Elara stood before the mirror, checking her reflection, feeling a little satisfied.
It has been so long since she dressed up—like, really dressed up—for herself, not because she wanted to impress anyone.
For the first time, she chose the colors that really suited her personality—dark and feral—and did not force herself to wear soft colors just to appear a sweet wife before Andrew.
The thought that she was finally starting to choose herself—her opinion, her happiness, and her peace—over everything else gave her a different kind of satisfaction, something she never imagined could be so addictive.
"From now on, I swear my loyalty to myself," Elara said to herself, pointing at herself in the mirror before giggling.
She wore a dark blue gown, paired with silver accessories. Rather than putting her hair up in a bun that would’ve suited the dress more, she let her hair cascade down on her back.
With a soft smile, she closed the chapstick and was about to spray her favorite scent when her phone rang. Her brows twitched a little when she read the name.
"What is it?" She asked as soon as she picked up.
"Someone is trying to locate you, boss." The man on the other side said.
Elara’s hands paused. She took a deep breath. Well, she expected it to happen sooner or later.
"From where?" She asked casually.
"Black streets. Maybe someone paid them to do it," he said after clicking a few keys to get the clear location.
"Let them," she said.
"Are you sure, boss? Letting them know your current location will disturb your peace and privacy," he quickly added.
Elara smiled at herself before nodding. It was okay.
"Yeah. I’ll allow it," she sighed.
"Um... yeah...okay," The man, on the other hand, stuttered.
"By the way, how do you know someone is trying to locate me? Unless you are tapping my whereabouts yourself, how would you know?" Elara asked.
She knew the answer. She had sensed the man sneaking behind her to grab her phone the last time he visited. And it won’t be wrong to say that she knew exactly what he was trying to do.
"Actually, you see, you were gone for too long... I mean..." Justin stuttered, feeling tongue-tied, and Elara rolled her eyes.
"I have a meeting later. Stop these useless things and work on what I asked you for. I want the results by midnight," Elara said before she ended the call and cleared her throat.
As she watched her reflection, she wondered who could be paying the Black street people to find her location.
Obviously, their motive wasn’t good. Could it be Andrew? Or Carla? Or perhaps Beatrice?
After all, that woman was the most cunning out of the three, the one who hurt her most and manipulated the facts the most.
Elara knew Andrew never got to see those photos from that night; he never does. Why? Because he has given Beatrice his phone’s password, and the woman always deletes those messages before he sees them.
She was stupid even to bother sending them to Andrew, knowing all too well that Beatrice was by his side and would delete them again.
Besides, every time she is done looking at the photo of a message, Beatrice is always quick to delete it so she won’t have any proof.
Earlier, she was stupid enough to never have a backup plan and keep a different phone to capture the photo instead of trying to save it.
Then again, who did she want to put so much effort into? For that bastard who always believed others over her?
Elara shook her head. This wasn’t the time to think about the past and ruin her mood. It was time to celebrate her first win.
Once she was ready, she exited the room, where Antonio was already waiting for her, playing Ludo on his phone.
Elara’s lips twitched when she remembered the last time she played the game with Daniel and wondered why the hell he had not messaged or called even once since the verdict.
Wait. Was she really missing his annoying ass? Elara shook her head to snap out of her thoughts and asked Antonio to go and start the car already.
After a 30-minute ride, they finally reached the restaurant where the group dinner was supposed to take place.
She walked inside elegantly with Antonio hot on her tail, observing every single thing around her.
Almost everyone was already seated at the table when she arrived, and she smiled at everyone politely.
"Miss Elara isn’t just a talented singer. She is quite charming, too." Producer Li stood to shake her hand, and Elara smiled at the compliment before shaking his hand and thanking him.
At the same time, Beatrice, who had gone to make a call, returned and noticed a woman standing at the table. She raised her brows when she looked at the dress, her pupils dilating when she saw the logo on the waist of the dress.
Many brands put their logos on the neck, back, or front, but this was the only brand ever to put its logo on the waist.
According to them, most people look at a girl’s waist first, and the way she carries it, irrespective of weight and form, is what describes her.
She was wearing an Ophelia collection dress? Beatrice circled the table to see who it was, and when she saw it was none other than Elara, her pupils dilated as envy and hatred settled in her chest.
But wait. How the hell was a commoner like her with no background and money able to afford such a prestigious collection dress that wasn’t even available in the most expensive outlets? Beatrice wondered before a smirk appeared on her face.
"I can’t believe she is wearing a knockoff to such an event. She could’ve worn anything, but must she be such a show-off?" Beatrice murmured under her breath.
Many crew members who had been sitting at the table and hadn’t noticed it yet, because of Elara’s long hair, finally noticed the designer logo.
Carla was the first to react.
"What a joke. Miss Elara, we understand your urge and desperation to look different from everyone else and appear not to care, but must you really do it like this? Who wears a knockoff to a mere dinner?" Carla asked.
Elara’s gaze snapped to the girl before she tilted her head.
"It’s not a mere dinner. It’s a celebratory dinner for my win against the people who wanted to see me fail—I mean, my competitors. Also, who said this was a knockoff?" Elara asked, blinking her eyes innocently.
Carla scoffed at the blatant lie.
So was Elara trying to tell everyone that a pathetic loser like her, who didn’t have any money and mooched off her brother for her daily expenses, got her hands on this prestigious dress herself?
What a joke!
"It’s good to try, but one should know when to be humble and accept one’s mistake. Or they just end up becoming a joke to the world," Carla said.
The moment Carla stopped speaking, almost everyone at the table started gossiping about her.
Antonio furrowed his brow and stepped forward to clear the misunderstanding and tell them that Mr. George had bought this dress for her, but Elara shook her head at him.
This action made Carla mock her even more.
"Seriously, at this point, I don’t even know what you are trying to pull here. There are more important celebrities here than you. But none of us brought a bodyguard. Why do you need to bring one? Don’t tell me he is your boyfriend in disguise who has come for free food," Carla scoffed.
Elara furrowed her brows. Insulting her was one thing—something she was ready to counter calmly—but insulting her friends and those she considered her close ones was like bringing her fury to the table.
She opened her mouth to counter, but before she could say anything, Beatrice chimed in.
"Carla, don’t blow it out of proportion," she said.
Elara’s brows arched. There was no way this girl would really help her. She was definitely planning something.
And just like Elara thought, Beatrice opened her mouth to manipulate everything sweetly with her knife wrapped in velvet again.
"Everyone here is trying to stand out in one way or another. So what’s a little too much about Miss Elara’s actions? I am sure she is learning slowly," Beatrice said.
Everyone started looking at Elara in even more contempt after Beatrice’s words.
Beatrice opened her mouth to speak and add more spice to the situation, but this time, Elara beat them to it.
"This is quite insulting. I expected this from Miss Carla because she has a history of bullying and making people feel inferior, but I didn’t expect the same kind of malice from the drama’s female lead. I thought you were a good woman, but now I have my doubts." Elara blinked her eyes like she had been wronged.