Chapter 208: 'Incident'

Cloe took a moment before asking, "Are those tears of pride? Sadness? Or something else?"

Hyson wiped the corners of his eyes, "I've always been proud of her. That won't change. And yes, sometimes looking at her does make me feel sad as well. I won't deny that either. As for the tears in my eyes... I think it's just because I feel blessed right now."

Cloe silently stared at his face. She had to agree, he should be feeling blessed. It wasn't every day one would find a friend like Raelle Xiang. And she could say that with experience. Since she had always been surrounded by scheming people in her life, it feels kind of comforting to meet simple people like Raelle and Hyson. 

There was no disguise in their friendship. Even their souls were laid bare before each other. 

And that was the reason why Hyson called Raelle his soulmate friend. 

"You know when I was first chosen to be Chief's assistant, Miss Mu said the same words as you did," began Cloe thoughtfully. "She also said Raelle isn't heartless. She has the most beautiful heart in the world. I obviously didn't believe her at that time."

"And now?" wondered Hyson.

"Now..." Cloe licked her lips and contemplated a little, "I'm not sure. I spent years with her but I honestly can't tell what she is like. People assume that she is the 'x' you have to find the value of but in fact, she is 'a'. Her value is always constant.[1]"

Hyson stared at her wide-eyed as he processed her words. According to her statement, Raelle had a constant personality. People assumed she'll keep changing but in fact, she had never changed. It was because her thinking was straightforward that it often took people by surprise. 

He laughed out at her saying, "It seems Ellie really got under your skin. I can't believe you used algebra to describe her. That is something I expect from her but you?" He shook his head because he really couldn't believe that she followed Raelle. 

"You know, Chief says you are like a sticky person who forcefully claimed himself to be her best friend."

Hyson laughed again, "I know. She isn't wrong either."

"Huh?"

"When I first met her..." Hyson didn't continue that statement. He didn't want to say out loud the whole scenario of how he met her. He often said he was attracted to her because she was beautiful. In a way, he wasn't wrong either. 

But what really made him taken notice of that little girl walking barefoot aimlessly was the way her white dress was stained with blood. The red stains of blood had painted her white dress like a flower was blooming in its glory. She looked so unperturbed that Hyson couldn't help himself getting attracted towards her. 

That was the first time they met and the very first time he told her, 'Red is your color.'

Remembering the way her blank eyes stared back at his face, Hyson was pulled out of his daydreaming. He faced Cloe and continued, "Actually forget how we met. It's that after that I wanted to be her friend. However, she kept saying that she doesn't make friends. I never had friends before either and neither did I want to make any. But she just became my stubbornness. So, when she was going back to Country G, she challenged me. She said if I managed to reach her on my own. She will be my friend."

"Really?" Cloe was intrigued by the story. "What did you do then?"

Hyson shrugged his shoulders, "Nothing. I just joined the biggest piano competition. The first place winner would get a chance to study in Country G on full scholarship."

Cloe was surprised to hear that, "And you got it?"

Hyson had a smug look, "I have the world's best piano teacher, how can I lose? Of course, I won."

"You had some determination to be her friend," said Cloe in admiration.

"Actually, looking back, I feel like she knew I'd get to her. You know, I've never been serious about anything in my life. That was the first time I was determined to do something. Maybe she just wanted to test my determination."

Cloe took a deep breath and stood up, "It feels like I should also work hard. She's expecting me to handle this matter and I'm gonna do just that!"

As she turned to leave, Hyson called her, "Take care of yourself. And I'm sorry you have to work on a weekend for me."

Cloe chuckled at him, "First of all, I took this job on my own. I wasn't forced to come here. Secondly, do you have any idea how much I'm getting paid to work over this weekend?" Her reaction was quite exaggerated as she told him, "I mean she is always generous and always pays me double to work overtime even if it's just for 5 minutes. But this time around, I'm getting ten times the normal amount. There are so many zeroes in my account that I'm feeling like a small tycoon!"

Hyson recalled what he heard about Cloe's family and said, "Do you care about money so much because of your family?"

Cloe paused when she heard that question. Her smile stiffened a little before she replied, "What else I can do? If I can get my parents' love in exchange for money, isn't it a worthwhile deal?"

Hyson shook his head, "It isn't. Because parents' love isn't that selfish."

Cloe had nothing to say in reply to that. So, she stayed quiet and waved him goodbye.

....

"Did you manage to contact her?" questioned Amiah as she looked at Sora who was pacing around the room restlessly. She hadn't slept a wink whole night in worry. 

"I don't want to talk to you right now, Mia. Just go away!" 

Amiah walked up and held her arm, "Sora, I have already told you that it has nothing to do with me."

Sora pulled her arm out of her grasp and glared at Amiah, "So what? Yes, maybe you aren't directly involved but it's a fact that you're the reason. I brought him here. Do you have any idea what I'm going through right now? I was informed by someone that he is in a hospital and he is injured. Can you really say we aren't responsible for it?"

"I'm not saying that we aren't responsible but what can we do? It's your cousin who messed up. Why are you going after me like this?"

Sora raised her hand to stop from continuing, "We can't do anything certainly except wait for what's to come."

"What do you mean?" questioned Amiah with furrowed brows.

"All our investors have backed out," responded Sora. "Expect for the money you and I brought to make this movie, we have nothing else."

Amiah was surprised to hear that but she soon calmed down and reasoned, "But that's okay. We can manage. We have enough money of our own."

Sora snorted at her, "Money isn't the issue right now, Mia. The problem is, our film is being shelved. Even if we film it, it'll never be able to reach cinemas."

"Excuse me for intruding like this." Both Sora and Amiah looked towards the door where an unfamiliar face greeted them. "But I have to say, you're absolutely right. You'll never be able to screen your movie."

Amiah looked at this stranger and asked, "And who are you?"

"Oh, it seems I forgot to introduce myself. Well, hi! I'm Cloe Jones." Cloe was holding her ever so sparkling smile on her face. She didn't care about the reaction of the two women before her. She turned to Sora and said, "Miss Sora, how about you tell me where your cousin Xu Hua is?"

Something clicked in Sora's mind when she heard Cloe's question and answered truthfully, "I don't know. I haven't been able to contact her since yesterday." She looked at Cloe's expressions and added, "Is this about Hyson?"

Cloe gave her a smile that didn't look like a smile, "It seems you're quite smart. It is indeed related to Hyson."

Amiah was angered to hear that, "So, you're the one behind us losing our investments? But do you really think you can stop us by playing these games?" She scoffed, "Besides, just because of one incident, you want to ruin every single person who had been working hard for this movie? Just how selfish you people can be?"

Cloe stared at Amiah and replied, "I haven't started playing the game yet. But now I will. That one incident that doesn't mean anything to you almost cost Hyson his life." Amiah was stunned to her place while Cloe continued, "You haven't seen how selfish I can get. And mark my words, as long as I'm here, I'll never let this movie reach the screens. You all will have to pay for this 'incident.' And I'll make you pay for sure!"

[1] So, to clarify this statement. Let's refresh your memory of basic Algebra. If we have an equation, x+3=4; In this equation, 'x' is a variable. You always have to find the value of 'x.' But that 4 and 3 are constants. Their values remain the same.