Chapter 5

The call got through and Anne quickly said, “I am sorry, Jean. I sent you the wrong hotel name. Did you go there last night?”

“Where were you last night?” Jean’s voice was icy.

“Grand and Grande are only one alphabet apart. I just found out I sent you the wrong hotel name. I slept in the hotel all night and woke up angry because you didn’t come. I didn’t know that I was the one being stupid.” Anne sounded as if she was upset with herself.

Jean was not sure if she could believe Anne. But she must let no one find out what happened last night.

She clenched her hands into fists, her fingernails digging into the skin of her palms as she tried to calm herself down. “I had something on last night, so I didn’t go.”

Anne breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good. It was my fault, Jean. Please don’t be angry with me.”

“It’s all right.”

“Wait for me. I will go to you now. It is your wedding this evening, and I am your bridesmaid—I don’t want to be late.”

“Okay.”

Anne put down the phone. An evil smile spread across her face as she stared at Jean’s name on the screen.

“Don’t blame me, Jean. You just happen to stand in my way, and I have got to remove you.”

…

Alana’s eyes were glued to the iPad in her hands.

“Mr. Mitchell is back,” one servant called out.

She hurriedly hid the iPad behind her and put up just the right amount of panic expression on her face. “You are back, Robert.”

Robert Mitchell, her husband, took off his jacket and handed it to the servant. “What were you looking at?”

She pretended she did not want him to see it. “Nothing. Why are you home early today?”

Robert walked over and snatched the iPad from her.

“Please don’t…”

A bold headline spread across the screen: ‘Popular actress Jean Mitchell Marries a Rookie Director.’

And then below the headline was a line of fine print: ‘The wedding set to be held at 8:00 pm tonight will be live-streamed on the Internet.’

The muscles on Robert’s face twitched. He slammed the tablet to the ground and shouted angrily, “How could she?”

She reached to comfort Robert. “Calm down, Robert. Watch out for your blood pressure. This is exactly why I didn’t want to tell you that.”

She sighed. “It was because of me that Jean ran away from home and never came back since then. I feel awful about myself whenever I think about it. It was my fault. I failed to make her like me. I never blame her for getting angry with me. But you are her dad. She should have informed you about her marriage beforehand. Has she forgotten that you are her dad?”

She sounded as if she was putting a good word in for Jean, but she was actually just adding fuel to the fire.

Robert’s chest heaved with anger, and he gritted his teeth. “Since she thinks she has grown a pair, she will no longer be my daughter.”

…

The wedding of Jean and Patrick went on as scheduled in the evening.