Chapter 6 Fragile First Love

Rose was much taller than Shirley. She took a few steps and stood in front of Shirley. Without waiting for Shirley to speak, she slapped her loudly across the face!

"Slap!" The slap was loud and crisp, so fast that Shirley couldn't react in time.

Shirley stumbled, nearly falling onto the table. If she hadn't quickly grabbed onto the chair, her belly would have hit the table.

Shirley looked up at Rose's fierce face in the mirror and couldn't help but shiver.

Why was Rose here? Why did she hit her?

Before Shirley could speak, Rose's face became distorted with anger as she pointed at Shirley, shouting, "Shirley, how could you abandon William and marry Keith? Where is your conscience? Have you lost it? How could you marry Keith when he is my boyfriend?!"

Rose's sharp voice pierced Shirley's ears and caused her physical pain.

Shirley finally snapped out of it and turned around abruptly to face Rose. Suppressing the trembling in her whole body, she said, "Rose, you've come back at the right time. I was about to ask you why it wasn't William but Keith in room 1638 of that hotel. Where is William?"

Rose was caught off guard by Shirley's question. After a moment of daze, her eyes shifted and she replied, "How would I know that you would be in my boyfriend's room?! I clearly gave you room card 1639, but you shamelessly took Keith's and my room card! How could I give my boyfriend's room card to you? Shirley, think about your conscience. How have I treated you all these years? How could you do this to me!"

"How could... it be like this?" Shirley was dumbfounded. She didn't expect Rose to give her such an answer. "But the room card I received was indeed 1638! Rose, what's going on?"

Seeing that Shirley fell for her trap, Rose immediately covered her face and pretended to cry, saying, "Oh no! Did we both drink too much, and that's why we got the cards mixed up? And if you marry Keith, what about me? What about William? Shirley, how can you be so selfish? Even if you don't care about my feelings, have you ever thought about William? In college, he gave everything to you. Can you really just forget it?"

Shirley's heart was hit hard, and her face turned pale from the pain. The emotions she had forcibly suppressed resurfaced completely because of Rose's words.

"William has only been abroad for two months, and you're already marrying someone else. Shirley, your heart is so cruel! I can't believe I have a friend like you, so heartless and treacherous. I must have been blind," Rose squeezed out two tears and looked at Shirley with an expression of disbelief.

Shirley was indeed shaken!

"Shirley, I'm sorry for hitting you just now. I just... I can't accept this reality!" Rose suddenly stepped forward, hugged Shirley, and burst into tears, "Shirley, please give Keith back to me, okay? I really love him so much. Give him back to me! You still have William, but what about me? I have nothing!"

Shirley's tears burst out in an instant. "But what should I do? Rose, I'm already impure. I'm already pregnant with Keith's child! I don't even want to get married, but if I don't, they'll take my child away. What can I do?"

By the end, Shirley could hardly speak through her sobs.

How could she not regret it? She had long been consumed by remorse. But she had no way out, did she?

"Shirley, you need to find William! He loves you so much, and you love him too. You are destined to be together, Shirley! You need to tell him the truth, that you simply took the wrong room card and didn't betray him. Ask him if he will still accept you and fly away with you! He loves you so much, he will definitely accept the child in your belly!" Rose continued to brainwash Shirley. "You don't love Keith, and Keith doesn't love you. Even if you marry him, you won't be happy, will you?"

Shirley's eyes lit up. Yes, Rose was right! She didn't love Keith at all, and he didn't love her. Marrying him would only bring her unhappiness!

She needed to find William and confess everything to him. They loved each other so deeply and had so many beautiful memories together.

She needed to ask him if he would still want her now that she was no longer pure. If she was willing to go with him no matter what, would he take her away? Would he be willing to accept her child?

Suddenly, Shirley's heart was filled with countless hopes.

Because of Rose's return, Shirley was filled with courage. She wanted to go and have a proper conversation with William!

Shirley pushed Rose aside and ran out frantically, barefoot and holding her wedding dress!

When Shirley appeared outside, the bewildered expression on her face terrified the bodyguards. They watched as Shirley ran desperately towards the church and quickly followed, trying to stop her. "Madam, the wedding is about to start. Please return to the lounge."

Shirley didn't care about what the bodyguards said. At that moment, all she wanted was to find William and tell him everything! Then, she would leave this hateful place with William and start a new life!

Shirley had just reached the side door of the church when a group of people stopped her.

"Get out of the way! All of you, get out of my way!" Shirley's tears had smudged her makeup, making her look disheveled.

Shirley pushed the others with all her might, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't move them.

"If you keep blocking me, I'll hurt myself!" Shirley became desperate and took a hairpin from her hair, pointing it crazily at her own belly. "If anything happens to the fourth generation of the Nelson family, can you afford the responsibility?"

Sure enough, Shirley's words had an effect. The bodyguards, who had been firm in their obstruction just moments ago, now hesitated and dared not move.

"If anything happens to the fourth generation of the Nelson family, can you afford the responsibility?" Keith's low and cold voice resounded from behind.

"I...I just..." Shirley was suddenly speechless when asked.

"You rushed out so recklessly, just because you wanted to see your ex-boyfriend." Keith's commanding presence suddenly erupted, his gaze turning icy cold. "Alright then, if you want to see him, I'll make sure you do! If he's willing to take you away, our engagement can be nullified."

Shirley looked up at Keith in disbelief. What did he just say? He would let her see William? How could he...

Just then, a car quietly arrived in the distance and stopped in front of Shirley. The car door opened, and a familiar figure appeared before Shirley in an instant.

Shirley's eyes widened. It was William, he really came back!

"William!" Shirley was on the verge of tears from joy! She wanted to tell William that everything was a misunderstanding, and she wanted to ask if he was willing to run away with her!

Shirley was about to rush over and hug William, but he flinched and stepped back.

William, seeing so many bodyguards in black for the first time and facing Keith's overpowering presence, immediately became wary.

Shirley was stunned. Was this still her William? Just yesterday, he had been so gentle, sharing interesting stories of his life abroad on WhatsApp, and telling her how confident and free-spirited he was. Why did he suddenly become so sleazy today?

"William...what happened to you? Did Keith force you?" Shirley took a step closer, but William took a step back.

"No..." William avoided Shirley's gaze, no longer the confident and carefree William she once knew.

Shirley turned her head and glared fiercely at Keith. "What are you going to do to him!"

Keith slowly undid the buttons on his wrist, full of released power. This made William shrink even more. He walked slowly towards the two, a hint of mockery flashing through his narrow eyes. "What can I do? I simply brought the person you wanted to see here for you!"

"What...do you want with me?" William trembled, his eyes flickering, displaying an unexpected sleaziness. Shirley might not understand cars, but William did. The car he had just been in was worth no less than ten million! And there were so many bodyguards, those people were definitely not ordinary!

"Just want to ask you, Mr. William, how much Shirley is worth to you." Keith beckoned, and Tony immediately handed over a box, placing it directly on the hood of the car that William had sat in. The box was opened right in front of William.

"You...what are you talking about? Shirley has always been priceless to me..." William's words suddenly halted as his eyes fell on the contents of the box.

"Fifty thousand dollars." Keith pushed the box forward gently.

"You...how can I measure Shirley's worth with money..." William's words were cut off as Tony once again pushed another box onto the car hood, and opened it to reveal its contents, right in front of William.

William forcefully swallowed his next words.

"One million dollars," Keith's mocking smile grew bigger.

Shirley, sensing something ominous from William's expression, turned to glare at Keith.

Keith only glanced at Shirley, and his eyes filled with mockery caused a tremor in Shirley's heart. What was he planning to do?

Tony brought over two more boxes and opened them in front of William once again.

Keith's mockery became even stronger, "This is a total of eight million US dollars."

William was shocked to the core.

A sense of foreboding erupted in Shirley's heart. She already guessed what was happening. She turned to look at William with pleading eyes.

No, William, don't! Don't be like this! Our love can't be measured by money! You told me that our love is priceless! You said our future would be great, that we could create our own wealth with our own hands!

William's expression had become somewhat crazed! Eight million US dollars! He had never seen so much money before, no, never even thought about it!

Unconsciously, William knelt in front of the boxes. No, he was kneeling before money.

Shirley's face turned pale.

"Mr. William, I just want to give you a choice." Keith's mouth curved into a sinister smile, and the mockery and pity in his eyes suddenly magnified. "You can choose to marry this woman in front of you in this church and run away together. Or you can choose to give up on her and leave with this money. Oh, and that limited edition Bentley, I can give that to you as well."

Upon hearing Keith's words, William lifted his head suddenly! His eyes were filled with surprise!

Yes, it was a surprise.

Seeing William's gaze, Shirley felt her mind go blank.

No, this can't happen! William, you can't have that look...

In William's eyes now, there was only the madness-inducing allure before him, no trace of Shirley could be seen.

All the money, the limited edition car, this was his lifelong pursuit! And he had obtained it so easily!

Was this all a dream?