Yvette Harris wore heavy makeup, with tempting, fiery red lips and long, alluring eyeliner that made her almond eyes even more captivating. She wore a black dress embroidered with golden threads, paired with yellow pointed high heels.
She carried a yellow Jimmy Choo clutch in one hand, while the other was linked through the arm of a handso man.
Sienna Johnson’s gaze t the man’s. Their eyes locked for a mont before they both quickly looked away, as if they were strangers.
"Is this Mrs. Harris’s new fla?" Sienna Johnson asked.
"His na is Isaac Goodwin, a top student from Campton University. Isaac is excellent, and he’s my boyfriend now..."
Yvette Harris showed no sha in having found a much younger boyfriend; on the contrary, she seed rather proud, boasting of her talented and good-looking beau.
"Isaac, this is Miss Johnson."
"I’m not a ’Miss’ anything. I’m Mrs. Desmond," Sienna corrected.
These days, the term ’Miss’ wasn’t exactly complintary, especially when uttered by soone like Yvette Harris.
"Mrs. Desmond, a pleasure," Isaac Goodwin greeted Sienna with a smile.
This wasn’t Sienna Johnson’s first ti eting Isaac Goodwin. The first ti she saw him, he had a chic, elegant style. Today, however, he had adopted a Kandaran fashion style. Even his hair was lightly curled and dyed flaxen with a hint of red. His new style made him look like a Kandaran heartthrob, which quite stunned Sienna for a mont.
"Mrs. Harris, how heartless can you be?" Sienna said scornfully. "Your daughter is in jail, yet you seem to be having such a good ti? I heard she’s pregnant. She must not be eating or sleeping well in there, right?"
"She’s a Johnson, isn’t she? Isn’t she a daughter of your Johnson family?" Yvette Harris retorted. "You were all cruel enough to send her to jail, so why should I feel any remorse?"
Yvette Harris’s determination to disassociate herself from Sabrina Johnson was truly heartless, chilling even Sienna.
"Isn’t this Madam Johnson?" Yvette turned to Pauline. "Co now, answer Sienna’s earlier question. You doted on Sabrina so much. Now that she’s in jail, you don’t even visit her?"
"Sabrina Johnson is not my daughter!" Pauline Briggs exclaid, utterly heartbroken by Sabrina.
Yvette Harris glanced at Pauline, whose face had contorted with anger, and then at the composed Sienna Johnson. Pauline Briggs really raised a formidable daughter, Yvette thought. If Sabrina Johnson had half of Sienna Johnson’s intelligence, she wouldn’t have ended up in this situation.
"Madam Johnson, your daughter is quite sothing," Yvette continued, a smirk playing on her lips. "Are you choosing not to see Sabrina, or are you afraid to?"
Pauline shot up from her seat, glaring at Yvette. "Was it you?" she demanded. "Did you intentionally switch my daughter and Sabrina Johnson back then?"
"So what if it was? And what if it wasn’t?" Yvette retorted haughtily.
"Was it, or wasn’t it?" Pauline pressed.
Yvette glanced at the handso young man beside her, then said in a deliberately provocative and shaless tone, "Madam Johnson, why are you so worked up?"
Pauline was speechless for a mont.
"Madam Johnson, you need to let off so steam..." Yvette continued, her voice dripping with insinuation.
Pauline might not have fully grasped Yvette’s earlier remark, but the insinuation in her next words was crystal clear.
"Madam Johnson," Yvette purred, "when a woman isn’t... *nourished*... by a man, she ages quickly. Your husband has been dead for so many years. You must be terribly lonely, all alone in an empty house. Why not find a young boyfriend, like I did? You know, when a woman is with a younger man, she stays young too..."
"Shaless!" Pauline, her face flushed red with fury, slapped Yvette hard across the face.
Yvette was stunned. She never imagined the refined Pauline Briggs would resort to violence. In Yvette’s eyes, Pauline had always been the epito of an elegant, noble lady who wouldn’t even raise her voice in an argunt, let alone strike soone.
"You... you hit ?" Yvette stamred, holding her cheek.
"Yes, I hit you!" Pauline declared. "I’m not like you! Don’t you dare compare to your shaless self! I married Dexter Johnson! I was his woman in life, and I am his woman in death!"
Sienna Johnson stepped back, leaving the battlefield to Pauline Briggs and Yvette Harris. The Johnson family doesn’t need a fragile, weak woman, Sienna thought. Besides, Yvette Harris truly deserves to be taught a lesson. I’ve been too busy lately to deal with her. But as soon as I have the ti, I’ll make sure to settle scores with Yvette Harris. When it cos down to it, she’s the root of all the hardships in my life. If she hadn’t maliciously switched and Sabrina Johnson all those years ago, I wouldn’t have spent so much ti in an orphanage...
"Pauline Briggs, what gives you the right to hit ?" Yvette shrieked.
The two won were roughly the sa age, yet their lives had been starkly different. One had seemingly received everything without effort, while the other had sched relentlessly, sacrificing her dignity and soul to achieve her current status. As an observer, Sienna mused, If I were in Yvette’s shoes, I’d be jealous of Pauline too. Life is just so unfair.
"Yvette Harris, if you didn’t want your own daughter, why didn’t you just abort her?" Pauline demanded. "Why did you switch her with my daughter?"
"Because I was jealous of you!" Yvette spat out.
Pauline stared at Yvette, still struggling to understand why she would have switched the babies all those years ago. They had never had any dealings with each other. "Jealous of for what? We didn’t even know each other. I never did anything to offend you."
Yvette looked at Pauline standing before her: a Self-Portrait lace blouse, high-waisted red trousers, black strappy high-heeled sandals, and long, wavy hair cascading down her back. One would never guess this woman is over fifty, Yvette thought bitterly. This is what a pampered woman looks like. Untouched by the cruelties of life, her eyes are still clear and bright, like a young girl’s.
"...I got pregnant out of wedlock," Yvette began, her voice laced with old bitterness. "But the man refused to take responsibility and just disappeared. I was in the hospital giving birth, and so were you. You had so many people fussing around you, as if you were carrying a golden egg. But when I was in labor, I couldn’t even find anyone to sign the surgical consent form for . After I gave birth, there wasn’t a single person to pour a glass of water. But you? You had three servants just to look after you, with soups and nourishing foods always ready. You could have whatever you wanted, whenever you wanted... Your husband rushed to the hospital to see you the mont he got off work... You were so lucky, marrying such a good man..."
Pauline was silent, trying to recall.
"Do you have any idea how insulting you were?" Yvette pressed on. "You knew I was alone, having just given birth, and you actually had soone send your leftover soup—soup you were going to throw away!"
It had been too long. Pauline genuinely couldn’t rember any of these details, nor did she have any recollection of this woman.
Pauline was clearly no match for Yvette’s viciousness. Sienna couldn’t stand it anymore. "Mom, this is all your fault!" she interjected. "Your fault for ddling, for trying to be such a ’Good Samaritan’! You should have just fed that soup to a dog back then. Instead, you fed a real bitch, and that bitch held a grudge and switched with her own daughter!"
"Who are you calling a bitch?" Yvette shrieked.
"If you’re not a bitch, then you’re a whore who’ll sleep with anyone!" Sienna shot back.
User Comments
0 comments from readers