Dark Romance: A Cruel Obsession

“Can you help me pull up the zipper?” Vivian walked up to Simpson, holding her hair back with one hand, turning her back to him.Material © NôvelDrama.Org.

Simpson approached, one hand pulling the fabric of her back and the other pulling the zipper upwards with force, but suddenly the zipper got stuck.

Vivian felt the pressure of the tightening clothes, she held her breath, Simpson tried again to pull the zipper up, but it got stuck once more.

Vivian looked blank, she seemed to realize something, but she couldn’t believe it, her lips trembling, “Is it still not working?”

“I can’t pull it up,” Simpson rubbed his nose. He was a naturally affectionate man, unlike Alajos, who was stubborn and traditional. He was happy to engage in various flirtatious gestures with his female companions, rarely doing anything to embarrass or upset them, but…

“How is this possible!” Vivian shouted, she tried to pull the zipper up herself.

As soon as Simpson couldn’t pull the zipper, he knew what was going on, but manners kept him from speaking out. It was very impolite to say a lady had gained weight.

But Vivian’s sudden emotional breakdown startled him, “Vivian, calm down!”

“I don’t want to calm down!” Vivian, with unknown strength, kept pulling the zipper, determined to get it up. She wasn’t fat, she wasn’t! She had maintained her figure well to be able to perform on stage, for her musical, her dance, but how long had she been in Houston? Her newly bought dress couldn’t fit her anymore!

“Rip,” the well-made dress tore open at the zipper, Vivian looked at the zipper head in her hand, her mind briefly went blank, really brief-she suddenly took off the dress in front of Simpson, “I’m not going, whoever wants to go can go!”

Vivian angrily threw the dress at Simpson and locked herself in the bathroom.

Simpson was taken aback by her sudden outburst, he could understand Vivian to some extent-well, actually, he couldn’t quite understand Vivian’s feelings. Judging from the size of the clothes, she might have gained weight, but it didn’t affect her beauty. He found Vivian’s breakdown a bit inexplicable.

He went to knock on the bathroom door. The next second the bathroom door was hit by a heavy object, shaking a bit. Vivian was throwing things inside and yelling, “Don’t bother me, go away!”

Okay, even “go away” came out. Simpson shrugged and stopped trying to persuade Vivian.

Vivian heard footsteps growing distant, the room door opened and closed again, Simpson had left. She squatted on the bathroom floor, the cold tiles beneath her, but nothing felt as cold as her heart at that moment.

Vivian buried her head in her arms, hiding like an ostrich, burying herself away.

Houston was a city that couldn’t be friendly to her, she hadn’t encountered anything pleasant since she arrived.

She was forced to marry Alajos, she handed herself over to Alajos, but he remained indifferent to her. Her good friend Luzia was about to marry her cruel brother, and now she found out she had gained weight!

Vivian couldn’t accept this terrible reality, how big a blow it was for a musical actress to gain weight.

But she couldn’t figure out the reason for her weight gain. Was it because the days in Houston were too comfortable, or because the progress of this marriage was too depressing-emotions had a great impact on one’s appetite-people often had thoughts like, “I feel so sad, I need food to comfort my wounded heart,” or “I’m so happy today, I’ll treat myself to a big meal.”

…

Alajos and Simpson’s club was called the Celebrity Club, located on the twenty-third floor of the Celebrity Hotel, with a spiral staircase leading up to the twenty-fourth-floor hotel hall, two floors combined into a duplex, a club that integrated leisure and formality.

If there was an important banquet for the Hargrave family that couldn’t be held at the mansion, it would be held here.

Tonight, a charity auction was being held here as the main event.

As the host, Alajos arrived early, he stood with several celebrities, drinking and discussing business. Simpson escorted Luzia to the venue, reaching out to take a glass of champagne from a waiter’s tray.

Luzia naturally did not participate in their business discussions, she first greeted a few familiar sisters, then a gentleman came to invite her to dance, she glided elegantly into the dance floor, the waltz quietly flowed under their feet, surrounded by people’s praise and admiration.

Luzia enjoyed this moment of glory, as if all the admiring glances in the room fell on her, she was the esteemed Miss Hargrave, she was Luzia Hargrave.

Vivian would have been fine.

After the song ended, Luzia declined the next dance invitation from a man, lifted her skirt, and walked towards the dessert table. She looked around, the auction was about to start, people started to disperse, she didn’t see Alajos, nor did she see Simpson.

Luzia was preparing to go to the twenty-fourth floor, where tonight’s auction would take place. She had just turned around to leave when she saw Shelley hiding behind the dessert table.

“Hey, Shelley,” Luzia greeted her cheerfully, “Are you playing hide and seek with someone?” Luzia actually had a mocking tone, she and Shelley were not exactly friends.

Who knew Shelley didn’t pretend to be obedient and understanding to go along with her, she just looked up at Luzia, then looked away, ignoring her.

Luzia was a little surprised, why were Shelley’s eyes red? “Are you crying?”

Shelley was Charles’ daughter, who dared to bully her?

“Has Charles finally decided to marry you off to Roscente’s sixty-year-old geezer?” Luzia teased Shelley, hoping Shelley would jump up and grab her neck as she used to. She even leaned back slightly, waiting for Shelley to jump up so she could step back faster.

But no, Shelley just looked at her, then turned her head away.

Luzia was shocked, a thousand times over, could it be true?

Luzia didn’t want to marry Paavo before, now she didn’t want to marry Joseph, but her fate was never in her own hands, she saw Vivian’s suffering, and now she was experiencing the same suffering herself, she couldn’t bear to see others suffer the same way.

Although her relationship with Shelley had never been good, she was still very sad, “You…”

Luzia scratched her hair, somewhat awkwardly not knowing how to comfort her, “Stop crying, it’s no use just crying about it, you should talk to Charles about it, Roscente isn’t a formidable old man, he still has five sons vying for the family fortune, you won’t get anything by marrying him.”

“Who said I’m going to marry Roscente, don’t spread rumors,” Shelley wiped her tears, glaring at Luzia indignantly, “I knew you were a bad girl, hoping I’d have a hard time all the time.”

Luzia was also confused, “If it’s not marrying Roscente, why are you crying, it is not like…”

“Your dad’s dead,” such words naturally couldn’t burst out of a lady’s mouth.