Love the Second Time Around Novel

Chapter 95 The End Of The Matter

Since the hotel lobby was so crowded, it would be troublesif Nicholas was recognized.

I pulled him to a quiet corner and said, “Nicholas, can you helpcall Shannon and ask her to hurry back? |

can’t return to my room as | didn’t bring my key card.”

Nicholas took off his coat, draped it over my body, and pulledalong toward the direction of the elevator.

He toldShannon had already headed back to her room and that we had probably missed out on each other.

Indeed, when we got to my floor, | saw that the door, which was tightly closed earlier, was now open ajar.

Upon seeing me, Shannon ran toward me. “Where did you go? When | cto look for you just now, | was

scared to death when | saw your belongings but not you.”

Nicholas, who had been standing at one side, chimed in, “Let's talk later. You're drenched; hurry and go take a

warm shower first.”

| nodded and headed into the bathroom after grabbing the clothes on the bedside.

When | got out of the bathroom, Nicholas passeda glass of ginger ale, saying it could prevent one from

getting the flu.

Upon finishing it up, | turned to Nicholas and Shannon who were both looking at me. “About what happened

today... Can you guys not ask anything?”

The two stared atintently for stbefore agreeing at the stime.

And after staying for a while longer, Nicholas left my room.

With his departure, | then told Shannon that I did not want to return to the production set anymore and asked her

to bring back photos going forward forto draw in the hotel.

The reason was that there was a possibility | would bump into Dominic at the set and I did not want that to

happen.

Shannon agreed to my requests readily. She askedto get srest and that she would wakeup later.

As such, | shut my eyes, snuggled into the blanket, and curled myself up comfortably.

| was indeed tired out since | had woken up early that morning and had put myself through Dominic's threat and

torment throughout the day.

Soon after shutting my eyes, | fell into a deep sleep and had sgood dreams.

That dream began with Dominic andbeing intimate, but gradually, there was a growing distance between us.

No matter how hard | called him and chased after him, | did not get his reply, nor was | able to catch up to him.

But that was not a big deal. What | could not accept was that someone was next to Dominic. It turned out to be

Camille.

Seeing the two appearing so lovey-dovey and even ganging up to criticize me, | instantly jolted awake from my

sleep, soaked in a cold sweat.

| found a stain on my pillow; it was wet to the touch.

Did | cry while | was sleeping?

“You're awake, Liliana? Let's go get sfood,” Shannon said as she lifted her head to look at me.

| was not hungry, nor had | any appetite for food. All | wanted was salcohol.

However, Shannon was unwilling to go out withand attract unwanted attention since | was still considered an

enemy of the public.

At last, she went out alone and bought back salcohol and food.

That night, I got drunk before I could finish all the drinks. | was so drunk that | had a hard tgetting out of bed

the next day.

On the other hand, Shannon was in good condition and left a note saying that she had left for the production set.

| browsed through Twitter and found that the news ofand Nicholas was still the top trending topic. One of the

other trending topics was again related to Nicholas, albeit it was about his relationship with Scarlett.

Those were the works of fans who wanted to see the two together. The comments below the articles, however,

were still as unpleasant as ever.

| thought Nicholas and Scarlett were a match made in heaven. |, on the other hand, was more suited to lead a

simple and peaceful life.

Seeing how rapidly things evolved in the entertainment industry, | figured rumors between Nicholas and me

would be drowned by other happenings very soon.

Dominic did not cto look forsince that day, so | enjoyed a few days of peace.

The only not-so-successful thing was that my drafts kept getting returned after submission, with Flash claiming

that they were not up to standards.

| ended up editing my drafts so many times until | beclost as to what | should do. Finally, out of the blue, my

submission was accepted for no apparent reason.

| was so exhausted from the editing that | leaned against the head of the bed and thought to myself that

Dominic probably had something to do with all of this.

As | thought about Dominic, | could not help but be reminded of Camille, too.

Being best friends with her for four years, | was clueless that she was such a two-faced person.

| guessed she was so long used to acting that putting on a facade was by now second nature to her. Even a

clever man like Dominic could easily be cajoled.

After several days, those online rumors finally died down.

Luckily, my parents did not follow entertainment news. Therefore, when | called home, they did not seem to

know about the matter. The exception was Lou, who kept askingquestions.

In any case, | brushed them off casually, telling him to see it with a pinch of salt.

That morning, | had just begun drawing in the hotel when my phone rang.

| answered the call and to my surprise, it was Vicky Lynch, my class representative at university. We had not

been in contact for a very long time.

At first, | thought she wanted to throwsimpactful news. After exchanging a few pleasantries, | realized

she only wanted to askto attend a reunion.

It had been five years since we graduated. Our class had never held any gatherings before: this would be the

first time.

Nonetheless, | was slightly reluctant to attend. Back then, Camille was closest toand | was only

acquaintances with the rest. Since | was not on good terms with Camille anymore, | figured there was no point in

attending the event.

| did not want to reject Vicky upfront since she had specially contactedabout it, so | gave an ambiguous

answer saying that | would attend if | had the time.

After our call ended, | resumed drawing without paying any heed to the class party at all.

During that period, | barely left the hotel and I did not visit the production set. All I did was stay in the hotel room

to work on my drawings.

Perhaps Dominic had been busy entertaining Camille, so the drafts | sent over the last few times were accepted

without fuss.

Nicholas, conversely, still contactedand had casual chats over Whatfrom tto time.

On Saturday night, as | was lying on my bed fiddling with my phone, Nicholas textedagain. He asked if we

could have dinner together tomorrow night since he would be free.

| smiled at that message, recalling that | had previously agreed to treat him to a meal.

Since he was free and | had no other plans, it was not a problem for me.

The next morning, my phone rang. It was Vicky calling to remindto turn up for the reunion that night.

In fact, | had forgotten all about it since | had no intention of attending the event from the start. Besides, | had

agreed to a dinner date with Nicholas so | naturally had a good excuse not to go.

At noon, | headed to the restaurant earlier than the agreed twith Nicholas. | had placed a reservation for a

private room beforehand.

The waiter ledin as | followed behind her. But before we got to the private room, someone calledfrom

behind.

“Liliana Zanetti? Is that you, Liliana? Oh my gosh, | thought you weren't coming!”