Love's New Bloom by Simone Hastings

Chapter 88 Go Separate Ways

Erin opened her eyes to see her cousin staring fiercely down at her, and she was drenched all over.

She could not contain the fiery flames of fury rising within her too. “What’s gotten into you, May?”

Seeing the innocent look on Erin’s face, May screamed, “What’s gotten into me? Who allowed you to

wear my clothes without my permission?”

“Your clothes?”

May held a creased Chanel top and spat at her, “What’s this, Erin? Are you going to tell me that this is

yours?”

Her rude attitude made Erin feel extremely disheartened. She had not even been able to bring herself

to question May about everything she just learned.

But now, May was shouting and screaming at her over a mere shirt. Erin looked at the shirt aloofly. It

was the shirt that Chandler had used to cover her face earlier on. Who would have known that it was

such an expensive piece?

“Is this really how you’re treating me over a shirt?”

Erin’s words did not lead May to reflect on her actions Instead, she answered even more rudely, “Don’t

act like you don’t care. about it! This isn’t a shirt that you can afford! You’re no longer the person you

used to be You’re just a divorcee with not even a house to your name! And now, you’ve even gotten

yourself thrown out of your superior’s mansion! Now that we’re renting at place, you’ve resorted to

stealing my clothes?”

“Are you done yet, May?” Erin wasn’t foolish enough to be bullied by just anyone. Since May was

behaving like such a spoiled brat, she no longer wished to stay with her.

“How am I supposed to wear this shirt now that it’s in such a state? I don’t care, Erin! You’re paying me

for it!” May threw a

tantrum.

Erin had never expected this cousin of hers, whom she had helped out of a difficult position many a

time, to talk about paying her! Had she not been through those documents, she might never have

known that she had turned out this way!

Erin simply asked impassively, “Pay? How do you propose I pay you?”

1

“150 thousand dollars! Not a penny less!” May stood with arms aldmbo in an unmistakably greedy

demeanor.

Had Erin not seen for herself how May was behaving, she never would have believed that her cousin

had changed so much. overnight.

Disheartened, she said, “I’ll pay you for it. Now please get out of my room. I need to change!”

May looked at Erin’s disheveled and drenched state and went out without another word.

Erin immediately shut the door behind her.

20 minutes later, Erin walked out with her luggage behind her. When she entered May’s room, May was

gaming with her earphones plugged in.

She immediately removed her earphones when she saw Erin standing with her luggage. “Where are

you going, Erin?”

Erin couldn’t help feeling like she didn’t know May anymore. She laughed dryly. “This is 50 thousand

dollars in cash in this envelope, May. It was meant to be for you to purchase more merchandise for the

online store, but right now, I’m officially informing you that your help is no longer required. I’ll handle the

store myself.”

May was so shocked by the sudden announcement that she leaped off her bed. “What do you mean by

this, Erin? Make yourself clear! Are you kicking me out of the online store? Besides, my shirt is worth

150 thousand! You’re trying to worm your way out of it with only 50 thousand?”

“I’m letting slide the 120 thousand dollars you took from the store’s funds. You do not need to replace

them anymore. 30 thousand dollars from this envelope and the 120 thousand you took from the store

will be your compensation for the shirt.

1/3

The remaining 20 thousand will cover your rent here for half a year!”

The disappointment was plain on Erin’s face. “I’ve found out about the truth behind you slandering

Chandler. From now on, I shall not concern myself with any of your problems anymore. Take care,

May.”

With that, she placed the money on the table and turned to leave.

May was dumbfounded. Her expression changed from one minute to the next. She had not expected

Erin to find out the truth.

about the incident.

Ultimately, she did not go after Erin when she heard her leave. Instead, she immediately walked over to

the table and opened up the envelope Erin left behind. She was overjoyed to find a thick wad of cash in

there.

After a moment’s reflection, she felt like she had been shortchanged. Had she known that money came

so easily, she would have told Erin that the shirt cost much more! Who knew a counterfeit Chanel shirt

was all it took to hoodwink Erin?

An hour later, with nowhere to go, Erin ended up at a fast food chain restaurant.

It was a noisy place with people from all walks of life, so she did not attract any attention even when

she walked in with luggage.

The fast food chain had many stores all around the city, but as luck would have it, Erin bumped into

Dana, her ex–colleague.

And it just so happened that Erin had queued up right behind Dana. As she was occupied with her

thoughts, she didn’t take note of the people around her.

It wasn’t until Dana turned around with her tray in hand that she spotted Erin.

A hint of jealousy rose in Dana’s eyes. She was still not over being fired by Caleb.

She had been waiting for a chance to enact revenge. Now that Erin was standing there right before her,

there was no way she would let her go just like that.

She broke out into a wide smile. “Erin! Fancy meeting you here!”

Erin looked up at her awkwardly. But now that Dana had addressed her, she couldn’t very well pretend

she didn’t know her, so she smiled politely at her too. “Yes, what a coincidence meeting you here! Are

you on a break?” Erin asked offhandedly.

Dana answered with a smile. “Yeah, I’m on a break! It’s been so long since we’ve met, Erin. Come

meet me when you’re done getting your food. Let’s have a nice catch–up session!” she invited so

enthusiastically that Erin had no choice but to agree.

It was only when Dana went to find herself a seat that Erin realized she could have just told her that

she was having her food

to go.

A while later, Erin got her food. She had a mind to ignore Dana and pass her by inconspicuously, but

Dana had her eyes on Erin from where she sat and waved her over. Erin saw no alternative but to go

over.

Though Erin could not be sure that Dana was involved in getting her drugged, she was now more wary

of her than before. Furthermore, Dana had also plagiarized another person’s design and submitted it to

the design competition as her own. That was a despicable move in Erin’s eyes.

The moment Erin sat down, Dana started chattering away. From her constant probing, she learned that

Erin was also considered unemployed. That made her feel a lot better. When she discovered that Erin

wasn’t romantically involved with Caleb, her eyes shone with delight.

“I’ll be going back to my hometown tomorrow, Erin. It might be a long while before I come back. Since

I’m in such luck to bump into you, let’s get Milly and Ella to join us for some fun tonight! Take it as a

send–off for me. How’s that?” Dana asked expectantly.

Erin found it difficult to decline her invitation when she put it that way, so she agreed.

“Great! See you tonight! I’ll be waiting!”

2/3

At 8pm, Erin stood in front of the mirror in her hotel room. She was satisfied with her attire for the night.

She knew the three other ladies would be all dolled up, but she wasn’t interested in being the center of

attention.

Now that she had fallen out with May, she wouldn’t return to the rented apartment. So essentially, she

had nowhere to return. to. She couldn’t very well disturb Holly now, especially since she had just met a

new person. Her new boyfriend seemed to be at wealthy man too.

If Erin bunked at Holly’s, it would bring her a lot of inconvenience if she invited her boyfriend to stay

over.

Erin decided that she would start looking for a new place to rent first thing the next day.

She would rent a place first, and then she could start surveying for a place to buy for herself. She still

had five million dollars.

on her card.

As her mother had said, it was high time she started saving up for a place of her own. Once she bought

her own house, she would always have a place to return to. It would be her safe haven.

At 9pm, Erin took a taxi to the private club that Dana mentioned. It wasn’t until she arrived that she

discovered it was a club meant for ladies. The place was full of male escorts! 1

Erin sat awkwardly in their private room. Dana had picked out four male escorts to accompany them in

the room.

A dandily–dressed man sat beside Erin, and Dana started teasing her, “Don’t be shy, Erin. You’re now

divorced, anyway. I’ll pay for everything tonight. You just have all the fun you want tonight!”