Charlotte turned and went out of her room silently.
Lionel looked after his sister and sighed, wishing she had really put an end to it.
* * *
Five days after the semi-finals, Savannah received an invitation to the third round, the final.
During the final, every one of the five finalists would present two final gowns qualified by the jury for the competition final.
The contest jury would evaluate the contest works at every one of the contest stages through the evaluation criteria such as consistency with the theme, workmanship, originality, usability.
Out of five finalists chosen by the jury, the first place in the Fashion Design Awards Competition would go to the designer of the collection, which would be evaluated highest by the competition jury.
The winners would receive a large amount of pecuniary award.
***
It was only three days from the final.
This morning, Savannah got up early and went to the city library to borrow some books about color principals.
After spending a whole morning in the reading room, she went out of the library with an armful of books. As she walked down the stairs, the book on the top slid down from her arms and dropped on the ground.
She squatted down and was about to pick it up when a slender arm was reached out ahead of her.
Savannah looked up and saw a young woman about the same age as her hand the book over.
"Thank you." Savannah took the book and rose with a smile.
Charlotte paused in surprise.
Why did Savannah look as if she had never seen her? Did she pretend not to know her with intention?
"What's the matter, Miss?" Savannah asked tentatively when she saw the young woman in front of her looking at her in surprise.
"No, nothing..." Charlotte took a deep breath. Savannah didn't know her? How could it be?
Savannah didn't say more. She nodded politely and left first.
Charlotte looked after Savannah for a long time before taking out her cell phone.
"Edmond? Do me a favor, will you?"
***
Charlotte sat opposite a young man in a commodious and light office, still in shock.
According to her college classmate, Edmond, a private investigator, Savannah had really suffered a memory loss.
To be exact, she lost part of her memory.
She forgot everything about her relationship with Dylan.
No wonder that she looked as if she didn't know her when they met in the library yesterday.
In addition to that, Edmond also found out that Savannah had been living in Italy with her childhood friend for three years and had just returned home for the Fashion Design Awards Competition held in LA this year.
After returning, Savannah did not go back to the Sterling family but lived alone in an apartment. However, she now worked for Zagreb Film, a film and television company under the Sterling group.
Because of her amnesia, Dylan didn't force her to come back to him.
Charlotte didn't speak for a long time after learning the results of the survey.
Although she was upset to learn of Savannah's returning, she sighed with relief at her memory loss. She had to say it was a good thing for her.
At least, now there was a barrier between Savannah and Dylan, and they would not be together as before.
Edmond continued, "Anyway, Savannah and Dylan are not very close at the moment, and the two seem to be keeping a distance. Savannah avoids any contact with Dylan, and Dylan's not going to push too hard. However, he's still keeping an eye on her."
Charlotte bit her lips and listened quietly.
"Not long ago, the young master of the Murray family, Andrey, was thrown into the sea by Dylan and almost lost his life. You know why? Savannah was also there that night, and Andrey assaulted her s.e.x.u.a.lly. Last Sunday, Savannah had already been disqualified from the competition by Elliott, but Dylan went to take care of it in person and helped her out."
Charlotte scowled.
As expected, Savannah survived all the troubles because of Dylan.
Even though she didn't remember Dylan, he still had feelings for her and was concerned about her.
"Charlotte, why not just give up that man," Edmond said in a soft but fervent voice.
Charlotte looked up and caught the young man's blazing eyes.
Three years ago, it was Edmond who investigated Eric and found his embezzlement so that she could threaten Eric to help her.
Besides that, Edmond also helped her create those historical "diaries" as evidence that she was Dylan's lifesaver, the girl he had been looking for.
She knew, of course, that Edmond did this for her not because they were old classmates, but that he had a crush on her for many years since they were in school.
The man in front of her was handsome, energetic with strong career-ambition, and he had his private detective company in LA at an early age. In fact, he was not a bad choice for marriage.
But no matter how successful he was, he could never compare with Dylan.
"Edmond, you should know that I'll never give up on Dylan." She avoided Edmond's eyes.
"Why? Charlotte, why put your mind on a man who's not into you? You know that he had married that girl and they even had a son... Why don't you look around at other people who love and care about you..." Edmond looked disappointed, his voice low but full of tenderness.
He knew how crazy Charlotte was for Dylan over the years.
She left no stone unturned in her d.e.s.i.r.e to gain Dylan's love. This time, she went to LA secretly for that man again.
Edmond knew she only took him as a friend, but he felt happy that he could help her so much. She served his need to be needed, and he had no regrets and was willing to do anything for her as long as she required.
"So what?" Charlotte stood up and interrupted him, "even if they get married, they can get divorced! Who cares that Savannah had given him a son? I could have kids for him, too! Edmond, I don't want to talk about anything else today. If you do that again, I'll never look for you."
"Sorry, Charlotte," Edmond said immediately.
"Never mind. Anyway, just keep an eye on Savannah, and let me know if anything happens. Thank you, Edmond. You're always the first one I can trust." Charlotte said softly, her voice sweet as honey. She knew well how to apply the carrot after the stick.
"Trust me," Edmond blushed and nodded vigorously.
Charlotte looked at Edmond, who was completely hypnotized by her, a contemptuous smile flitting across her beautiful face.