The Villain's Redemption

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"I— That is true." Sarah avoided her gaze before she gave her a lifeless smile.

"Is there something wrong?"

Sarah shook her head. "No. I just envy you. I wish I had the guts to leave everything just like you." Bella stared at Sarah as a long stretch of silence descended between the two. A part of her immediately felt pity and sympathy towards the female lead. It was like she wanted to pull her to a hug. However, she knew this should be something caused by her protagonist\'s aura.

Like all protagonists, people had the tendency to just blindly follow them and believe everything that they say. She gulped before letting out a sigh. "Just… I think it is best that you just follow your heart." Bella uttered. Right now, she was slowly realizing that scheming against people and acting like the bad person was extremely easy for her. However, acting nice to someone is a bit challenging. Why was it like this?

Was she really the big bad villain and that\'s why she was punished?

Sarah\'s low laughter woke her up from her stupor. It looked like she really was the Big Bad Villain huh. "You know… you always knew I am always awkward when it comes to conversations like this."

"I know." Sarah smiled. "At least you haven\'t changed since the last time that I saw you." Another melancholic smile lingered on Sarah\'s face. "I\'m sorry for just breaking down like that. I just… I haven\'t seen you for years. I wasn\'t there when you married Su Xieren and I wasn\'t there when you divorced her so… I felt like I miss a lot of things in your life."

"Hmmm. You don\'t look happy." Bella decided to \'investigate\'. She wasn\'t really being nosy. This was only her gathering information about the villain. Research— as the experts would call it.

"I— Really?"

"I can tell," Bella said. "I had uh… I had the same eyes back then."

This made Sarah paused. She looked out of the glass window and looked at Daniel who was casually talking with Mo Li. "He loves me." She uttered.

"I know. I can see it. The way, he held you while you were crying." Bella nodded as she waited for the BUT in her statement.

"But…" as expected Sarah uttered. "But It was too much. It was suffocating." she sighed and looked at the waitress who gave them their cake. "I wish I was like you. I just… I was never the type to stand up for myself." Another sigh escaped Sarah\'s lips. "He said, he loved me too much not to get jealous. He loved me too much to give me some time alone with myself. He loved me too much that he doesn\'t want me to work and stay at home all day. He is a CEO. He could definitely support me if he wanted to."

Bella pursed her lips. For some reason, she felt strongly towards women who were abused. She couldn\'t explain it. "Please tell me he isn\'t controlling your clothing and your finances too."

Sarah eyed her. "That— He said he loved me too much— "

"Bullshit," Bella uttered lowly and watched as the surprise settled on Sarah\'s face. "Really Sarah? I thought you were smarter than me?" This woman was considered a genius. What the hell happened to the genius protagonist that could do everything? Hack a computer, dance, sing, paint, play instruments. Where is that genius?

"Does this really have to do with being smart?" Sarah chuckled. "Our marriage is set to happen in the fall next year. Just… Just before the election. I hope I would see you there."

"I hope not," Bella uttered and shrugged. "I\'m not going to tell you to leave. I just want to ask you something."

"Hm?"

"Are you dead?" Bella asked.

"Hm?" For a few seconds, confusion flashed in Sarah\'s eyes. "What— What are you talking about? Of course, I\'m alive."

Bella snorted. "I chose this place for a reason. Just remember, you\'re not dead. Just broken." She uttered. "You can either die like that or change it." Then she suddenly stood from her seat and put a few dollars. "My treat. I think you didn\'t have the money to pay too." She gave the woman a kind smile before she gave her a calling card. "Call me if you need anything."

"Wouldn\'t you want to know where I was staying? I— "

"If I wanted to know," Bella said with full of confidence. "I would know without asking you." Of course, this was because her backer was Mo Li. Heh, that man could easily find Sarah.

"I— " Sarah eyed the confident smile on her sister\'s face and watched as she left the cafe without sparing her another glance. Tough love. This has always been Bella\'s style. At least, this was always how she treated her when they were younger. Sarah sigh. Bella was always the strong one, the one who would stand up for her belief, the independent one. While everyone knew that Sarah was smarter because of her accomplishments in school, Sarah knew that this wasn\'t the truth. Bella was the smart one. It\'s just that she refused to have the attention for herself.

When they were younger, she always remembered Bella changing her assignment answers making sure that she wouldn\'t get the perfect score. She knew that Bella was capable to get the perfect score but she would never do something that makes everyone think she was smarter than Sarah.

When they grew older, Sarah wondered why Bella would always act like this. She was independent and never needed attention or acknowledgment. At some point, she thought that Bella was deliberately doing this so the family wouldn\'t want to dictate her marriage. After all, she wasn\'t the smart one nor the pretty one. Why would they want her to marry into another family that they liked?

Sarah started to hate this side of Bella. However, she soon realized that her elder sister was just the type of person that hated the limelight. She doesn\'t attend any big gatherings and would dress like she wasn\'t the daughter of some influential family in the city. She always thought that spending too much on makeup doesn\'t make sense. Bella was so unlike her that they slowly grew apart.

Then Bella knew that she was actually the daughter of someone who wanted to marry their father, despite the man already having a fiance. Bella\'s mother was an evil woman who just… wanted to break an engagement. Someone who wanted to become a socialite. Soon, Bella grew colder. That was around the time that she started seeing Mo Li.

Of course, the family thought she was just trying to rebel.

Who would have known that Bella didn\'t know who Mo Li was? As stupid as it may sound, this was actually true. It was because Bella didn\'t attend those events and Mo Li just came back from abroad.

"Ready?" Daniel\'s voice woke her up from her stupor. Sarah smiled as she lifted her head. "Are you alright?"

"Yes. I just realized that my sister… my sister never really changed. She was the same as before."

Daniel gave her a warm smile as he pulled her closer towards him. "Is that a good thing? Or a bad thing?"

"I think it\'s a good— "

"Hey, Mr? I think you are staring at my fiance too frequently. Is there a problem?" Daniel\'s sudden irritation made Sarah froze. While this wasn\'t the first time that it happened, she had already talked to him about things like this. Daniel can do something like this outside of the country since no one knows them.

But how could he still act like a jealous dog here?

"Hey, Daniel… let\'s just leave. It\'s not worth it."

"Why would you want to leave? That man had been staring at you since we arrived earlier. He and his friends were looking at you as if they were undressing you! How could I just let this pass?\'

"Daniel…" she tried to pull him towards the exit but the man was simply not budging. "Daniel look… we can\'t do this…"

"Why are you tolerating them? Do you like it when people stared at you like that?"

"Daniel, how could you?"

"How could I what?" Daniel slowly turned his attention towards the group of men that were staring daggers at him.

"Son, your fiance is right. You should leave this place immediately. We were just staring at random beauties. There is no harm in appreciating women." Laughter followed the man\'s words. "Aiyo… Look at him glaring at me like he wanted to actually fight me."

"Ah? Is this the case of a lamp challenging a lion in his den?" Another laughter followed.

"Look Dany… let\'s just leave. Alright? Why don\'t we just… leave? We can talk once we get home?"

"Leave me alone! This person needed a lesson!" Daniel fumed. The more he looked at their dirty gazes, the more irritated he became. What got him more furious was the fact that Sarah was actually siding with these fools!