Page 17 of My Ruthless Neighbor

Iheard the best things happen unexpectedly. I am in Hawaii. Yeah, that’s right. I won the lottery and became a millionaire overnight. Now I am sightseeing in Maui, living my best life.

I am sorry, I’m just kidding.

Here’s a little update on my life. A lot has changed since I was kicked out of KIM Advertising a little over a week ago. And not in the best way.

After Archer smashed my self-respect and stomped all over its shards, I found a waitressing gig in a dive bar not far away from my apartment.

I couldn’t even last three days there. I punched a drunk asshole who tried to cop a feel. I may be desperate but that doesn’t mean I would tolerate this bullshit.

So long story short, I was fired. The bar owner refused to pay me the day’s wages. He said I was lucky they didn’t call the cops on me.

I was jobless yet again. And I still didn’t have enough money to pay my apartment’s rent.

Compulsion made me approach the resort owner in the hopes of getting hired full-time. But they had mermaid shows only on weekends. So he couldn’t help me.

To escape Mrs. Bowers, I began using the fire escape to get in and out of my apartment. I sent her a text explaining I was out of town for a few days because of a family emergency. I have no family but she doesn’t know that.

Raleigh was my last hope. And as much as it hurt to ask him for financial help, I knew I had to call him. He is my best friend. My only friend to be honest. He is more like a brother I never had. It should be easy to turn to him when I am in need, right? After all, we made a pact to be each other’s pillar forever.

But there was this uneasiness in my chest at the thought of calling him. I don’t like asking for help. From anyone. Even him.

For some, it might come across as absurd, but I can’t explain it. I have always been independent. I prefer to take care of myself. Part of the reason why I never let anyone get close to me.

I don’t want to be dependent on anyone. Both financially and emotionally.

I was kind of relieved when my calls to Raleigh went unanswered. He’s always busy so I didn’t think much of it. But that changed when I read an article about him online.

He was getting married to his nemesis, Hannah Cooper.

I couldn’t believe what I was reading, so I did some internet searching. And found out that he was getting married in Hawaii! On some billionaire’s resort.

The news was also trending on Twitter.

Why would a billionaire sponsor Raleigh’s destination wedding? Things weren’t adding up. So I did some more digging and found out the reason.

The billionaire, Mr. Smith wasn’t doing this out of the goodness of his heart. No. Raleigh and Hannah are promoting his resort by getting married there.

He wanted his advertising campaign to be based on true love. So the star employees of KIM Advertising came up with a plan that worked in both their favor.

My eyebrows reached the ceiling when I found TMZ’s published article about their engagement and the upcoming nuptials.

This was pure genius. The other website stated.

My fiancé wanted a fairytale wedding and through this campaign, Mr. Smith helped make this possible—Raleigh Jackson, RJ. Creative Director of KIM Advertising.

Of course, I didn’t believe a single word. Raleigh and Hannah? Never. Because he hates her. With a passion.

I wanted to know what was happening though. Was it a publicity stunt? Was it a planned strategy for his advertising campaign?

My questions were answered when he called me. Actually, we face-timed. He was at some exotic resort. And he was indeed getting married. But it was all for show.

Raleigh and Hannah wanted to snag the billionaire client so they came up with the whole idea of getting married at the resort.

As I was listening to him, I knew one thing. I couldn’t tell him about my situation.

He was already stressed with all the drama and I didn’t want to add more to his stress.

So instead of telling him that I was about to be homeless any day, I asked him to book me a ticket to Hawaii.

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