Billionaire Guardian

"Miss, are you feeling unwell? Let me help you to rest. I happen to have a room available," the plump middle-aged man said.

Isabella looked at the man in front of her, instinctively wanting to avoid him. She forced herself to stand up from the sofa, feeling dizzy.

Seeing the man approaching her, reaching out to grab her arm, Isabella panicked and forced a smile, "Mr. White, isn't that your wife over there? Don't you want to go say hello?"

Mr. White appeared flustered and immediately turned to look.

In their social circle, everyone knew that although Mr. White was domineering outside, his wife at home was a formidable figure.

Previously, Isabella's mother and sister had wanted to please Mr. White's wife and join the ranks of the elite.

Isabella also had her own calculations. When Mr. White turned his head, she knew she had won her gamble.

Isabella turned and ran. After a while, her speed slowed down, and she began to feel increasingly hot, her steps becoming unsteady.

Meanwhile, after realizing he had been deceived, Mr. White was furious and chased after her, cursing "despicable woman" incessantly.

Isabella's head was spinning, the path ahead becoming blurry. She seemed to see a door in front of her and ran towards it without hesitation, closing the door behind her.

Unexpectedly, outside the door was not outdoors but a guest room.

Immediately, her head bumped into a hard chest, and Isabella instinctively leaned against the person, feeling suddenly cool and comfortable.

She subconsciously looked up and saw a handsome face with a high nose bridge.

The outlines in front of her gradually blurred, and Isabella shook her head, feeling increasingly hot. She instinctively used her small hand to touch the man's chest randomly, murmuring for help.

The woman's voice was soft and breathless. Vincent grabbed her small hand, feeling annoyed. He hadn't expected those business partners to resort to any means to seal a deal.

He looked down at the woman, who was beautifully delicate yet not vulgar, with some abnormal redness on her face, obviously drugged.

Vincent subconsciously wanted to let go of Isabella and call someone to take her away.

But as soon as he released the woman's hand, she began to touch him uncontrollably, even unbuttoning his shirt, mumbling, "So hot..."

Vincent's face stiffened, his voice hoarse, "Young lady, I am also a normal man. You said so yourself, don't blame me."

Vincent lifted Isabella horizontally and gently placed her on the bed, then began to untie his own tie, his Adam's apple rolling with desire, every move showing his impatience.

In no time, their bodies were exposed to the air. The cold air and the heat from their bodies made Isabella feel a dual sensation.

Gradually, the room filled with faint moans, greatly pleasing Vincent. He stimulated Isabella back and forth, accelerating his movements.

Isabella's breath became more and more rapid, her moans louder, her body suddenly contracting.

After being satisfied, Isabella lay weakly on the bed, her snow-white chest heaving violently.

The dim light flickered in Isabella's eyes.

The temperature kept rising, the ambiguous scent becoming stronger...

Sitting in the taxi, Isabella was still shocked. She was still in pain.

Given her condition, she definitely couldn't take the bus. She gritted her teeth and hailed a taxi.

The car stopped at the entrance of an old apartment building. Isabella lived on the third floor of this building, which had no elevator. She could only climb up step by step, stopping every few steps.

As soon as she opened the door, she was almost exhausted. Isabella couldn't help cursing the man from last night in her heart.

As soon as she entered, her agent Audrey called. Isabella took out her phone and answered, hearing Audrey's excited voice from the receiver.

"Isabella, where are you now? A director contacted us about a script, saying you're perfect for this role. I've carefully read the script, and it's not bad. It's for a supporting female role. If it's possible, I'll arrange it for you?"

Without hearing Isabella's response, Audrey raised her voice, "Isabella, are you listening to me? This production is really good. Although it's a supporting role, the character is well-rounded. If you perform well, you'll definitely get promoted. I'll send you the script later, so prepare well!"

It took Isabella a few seconds to come back to her senses. She replied to Audrey, "Audrey, you handle it. I trust you."

As soon as the call was hung up, another call came in.

The caller ID showed "Mom". Isabella sneered and threw the phone aside, but the person on the other end apparently didn't want to let her go, and the phone rang several times in a row.

Isabella picked up her phone again, and a barrage of curses followed.

"You shameless thing, Mr. White's wife even called the house. Come back immediately and see what you've done!" Without waiting for Isabella to respond, she hung up.

Isabella quickly changed her clothes, covering the marks on her neck, and hurried to the Casey family.

As soon as she entered, her sister Angela saw Isabella first. She immediately stood up, pretending to be very concerned despite the mockery in her eyes, "Isabella, you're back? Come in quickly and apologize to Mom. Mom is very angry now. Don't argue with Mom."

Mary saw Isabella coming back and immediately threw her phone at her, cursing loudly, "Look at what you've done. How dare you come back? You've disgraced the Casey family. Mr. White's wife even called our house!"

Isabella picked up her phone and looked at it. The top trending search was "Entertainment Circle Female Star Suspected of Using Sleeping Around to Advance."

The picture showed a blurry image, a man's hand reaching towards her, their postures ambiguous, making people unable to help but imagine what would happen next.

Isabella burst into laughter and looked her mother in the eye, "Why are you making such a fuss? Who told me it was just ordinary business cooperation? And who asked me to go?"

Mary looked slightly guilty but remained firm, "You said it was business cooperation. I asked you to negotiate the deal, not to seduce Mr. White. You have no self-control, yet you blame me?"

Isabella nodded, "Who is Mr. White? You surely know. You knew what kind of person he is and still sent me. Don't you have anything to say? Do you know he drugged me?"

Before Mary could speak, Angela intervened, "Isabella, how can you speak to Mom like this? Apologize to Mom quickly! Mom is doing this for your own good. Moreover, now that you've done that with Mr. White, if Timothy brother finds out, what should we do?"

Isabella couldn't hold back her smile as she looked at her sister's feigned concern.

Isabella spoke directly, "Stop pretending. The reason you're doing all this is to get me to give Timothy to you, isn't it? Well, you can have him. Why bother going through all this trouble? As you wish, I slept with someone else. I'll give you the position of Mrs. Newhouse and let you sit as the Casey family's heiress alone. Both of your esteemed families are too high for me."

Timothy, who was at the door, heard the last part and his face darkened instantly.

Who did Isabella think she was? Timothy, as the new head of the Newhouse family, had never been insulted like this. Who gave her the audacity?

Timothy pushed the door open and barged in. He grabbed Isabella's high-necked shirt and saw the marks on her neck. He was enraged, feeling like he could strangle this woman right then and there.

He grabbed Isabella's neck, trembling with anger. "How could you be so despicable? A woman as filthy as you doesn't deserve to be the wife of Newhouse. Since that's the case, let's call off the engagement. You're not worthy!"

Even if the engagement were to be called off, it would be him who initiated it. This woman wouldn't have the chance to leave him!

Angel, on the side, covered her smile and hurried over to tug at Timothy's sleeve. With teary eyes, she pleaded for Isabella, "Timothy, please calm down. Isabella has grown up and has her own thoughts now. It's my fault for calling you over."

Upon hearing Angel's words, Timothy regained his composure and released his grip.

For a moment, he had actually considered choking the woman to death.

No, he wouldn't lose control because of her.

Isabella coughed violently, looking at the people in front of her, feeling numb.

Angel grabbed Isabella's hand again, blaming herself, "Isabella, are you alright? It's all my fault. I shouldn't have called you over."

After saying that, tears welled up in Angel's eyes, on the verge of falling. She looked at Timothy with a pitiful expression.

Seeing Angel like this, Timothy softened his expression. He had known since childhood that Angel was in poor health, so he was more lenient towards her.

Isabella watched the two of them exchange glances with a cold smile in her heart. "Fine, let's call off the engagement. A woman like me indeed doesn't deserve to be Mrs. Newhouse. I never wanted to be Mrs. Newhouse!"

Timothy's expression turned cold. He leaned closer to Isabella and whispered in a voice only they could hear, "A woman like you, I wouldn't want even if you threw yourself at me! I find you disgusting!"

Isabella couldn't help but want to laugh inwardly. She had never intended to throw herself at him or become Mrs. Newhouse. Her previous attempts to please Timothy were just because of the so-called "childhood engagement."

At this moment, Angel stepped forward and casually said to Timothy, "Timothy, Isabella is not a child anymore. Don't blame her. It's my fault for not disciplining her well. If I had cared more about Isabella on weekdays, this wouldn't have happened. But Isabella has always been rebellious since she was a child and not close to me and Mom."

Timothy was still angry at this moment, but hearing Angel blame herself, he couldn't help but comfort her, "She's just introverted. Don't worry about her. If she were like you, she wouldn't have done such a thing."

Although Isabella was engaged to Timothy, Timothy rarely saw her whenever he visited the Casey family. She seemed to rarely appear in the Casey family, so Timothy's relationship with Angel was better, almost like childhood sweethearts.

In addition, Angel had been in poor health since she was a child, so even if Timothy was angry, he wouldn't take it out on Angel.

Isabella, on the side, listened to Timothy's words and her expression turned cold.

She had seen this scene too many times over the years. She glanced at Angel, who was looking shyly at Timothy. When she saw Angel look at her, a hint of mockery and satisfaction appeared on her face.

Timothy saw that Isabella stopped talking and looked at Mary, "What do you think, Aunt? Should we continue the engagement?"

Mary actually wanted them to cancel the engagement very much. Only by doing so could her precious eldest daughter have the opportunity to marry into the Newhouse family and become a wealthy wife.

But she put on a helpless expression on her face, "It's Aunt's fault for not educating this daughter well and embarrassing the Casey family. Aunt is really sorry for you!"

Isabella looked at the three people with their hidden thoughts, feeling nauseous in her stomach.

It seemed like she had nothing to do here.

She didn't even bother to say goodbye and left straight away.

The three of them, who were originally in conversation, fell silent as they saw her turn and leave.

Timothy subconsciously wanted to call her back, but before he could say anything, Angel had already playfully pulled his hand and started talking to him about other things.

Timothy withdrew his gaze, his mind in a daze. Suddenly, the image of the little girl he had just met appeared in his mind, who always smiled shyly and cautiously whenever she saw him.

Since when did she become so indifferent and cold whenever she saw him?

After leaving the Casey family, Isabella stood on the roadside for a while, suppressing the nauseous feeling.

At this moment, she just hoped never to come back here again. This place was like walking into a disaster every time, comparable to walking through fire and water.

With physical exhaustion and mental torment, Isabella wished she could cut off all contact with everyone and sleep for ten days or even a month when she got back.

But she couldn't. She still needed to work. Without work, she couldn't afford the rent, let alone food.

She called a cab on her phone and, after getting in the car, called her agent Audrey to ask when she would audition for that supporting role.

Audrey was silent for a long time on the other end of the line before saying, "Isabella, I've reconsidered. I don't think that role is very likable. Let's look at other options."

Isabella's initial reaction was that it didn't matter if the role wasn't likable. She needed money urgently. But before the words could come out, she realized that this might be the end of it. With the hot search about her sleeping her way to the top, which smart director would dare to cast her?

"Alright, Audrey, I'll go with your arrangement."

Audrey let out a sigh of relief on the other end of the phone.

"Isabella, you seem tired lately. Take some time to rest. I'll find you a new role. I've already talked to the company about the hot search, and they'll handle it."

As a somewhat tepid minor celebrity, how could the company care about her life and death? But Isabella still agreed, just to reassure Audrey.

After returning home by car, covered in cold sweat, Isabella endured the fatigue and took a shower. Afterward, without even bothering to blow dry her hair, she lay down and fell asleep.

She slept until midnight, waking up with a splitting headache.

Enduring the discomfort, she got up and took a cold medicine, then took out a piece of bread from her stash and ate it with cold water.

Living such a dazed life, Isabella spent three days eating only bread. When she felt a bit of strength, she would cook herself a bowl of noodles.

During this time, both Audrey and Timothy's cousin Randall called, but Isabella didn't pick up. When she called back later, she casually said that she had been watching movies leisurely these past few days to find some inspiration.

After all these years of acting, neither of them noticed anything strange about her. They just reminded her to rest well.

On the third day, Isabella finally fully recovered, her mind completely clear. It was at this moment that she suddenly remembered.

After that incident that night, no matter what, she should have gone to buy emergency contraception. But these three days had passed by in a daze, and she completely forgot about it.

Was it still useful to go buy it now?

Three days, seventy-two hours, it hasn't been too long. There should still be time!

With a last shred of hope, Isabella tidied herself up and went out to buy the medicine.

She had been idle for over a month, only meeting Audrey a few times.

On this day, Audrey suddenly dragged her out, urging her to dress up nicely, then hurriedly took her away.

When Isabella stood in the splendid banquet hall of the hotel, she still looked bewildered.

Audrey led her to a quiet spot to sit down.

"Isabella, sit for a moment. I'll go find my brother and introduce you to his friends later."

Isabella nodded, suppressing her doubts, and sat down, waiting for the people to arrive with a resigned attitude.

When Vincent walked into the banquet hall, he casually glanced around, and then his gaze fell on a figure in the corner.

After so long, he thought he had completely forgotten about that girl's figure, but unexpectedly, he spotted her among the bustling crowd.

She was dressed in a pure white gown, her black straight hair tied up, revealing her slender neck. At this moment, her gaze was slowly moving around the banquet hall, as if searching for someone.

"Vincent, let's go, why are you standing here?"

Hall urged his friend who was standing still.

Vincent, upon hearing this, slowly withdrew his gaze. "Where's Smith?"

"He's on the second floor. Let's go up first."

The two went upstairs, Hall looking around as they walked.

Vincent noticed and asked, "What are you looking for?"

"My sister. She pestered me yesterday to get her an invitation, saying she wanted to bring her friend. I'm just checking if she's here."

Vincent nodded without saying anything. He had known for a long time that Hall had a sister, but had never seen her. Whenever Hall mentioned her, he would chatter endlessly, saying how his sister had changed, from being lively and cute in childhood to not cute at all now.

He talked about his sister as if she was the most adorable thing ever, which was a bit ridiculous.

Vincent subconsciously glanced in that direction again, and saw that the girl was no longer alone. A man in a dark gray suit sat across from her, and they seemed to be talking about something. The girl had a smile on her face, but it didn't reach her eyes.

Vincent frowned, changed his direction, and almost walked over there, but stopped himself in time.

He walked upstairs step by step, not looking back. However, a nameless fire ignited in his heart, almost bursting out on the spot.

Hall searched the first floor but didn't see his sister. He took out his phone, about to make a call to ask.

Suddenly, there was a commotion not far away, and he looked in that direction, holding his phone.

Before he could see what was happening, Vincent had already walked quickly past him.

"Damn it."

Hall cursed under his breath and quickly put away his phone to follow.

Isabella was sitting in her seat, waiting for Audrey to come over. Before Audrey arrived, a man in his forties sat down.

He introduced himself as a director and mentioned a few of his representative works.

Although Isabella couldn't remember who this person was, she thought of Audrey's hard work for her and patiently chatted with him.

She didn't expect that the man wasn't interested in discussing cooperation at all. After just a few words, he started to get handsy.

Isabella had been feeling unwell lately, often feeling dizzy and nauseous. Audrey thought she might be malnourished and asked her to eat more meat, but she felt nauseous at the sight of meat.

Just now, she had another drink, and now she felt like she could vomit at any moment.

Feeling uncomfortable physically and mentally, and too lazy to pretend with the director, she stood up to leave. Before she could take a step, her wrist was grabbed.

Isabella struggled a few times, but couldn't break free. In desperation, she lifted the wine glass on the table and smashed it towards the man's head.

She used quite a bit of force, and the man's head started bleeding instantly.

He wiped it with his hand, looked at it, and his eyes instantly turned bloodshot. He didn't care about the occasion at all, grabbing Isabella's fragile wrist with one hand and slapping her with the other.

Isabella couldn't break free at all, closing her eyes in fear.

But the expected pain didn't come. Instead, she heard a scream.

Isabella opened her eyes and saw a tall man standing in front of her.

"Let go."

His face was dark, grabbing the hand of the director who was about to slap Isabella. The director grimaced in pain, subconsciously letting go of Isabella's wrist.

"Th-thank..."

Before Isabella could say "thank you," she suddenly felt a wave of nausea, immediately lowered her head, and quickly ran towards the restroom.

Hall followed and saw this scene.

"What's going on?"

Vincent glanced at Isabella's retreating figure and said, "Stay here and deal with it."

After speaking, without looking back, he walked towards the direction Isabella left.

Hall looked puzzled.

Who was the girl just now? Why did Vincent suddenly intervene in other people's affairs?

Did they know each other?

Or could it be...

Hall thought of a possibility and wished he could rush up to watch the excitement.

Has his usually aloof buddy fallen in love at first sight?

Bah! What love at first sight? His buddy was just being superficial?

Vincent had no idea what his buddy was thinking. He followed Isabella and saw her enter the restroom.

Standing at the door, he could see her bending over the sink, desperately vomiting. After hesitating for a moment, he walked in and patted her back.

After a long while, Isabella finally felt better. She rinsed her mouth and turned around.

Before she could thank him, Vincent frowned and asked, "How much did you drink?"

"...Just one glass." She held up a slender finger.

After answering, she looked at the person opposite her attentively. The man was tall and handsome, ranking in the top ten in the entertainment industry based on his appearance alone. However, despite searching her mind, she couldn't recall any information about him.

She didn't recognize him at all!

Vincent remained silent, observing Isabella.

He had been sober that night, but the person in front of him seemed unconscious. He thought it was someone sent by a business partner, but a month had passed, and no one had come to him.

He accepted those sent to him, but those who came to him for business didn't show up.

This didn't make sense at all; there must have been a problem somewhere.

"What's your name?"

Huh?

Isabella was a little confused, not understanding what the man was up to, but she answered, "Isabella."