It was a cheap and disgusting trick, but it worked.
In situations like this, most people wouldn’t make a scene to save face. They’d just assume the other person had stood in the wrong spot by mistake.
Paige Parrish was betting on the fact that Lily wouldn’t dare to challenge her on stage. Besides, her assistant had told her that even if people later found out she’d stolen Lily’s spot, she could just claim her assistant had gotten it wrong and push all the blame onto them.
A smug look Paige Parrish could no longer hide spread across her face. But in the next second, a hand shot out from the gap between her and Yuna Sutton. With a firm push, it shoved Paige two steps to the side.
Stunned, Paige Parrish turned around, coming face-to-face with Lily Sterling’s smiling face. But the voice that reached her ears was cold. "Know your place."
Before Paige Parrish could react, Lily took advantage of her slender figure and squeezed herself into the already tight space.
Yuna Sutton smiled, turning to look at her and whispering, "Nice one!"
Lily Sterling kept smiling. ’If this were the past, I definitely would’ve just put up with it and let it slide.’
But not anymore. She refused to let herself be wronged. That was a promise she had made to her sister!
The people to the left had to shuffle over one by one. Paige Parrish was both mortified and furious. The smug grin on her face turned into an awkward one. ’She couldn’t believe Lily actually dared to shove her out of the way!’
This scene was, of course, broadcast live. Watching on her phone, Cecilia Sterling saw her younger sister’s assertive side and couldn’t help but smile, pleased.
But a second later, she remembered she had important business to attend to. She had to get to the bottom of what was going on with Lily.
Meanwhile, Jasmine Sterling was busy at her office, completely unaware of what had just transpired.
A knock came at her office door, and Jasmine Sterling looked up.
"Jasmine."
Lawson, the receptionist, came in holding a bouquet. "These are for you."
Jasmine was surprised. "Who are they from?"
Lawson glanced at the attached card. "They’re from a Mr. Vance," he replied.
Upon hearing that, Jasmine pressed her fingers to her forehead and took a deep breath. Then, she nodded. "Just put them on the desk."
Lawson set the flowers down and left the room.
Jasmine stared at the flowers for a moment, then picked up her phone from the desk. She was about to call Finn Vance and tell him to stop doing things like this.
But before she could dial, a video call from WhatsApp popped up on her screen.
It was her mother!
Jasmine immediately declined the video call and dialed her number instead.
"Jasmine, why didn’t you answer my video call?"
Her mother’s displeased voice came through the moment the call connected.
Jasmine used the same old excuse. "My phone’s camera is broken. I still haven’t gotten it fixed."
"Oh, honestly, if the camera’s broken, just get a new phone! This is getting in the way."
But Jasmine was deliberately avoiding her mother’s video calls. She wouldn’t answer them at home, and she certainly wouldn’t answer them at the office.
’If her mother found out she was now living in a villa and running a company, she could only imagine the trouble that would follow.’
’Her mother was capable of setting her up on a blind date with some old man just for money. Jasmine knew her mother all too well.’
"Mom, did you need something? I’m at work," Jasmine asked.
The last time they’d spoken was over the New Year. As a daughter, she still had to call, wish her mother a happy new year, and send a red envelope. But she hadn’t sent much—just five cents, the same as every year.
"Work? What kind of work are you still doing?"
"I’m a cleaner."
"A cleaner?" her mother exclaimed. "Good grief, why are you still working as a cleaner? Isn’t Lily a big star now? Doesn’t she give you the money she earns?"
Hearing this, Jasmine’s heart dropped.
’No matter how hard she’d tried to hide it, she’d failed in the end. As Lily got more and more famous, her public exposure grew.’
’Even though her mother had never once met Lily, someone was bound to recognize her from the photos Jasmine had posted on social media ages ago.’
Jasmine said calmly, "What she gives me is her business, but I can’t just sit around doing nothing. Mom, did you actually need something? If not, I’m going to get back to work. I have a pile of things to do."
"I do," her mother said quickly, then added bluntly, without a hint of hesitation or shame, "Your brother wants to go in with some people to open a factory. He needs to get some money from you."
’Listen to that,’ Jasmine thought. ’Not even "borrow," just "get."’
"What scheme is he cooking up now?" Jasmine said impatiently. "How many of his messes have you cleaned up already? Wasn’t that supermarket he was running doing just fine? Can’t he just live a stable life for once?"
"Why are you saying all that? Is your own brother not allowed to ask you for anything?" her mother said defensively, clearly favoring her son. "The child you raised has made it big now. I heard from Xiao Chao that celebrities can make tens, even hundreds of dollars for a single TV episode. What’s wrong with giving your brother a little bit of that?"
"And don’t you dare say you don’t have it! You picked that girl up and raised her for twenty years. After all that hard work, who else is she going to give her money to, if not you?"
Jasmine’s irritation flared at her mother’s words.
She shot back, her voice sharp with annoyance, "Mom, I’ll say this one more time: Lily is my daughter. My biological daughter. From now on, if I hear anyone say she’s some girl I ’picked up,’ they’ll have me to answer to."
"And another thing—I raised Lily. Me, by myself. It has nothing to do with you or my brother. So why on earth should she give her money to him?"
"Oh, listen to you, getting a temper!" her mother shrieked into the phone. "Cut the useless chatter. Your brother needs money now. Just tell me, are you going to give it to him or not!"
Jasmine pressed her fingers to her forehead, taking a deep breath to calm herself down.
Anger was one thing, but she knew her mother’s temper. If she refused to give her a single cent, the old woman would raise absolute hell.
She wasn’t afraid of much, but she was terrified her mother would expose the truth about Lily’s birth.
That was why, for all these years, she had never taken Lily back to her hometown—too many people, too many wagging tongues. She was afraid Lily would learn the truth.
Because Lily wasn’t her biological daughter. Jasmine had found her in a park one cold autumn in Veridia and brought her home.
"How much does he need?" Jasmine asked coldly.
But her mother’s demand was outrageous. "300!"
"How much?" Jasmine laughed in anger. "Tell him to go rob a bank!"
"Is 300 a lot? A star can make that easily!"
"I told you, Lily’s money has nothing to do with you. What I give him comes from my own pocket. I’ll give him 50. Take it or leave it!"
Hearing this, her mother turned to her younger son beside her, held up five fingers, and mouthed, "Fifty."
Seeing this, Connor Sterling shook his head repeatedly. "That’s too little, Mom. Eighty! Tell my sister eighty!"
"Eighty!" her mother relayed instantly. "You give eighty, and we’ll figure out the rest."
"Fifty. Take it or leave it. Don’t want it? Then you get nothing. I’m hanging up."
"Wait, wait, wait! We’ll take it, we’ll take it. Fifty is fine," her mother said, seething. "You’ve really grown distant after all these years away. Even to your own brother, you..."
Jasmine couldn’t be bothered to listen to her mother’s nonsense and cut her off. "Have Connor write me an IOU and text me a picture of it. No note, no money."
Her mother choked on her words. "You..."
But Jasmine had already hung up the phone.