NOVEL NEXT Chapter 15: Do You Know Who I Am? (1)
After hearing the man's compliment, Adrienne fought the urge to touch the tip of her hair. She tried not to shiver under his gaze and remain rooted in her place. She dared not move an inch as they both sized each other up.
"Calm down, will you? I came here to apologize for my behavior last night." The man broke the silence between them. He looked at the young woman in amusement, thinking she was like a tiger cub, bristling while baring her sharp little fangs.
Adrienne glowered at him, noticing the amusement dancing in his exposed eye. "I didn't need your apology. You are wasting your time, mister."
She then slid the door behind her, not wanting to attract attention from others. The last thing she wanted was to cause a scene or start rumors that would put her and her mother in a bad light. Also, she had yet to meet again the person Camilla was colluding with to keep her mother in a coma. If that person finds out that she was talking to someone influential, Camilla might do worse to her mother.
"How cruel." The man replied, feigning disappointment. "And here I thought I could give you a peace offering."
"I don't need it," Adrienne said with a straight face. She refused to be indebted to anyone. She wasn't that dumb not to know that this man had already run a background check on her and was using it to lure her into whatever wicked plan he was concocting in his mind.
"You don't, but your mother does. How long can you keep her here without your father's support? It's already admirable that you could keep her alive for the past two years, but you and I know this cannot stretch for too long."
Hearing that only infuriated Adrienne further. Her eyes saw red, and she was half-tempted to throw her school bag at his arrogant face and beat him senseless. However, what he just said was right. It was only a matter of time before her mother contracted another complication induced by some wicked people.
"Do I look like someone who needs charity?"
Adrienne knew she hadn't sorted her memories and made a concrete plan yet. She was only reborn two days ago and she didn't want to make a reckless mistake too early.
This man was asking for a beating. Adrienne thought. He was already like this, but it was apparent that she was at a disadvantage. He was using her mother to get a reaction from her.
"I'm not offering you charity, though. It's more like a proposition. You are already eighteen, and you are the legal guardian of your mother, now that your father and brother have abandoned her. You are a smart girl, Miss Jiang. While it's easy to cover the daily expenses for your mother, her progressive complication means something else."
"You do realize that while I am of legal age now, I'm still a child in the eyes of society, Mister." Adrienne pointed out. Many people thought they were mature enough to know better once they reached legal age.
It is without question that some 18-year-olds are capable of making mature decisions. That said, Adrienne contends that most are not. Most adults, too, are susceptible to making bad decisions in life. Everyone sometimes behaves impulsively, and everyone has a tendency of making poor decisions and mistakes at least once in their life. Nobody has perfect judgment, and adults can hardly be said to have sound judgment.
She might be physically eighteen now, but Adrienne's mind was that of the thirty-one year old woman who experienced grievances and suffering from her previous life. There were many things she learned and realized after being reborn, and one of those was there is no such thing as luck, there are only consequences of the position you put yourself in. Bad decisions usually result in bad things happening to a person.
Of course, this didn't mean she wasn't bound to make any foolish mistakes in the future, but Adrienne would rather not put herself in a precarious situation. She learned the hard way when she entered a contractual marriage in her previous life. She ended up miserable in despair.
"For an eighteen-year-old girl, I think you are mature for your age. It must have been hard for you to make adult decisions when you were younger. Allow me to lighten your worries."
Adrienne didn't have a response for that. From the moment her mother fell into a coma. Her father had abandoned her mother, and her brother would rather go out to party with his friends. She couldn't seek her maternal family because she'd never known them in the first place.
How often had she hoped some adult would say such words to her? However, when Myrtle died, and her mother's condition worsened, she realized they'd been abandoned and kicked to the curb. No one would come to save them. Circumstances taught her that her life's value and her mother's worth were nothing once they'd already done their part.
Since her rebirth, Adrienne believed she couldn't rely on anyone but herself. She also didn't want to be indebted to others for fear that they would use it against her. Even though the consequences would be huge, Adrienne would take revenge. She wouldn't be at peace until she saw the Jiang family burn in hell.
"What is it to you? What do you want in return?" She asked, knowing there was no such thing as a free lunch in this world.
"Do you know who I am?" He answered her with a question.
Adrienne scoffed. There must be something wrong in his head. Was he some kind of a celebrity?
"No. Do I have to?"
There was a sudden change in the man's expression. Adrienne could see the hint of desperation and frustration on his face.
"I'm Lennox Qin, the ninth grandchild of the Qin family. You should have heard about our family if you grew up in this city." He glanced at her. The unspoken words were delivered to Adrienne, and she understood it clearly.