Chapter 2 Nice Bag

Malcolm turned around again and looked at Poppi with a frown.

"I..." Poppi stammered, as she didn't expect that he would look back at her. But upon seeing the confused look on his face, Poppi put on a radiant smile. "There's a newly released set of limited-edition jewelry, bags, and shoes. I want them all."

"You can buy them with the money I'm giving you," Malcolm scoffed as he squinted his eyes at Poppi. Then, he turned back quickly to walk out the door.

"Malcolm!" she shouted after him hurriedly. "There's one more thing I wanted to ask you!"

"Yeah right," Malcolm sneered and kept walking.

By now, Poppi was briskly walking after him, her face twisted with anxiety. "Malcolm! When can I see Celine? Or let me call her doctor at the very least!"

This stopped Malcolm dead in his tracks. "Celine..." he uttered with a short chuckle. "If it were possible, I would make sure that you will never see her again for the rest of your life." The words that came out of Malcolm's mouth were as thick as poison.

"But she's my sister! She's the only family I have left in this world! You can't do this to me!" Poppi protested as she grabbed hard on Malcolm's sleeve. "Please... Let me see her..."

"Your father's still lying in bed, isn't he? Although I doubt that he would ever wake up again, at least he's not dead. Technically speaking, Celine isn't the only family you have left. Don't exaggerate things, Poppi." Malcolm then brushed Poppi's hand off him as if she was made out of filth, feeling satisfied at the embarrassed and defeated look on her face. "Besides, she's doing well on her own without having you around," he added with a sneer.

Poppi stumbled back a few steps. Her heart felt so heavy in her chest that she could do nothing but watch him make his leave. Without another glance back, Malcolm shut the door with a loud bang. Every single time Poppi mentioned her sister, it would always turn out like this.

It was eerily silent in the apartment.

Only Poppi's breath and the sound of the clock could be heard. Tick... tock...

A while later, Poppi sighed quietly and walked back to the living room, her shoulders slumped forward in defeat. She bent down, picked up the document, and headed upstairs.

Time flew by so quickly as it had already been three years since she and Malcolm had been married. Even though she was the real "Mrs. Quan", being legitimately married to Malcolm and all, they could only meet in secret. When Malcolm did come to see her, he would leave just as quickly as he went. Every day, Poppi would see in the headlines the different women who were associated with Malcolm.

There was nothing Poppi could do but idly stand by. The marriage between her and Malcolm was much too complicated. There was no way Malcolm wanted their relationship to be publicized and neither did Poppi.

Upon reaching the bedroom, Poppi sprawled up on the bed and closed her eyes. Soon, she fell asleep, dreaming about the not-so-distant past...

Boom! "Poppi, Celine, come with me! We need to hurry!" her father yelled.

"Where are we going? What's wrong?"

"There's no time to explain! We need to leave Ye City. Go anywhere but here! The further, the better! Just go!"

Poppi tossed and turned in bed, her lashes fluttering slightly. It had begun to rain outside her apartment, and the thunder that came with it seemed to intertwine with the scene from the nightmare she was having.

"Run! Faster! They're coming!" In her dream, Poppi could see the image of her father getting clearer and clearer. She could see a brilliant light coming from the end of the street. It was a car driving towards them with immense speed. Poppi raised her hand to cover her eyes from the blinding headlights. Hand in hand, the three of them ran as quickly as they could. They ran along that road as if it had no end. At some point, Poppi was so tired and out of breath that she felt that she was about to pass out. However, the car kept chasing after them, and was soon right on their tracks. In such a critical moment, her father suddenly loosened his grip on Poppi and pushed her hard to the side.

"Poppi!"

Bang! Bang

Poppi slammed onto the wet grass, and heard the loud thud and the screeching of the car brakes. In a daze, she slowly tried to prop herself up with her arms and tried to look at what had happened. The first thing she noticed was the blood mixing in with the rain on the pavement. Then, Poppi saw her father and her sister lying on the ground, lifelessly.

"Dad! Celine!"

Poppi screamed and struggled to her feet. There was no strength left in her anymore, and she could do nothing but stagger and fall once more as she helplessly watched the car quickly drive away.

A clap of thunder echoed in the dark sky.

"Dad! Celine! Celine!" Awoken by the loud thunder, Poppi sat up as she cried out for her family. There was cold sweat all over her face and down to her neck. Her eyes were wide open in horror as she tried to catch her breath.

The bedroom was briefly illuminated by a strike of lighting outside, making Poppi jump.

'It was just a dream.... just a dream.' With a deep breath, she wiped her face with the back of her hand and curled up on the bed. It had been nearly four years since that incident happened. Whenever she dreamt about it, it was still as vivid and as awful as the actual thing. Up to this day, Poppi couldn't help but think why her father chose to save her life over his and Celine's.

A shiver went down her body. Poppi got under the blanket and hugged her arms, as if she was trying to keep herself together. There never was a day that went by that Poppi didn't think of her father. She literally owed her life to him, and for that she was unconditionally grateful. To keep him alive, he had to be given special treatment, and a lot of various medicines and medical procedures that were undoubtedly expensive. Even when the doctor told Poppi that it would take a miracle for her father to wake up, there was no way she was going to give up on him.

With everything going on, Poppi had been driven into a corner. It was then she decided to tactically marry Malcolm. With the help of her lawyer, they made a deal so that her family's shares were entrusted to him, and so the medical bills were no longer something she needed to worry about. At the same time, she had protection from the people who were after her and her family.

That night was the beginning of the rainy season in Ye City. Lighting and thunder rumbled all night long. It was not until early the next morning did the rain stop. Barely getting any sleep, Poppi got up early to take a shower. Afterwards, she got dressed, grabbed her bag, and headed to the subway. She had no choice but to commute since her old and shabby car had gotten scrapped.

"There you are, Poppi!" Wendy Yu called out as Poppi walked into the office. With long quick strides, Wendy came over to Poppi and dragged her off to one side.

"What's wrong?" Poppi frowned. The sticky feeling in the subway had not dissipated, and Poppi felt difficult to breathe.

"Bad news!" Wendy Yu said with a frightened look, "Tina Ai from the Advertising Department is stirring trouble again. Your manuscript was removed by her from the magazine!"

Poppi raised her eyebrows and showed a sign of relief. She went to her desk and put down her designer bag. "It's no big deal. She can pull out my piece if she likes. I just thought the bonus would have been nice," Poppi said in a slightly displeased tone.

"Wow, you're so level-headed!" Wendy Yu looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Even the people in our department feel sorry for you! I mean, this isn't the first time Tina Ai has bullied you like this and removed your drafts. Aren't you the least bit angry at her? If I were you, I would have been infuriated by now!" Wendy exclaimed angrily.

With a smile, Poppi took her bag and held it up for Wendy to see. "Do you know what this is, Wendy?"

"A really nice handbag, that's what it is!" Wendy Yu sighed. Even if Wendy saved up for two years, there was no way she could afford something like that.

"That's right," Poppi said as she placed it back on the table. "As the saying goes, 'a nice bag can cure all griefs'. To prevent myself from getting in a bad mood, I just buy nice things that I want. You should try it. I promise that you will be refreshed and placid the whole day. Besides, it's not good for your health to be angry all the time at every little thing."

"So buying a bag that's way out of my budget is supposed to make everything better?" Wendy Yu frowned and was stunned for a few seconds. Then she pulled her face and said with grievance, "Poppi, you are bullying me!"

"Haha! My dear, how could I bear to bully you! I'm just telling the truth!" Poppi smiled and pinched her face. Just then, Poppi remembered her sister. She used to joke around with Celine like this.

At that moment, Tina came out of her office and saw Wendy and Poppi laughing. Rolling her eyes, she came over to Poppi with the manuscript in her hands. "Well, hello there, Miss Poppi. I see you're showing off your new bag again."

Hearing Tina's sarcastic words from behind her, Poppi turned around and flashed her a bright smile. She got her bag and showed it to Tina. "I got it straight from abroad! Beautiful, isn't it? Oh! I remember that you said you liked this one last time. Why don't you buy one too? We could match and be just like sisters!"