Chapter 408: Rubbed Into the Ground
Chloe Alden hadn’t studied Kresslandish, so she couldn’t understand a word of what that leading Kressland lady and Cecilia were chattering about.
But when she saw Cecilia being led by the blonde, blue-eyed Kressland beauty, going up to those men one by one to ask for their contact info, the triumphant grin on Chloe’s face shattered instantly!
In just a couple of minutes, at least seven or eight Kressland men had given Cecilia their contact details, and the girlfriends holding onto their arms weren’t even mad!
What kind of magic did Cecilia Vaughn use on these people?!
"Cecilia Vaughn, you’re cheating! Stop right now!"
...
Cecilia turned her head coolly, her beautiful eyes lowered, long eyelashes fluttering like butterfly wings—elegant and captivating.
"Miss Alden, when did I cheat? Our original agreement was, no using money to bribe the other side. I never offered them any material temptations."
Chloe stared daggers at Cecilia, clenching her fists so tight her nails dug deep into her palms!
"Cecilia Vaughn, don’t you forget! We said from the start, besides finding teammates, you’re not allowed to bring in outside help!"
Chloe’s plan was brilliant to begin with; if she didn’t stomp Cecilia into the ground with today’s bet, she’d be letting down all the flirting she had to do!
But watching the votes flip before her eyes, how could she let herself lose now!
If she lost, she’d have to slap herself ten times and shout to those foreigners that she’s a filthy woman!
Such humiliating punishment—Chloe would never want to go through with it!
...
Seeing Chloe so eager to nail her to the pillar of shame for cheating, Cecilia didn’t get angry at all, instead she pulled her lips into a smirk.
"Miss Alden, I didn’t know Miss Shirley from Kressland beforehand, so there’s no collusion. I just asked her to introduce me to her male friends. If that’s cheating, wouldn’t that be a joke?"
"Besides, it was you who set the terms of the bet: to get contact info from these foreign men. Now, just because I took an indirect route and let a foreign woman introduce me, you want to say I lost?"
Chloe listened to Cecilia’s calm, word-by-word analysis, and the fire in her chest burned even hotter!
"You—"
"That’s just pure sophistry!"
Chloe stomped her feet in rage—what she loathed most about Cecilia was that ice-cold, aloof look, as if Chloe herself was just a clown jumping around.
Who says she gets to act like that?
This bitch is just relying on her little tricks and schemes!
Cecilia stared at Chloe’s twisted, furious face and couldn’t help but find it ridiculous, casually brushing off her sleeves.
"Miss Alden, the point of betting is to stay calm. Are you really thinking, just because you’re losing, you can randomly change the rules and refuse to accept defeat?"
Chloe stomp her foot viciously.
"So what if I don’t admit it! You deliberately set me up!"
Almost at the same time Chloe shouted, the manager of the drink shop awkwardly cleared his throat.
"Um... ladies... ten minutes are up. I wonder what your scores are..."
Fiona Vaughn nervously tightened her grip on her slip of paper, wishing she could shrink into nothing.
Mona Summers, on the other hand, was thrilled, waving her arms gleefully: "Eight! I knew we’d win this! Yay!"
...
Seeing Fiona still not letting go, the shop manager glanced at her.
"Miss Fiona, what about your side?"
Fiona bit her lip, looking pitiful, like she was begging everyone to please stop pressuring her.
But Mona stepped forward rudely and pried open her fingers without any ceremony.
"Hey, hey, hey, don’t be cowards! Is it really that hard to report your number?"
The crowd heard this and instantly started booing.
—Clearly Fiona’s side is losing, that’s why Eldest Miss Vaughn is winning!
Under everyone’s gaze, Fiona turned her face away in humiliation, eyes glistening as if she was bullied.
"Four... four..."
Cecilia saw Chloe Alden and Fiona clearly trying to worm their way out, and immediately shot Mona Summers a look, signaling her to keep an eye on Fiona and Chloe.
Fiona was pregnant, wearing high heels, so moving was hard—not much to worry about. But Chloe was another story.
Besides, Chloe would bear most of the consequences of the bet anyway.
If Cecilia let Chloe wriggle out of it so easily today, it wouldn’t satisfy the hatred in her heart!
If people don’t mess with me, I don’t mess with them. But if they do, sorry, everyone needs to learn what regret really means—
...
Fiona also caught Cecilia’s look.
Even though she wasn’t the one who had to fulfill the punishment, with things blown up like this, Fiona was embarrassed too.
"Sis, things have gotten this far... Chloe’s really unhappy, but everyone knows you’re the gentlest and most tolerant, the softest by nature, and the nicest of us all. Why not... just let today’s bet go..."
Fiona played the mediator, her expression soft and weak, Saintly as she pitifully bit her lip.
With Fiona using her moral guilt trip, Cecilia straightened her back even more.
She met Fiona’s gaze, half-smiling, her eyes now ice-cold and frosty.
"Fiona Vaughn, are you begging for Chloe? How come I remember, before the bet even started, you two told me—if I lost, I better not cry and beg you for mercy?"
"You swore to take responsibility if you lost, and now you want to break your word?"
Fiona’s wrist drooped in embarrassment, already cursing Chloe a million times in her heart.
—But if she watched Chloe slap herself and call herself a filthy woman, as her teammate who lost, she’d lose all dignity too!
"Sis, you did use some roundabout methods to get those contacts. Why make things so harsh?"
"Roundabout methods?"
Cecilia snorted coldly, "I didn’t stop you from using girls to get contact info from men. You couldn’t do it, so now you slander me for cheating?"
Called out, Fiona’s face turned awkward, her voice tinged with a tearful whine.
"Sis... we’re all good friends and high school classmates, it was just a joke, why take it so far?"
"A joke, huh. Who makes a joke suggesting you slap yourself and insult yourself?"
Cecilia surveyed Fiona coldly, then her knife-like gaze cut over to Chloe.
"Eldest Miss Alden, losers pay up. You can slap yourself now."
"Fine, I’ll do it—"
Chloe’s face went pale. She raised her arm—then swung straight at Cecilia Vaughn!