Inside the café, Bella Whitmore sat there with her head lowered, lazily stirring the bitter coffee she didn’t even like, forcing herself to listen while Viveca Monroe went on and on about her so-called love story with Ethan Caldwell.
"...Ethan and I have known each other for a full ten years. What we have is rock solid. I love him, and he loves me too..."
Bella looked up, curious, and cut in without a hint of politeness.
"If your relationship is that unbreakable, then why hasn’t he married you?"
Viveca’s brows knotted instantly. Her face flushed red on the spot. That one line from Bella hit like a clean slap and shut her up completely.
She had dreamed a million times about marrying Ethan, but the truth was... Ethan’s attitude toward her had always been painfully obvious.
Since she had nothing to say back, Viveca simply yanked out a bank card and slammed it down in front of Bella.
"There’s one million in here. Take the money and get lost back to whatever countryside you came from. You are not good enough for Ethan! Even if you marry him, you’ll never be happy. I’m the one who should be his wife!"
Bella leaned back against her chair, looking weirdly entertained instead of angry.
"What a coincidence. You want to marry him, and I don’t. If you can get Ethan Caldwell to cancel this engagement, I’ll give you a hundred million."
"What?!"
Viveca froze in shock. A second later, she practically exploded.
"Bella Whitmore, who exactly do you think you’re humiliating? What, are you saying this engagement was forced on you? Seriously, look at your own background first. If you hadn’t shamelessly clung to Ethan and insisted on marrying him, do you think he would ever have gotten engaged to you?!
"And do you even know what a hundred million means? A bumpkin like you, fresh out of the sticks, where would you even get that kind of money? Let me tell you, I—"
Viveca’s voice stopped dead.
Because Bella, calm as ever and not the least bit rattled, slowly pulled out a card and placed it on the table.
A black card edged in gold.
The gold-lettered surname "Caldwell" on it practically gleamed under the café lights.
Anyone could tell at a glance that the card belonged to Ethan.
Viveca was so furious she nearly passed out on the spot. Bella and Ethan weren’t even legally married yet, and somehow Bella had already gotten hold of the Caldwell family’s unlimited black card?
Viveca Monroe’s eyes were red with jealousy. She shot to her feet and snapped, "You bitch! How dare you steal Ethan’s bank card!"
Bella Whitmore’s face instantly cooled. "Talk if you want, but watch your mouth. I’ll ask you one last time—do you actually have what it takes to make Ethan Caldwell break off the engagement with me or not?"
Viveca was so mad her eyes nearly rolled back. If she had that kind of power, would she even be here wasting time talking to Bella?
To her, Bella wasn’t asking a question at all. She was straight-up humiliating her.
Viveca screamed, "So what if I curse at you? You shameless little homewrecker, seducing my Ethan, and I’m not even allowed to call you out? I’ll say it! Bitch, bitch, bitch!"
"Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack!"
Bella didn’t spoil people like that. She swung her hand without hesitation and landed more than a dozen slaps in a row.
Viveca didn’t even get a chance to fight back. Her small face puffed up on the spot, swollen like overproofed dough.
Her mouth had been slapped crooked. It hurt the second she tried to open it, and all those filthy words got beaten right back down her throat. She could only collapse onto the floor, whimpering softly.
She didn’t even dare bawl properly. The moment she opened her mouth, pain hit like crazy.
Only then did Bella stop. Still annoyed, she said, "I already told you, no cursing, and you still kept going. You’ve been hovering around me for days, and honestly, I couldn’t even be bothered with you. I thought maybe you really could convince Ethan Caldwell to cancel this engagement. Turns out you’re just like him—totally useless!
"Let me make this crystal clear. That Ethan Caldwell you’re so obsessed with? In my eyes, he’s not even worth as much as a cup of milk tea!
"If you can get him to break off the engagement, I’d seriously thank you. But if you can’t, then stay the hell away from me from now on. Don’t come over here and annoy me again!"
After saying that, Bella pocketed the black card on the table and turned to leave.
Everyone else in the café was stunned silly.
Who would’ve guessed that a girl with such a baby-faced look—thin, delicate, well-behaved, like she might not even be old enough yet—could throw hands so cleanly and hit that hard without the slightest hesitation?
Seriously, you really can’t judge a book by its cover.
Bella Whitmore had already walked out of the café. Her lips were pushed into a pout, her whole face screaming one thing: annoyed.
She’d honestly thought she could use Viveca Monroe to get out of her engagement with Ethan Caldwell. If she’d known Viveca was this useless and couldn’t pull it off, she wouldn’t have bothered coming at all. Total waste of time.
"Bang—"
A sudden explosive crash came from inside the café, and in the next second, thick smoke came billowing out.
