章 185: Calm before the storm

"But then, I don't drink! It's okay Katherine Bradford. I'm not used to attending such parties. We're fine… You don't have to do this…" Jayne shrugged, feeling burdened.

"It's not that you have to drink. We'll have normal juice and lots of stuff to snack on. I'll be inviting our other friends as well. Let me treat you to a sumptuous dinner. Please don't say no Jayne Roy!" Katherine Bradford tried to convince Jayne.

After so much, thinking that it wouldn't look good on her part, when Katherine Bradford was putting in so much of effort to mend herself, Jayne finally gave in. She gave a half smile, "Okay!"

Katherine Bradford's happiness knew no bounds. Her plan was finally working. She handed over a card and beamed at Jayne. "This is my card. Please come over at around seven in the evening…" Katherine Bradford's 'tears' still dropped down her eyes.

Jayne took the card from her, "Sure! See you then. I'll get going now!" She stuffed the card in her bag and left.

Looking at Jayne's retreating figure, Katherine Bradford's face turned ugly. She wiped her crocodile tears and smirked. "Jayne Roy! How easy to please you are! Good for me! I thought I'd to use too much effort to woo you into coming to my house. Luckily, just two drops of tears did my job!" Hahah! She had an evil smile on her face.

She then strutted past Daniel West and Emma Dalton who were hiding behind a pillar. She seemed totally lost in her thoughts as was still smiling viciously. So, she didn't notice the two of them.

Emma Dalton was the first to speak, "Jayne must be waiting for you at the parking area. You better going. I'll go with Katherine Bradford. I'll call you later."

Daniel West nodded and darted away in the direction of the parking area.

Katherine Bradford went to her dressing room after that to gather her stuff. By then, Emma Dalton caught up with her and knocked on her door. "Kate! Are you there?" She shouted across the door.

Katherine Bradford was in a jolly mood. So she answered Emma Dalton. "Coming Emma! Give me ten."

Emma Dalton kept pacing outside Katherine Bradford's room impatiently.

Just then the door to her room flew open and Katherine Bradford sashayed out. She had changed into an off-shoulder, maroon coloured solid fit and flare dress which ended at her thigh. Her face was once again smeared with the usual makeup. Within minutes, she had transformed into two different people poles apart.

If Emma Dalton hadn't seen with her own eyes the earlier Katherine Bradford in tears wearing a modest dress, even she would never have believed it. There wasn't a trace of a single tear drop at the moment.

Emma Dalton composed herself and held Katherine Bradford's hands, "Kate! Where were you? I came looking for your right after your performance. But you weren't here. I was so worried…" She had a worried look on her face.

"Ah! Emma relax! I'm fine!" She let out a laughter.

Emma Dalton stuttered, "B-But... K-Kate… The performance earlier…." She couldn't complete her sentence.

Katherine Bradford remained totally unaffected by her defeat in the competition. "Chill Emma! I'm fine!"

Emma Dalton didn't understand what was happening. She had a questioning look on her face.

Looking at her confused expression, Katherine Bradford smirked. "Emma, haven't you heard of the saying… Failures are the stepping stone to success…."

Emma Dalton was even more confused now. She just nodded her head in reply.

"Also, if you want something big in life, you must also be ready to sacrifice something else… so this defeat was a small tradeoff for my upcoming victory Emma!" Katherine Bradford's face turned ugly while she spoke.

"What are you telling Kate? I don't understand anything!" Emma Dalton was still bewildered.

Emma Dalton was trying her best to remain her usual self… the way she would always lick up to Katherine Bradford's a**.

Katherine Bradford let out a loud laughter. "Just wait for it Emma!" She sounded very mysterious.

Emma Dalton wanted to fish out as much information as possible from her. But unfortunately, Katherine Bradford was sounding very mysterious, not letting out her plan."Come on Kate! You can't be doing this to me. We've always worked as a team. Let me know what you plan to do?" She probed.

But Katherine Bradford refused to give in. "It's nothing Emma." She had a sarcastic smile on her face while she toyed around with a lock of her hair.

As if she remembered something, Katherine Bradford spoke once again with a hand on her forehead, "Oh yeah Emma, I'm hosting a party this weekend at my place. Make sure you are present. Don't blame me later if you miss it!" She smirked.

"Kate! Of course I'll be there!" Emma Dalton laughed.

"Let's get going now… We've lots of arrangements to be done." Katherine Bradford was too excited. She dragged Emma Dalton along with her.

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On the other side, Jayne was elated with the sudden turn of events. The storm had just calmed. She felt relieved that Katherine Bradford had learnt her lessons this quickly. She hummed a song and ambled along to the parking area.

Little did she know that this was just the calm before the actual storm.