Chapter 1184: Ruth’s Lie
After leaving the hospital room, Sam hadn’t seen Pearl, but he didn’t feel like looking for her anyway.
She was a grown woman and surely wouldn’t get lost. Even if she did, it wasn’t his concern. Sam wasn’t worried about her being kidnapped either.
With her face, any potential kidnapper would probably be scared off. Just as he was about to drive away, a familiar voice called out from behind.
“Wait for me, Sam, I haven’t gotten in the car yet.”
Through the mirror, Sam saw Pearl with another woman trailing behind her. One Pearl was already enough to give him a headache, let alone another stranger. So Sam silently looked away, pretending not to hear her.
He stepped on the gas pedal, and the luxury car shot forward several meters. As the speed increased, he vanished at the intersection.
Pearl, trying to catch up, ran behind in her seven-centimeter stilettos.
“Idiot! How could you leave me behind… Ahchoo.”
“Sam, you big dummy… Did you forget we came together?”
Pearl couldn’t handle the beautiful yet restrictive shoes. Not only did they prevent her from catching up to Sam, but they also caused more trouble.
Her heel got stuck in a gap in the drain cover, and she twisted her ankle.
“Ouch, it hurts!”
Pearl’s pitiful cry attracted the attention of countless passersby. In the chaos, her designer coat fell to the ground, exposing her oily-green face to the air.
At that moment, time seemed to freeze like a still frame in a movie, and everything around was magnified infinitely.
Pearl looked panicked, while Ruth leaned forward, ready to rush to her rescue.
The expressions of the onlookers were varied. Some were shocked, some admiring, and even a young rascal looked at her with admiration.
The stalemate was broken by the little boy, who excitedly pointed at Pearl to his mother and said, “Mommy, look, Avatar is real! This lady is from the mysterious planet Pandora.”
The boy’s mother thought Pearl was performing some kind of art, so she quickly pulled her son away.
“Sorry, the kid just watched Avatar and got excited. Sorry for the disturbance.”
Miss Pearl grinned awkwardly, revealing her snow-white teeth, making her smile even uglier than tears.
“No worries.”
After the mother and son left, Pearl immediately broke down.
“Argh, damn you, Sam, you’ve made me a laughingstock!”
She vowed to give him a good lesson when she got back!
Ruth hurried over to support her friend’s arm, speaking well of Mr. Hurst while comforting her injured friend.
“Pearl, don’t be angry. Maybe Mr. Hurst just had something urgent and didn’t notice you.”
“No way, my voice was louder than thunder just now. Even if he was across the street, he should have heard me. I seriously suspect that old man did it on purpose!”
She believed he wanted to embarrass her.
After hearing her thoughts, Ruth dared not continue speaking up for Sam, fearing she might be implicated as well. She awkwardly changed the subject.
“How’s your foot now? Should we go to the hospital? It looks swollen; you probably can’t walk.”
Pearl resisted at the mention of the hospital. She was afraid the doctor would give her another bottle of “magic water.”
“Forget it, I just twisted it. I’ll go home and ice it; it’ll be fine.”
Ruth nodded.
“Alright, but how will you get back?”
Apart from Sam, Pearl only had her father’s number in her phone book, and she didn’t want to go home yet. If her father saw her face like this, she would lose all face.
Pearl suddenly made an unexpected decision.
“I’ll take a taxi and stay at your place for a couple of days!”
“Huh?”
Ruth’s face changed slightly, and she stood there, unsure whether to continue forward.
“You, you want to stay at my place?”
Pearl draped an arm over her shoulder, putting half her weight on Ruth.
“Yeah, we’ve known each other for so many years, and I’ve never been to your place.”
“Look at my face, how dare I go back.”
“And I was in such a hurry that I forgot my wallet, so I have no money on me. I’ll just crash at your place for a few days, okay?”
As Pearl spoke, Ruth was frightened and quickly raised her hands to explain.
“No, no, Pearl, you’ve got it wrong. I’m not unwelcoming; it’s just that my place…”
“Hmm? What about your place? If it’s inconvenient, forget it.”
If things didn’t work out, she could just call Sam and stay at his place. A night or two wouldn’t make much difference.
Ruth’s change of color was entirely due to guilt. She had fabricated a lie and now had to use more lies to cover it up. The snowball of lies was getting bigger and was on the verge of being exposed.
Thinking of this, she suddenly took a deep breath, closed her eyes tightly, and tremblingly said:
“Pearl, I’m sorry, I lied to you.”
“I’m not from a wealthy family at all, and my dad doesn’t own a company. In fact, my family is very poor!”NôvelDrama.Org holds text © rights.
After summoning the courage to say all this, Ruth suddenly felt much lighter.
“It’s so liberating not to carry the burden of lies. I’ve been so stupid, I’m really sorry.”
Pearl looked at her puzzled, her bright and clear eyes full of confusion.
“Ruth, what are you talking about? What lie?”
This matter had to be traced back three years ago when Pearl, studying abroad, unexpectedly received a message in a bottle on an international website. The message contained the grievances and injustices of a self-deprecating girl in her family.
She had never deigned to let others know her secrets before, but that day, perhaps influenced by that letter, Pearl wrote a reply.
At that time, she didn’t know if her reply would be seen by the owner of the bottle.
But fate worked mysteriously.
Three days later, when she logged back on to the website, she actually received a greeting from the owner of the bottle.
She also shared her second secret in life.
Two strangers who didn’t know each other exchanged secrets, becoming true friends of the soul.
Afterward, they exchanged contact information, and Ruth became her first friend in Tondende through the internet.
When she returned to her country, the first thing she did was not to go home but to meet the female friend she had been “talking” to for five years.
The Ruth in real life was not much different from the one she knew online.
Equally kind, naive, shy, and gentle, Ruth and she were completely different personalities.
They quickly became familiar with each other, talking about everything.
Knowing it was Ruth’s birthday that day, Pearl paid for a birthday party at the most expensive hotel in Tondende.
During that time, she had never been to Ruth’s house.
Every time Pearl dropped her off at the entrance of the neighborhood, Ruth would get out of the car first and say she wanted to walk back by herself.
Ruth’s eyes turned slightly red, and she didn’t answer Pearl’s question directly.
Instead, she waved for a carriage and helped the injured Pearl into it.
“You’ll understand once you come with me.”
“Driver, go to the Low-Rent Neighborhood of Srilgan.”