Reborn Young Miss: Phoenix Burning Red-Chapter 138: Retaliation (2)
Gavin was certain that Adrienne had never been close to Alistair before. He wondered how she could get confidential information from the Han Corporation like this. Not even corporate spies could provide information as detailed as the one Adrienne had given him. He felt something was amiss. His and Lennox’s people were competent, but neither of them could uncover the young woman’s secret before him.
"You don’t believe me?" Adrienne gave him a knowing look. "It’s fine. You can see whether I’m telling the truth or not. However, you better be sure it won’t lead back to us, Mr. Si. It would be better to leave Alistair Han running around in circles." She said with a devious smile. Adrienne could already imagine how upset Alistair would be.
Before Gavin could comment, the door opened, revealing Divine Yang. She was in her early thirties, but her beauty could easily topple those younger than her. She was also good in acting, no wonder she could stay on top of her game since her debut in the industry. She was dressed in a white dress shirt and black skirt; her long hair bound to a ponytail.
Her eyes immediately landed on Adrienne and a flash of jealousy appeared on the actress’ face. The showbiz industry wasn’t lacking in beauties, but the kind of face this young woman possessed could easily outshine others. It was the kind of beauty that could bring disaster to everyone around her.
A demoness incarnate. Many men would want her for themselves, but other women would also despise her.
"Who are you?" The actress entered the room, throwing her purse on the couch near the door.
"Why don’t you take a seat, and let’s get to business, Miss Yang." Adrienne gestured to the seat across from her. Gavin remained silent, his face impassive as he looked at the actress.
Divine was taken aback but followed Adrienne’s words. She was the one older between them, but the young woman before her was intimidating. Her eyes were dark and deep, like an abyss. The longer she stared at the young woman’s eyes, the worse she felt about this encounter.
"I’m Adrienne Jiang, and this is Gavin Si. We’re here for your daughter, Scarlett Qin."
Divine’s face darkened upon hearing Adrienne’s words. She then turned her eyes to Gavin. She was familiar with him as several businessmen she was acquainted with had mentioned his name before. All of them claimed that Gavin was a rare genius, but unfortunately, the Si family never favored him. However, now, everyone wants to get acquainted with this person.
"What do you want from me?" She said harshly. The young woman before her was far more intimidating than the man seated next to her.
"I want Scarlett Qin. If you hand her full custody to us, wouldn’t that mean one less problem for you?" Adrienne said after taking a sip from her teacup. Her eyes fixed on Divine’s face.
"Full custody?" Divine chuckled and rested the side of her face against the back of her hand. A few tendrils of her hair fell over her shoulder. "Aren’t you too young to worry about child rearing, Miss?"
"You don’t have to worry about such things, Miss Yang. Are you willing or not?" Adrienne replied, meeting the actress’s gaze.
Divine didn’t answer soon. Instead, she turned her gaze to Gavin.
"Why is Mr. Si involved in this?" She asked.
"I’m here on behalf of Lennox Qin. He wants to be assured that Scarlett Qin will come with us today."
"Lennox Qin?" Divine furrowed her brows in confusion. "He’s the one who wants to get Scarlett? But why?"
"Why would you care? It’s not your business to know Lennox’s intention. Be grateful that we are settling this issue amicably rather than exposing your secret to the public." Adrienne pinned the other woman with a cold gaze. There might be no indication of any bruises on Scarlett’s body like the ones Samantha had, but the girl had suffered too much.
Divine didn’t have a good impression of Adrienne Jiang, but she thought her name sounded familiar. She thought that all young misses from affluent families were like this, arrogant and had no manners - Adrienne Jiang was no exception.
She could sense the mutual animosity from this young woman, as if she had offended her. This was their first meeting, so Divine didn’t understand Adrienne’s displeasure towards her. It didn’t make sense to her.
"What is it that you require for us to have Scarlett’s custody?" Gavin interjected, sensing the growing tension between the two women. He cannot let Adrienne beat someone this time. "Of course, Lennox is willing to compensate you for the years and efforts you’ve sacrificed to raise Scarlett."
He spoke as if the child Divine raised wasn’t her daughter, but someone else. If what Scarlett told Adrienne was true, then the actress never saw the girl as her daughter but merely a mistake she wanted to get rid off.
"20 million would do, but you better make sure that no one would find out about the relationship between me and Scarlett. I have told Richard several times before his death that he should take the child away, but he refused, saying that one child is already hard for him to deal with. He didn’t want to deal with another troublesome child."
Divine grimaced as she thought how she’d been living on edge for the past eight years, trying to hide the existence of her daughter from the public. Someone had already managed to extort her a hefty amount of money because of it, and it hadn’t been easy for her to get rid of that paparazzi. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦
At least if Lennox Qin had Scarlett’s custody, she wouldn’t have to worry again. Plus, she would also receive some monetary gain. Clearly, this encounter was a luck in disguise. She could hit two birds with one stone.
Adrienne’s expression turned colder. This actress before them was really shameless and greedy. If Scarlett knew that her mother was willing to give her up for 20 million, the child would be scarred for life.
"We can arrange that. It’s easy to suppress such news from going out to the public," Gavin reassured Divine. "However, once you sign this agreement, you are forbidden to see or to communicate with Scarlett in any way. Lennox will sue you for child abuse and you’ll have to pay five times the amount of what you’ll receive for us. This means that you would have to cut your familial ties with her right here, right now."
Divine Yang scoffed. "What if the child is the one who seeks me instead?"
Gavin gave her a look as if she was stupid. "You think she wants to be with you."
The actress was enraged by that. She clenched her fists and said, "I’m her mother. I’m the one who raised her."
"You’ve never been her mother. Stop pretending you are one." Adrienne said coldly. She was half tempted to slap this woman’s face. Whenever the actress was in a bad mood, she would hit Scarlett or refuse to feed the girl. Sometimes, when she had surprise guests at the house, Divine would lock the girl inside her room, forbidding Scarlett to make a sound.
"Miss Jiang, if I have offended you in any way, could you tell me what it is?" Divine couldn’t tolerate Adrienne’s impertinence anymore.
"The fact that you are breathing the same air as me displeases me immensely."
Gavin coughed behind his hand while the actress stared at Adrienne with wide eyes. Adrienne didn’t seem like she was joking at all. She really took offense at seeing Scarlett’s mother in person, but couldn’t do anything to seek justice for the child.
"Then perhaps you shouldn’t be here, Miss Jiang. Is there any reason you are with us?" Divine sneered at her.
"I advise you to watch your tongue, Miss Yang. Miss Jiang is our future Madam. Lennox is willing to overlook the treatment you’ve given to his younger sister, but if you offend Miss Jiang further, I fear there won’t be any future waiting for you in showbiz."
Divine Yang’s face turned pale and she immediately shut her mouth. It’s not worth putting her future and career at stake just to get back at this young woman. She would have never thought that this young woman could have Lennox Qin wrapped around her finger.
The jealousy in her heart increased. She had to work hard to reach where she was now, but Adrienne Jiang only needed to rely on Lennox Qin to secure her future? Divine thought it was unfair. Was it because Adrienne was younger and more beautiful than her?
If she were born into a wealthy family like Adrienne Jiang, she wouldn’t have to sell herself to the devil and endure the lustful gaze men give her in order to get their favors. Scarlett Qin also reminded her of this and this was why she hated that child even more.
