Hearing this, Pearl Zane shot her a furious glare.
In the end, to keep her from exposing the matter, she had no choice but to transfer the money.
"I’m sending it. That should be enough for you, right?" Pearl Zane said in an unfriendly tone.
As soon as she received the money, Hazel Sinclair immediately pulled Jill Kensington out of the luxurious presidential suite.
In the hallway, Hazel Sinclair glanced back and said, "Good thing she didn’t try to kill me."
Jill Kensington looked at her, sizing her up before saying, "You’ve got some serious nerve. Even in a situation like that, you still demanded compensation from her."
"I’m the innocent party here. She had people cyberbully me and even sent me a dead snake. How could I live with myself if I didn’t collect some interest?" Hazel Sinclair said righteously.
The thought of the dead venomous snake in that box made Hazel Sinclair’s body tremble involuntarily, the feeling of fear instantly surfacing.
She was terrified of snakes.
"Not only that, she grabbed my hair and slapped me," Hazel Sinclair said, pointing to her red, swollen cheek. "I couldn’t just let her hit me for free, could I?"
"I couldn’t hit her back, so I had to get more money to make up for it."
Jill Kensington looked at her, then gave her a thumbs-up. "Impressive."
After leaving the hotel, Hazel Sinclair sat in the passenger seat, buckled her seatbelt, and said, "Let’s go to a pharmacy. I need to treat this cheek."
Hazel Sinclair went to the pharmacy and bought an ice pack to apply to her face.
Her phone, tucked away in her purse, started ringing again. She took it out and saw over fifty messages from Liam Lancaster. Seeing that Hazel Sinclair hadn’t responded, Liam had resorted to calling her on WeChat to hurry her along.
Hazel Sinclair took out her phone and answered the WeChat call. Liam Lancaster’s voice came from the other end.
"Where are you? It’s been so long, why aren’t you here yet?"
"What’s the rush? It’s only three in the afternoon," Hazel Sinclair said, exasperated, while holding the ice pack to her face.
"I’ll be there in a bit. Just wait," Hazel Sinclair said before hanging up.
Jill Kensington sat beside her, typing on her phone. After she finished, she sighed and said, "These recently graduated young masters are such a handful."
"Oh? Do tell." The moment Hazel Sinclair heard that, her gossip radar went off.
She was actually quite curious how Jill Kensington had managed to snag Cillian Holloway. The young Mr. Holloway was notorious for hanging out in bars and changing girlfriends at a rapid pace.
But he was incredibly generous, so none of his ex-girlfriends had any complaints after breaking up.
"Simple," Jill Kensington replied, recalling her method. "I added him on WeChat and just straight-up asked if I could be his girlfriend."
Hearing this, a question mark slowly formed over Hazel Sinclair’s head.
’That direct?’
’No flirting stage?’
"The guy’s a total playboy. He saw the aesthetic photos I posted on my feed and agreed immediately," Jill said.
For a moment, Hazel Sinclair didn’t know whether to praise Jill Kensington for her masterful technique or to praise Cillian Holloway for being such a womanizer.
’He agreed to date someone just by looking at their social media pictures.’
"But arrogance is etched into his very bones," Jill Kensington said, a hint of disgust on her face as she recalled Cillian Holloway’s words and actions.
"He’s always putting me down, both directly and indirectly, and the things he does make me really uncomfortable. But he really is generous."
"Money’s hard to earn and the work can be shitty. Did you get paid?" Hazel Sinclair took the ice pack off, then checked her reflection in a mirror. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the swelling had completely gone down.
"Yep. The good news is, I’ve already gotten two hundred thousand out of him," Jill Kensington said with a smile. "Plus some bags and jewelry."
After treating the injury on her face, Hazel Sinclair had her drive her to the studio.
Before getting out of the car at their destination, Hazel Sinclair glanced at the suitcase in the back and said, "I’ll have someone contact you. Just give them the suitcase."
"Okay."
Hazel Sinclair got out, closed the door, and turned toward the studio.
The moment Liam Lancaster saw her, he breathed a sigh of relief. He had thought she wasn’t going to show up.
"What do you think of the dress this time?" Liam Lancaster asked with a smile, leading her to a black evening gown.
Hazel Sinclair looked at the evening gown before her and finally said, "It’s nice, but it’s not for me."
"Not for you?" Liam Lancaster was confused. He had this outfit custom-made according to Hazel Sinclair’s preferences.
Hazel Sinclair ignored him, walking over to a rack of dresses. She sifted through them before picking out a short black dress.
The dress came down to her thighs and had very little embellishment, looking rather plain.
"I want this one," Hazel Sinclair said, pointing at the dress.
The stylist standing nearby quickly spoke up. "Miss Sinclair, the outfit you’ve chosen is already out of style."
"It might not be appropriate for the banquet," the stylist reminded her tactfully. Wearing something like that to a cruise ship banquet would surely invite ridicule.
Hazel Sinclair waved her hand dismissively. "It’s fine. I like this one."
Given Hazel Sinclair’s insistence, the stylist had no choice but to let her change into it, while also arranging for her makeup and hair to be done.
After all that was done, Hazel Sinclair got into Liam Lancaster’s car and headed for the pier.
Watching the scenery pass by, Hazel Sinclair’s thoughts turned to Leon Sterling.
’I wonder if he’s calmed down yet. He’s probably still mad at me.’
After a moment’s thought, Hazel Sinclair took out her old phone, opened WeChat, and tapped on her chat with Leon Sterling.
The conversation was still on yesterday’s topic, where Leon Sterling had asked her what she wanted to eat.
Hazel Sinclair sat there, her fingers hovering over the keyboard. She’d type something, delete it, and type again, back and forth.
Liam Lancaster, who was driving, saw this and asked, "What are you agonizing over?"
"We had a fight," Hazel Sinclair replied.
"It’s because he found the membership card you gave me," Hazel Sinclair said, beginning to wonder whether she was in the right or wrong.
’In a relationship, if there’s deception, does it affect the bond between two people?’
’If I keep hiding things and deceiving him, even if Leon Sterling likes me a lot, won’t I eventually wear away all his feelings for me?’
"He fought with you over that?" Liam Lancaster scoffed. "Then he’s way too thin-skinned."
Hearing this, Hazel Sinclair just shot him a silent look and asked, "If your wife was hanging out with another man, didn’t tell you, and hid it from you, how would you feel?"
"I’d beat the crap out of that guy for daring to hit on my woman," Liam Lancaster said without a second thought.
Hazel Sinclair nodded, then lowered her head and began to type seriously.
[Hazel Sinclair: Leon, I’m sorry. I know I was wrong. I won’t hide anything from you ever again. Even if I do something, I’ll explain it to you first. Please don’t be mad at me anymore.]
[Hazel Sinclair: When you’re free next time, let’s have that candlelight dinner we missed. My treat.]
After sending the two messages, Hazel Sinclair waited for a reply.
But by the time they arrived at their destination, Leon Sterling still hadn’t responded, which made Hazel Sinclair a little panicked.
’Is he really that mad at me?’
Before getting out of the car, Hazel Sinclair, now a bit exasperated, sent another message.
[Hazel Sinclair: Leon Sterling, if you don’t message me back, I’m going to ignore you.]