felt a bit worried.

"Are you really going to unilaterally terminate cooperation with Ivan's company because of me? Won't this have a major impact on the group?"

Gavin sneered: "Of course not. I'm just scaring them."

"To salvage this cooperation opportunity, they'll definitely fire Ivan and send a new person in charge to work with us."

"Ivan nearly ruined this cooperation, so to please me, they'll definitely lower their costs, and the Adams Group can obtain considerable profits from it."

Gavin's intelligence and capability shocked me.

I couldn't help but exclaim excitedly: "Gavin, you're amazing! Now Kai and Fiona won't have to worry about losing their jobs."

Gavin pinched my chin, murmuring: "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't make things so complicated."

"Please, Gavin, you're practically my god."

I pouted, cupping his face, deeply attracted by how sexy he was at this moment.

The temperature in the air began to gradually rise. Gavin released my chin and caressed my waist.

We unconsciously kissed, and I actively opened my mouth, passionately sucking his tongue.

But the kiss didn't last long before being interrupted by a phone call.

Gavin's face showed obvious displeasure. I panted, withdrew from his embrace, and answered Anna's call.

She said: "Mia, I found Ashlyn."

I exclaimed: "That's great! Anna, send me the address."

We went together to an abandoned building in the slums.

In a dilapidated warehouse, we saw Ashlyn and her mother.

The scene before my eyes made me frown, even reminding me of the time when Susan and I were forced to wander after being driven out of the Bell family.

Ashlyn's mother was mentally confused from drug use, curled up on the ground, emitting painful moans.

And Ashlyn sat in the corner with a vacant stare.

I stepped forward to greet her: "Ashlyn, do you remember me? I'm Mia."

She looked up at me and nodded.

"I know, the kind person who gave me a lot of money. What do you want from me?"

I was about to talk further with her when Gavin stopped me.

His tone was very serious, his arm blocking me: "Mia, don't get close to her."

"Why?" I was a bit confused. "She looks very weak. I don't think she'll hurt me. When she's lucid, she's a good girl."

But Gavin still insisted, his attitude firm: "Because you don't understand these addicts well enough."

I couldn't argue with Gavin, so I had to compromise and retreat behind him.

He walked up to Ashlyn, looking down at her from above.

"Listen, I need you to record a video. The content is very simple. You just need to state that the woman dancing in the strip club was you."

"You just happen to also be named 'Mia.'"

"After it's done," he paused, saying, "I'll give you a large sum of money."

Ashlyn's eyes lit up for a moment, but quickly dimmed again.

She looked at her mother curled up beside her, her eyes filled with pain and struggle.

The terrible environment around us made my heart sink little by little.

Having Ashlyn testify for me was the best solution.

That way, I could permanently escape the label of "stripper."

But suddenly, I felt very sad, very reluctant.

If she testified for me, then she would become the next target of bullying.

Her already terrible life would be completely destroyed, and I would also be one of the culprits.

Just as Ashlyn was about to agree, I clenched my fists and shouted.

"No, that's too cruel to her!"