Chapter 16 The War Between Two Women

Jimmy chastised her. "Please don't do that, Leena. Everyone has the right to choose who they love. What's wrong with me pursuing my true love?"

Leena could hardly believe Jimmy's audacity. "Pay back what you owe Rena," she growled. "Return the money, the gifts, everything! Don't you dare think pursuing your so-called 'true love' will be easy. You have to pay for hurting an innocent girl!" Leena pursed her lips. She was so angry. This man was so unbelievably shameless that she started to think about different ways to murder him.

After a rather long moment of silence, Jimmy suddenly retorted, "Those things aren't yours! You don't have the right to demand them from me!"

"Aren't mine?" she echoed in disbelief. "They're not yours, either! Give them back, or else!" she threatened. Leena rarely got mad, but when she did, it usually meant certain hell awaited the other party. She was the type to stick up for her friends, even if it meant beating up the person who hurt them. After all, she didn't learn Taekwando for nothing! Many students in the school considered her a force to be reckoned with, so they didn't dare cross her.

"Good-bye, Leena." And with that, Jimmy hung up the phone.

"You…!" Leena felt like she was going to explode from anger. However, when she turned around and saw that Rena was still sobbing in the corner, her heart softened. She sat down next to her troubled friend and tried to comfort her. "Don't cry, I swear he'll pay for what he did!"

However, Rena seemed to be stuck in a trance. "What else can I do?" she muttered to herself, staring at the wall blankly. "We've broken up. He doesn't want to be with me anymore!"

"Such a terrible man doesn't deserve your love!" Leena said fiercely.

After a moment of silence, Rena wiped her tears. "If it's possible, I really want to see Alina and have a talk with her."

"What is there for the both of you to talk about? You said it yourself, didn't you? It's all Jimmy's fault." Leena frowned.

"I can't lose him." Rena's eyes brimmed with tears. "I won't go down without a fight!" Her voice trembled with rage. This seemed to give her the strength to get out of bed.

She teetered over to the door and put on her shoes. "What are you going to do now?" Leena asked, watching her friend struggle to tie her shoelaces.

"I just want to go out for a walk. Otherwise, I'll only get angrier," Rena answered stoutly. She began rummaging through the drawers, looking for some clothes to wear.

Leena pursed her lips and decided she simply couldn't let her friend wander about alone. "I'll go with you!" she said decidedly.

The two of them went out for a walk. It was late at night, there was not another soul present. Their only company was a cold wind that steadily blew across the empty streets. Rena walked briskly, determined to put distance between her and her friend. This was because she didn't want Leena to know how she really felt. However, Leena managed to follow her closely, quite afraid that this whole thing wasn't just a simple walk. Finally, they came across a row of barbecue stalls. "Are you hungry?" Leena asked. "Do you want something to eat?"

She figured Rena must've felt depressed the whole day, too depressed to even eat. Rena didn't answer. Instead, she kept on moving.

Leena called out her name several times, but to no avail. 'She must be so sad, she can't hear anything...' Leena sprinted over to catch up with her. Taking Rena's hand in hers, she pleaded, "Can you please slow down? Yes, you lost your boyfriend... but he is a terrible man. You don't have to torture yourself like this!"

Rena stared at her wordlessly. After a moment of silence, she burst into tears again and threw her arms around Leena tightly. "What did I do wrong? Why did he have to punish me like this?"

Seeing how broken up her friend was, Leena felt sorry for her. She rubbed her back comfortingly, hoping to calm her down. "I'm not used to this!" Rena cried. "I'm really not used to feeling this way!"

Leena could understand her feelings very well. After all, Rena had been with Jimmy for almost ten years now. How would she let go of that so easily? As Rena wept in her friend's arms, a shadow crept into her heart. It was a deep and immense hatred for the woman who stole her man. Such a woman who had a disdain for poor men. It was absurd to think that she could take her boyfriend away!

Leena couldn't take seeing her friend this way. After a while, she finally said, "If you really want to see Alina, maybe I can help you with that."

"Really?" Rena looked up at her, her big, round eyes filled with hope. "You'd do that for me?"

Leena hesitated slightly. "I can try."

Later on, she finally persuaded Rena to go back home. She felt restless until Rena finally fell asleep in bed. Heaving a sigh of relief, she stepped out into the balcony and lit a cigarette. However, before she could take a long, satisfying drag, she remembered how Miguel t

old her he didn't like women who smoked. Reluctantly, she chucked the cigarette. Over the years, she had been under a lot of pressure. A nicotine addiction was almost inevitable. Ever since she started working at the hotel, alcohol was added to the mix. Despite this, she'd always been able to control her vices, and limited her indulgences to moments of high stress.

If she wanted to find Alina, she had no other option: she needed to ask Carlson for help. However, she'd been avoiding him, and she especially didn't want to ask him for favors. This just gave him an opportunity to ask for something in return-- something, she feared, that was more costly than he deserved. She stayed alone at the balcony for a long time, pondering about a lot of things until it was almost dawn. Only then did she realize a whole night had passed and she hadn't slept a wink. Heading back inside, she washed up and started to prepare breakfast.

While doing so, she decided to call Carlson. He had just woken up, so his voice was a little hoarse. For some reason, Leena felt that this added to his appeal. "Miss Yang, what a pleasure. What can I do for you?"

"Do you have Alina's phone number?" she asked rather straightforwardly, without so much of a greeting.

She overheard a woman's voice on the other end of the call. She seemed to be murmuring something to Carlson, but from the looks of it, Carlson was pushing her away. "Yes, yes, I do. Do you want it?" he answered. "But before I'll give it to you, you have to promise me one thing."

Leena had predicted this. It was difficult to negotiate even the simplest things with Carlson. He was a cunning man, always looking for ways to benefit from situations. "What do you want?" she asked resignedly. This was for Rena, after all.

"I want you," he replied bluntly.

Leena was stunned. Before she could find the words to say, Carlson had burst into laughter. "I'm joking. Don't be so nervous! I just want to invite you to dinner. What do you think?"

Leena heaved a sigh of relief, yet she couldn't say she was completely at ease with his request. Still, it wasn't as bad as she'd expected. "Okay, fine. I'll treat you to dinner, Mr. Carlson. Just tell me when you're free." Leena didn't want to owe him anything, so she immediately made it clear that dinner would be on her terms.

Carlson seemed satisfied with her answer. "Then, it's settled!" He then proceeded to give her Alina's phone number, as promised, and hung up shortly afterwards.

Just as she put down the phone, Rena strolled into the kitchen, puffy eyed from last night. Leena told her that she had gotten Alina's phone number, which left Rena stunned. After Leena gave her the phone number, Rena retreated to the balcony to make the phone call.

Leena sank into her bed, stuck in a trance. Only then did everything come crashing down on her. What a coincidence! She had just met Alina, and then somehow, she was entangled in Rena's love life! Jimmy was a terrible man, but if Alina didn't bother to respond to him, no man would ever live on with damaged self-esteem. Leena believed he didn't have the guts to insist on chasing her shamelessly, well, unless, Alina gave him at least a slight chance. Why did Alina give him a chance at all? Did she just want to prove a point that she was irresistible, even to a taken man?

Leena's worldviews led her to believe that if she had no interest in a person, she wouldn't waste time giving that person false hope. She would immediately refuse his affection. However, there were only a few men chasing after her. She just couldn't understand why Alina would do such a thing.

Her mind was racing. Suddenly, she heard Rena letting out a string of expletives. "What the hell do you get out of ruining other people's lives like this? Why'd you lead him on like that, even if you have no feelings for him? To give him false hope?"

"What's wrong?" Leena rushed out to the balcony. Rena burst into tears and didn't answer her. Leena gently plucked the phone from her hand, and pressed it against her ear. "He left you," Alina's cold voice echoed. "Why are you cursing me? We were simply having a casual exchange. It's your fault for having picked such a rotten boyfriend."

Rena screamed in a fit of rage, "Alina!"

Seeing that she was about to lose her marbles, Leena quickly covered the mouthpiece. "Alina, I am a director from the Heaven Hotel. Can we talk?"

"Miss Leena Yang, you're Rena's friend, aren't you?" Alina replied indifferently.

Leena was shocked. How did Alina know who she was, let alone her relationship with Rena? She suddenly felt uncomfortable. Did this mean her identity was widely known now, if Alina knew about her? If so, how much did those people know about her?

But she didn't have time to panic. Calmly, she asked Alina if they could meet civilly.

Alina answered with an arrogant air in her tone. "Fine. At 3 o'clock this afternoon. I'll wait for you at XXX Cafe."