Chapter 72 – Why Are You Here?

Bella grinned at him, “No, no, I just would like to remind you that the meeting is about to begin.” And turned into a solemn voice. “Reminding the boss of the agenda is an important duty of a secretary.”

Charles stared at her as if to judge how sincere her attitude was, and concluded coldly, “Bella, you are not behaving!”

He turned and left without even a second glance, just left her staring at his backside as it moved further away.

That alienated manner struck painfully on her heart.

That was what he was, he could be very tender when he wanted to be close to her, but could be a stranger the next second.

Bella tilted her head and tightened her fist. When could she manage to not be influenced by him? She did not want to be moved by his gentleness.

After a few deep breaths, she could suppress the tears in her eyes, and then she raised her head high and walked out of the president’s office.

She had tried hard to improve her behaviour, hadn’t she?

When she went back to the secretarial pool, there were just three girls left, as the other girls had gone to attend the annual meeting.

What a good chance it was!

Bella suppressed her excitement, grabbed her handbag and left quickly.

At the gate of the Williams Building, Bella got in a taxi and went to the area in Vancouver that had the most jewelry stores. She had searched the internet and found out that one of the stores there had the best prices for buying second-hand jewelry.

“What do you think? Would you purchase it?” Bella stood in front of the counter and was a little nervous.

The manager had been studying the ring for more than half an hour and looked into every detail of the ring with a magnifying glass several times.

The more time Bella waited, the more nervous she became. She had heard that many rich men bought some fake jewelry for their mistresses. Had Charles, the bastard, given her a fake diamond ring?

“Yes, it’s perfect!” The manager nodded and stared at her for a moment, and apologized, “But this involves a huge amount, I have to discuss with my boss.”

A huge amount?

Bella’s eyes brightened, and she vented the worry in her heart. It seemed that Charles was not such a heartless man.

“Okay, okay, Go and discuss, please.” Bella pointed to her ring, which was still in his hand, “But may I hold onto my ring while you do so?”

In case he might replace her real ring with a fake one!

She had learned about such things from media, she must be careful.

“I’m sorry!” The manager handed back the ring to Bella, “Please wait a few minutes. Because this ring is incredibly special, I need some time to convince my boss to buy it. Please wait.”

Special?

Bella’s eyes flashed imaginary dollar signs, and tried to calm herself down, “How much could you offer?”

The manager hesitated and said, “Five million!” He was afraid that Bella was not satisfied with the amount and, added quickly, “Please wait, I will have to verify with my boss, but I’m sure the final amount will be much more than this.”

More than five million? 

Bella felt faint, she could do a lot of things with such an amount. For example, she could bring her mother to the States and get the best treatment.

Bella decided, when she received the money, she should go to the hospital first and ask the doctor if her mother could be transferred to the hospital in the States so that she could arrange the transfer at once.

Charles could not detain her anymore.

It had taken the manager much time before he came back and he was sweating.

“Ten million, we can offer ten million.” The manager looked at Bella, “If you can accept this amount, we can do this now.”

Ten million?

How much had Charles spent on this diamond ring?

Bella was shocked but kept her manner calm, “So, could you transfer the money to me now?”

“Yes.” The manager replied, “We don’t have that much cash in store but we can write a check for five million, and the rest will be transferred through the bank. Is that Okay?”

“Okay.” Bella nodded at once.

Ten minutes later, Bella stood in the doorway of the jewelry store and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath.

What fresh air!

What warm sunshine!

At this time, a young man came over, Bella looked at him, but it was too late for her to escape. The man chased her and stopped in front of her.

“Bell, why did you run? Are we now strangers?” Martin Smith looked at her, and there was a strange look in his eyes.

Bella wore a suit like an office lady, and she looked fresh and smart like an intellectual woman.

She pushed off the man’s hand, which had held onto her arm, and her face was cold, “Leave me alone.”

What bad luck for her! How could she meet Martin here?

Martin looked at her eagerly, “Bella, did you know I would be here? You were waiting for me, weren’t you? You still have affection for me, haven’t you?”

Bella sneered, “Why didn’t I know you are this narcissistic before?”

Martin was disappointed by her denying, “Even though we have broken up, we could still be friends. Why would you refuse me so cruelly?”

“Because I’m not at all interested in being your friend.” Bella strode past him.

Martin chased after her and called her, “Bella.”

She pretended to not hear him, walked away as fast as she could to the pathway and waved to stop a taxi. Martin caught up with her and held her arm, he talked to the driver in the cab, “She is not going to go.”

The driver scolded him and drove away.

Bella turned to him and shouted, “Martin, you are so shameless?”

She must hurry. She must go to the hospital and get back to her office in time. If Charles finished the meeting and found that she was not there, she would be in deep trouble.

“Yes, I am shameless.” Martin did not care, and just told her what he had been thinking of since they had been apart. “I regret breaking our engagement. I think of you every day, I dream of you. I love you, Bella, I still love you. Don’t leave me, please?

“We have already broken up. You have announced it to the universe. I don’t love you anymore, I don’t want to be with you at all!”

She slammed his hand away, but it was not so easy to release her hand out of his. His hand clenched her wrist tightly, the more she struggled, the tighter he held.

He looked at her face, it was red from her hard struggle. Then he held her tightly in his arms.

Bella pushed him away hard, “Let me go. You must have come here on purpose to buy jewels for Lynn. How could you betray her?”

Martin loosened his arms; it is true, he came to get the wedding rings for both him and Lynn.

Bella took the opportunity to slip away, but Martin pulled her into his arms again. His eager and anxious voice contained a sense of joy, “Bella, as soon as you promise to be with me, and you agree to get back together. I will break up with Lynn. Let us be together, all right?”