Obsession: One and Only

"Loretta, someone is looking for you outside."

A voice suddenly echoed in the quiet classroom. Loretta Ji frowned at the door before walking out.

The moment she stepped out of the doorway, she stopped dead in her tracks, noticing the woman, who also seemed to have noticed her.

The woman was beautiful and fashionably dressed in a summer dress from Chanel's latest catalogue. Loretta instantly noticed her curves.

They seemed to size each other up. The woman raised her chin arrogantly as she looked Loretta up and down.

"Ms. Ji, I'm pregnant with Adrien's child." The woman walked closer as she spoke, her expression smug and triumphant.

A mocking smile crept up on Loretta's face.

This wasn't something new. There was always an endless stream of people coming to say these exact same things to her every couple of days.

They came to her suburban villa with Adrien Li and Li family's villa.

Even if she was minding her own business, shopping with her best friend Barbara Chi, Adrien's mistresses would appear in a constant stream before her.

But now, Loretta was surprised to see that one of them even popped up at her school.

Adrien really had a lot of woman around him.

"Are you done?" Loretta said drily, an embodiment of calm as she looked at the woman.

The woman seemed stunned. She hadn't expected Loretta to react like this and felt anger and shame bubbling up inside her.

She raised her right hand and waved it before Loretta's face, causing the ring sitting on her ring finger to glint in the light. Pride laced her tone as she said, "Adrien gave me this ring. You've been married for two years. But I'm sure Adrien has never given you a ring. Am I right?"

Contempt marred the woman's face, which filled Loretta with angry.

As she silently seethed, looking at the ring dazzling on the woman's finger, Loretta couldn't help but think of the invoice for the customized ring that she had found in Adrien's suit jacket this morning. This ring that the woman was wearing was in the style that was mentioned in the invoice.

What was more, it was worth 3.5 million dollars.

Adrien was generous to his mistresses.

But Loretta merely smiled, looked at the woman, and said, "Adrien likes giving others things I don't want anymore. It's just a ring. If you'd like, I can ask him to get you a set of matching jewelry."

The woman turned livid, irritated by Loretta's smile. But she wasn't about to give up. She raised her voice a notch as she said, "Loretta Ji, don't be so arrogant! When I give birth to the baby, even the position of Mrs. Li will be mine!"

Loretta looked down at the woman's belly. With a smile, she said, "Come to me with the paternity test result after the baby is born!"

She then turned to leave.

But Loretta had barely taken a few steps when something occurred to her. She stopped and turned around.

She ignored the glares that the woman was throwing her way and said slowly, "By the way, has Adrien ever told you that you look like someone else?"

It was the second time that Loretta had managed to stun the woman. Satisfied at the look on the woman's face, Loretta turned around and left.

But her heart ached with every step she took, as if cut into a million pieces.

The woman's face somewhat resembled Loretta's. To be precises, that woman looked a lot like Penny Ji.

Even in Adrien's eyes, Loretta was just a substitute for her twin sister, Penny.

Dazzling disco lights constantly flickered in the bar, shining on a group of men and women. The music was deafening.

More than twenty bottles of wine sat on a table, several empty bottles lying beside them.

Two young women, each holding a wine bottle, sat on the sofa, their faces red as they talked to each other.

"You should dump Adrien! Divorce him! Can't you live without him?" The woman who was talking had beautiful short hair that shone red under the light. She held Loretta with one hand and waved the other hand with the wine bottle.

Loretta looked up at her friend and said, "Am I spineless, Barbara?"

Barbara turned to look at Loretta, set down the bottle, and took Loretta's face in her hands. She then drunkenly blinked as she looked seriously at Loretta. "It's not your fault. It's Adrien's fault. He has bad taste. If you don't believe me, just go to the dance floor now. I'm sure all the men will stare at you!"

To prove her point, Barbara pulled Loretta to her feet and to the dance floor.

The moment they appeared, they became the focus of the people around them. Men looked appreciatively at them and began to whistle.

"What do you think? Do you believe me now? Look at your face and your figure, Loretta. You are definitely a beauty. Women are jealous of you. And I'm sure that Adrien is out of his mind," Barbara said, her eyebrows raised in a wordless gesture to the men around them.

On the second floor, a man with cold, sharp eyes stared at the familiar figure on the dance floor.

Esteban Jiang, Adrien's assistant, who was stood next to him, couldn't help but gasp when he saw who the man's cold gaze was trained on.

"Sir, do you want to invite her here?"

The man swayed the glass of red wine in his hand. His dark eyes stared coldly at Loretta, his thin lips barely moving as he said, "No."

Esteban almost blanched at the angry look on Adrien's face, and swallowed what he was going to say. He looked down worriedly at the dance floor.

'Oh my God! Something bad is going to happen this time!' he thought.

Loretta's head was a little heavy because she was drunk, but she was also a little excited.

Maybe she had been depressed for too long.

Her efforts over the past two years, to be a qualified wife to Adrien, were all in vain.

Loretta shook her head to dispel the ideas that were flashing in her mind. And then, she began to dance with Barbara.

Maybe she shouldn't think too much tonight. And she should definitely stop thinking about Adrien.

There was no Li family, no marriage, no Adrien, no Loretta, no Penny in her world as she danced.

People were closing in on her, almost pressing against her body.

As she noticed the approaching men, Loretta frowned at the obscene expressions on their faces.

Someone suddenly grabbed her wrist and she let out a startled squeak before she turned, only to find herself looking into a pair of dark eyes as deep as the ocean. Her heart trembled as she muttered, "Adrien."

Adrien glanced coldly at Loretta before pulling her out of the crowded dance floor.

Adrien walked off the dance floor at a brutal speed, Loretta trailing behind, struggling to keep up with him. She almost lost her balance, narrowly avoiding falling face first to the floor.

It looked like Loretta's filthy mood was a result of her being drunk. She felt particularly brave as she tore her hand from his grip.

She staggered back a couple of steps before she was able to stand firm. She looked up at the man opposite her who was now frowning at her.

"Don't pull me like that! I want to go back. I was having fun."

And ignoring his cold eyes and knitted brows, Loretta turned around and walked shakily towards the bar.

She had barely taken a few steps when a large hand closed around her elbow and turned her around. She found herself pressed against the hood of a car, Adrien framing her on all sides and leveling an angry glare at her.

"Don't forget who you are, Loretta Ji!"

He rasped out the cold, harsh warning.

'Who am I?'

Loretta sneered.

She was so constricted by her identity of being Adrien's wife that she didn't know who she really was anymore.

She pasted a thin smile on her face and said, "Mr. Li, please look at yourself before you say things like that."

Adrien's cold eyes narrowed, a tic in his jaw indicating his anger.

Loretta was satisfied at the anger building inside him.

Better angry than expressionless!

Adrien pinched her chin, scorching hatred in his eyes. She wouldn't put it past him to strangle her to death in the next second.

"Don't seduce other men with the same face as Penny's. You make me sick, Loretta Ji!"

Her heart ached, as if it ripped apart in two.

To him, she was just a stranger who looked like Penny.

No.

She was worse. At least, he wouldn't hate a stranger.

Loretta's chin had numbed because of the tight grip he had on it. She blinked and trembled slightly, making her look delicate and pitiful.

But she shook herself out of it, and a smile appeared on her face as she looked up at him. "Don't worry. Since I'm still Mrs. Li, I'll be careful not to get pregnant with someone else's child."

It was at this moment that Loretta was struck by a tiny inspiration. She leaned closer to Adrien and whispered in his ear, "Mr. Li, you should be careful too. If you get infected with STIs, I won't know how to continue to act before your family."

The smile on Loretta's face annoyed Adrien to no end. He pushed her back against the car and spat out, gnashing his teeth. "Watch your tongue!"

As she watched the veins throb on his forehead, Loretta's satisfaction soared. She really was something today since she had managed to irritate this cold man.

But his behavior was not strange. Every time they had a fight because of Penny, he would treat Loretta with an inexplicable bloodlust.

Penny was a gentle, elegant lady. She would never talk in such a vulgar manner!

Loretta, on the other hand, was a child of humble birth who grew up in an orphanage. But she was now married into a rich family and was the wife of the most attractive man in J City. Everyone said she seemed to be reaping the benefits of a blessing from a former life.

Adrien stared at Loretta for a long time before he pushed off her, the coldness in his eyes almost overwhelming Loretta.

"So, is this what it's going to be, Loretta? Too can play at that game!"