Chapter 8 Neither The Carrot Nor The Club

"Have you considered what we talked about last night?"

Lola had no idea how Jacob managed to get her new phone number. She was standing in front of the mirror and putting on makeup when she had picked up his call. "I don't need to think about anything. I will never agree with what you're proposing. I'll clear things up when Grandma comes back."

"And what will you say, exactly? Grandma has always thought that you were studying overseas. She isn't even aware that you've made yourself a star."

Detecting the condescension in his voice, Lola gritted her teeth. "Never mind about how I would explain myself. I won't lay any blame on you, Mr. Jacob, so rest assured. You have nothing to worry about. You're just afraid that Grandma might get mad at you, right? I will take all the responsibility. That should satisfy you."

"I will decide how this will pan out, Louisa, not you! All you have to do is go with my plan. It seems that you will only yield to the carrot right now, instead of the club."

Lola scowled at her reflection, growing more frustrated by the second. After considering it for a second, she simply ended the call and continued with her makeup.

She had used to accept and comply to his every demand, but not anymore. The current her would yield to neither the carrot nor the club.

He could deal with this problem by himself.

Lola finished dressing up and looked at herself on the mirror with satisfaction. Then she turned away and left the room.

As she waited at the coffee shop, she took the opportunity to casually read through the news. She was pleased with the comments from her fans, and even replied to a handful of questions from those who seemed familiar to her.

"Louisa!"

"Jane."

Lola had immediately known that voice. When she looked over, she saw Jane striding over to her in a smart business pantsuit.

"I saw the news that you're back yesterday! I told myself that if my big shot friend didn't have time to see me, then I would take advantage of my work to come to you. But, goodness, you stood me up!"

It clicked inside Lola's head then. "What, so you were the one who wanted to interview me... Gosh, if I had known earlier, I would have accepted it."

"Your agent said that you fell ill out of the blue. What happened, exactly?" Jane ordered something to drink from a passing server as she sat down.

"It wasn't a big deal. But I came here today so we can catch each other up. And also, I wanted to confirm with you... is Grandma really coming back?" She didn't think that Jacob was lying, she just didn't know his purpose for insisting on what he had proposed.

He probably only wanted to do something to make her miserable all over again.

Jane nodded in response. "It's true. Grandma will be home for a few days. Oh, and she will be attending an important event, by the way. You should come over and see her, Louisa. Grandma hasn't stopped talking about you in the past two years, you know. She would always ask Jacob or me to take you to see her. But then I..."

Lola sighed. She felt sorry for the old woman.

Grandma must have been very sad. Lola hadn't contacted her for two whole years.

"Jane, you know very well what happened between me and Jacob. I can't go back to being a granddaughter-in-law to her anymore. And I know that you are all hiding the truth from her."

Jane raised her eyebrows, confused. "Wait, how did you know about that? Have you already seen Jacob? Seriously? So soon?"

Lola felt her face flush, and when she spoke, her voice sounded a little unnatural even to herself. "Yeah, I did. Actually. But then we got into an argument. Multiple arguments, to be honest. Of course."

"Well, I can just imagine. Back in the day you would endure everything he threw at you. It looks like things have changed, eh? It must be tit for tat now." Jane felt a little pleased by this. In her opinion, it did Louisa a lot of good to have finally left the Gu Family.

"I also know that no one in Gu Family likes me, except you. I'm sure they didn't tell Grandma the truth so as not to agitate her, but that can't be all there is to it. It's no secret that they don't want me to go back into the family, which is why I don't understand what Jacob is trying to do now. He finally got rid of me, but now he keeps bullying me into joining him with his lies! Jane, I really can't go back. I can't. I need to tell Grandma the truth. Anyway, would you tell me how she's doing?"

Jane obliged her, and what she told Lola was basically the same as what Jacob had said.

In other words, Jacob hadn't lied to her.

"You're wrong, you know. Louisa, Grandma loves you, and so do my mother and I. We all regard you as a member of our family. Jacob is just too stubborn for his own good. You know he hates being forced into something he doesn't want. Maybe all you had were misunderstandings, which were left to fester over time until they got too complicated for an instant fix. I'm sure he doesn't hate you." Jane spoke patiently,

but Lola only gave her a smile that was full of resentment. "Not hate me? Well, who knows? Maybe he doesn't. But he doesn't love me either. I was so young when we got married. It was my first time falling in love with someone, and I made my world revolve around him. I didn't expect him to loathe our marriage so much. He resisted me at every turn, too. If I had only known from the start..."

"Even if you knew, you would still have chosen to love him, wouldn't you?"

Lola said nothing to confirm or deny Jane's words. Instead, she went off into another direction. "But I've changed. I know now that I have choices. I won't ever repeat the mistakes the stupid and naive me made in the past. Jane, you're the closest friend I have. Please stop calling me Louisa, okay? It's Lola."

Jane could only nod. She knew just how much pain her friend had suffered for love. "Then you don't have to treat me like an older sister either, Lola."

"You're right about that. But you really just wanted to assert that you're still young, didn't you?" Lola teased and

Jane shot her a mock frown. "I am young! And I don't have to prove it!"

They spent the morning chatting, and it was almost afternoon when they finally said goodbye. Lola hurriedly booked a taxi to take her to the event she needed to attend. Flora and Lily were already waiting for her at the entrance when she arrived.

"Where have you been, Lola? You're late!" Flora pounced on her and scolded.

"What, am I not allowed to see my old friends?" Lola pouted. "And I'm not late, okay? So stop fretting."

"Did you forget that your feet are injured? I turned down your interview so you can get some rest, not so you can run around! If you do this to me again, I will --"

"Then you will tell on me, right?" Lola said in a challenging tone, her eyebrows raised. "Come on, Flora, we already came back home, just don't do the things in old ways. I know you are in determination. It won't happen again, okay? And I know you need to keep tabs on me every day, but just give me this one time. Please?"

Flora turned on her heel and walked away in a huff without saying anything.

Lily quickly came over. "Lola, you're so good at this. Flora was so angry just now. She thought something bad happened to you since you weren't answering your phone. She was about to blow a fuse! But you managed to settle her down with just a few words."

Lola raised her chin smugly. "It's to be expected. I have the most experience in dealing with her after all."

Lola and Lily shared a knowing smile that was common among allies.

"Today's event is pretty big, and the guests are all famous and prominent figures. Look, that's Ivan Lu over there. He's going to be your partner in the commercial. And that's Celia..."

"Celia?"

Lola's eyes had lit up as soon as she heard the name. Celia Cheng was an old acquaintance of hers.

She wasn't very familiar with most of the celebrities in China, but Celia was an exception.

Lily was about to say something to describe Celia Cheng when she interrupted herself. "Ah!" the girl exclaimed. "Lola look, Jacob Gu is here, too!"

Lola said nothing even as her eyes started to narrow. Her temples started to throb.

"I can't believe he's here. Why would he attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony?" Lola was frowning now, but her eyes trailed over to Jacob and followed his movements.