บท 1: The Betrayment
"Congratulations on your first jewelry launch, Miss Russell!"
The reporters surrounded the second daughter of the Russell Family like a swarm of bees vying for flower essence. They couldn't stop pressing the shutters to capture her beautiful figure in her shimmering red dress.
"The designs of your jewelry are so beautiful, Miss Russell! I wonder where you get the inspiration to create those designs?"
The woman, whose body was wrapped in various jewelry, finally stopped walking on the red carpet and turned her face toward the camera. Her red lips slowly smiled and said, "My family says I'm a genius, so I can get inspiration eas—"
CRASH!
"You fucking fraudster!"
Irene Russell threw a vase of flowers at the television in front of her because she was too sick of seeing her step-sister's face plastered on the television.
"Genius? You said you are a genius? YOU'RE JUST A COPYCAT!"
Irene's shout echoed throughout her apartment, even overpowering the noisy air conditioner. She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists tightly.
Her long nails dug into her skin, making blood flow from her fists.
Irene felt furious.
She was so angry that she wanted to destroy all the furniture in her apartment.
The emotions in her heart exploded like an erupting volcano.
She had been deceived.
She had been betrayed.
Irene had been destroyed by the person who shared the same surname as her.
"Don't be joking." Irene's eyebrows shot up sharply, like an angry hawk when it saw its prey stolen by a snake. "How could that bitch steal my jewelry designs?"
Catelyn Russell was Irene's step-sister who had taken over her entire life. Since Catelyn and her mother, Julia, set foot in the Russell household, Irene's life has turned upside down.
In no time at all, her father, Nathan Russell, was able to forget Irene's biological mother—Valencia Russell—and marry a snake woman who was hell-bent on driving Irene out of her own home.
Since high school, Irene had been sent to boarding school and rarely returned home or met Nathan. Since then, Catelyn has captured all of Nathan's love and attention, becoming the favorite child of the Russell family.
After stealing Nathan's affection, Catelyn also steals his trust by pretending to be a good girl and framing Irene as a bad child.
And now, Catelyn was trying to steal Irene's spotlight by stealing the jewelry designs that Irene had been creating for the past six months.
Ring! Ring! Ring!
The ringing sound of her cell phone broke Irene's reverie; a name she had been waiting for was displayed on the screen.
'My Love Daniel'.
A lover who has accompanied her for the past three years.
She had always put all her trust in the man she loved so much, but today, for some reason, Irene's trust in him began to fade.
"Daniel," Irene called in a trembling voice. "Catelyn has stolen my jewelry designs, which will launch in two months."
"I know," Daniel said without showing any emotion as if the news could not shake the empathy in his heart.
There was something wrong with Daniel, and Irene knew it.
"I never show my jewelry designs to anyone except the jeweler and you, Daniel."
Irene deliberately emphasized her last words to let Daniel know what she meant.
The jewelers were her mother's most loyal former employees, so they would never betray Irene.
However, Daniel was just a stranger who suddenly came into her life.
Irene's love for Daniel surpasses the highest mountain in the world, and she would never betray her lover, but what about Daniel?
Did Daniel truly love her, or was he just pretending to support her so that he could easily enter her life?
Since they were just teenagers, Catelyn had often snatched Irene's friends and ex-boyfriends, so she wouldn't be surprised if Daniel were also on Catelyn's side.
"How much money did Catelyn give you to betray me?" Irene asked, clenching her hands into fists.
The sound of mocking laughter could be heard from the phone. At that moment, Irene realized that Daniel had never been on her side in the first place.
"To me, Catelyn is worth more than money. From the beginning, my goal in becoming your lover was only to betray you." Daniel insisted, "I love Catelyn, not you."
For the sake of his rotten love, Daniel was willing to betray Irene so Catelyn could fly above her. From the intonation of his voice, he showed no remorse or guilt toward the woman he had betrayed.
"Catelyn wants to be a famous jewelry designer who can rival Mrs. Valencia Russell, so I won't let you steal her spotlight."
"Bullshit." Irene gritted her teeth, then laughed softly. "A great designer would never steal a design from another designer. You and Catelyn are as rotten as a worm-infested apple."
Three years.
Three years was not a short time, but Irene had wasted that precious time loving the wrong person.
"Have you ever loved me even once?" Irene asked.
She was foolish for still having false hopes for Daniel. However, she just wanted to know if he truly loved her.
"No, I don't. Never once," Daniel said.
Irene closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She tried hard to hold back the tears that were about to come out of her eyes.
She didn't want to waste her tears over a bastard like him.
"I understand." Irene steadied her voice so she didn't sound desperate. "Thank you for everything, Daniel. Even if you're lying, at least you've made me happy for three years."
"However, remember this well: I am not a forgiving person." Her emerald eyes glittered with tears, and she squinted sharply as if she wanted to tear Daniel apart right then and there. "I will count your sins and collect them one day."
Irene didn't want to cry for Daniel, but that didn't mean she would forgive him.
She wanted revenge.
Maybe not today or tomorrow, but someday.
Someday, she would make Daniel and Catelyn feel all the pain and suffering she faced.
"Goodbye, Daniel."
After saying that, Irene immediately hung up their phone call and blocked his number because she had no reason to keep in touch with a traitor.
KLANK!
She threw all the items on the sideboard, letting the vase of flowers, the television, and her precious belongings fall to the floor. The shards of those items scattered in all directions, even accidentally cutting Irene's leg until it bled.
However, Irene didn't care about that at all.
She just wanted the pain and disappointment in her heart to go away, but no matter how hard she vented her anger, the pain never subsided.
"This is my last straw." Irene sat on the floor, looking at the fragments of the vase mixed with her blood.
In order to open her jewelry store, Irene has sacrificed many things; her time, her relationship with her family, and even almost all of her money. She knew she was selfish and arrogant because she told her father that she was able to build her own jewelry store without the help of the Russell Family.
However, the words that were once filled with confidence ended up being nonsense. She could not sell the same design that Catelyn had stolen, as people would think of her as a thief instead of accusing Catelyn.
In the end, the one with the most power and control over the media would be the winner, while Irene would have to fall into the abyss filled with her failure.
Her jewelry designs had already entered production, leaving Irene with no funds to produce new designs.
"Bastard! I hope all of them are rotten in hell!" the veins on her neck bulged as she shouted those words.
Irene held her forehead, feeling a headache because she thought about her ruined future. After spending so much money on the failed jewelry, Irene would probably be unable to pay her apartment rent next month, so she had to move into a smaller apartment.
All the hard work and money she had accumulated over the years had finally become a waste.
Irene ruffled her hair in annoyance. "Shit! Why do I have to go back to zero?"
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