Chapter 12
Carola eventually heard the news about Dorothea’s upcoming engagement to the infamous playboy from the Stevens family.
“Carola, is it true your family is about to join with the Stevens family?” someone asked her.
Carola let out a mocking laugh. “It’s not really my family. It’s my stepsister p>
Back when they were kids, Carola’s group of friends had always made things hard for Dorothea. At Carola’s birthday party, everyone showed up dressed to impress, but Dorothea came wearing her school uniform. Carola introduced her to everyone with a smile, but then immediately lost interest and left her alone. Dorothea was too nervous to say a word, just sitting quietly in the corner.
After that, Carola seemed to enjoy dragging Dorothea along to these events. In their world, parties and banquets were part of growing up, something they were supposed to get used to. Carola had learned all the social rules from an early age. But Dorothea? Even with a beautiful dress, she never fit in. After a few tries, Dorothea stopped going to those gatherings altogether.
Carola couldn’t help but think, does Dorothea really believe that marrying Harper, the notorious flirt, will get her a ticket into high society?
“Does anyone here know Carmen? Invite her to join us. Don’t mention I’ll be there, but make sure she brings Dorothea along p>
Carmen was Dorothea’s only real connection to their social circle. Carola wanted to see what Dorothea would do once her dreams of joining the upper class started to crumble.
Carmen heard that Dorothea had quit her job at Albert’s company.
“Dorothea, why did you leave?” she asked.
Dorothea had no intention of telling Carmen about her secret relationship with Albert. She didn’t want to make things awkward between them. That relationship wasn’t even worth mentioning. She just wanted to quietly move on.
“I just wanted a change. I don’t want to be a secretary anymore,” she said.
Carmen thought it over. “So what do you want to do? Hey, there’s a get-together tomorrow. Let me take you. You can meet some new people. Who knows? Maybe one of their companies has a job for you p>
Dorothea wanted to turn her down,
but Carmen seemed to sense it.
“Don’t
even think about saying no
I’m not giving you special treatment,
I’mingt
just helping you get an interview.
That’s fair, right p>
Dorothea smiled. “Yeah, you’re right p>
She hadn’t settled on her plan to return to working at the hotel, so there was no rush
to tell Carmen. And honestly, she couldn’t say no to Carmen’s kindness.
At the club, Harper sat with a girl in a white dress snuggled up against him. He was tired of the glamorous high-maintenance types. Sometimes, flirting with someone sweet and innocent was a nice change When Carola walked in shë saw Harper openly flirting with the girl, their lips tangled together, not caring who might see.
Carola’s eyes were full of mockery and disdain. She thought, just wait until Dorothea
shows up. The real drama is about to start.
“Mr. Stevens, Carola is here,” someone called.
Harper reluctantly pulled away from the girl and raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Did you
hear I went on a blind date with your sister last week p>
Carola smirked. “She’s not really my sister p>
Harper knew Dorothea was only Carola’s stepsister. What he hadn’t expected was how eager Dorothea had been. After just one meeting, she was already willing to go back to a hotel with him. Too bad she wasn’t really his type. She was fine for a fling, but not good enough to be his regular girlfriend.