Crystal was taken by surprise, and she was bewildered. She looked at Lucy, the housekeeper, and said, “Who would come to see me, HERE?!?!?”
Lucy: “I’m not sure. He didn’t say. He has a lot of belongings with him, though. He brought a coffee table, a sofa, and all kinds of famous brand bags and cosmetics like Chanel, Dior, and Louis Vuitton….”
Upon hearing that there was a guest - a stranger! -in his house, and that it sounded like he thought he was moving in, Todd stood up quickly and rushed into the next room, with Crystal, Carlos, and Joyce following right behind him. And as Todd turned the corner, he gasped. “Principal Ford,” he whispered, “what are you doing here, and what do you want from my daughter?”
Todd quickly regained his composure, and before Mr. Ford could reply, he asked, “What happened? Didn’t Evan make it clear that we’re willing to invest in the university? I know that Crystal has brought a lot of trouble to the school and shamed the school’s good name. I’m very sorry that that happened, and I am ashamed to have such a daughter. I had hoped, though, that you could do me a special favor and give her a second chance. Of course, if she does something wrong again, you could consider expelling her then.”
Shame the university... ashamed to have such a daughter - These words ricocheted through Crystal’s mind. They were like slaps across her face, and they were extremely hurtful.
Mr. Ford sighed, and he said, “No. Mr. Henry, it’s all my fault: everything is. I shouldn’t have expelled Crystal. The university has withdrawn the decision, and I’m here to apologize to Crystal in person. I am returning the money to you. Some of it was spent, and these things you see before you are the things that I purchased - except for the handbags and cosmetics, which are gifts for Crystal.
“You should know, too, that I have been relieved of my position at Saint University, and I am being relocated to a remote mountain where I will teach younger students.”
Todd: “Isn’t demoting a headmaster of a well-known business university to a teaching position in a remote region equal to killing him?”
Mr. Ford: “It is. But it is what it is... and it all happened very quickly. All I can say is that Mr. Davis must know some very powerful people to have pulled this off! I tried to do a background check on him, but I couldn’t find anything. I don’t even know who hired him or if he has legitimate teaching credentials!”
Todd: “That is terrible, but I still don’t see what this has to do with Crystal or why you would buy her all of these beautiful/expensive bags and cosmetics.”
Mr. Ford: “I heard that girls like cosmetics and bags, and -”
Before Mr. Ford could finish his sentence, Joyce interrupted him by shouting to her Mother: “Mom, come and see!” She held up one of the bags from the pile. “This is Chanel’s latest model! I’ve wanted it for a very long time, but it’s always out of stock!”
Jessica walked in slowly as if she were putting on a performance. She was wearing an evening dress, and her perfume was so strong that it caused Crystal to sneeze twice. After that, she rubbed her nose, leaned against the stair rail, and said, “I don’t think that Principal Ford did anything wrong. And besides, I didn’t even care that I was expelled, so this is much ado about nothing.”
When Ford heard what Crystal had said, he began to panic. He turned to Crystal and said, Although you did something wrong, your mistake was not that serious. You should never have been expelled. I admit that I made the decision for personal reasons. I hope that you don’t take this affair to heart.”
Joyce smirked and said, “Tut! Tut! Something is seriously wrong with this world if seducing a professor in a university is not a serious enough offense to get expelled for!”
Mr. Ford looked at Joyce and said, “After our investigation, we’ve confirmed that Crystal and Professor Davis are in love with each other, and our university is a strong advocate for democratic civil rights.”
“Professor Davis?” Joyce scoffed.
“Wasn’t Davis her Mother’s gigolo? And you say that they are in love with each other?!?!?!? What a joke!”
Mr. Ford. “Anyway, I didn’t come here to talk about Professor Davis, I’m no longer the principal anyway. The reason I came here was to return Mr. Henry’s money and apologize to Crystal.”
Joyce laughed and said, “It sounds to me like you are afraid of Mr. Davis!”
Mr. Ford began to sweat, and Crystal felt terrible for him. She knew what it was like to be on the receiving end of Joyce’s abuse. She turned to him and said, “Principal Ford, I appreciate your apology, and if it is forgiveness. that you are seeking, then I give it to you freely. You needn’t have purchased all of these gifts. I am sorry to hear that you are being relocated.
You were good at your job. Is there anything that I can do for you? I can’t help but feel responsible for what is happening to you...” “You don’t owe me anything,” Mr. Ford replied, “but if you could put in a good word for me with Professor Davis, I would appreciate it.” “Consider it done,” Crystal replied. “I do have two requests, though.”
Mr. Ford: “Name it, and if it is within my power to do so, it shall be done.
Crystal laughed and said, “Please return all of these bags.” Crystal had roughly calculated the cost of all of the bags and determined that their total value was over a million dollars - and it didn’t feel right to keep them.
Mr. Ford: “And your second request...?”
Crystal: “Your daughter, my teacher, Tiffany, she was very abusive to me. She is the one that owes me an apology, not you.”
Mr. Ford: “Done and done. And thank you very much!”
After Mr. Ford left, Crystal’s Father confronted her about the true identity of Nathan Davis. He believed that because she had signed away her rights to his fortune, that there must be something about him that she wasn’t saying- and Venessa’s constant grumbling only made matters worse. She had assumed that the expensive handbags that Mr. Ford had brought were for her, and it had been hard for her to watch when he’d taken them away with him. After all, there was one bag in particular that she had wanted for a very long time.As she and her Mother watched Crystal leave from an upstairs window, Joyce complained to her mother, saying, “Mommy, did you see how arrogant that bitch was? Who would have thought that the presents would be for her! And that Principal Ford must be a fool, otherwise why would he have begged Crystal for help! After all, what could she do for him?!?!?”
Carlos stepped forward to hug Crystal, but she stepped backward. She gave him a look of disgust and said, “Did you honestly think that I would wait for you?”Carlos flinched at her words as if he’d been struck. “I know that my proposal is very selfish,” he mumbled, “but why are you so hard on me? Is it because of Nathan Davis? Are you two serious? I know you’re not actually together. You just want to make me jealous, right? Crystal, an unreliable man like him, is not suitable for you. He will never take you seriously!”“He’s unreliable?” Crystal hissed. “Compared to you, he is a saint!”Carlos’s face turned white as Crystal’s words sunk in, and he finally let her arm go, and when Crystal walked away from him, he made no further
Nathan thanked everyone for coming to welcome Owen back, and then the two men took a seat on the sofa, with Owen on Nathan’s left and Amy on his right. Once they were comfortable, Amy took Nathan’s hand and asked him what he had been up to lately. “You have so much going on,” she said. “You must not have a lot of free time. Am I right?”“Busy, busy, busy,” Nathan agreed, “but you have been busy too, yes? I saw your broadcasting show yesterday on TV. Who would have guessed that you would become a television anchor? I am proud of you. When will you introduce us to your boyfriend?”Owen winked at Amy and said, “Come on. Be serious. Amy is a very popular television star. She can afford to wait for her dream man to come along.Amy was somewhat embarrassed
As chance would have it, Crystal and Tiffany were dining at the same restaurant where Owen’s Welcome Back party was being hosted, and they were arriving at the same time that Amy was rushing off to the Ladies’ Room. Once they were seated, Crystal excused herself to use the washroom, and as she finished at the sink, she was accosted by Amy, who was just coming out of one of the stalls.“Hey!” someone shouted at Crystal. “Stop it!”Crystal looked up and saw the woman behind her in the mirror. The woman wore a black Chanel silk dress, and she was frowning at her.Amy was annoyed after having been humiliated twice by Nathan, and she saw the appearance of the meek girl as an opportunity to vent her anger. “You got water on my dress. just now!” she hissed. “My dress wa
Crystal did not want Nathan to visit her later that night, so she agreed to visit him at his table. She sighed as she put her phone away and turned to face her companion. She smiled and said, “Ms. Ford, as chance would have it, Professor Davis is also here at the Rossini Restaurant, and he has invited us to join him.”When Tiffany heard this, her face lit up, and she said, “Really? Let’s go.” Tiffany immediately grabbed her bag and took the lead.In the Aries Room, no one except Nathan knew that Crystal was coming, so when Crystal and Tiffany entered the room, they were surprised, and they focused their attention on the two women that stood before them. One looked mature and intellectual, and the other looked plain and malnourished.Nathan looked towards Crystal, whose hair was unexpect
Everyone turned to Crystal, and they began to demand a toast. They banged their fists on the table in unison and shouted, “Toast! Toast! Toast! Toast!”Amy handed Crystal a glass of wine, and she accepted it nervously. She lifted it in the air and said, “A toast to Professor Davis,” but Nathan refused to raise his glass.Owen looked up at Crystal and said, “Nathan won’t accept your toast.”Crystal: “Why?”Owen: “Because you are a woman.”The room went silent, and Amy smirked. She was unable to hide her pride or her feelings of victory over Crystal. Amy watched as Crystal stood awkwardly with her glass held in the air, and because Nathan didn’t raise his g
It occurred to Crystal, then, that her situation was hopeless, and she stopped struggling. Then, instead of fighting off his advances, she began to return them. Her hands began to climb up his neck, her fingers passed through his hair, and she returned his kiss with vigor-and they continued to kiss passionately until they were both breathless.Crystal’s lips were red and swollen, and when Nathan brought his hand up to touch them, she bit down hard on his fingers. Nathan shouted out in pain and anger as he pulled his hand away. “You bitch!” he hissed. “Are you a dog? Is that the reason why you like biting people so much?”Crystal growled and said, “I am a she-wolf, and I do like biting very much, but I never bite humans. I made an exception for you, though, because you’re not much of a man!”
Crystal raised her eyebrows as she ran her cold fingers across the top of Nathan’s silky shirt. She paused in the middle when she came to the top button, and she rolled it like a gem between her thumb and forefinger. She looked him in the eyes, smiled, and slipped the button free from the eyelet. One button - she thought to herself, and then two.Nathan raised his lips into a playful, sexy smile.Three buttons - Crystal was counting each in her head and using it as a device to keep herself calm- Keep Calm and Chive On- she told herself.The tip of Crystal’s finger accidentally touched Nathan’s chest muscles as she exposed them to the air, and he flinched- Four Buttons. His chest was flat and hard, and it felt very hot. Suddenly, Nathan grabbed Crystal’s hand, and she couldn’t move. She