Chapter 10

“Hae Rhoda,” Alaine greeted the lady behind the desk when they walked into the spa.

The woman who was busy typing on the keyboard lifted her head. When she saw Alaine, a smile appeared on her face. “Hae Alaine. Weren’t you here a few days ago?”

“I brought my daughter today,” Alaine said.

Rhoda nodded as they were used to seeing Eve every week. She looked around and couldn’t see Eve. She turned to Alaine with a confused gaze. “Where is she?”

“Here she is,” Alaine said as she pulled Tracy closer to her. “I bet you haven’t seen the company’s news.”

Rhoda shook her head, then stared at the woman waiting for her to tell her what was going on.

“The kids were swapped at birth. She is my biological daughter, Tracy. Can you please be the one serving her?”

Rhoda stared at the girl whom her friend had introduced. Hearing her last sentence, she frowned, not understanding why the latter would request such a thing, but she still nodded as the woman really requested anything.

“I am your mom’s friend. You can call me Aunt Rhoda,” Rhoda introduced herself to Tracy.

“Okay,” Tracy answered before looking around.

Seeing her obedience, Rhoda’s eyes softened. “Follow me,” Rhoda said as she stood up.

Alaine and Tracy followed behind her.

“Since the spa grew, I rarely take clients,” Rhoda said as they walked.

“Yes, I know, but I only trust you. Also, aren’t you my exclusive beautician?” Alaine said as she reached to hold on to Rhoda’s arm.

Rhoda glanced at her with a scoff, but she didn’t remove the hand from her arm. “So will you pay for the exclusive card for her also?”

“Yes, I will. Please take care of her when she comes,” Alaine said, as she wasn’t comfortable with someone else working on her daughter.

“I never saw you this overprotective with Rhoda.” Rhoda glanced at Tracy, trying to understand why her friend was like that. It had been years since she had seen her behaving like that.

Alaine just glanced at Tracy, but she didn’t comment.

“At least I will be earning more money from you. I just wonder whether she will be like Eve, who always comes here every week,” Rhoda said, starting to compare the two girls.

They arrived at her office, and she opened the door. “Alaine, you can wait for us here.” She walked to her desk, placed her phone down, and walked towards the door on the right side.

“Babygirl, get in and start undressing. After you are done, just call me.” She opened the door but didn’t step inside.

Tracy glanced at her, nodded, and did as told.

“You really have an obedient daughter, and she rarely speaks,” Rhoda said after closing the door behind Tracy and walking back to her desk.

She took the phone, unlocked and started searching for the post which Alaine spoke about.

“Yeah. I don’t know whether it's because she is in an unfamiliar place or not. Hope she will open up soon,” Alaine said as she leaned on the sofa.

Rhoda looked at her, then at her phone. “I have a question, friend,” she said, causing Alaine to turn to her direction.

“You told the PR team to announce this?” she asked, and Alaine nodded.

“Does your husband know?” she asked. Alaine looked at her and then shook her head.

“Gosh. What will happen after he finds out? You know how that man is,” Rhoda said, disdain in her eyes as she spoke of Mr Grant.

She never understood why he was always so proud, looking down on people, when he wasn’t better off.

“What does that have to do with him? It’s my company, I call the shots. Also, this is my daughter, should I be indifferent and let him step on me?” Alaine said coldly.

“Huh, you speak as if he hasn’t been doing that all these years. I have always told you, but you always reply with ‘He is my husband,” Rhoda said, causing Alaine to stare at her with a serious gaze.

After staring at each other for a minute, Rhoda’s teasing smile disappeared, and it was replaced with a serious look.

“If you really mean what they posted and not just to show the poor girl that you will never side with Eve, why don’t you cancel her subscription here? Oh yes, and freeze the card which is connected to your primary card.”

Alaine stared at the woman deeply. “All these years, I never understood why you never liked that girl. I have always asked you, but you claimed that you wouldn’t tell me cause I am her mother, I would side with her and get angry at you. Now, care to share?”

Alaine sat up straight.

Rhoda looked at her friend for a while, then sighed. “There wasn’t any resemblance at all. Not to mention, it's okay not to look like you, but even her characters? She is so rotten!”

Alaine sighed deeply. “You just met Tracy, but you are already siding with her.” Not a question, a statement.

They grew up together, thus they knew each other well. Though Rhoda was always easygoing, she was very serious when it came to boundaries.

“I don’t know, I just feel closer to her, as if I have known her for years. Maybe because she has your blood running down your spine,” Rhoda said with a smile, causing Alaine to also smile.

“But seriously, friend. The cancellation of all the subscriptions?” Rhoda asked.

Alaine averted her gaze. “You can cancel it. I will take back the card I gave her when I went back.”

“What if your husband gives her another card later on?” Rhoda asked as Eve was so close to her father.

“That’s not my problem,” Alaine replied while shrugging.

“What? You can’t be serious. That man works in the company, but the card he uses is connected to your primary card. By saying you got no problem, does that mean that you want to pamper Eve in your husband’s name so that your daughter would think that you aren’t?” Rhoda said, causing an embarrassed look to appear on Alaine.

Seeing her friend’s face, what else didn’t Rhoda understand?

“Girl, I don’t know what happened between you and Tracy so that you could post such a thing. However, be a serious friend. I am warning you. If she is really behind it, then she isn’t as innocent as she looks. If you let that happen and she finds out, you will lose her just as you lost the other,” Rhoda said seriously, causing Alaine’s face to turn white.

She looked at Rhoda in panic. The woman just stared at her friend, sighed, thinking that she was miserable.

She opened her mouth to say something, but she heard Tracy calling her name.

“Think what I told you. When we came back, please have already made a decision,” she said before standing and walking to her spa room.

There she found Tracy in a towel, but when she looked at her skin, she froze.