Hypocrisy at it's peak

At the film set—

As soon as Isabella arrived, she was informed that the filming schedule had been changed. The reason was that Jason had suddenly taken leave due to family matters.

That guy would complain beside her for half the day over things as insignificant as a fart, yet when something this major happened, he hadn’t mentioned a single word to her?

She immediately pulled out her phone and called him.

The moment the call connected, Jason’s irritated voice came through.

“Why would I tell you about it? Weren’t you the one complaining that I disturbed you too much? Didn’t you tell me to mind my own business? Didn’t you want me to stay as far away from you as possible? Well, congratulations. Your wish has been granted.”

Hearing his strange tone, Isabella’s temper instantly rose.

“Jason, are you stupid or something? What the fuck did you smoke this early in the morning?”

Jason felt extremely stifled inside.

He was angry at himself.

Angry that he had been so blind and stupid all this time.

After a long silence, he finally forced himself to calm down before speaking again.

“I’m at my dad’s company right now. I’ve been running around like a dog the entire day and I can’t get away from this mess.”

He paused briefly before continuing,

“If you have time tonight, log into the game. I sent something to you. Happy birthday.”

“And I.... That's all bye! 

“You—”

Before Isabella could finish speaking, the call had already ended.

She stared at her phone resentfully.

At that moment, Director Phil walked over.

“Bella, I believe you already heard about Jason’s situation. You were originally supposed to continue filming the kissing scene today, but we’ve switched the schedule to your fight sequence with Vanessa instead. I’ll have someone send you the updated shooting plan later.”

Isabella nodded.

“I understand, Director.”

After speaking, she found a quiet corner beneath the shade of a tree and sat down to read through the script.

Not long after, the sound of approaching footsteps entered her ears.

From the corner of her eye, she saw a figure that instinctively triggered disgust within her.

Gabriel.

Since today was Vanessa’s birthday, Gabriel had deliberately taken leave to accompany her at the film set for the entire day. The female staff members nearby were practically dying from jealousy.

Bella had no interest in speaking to him, so she merely lifted her eyes lazily, silently asking whether he had business with her.

Gabriel handed her an ice-cold drink before carefully asking,

“Bella… you’ll come to Vanessa’s birthday party tonight, right?”

She didn’t take the bottle.

Instead, she looked at him as though he were an idiot.

“Are you seriously asking me such an obvious question?”

Gabriel hesitated briefly before speaking again.

“I mean… today is your birthday too. If you come, we can celebrate yours together as well. I already spoke to Uncle and Aunt about it, and they agreed.”

Isabella rolled her eyes dramatically.

“Wow. Thanks for celebrating my birthday in passing.”

Gabriel’s brows furrowed deeply as he sighed.

“Bella, sometimes I feel like I don’t know you anymore. When will you go back to being the kind and considerate girl you used to be?”

“Ultimately, everything that happened back then was my fault. If not for me, Vanessa wouldn’t have done something like that. If you want to blame someone, blame me instead. She’s innocent.”

“All these years, she’s been living in guilt. What she truly wants is your blessing. I really hope you can come tonight.”

“Guilt?”

Bella suddenly laughed.

Every time she spoke to this man, she genuinely felt like she was listening to a joke.

“Is she guilty for occupying my position? Guilty for stealing my parents? Guilty for sleeping with my man?”

“Then wow, she really has plenty to feel guilty about.”

“And stop talking to me about kindness. Back then, I wasn’t kind. I was just a complete idiot.”

Gabriel’s expression stiffened slightly, but he still persisted stubbornly.

“Bella, as long as you agree to forgive Vanessa, other than testifying in court, I’ll do anything you ask.”

Isabella slowly raised a brow.

“Anything?”

“I’m sure.”

Only then did Isabella finally place the script in her lap aside before looking at him calmly.

“Alright then.”

“Tonight, at Vanessa’s birthday party, I want you to dump her.”

“Compared to everything I suffered back then, I’m only asking for her to get dumped publicly. I think I’m already being very kind and considerate.”

Gabriel’s complexion instantly paled.

“Isabella, that—”

“Isabella!! How could you say something like that?!”

Vanessa’s tearful voice suddenly rang out from behind them.

Bella crossed her arms lazily.

“What did I say?”

Vanessa looked at her with both anger and heartbreak.

“So you still can’t let Gabriel go! That’s why you hate me so much! You hate me for taking him away from you!”

“But how could you use such a cruel method to break us apart? He doesn’t even love you! What’s the point of doing this?!”

Seeing Vanessa so emotional that she could barely breathe properly, Gabriel immediately pulled her into his arms and comforted her gently.

“Babe, calm down. Don’t get upset. I think Bella was just speaking impulsively…”

Bella nearly laughed from disbelief.

“I certainly wasn’t speaking impulsively.”

She tilted her head slightly.

“Unless… you weren’t serious earlier when you claimed you’d do anything I asked?”

Vanessa’s face immediately filled with panic.

“Gabriel, look at her! We approached her sincerely to apologize, yet she keeps making things difficult for us over and over again!”

“You’re not actually considering agreeing to such a shameless request… right?”

Gabriel gently patted Vanessa’s head before turning toward Bella with a helpless expression.

“Sorry, Bella. I can’t agree to that request.”

At that point, Isabella finally lost interest in continuing the conversation.

The amusement in her eyes disappeared completely.

Her gaze turned cold.

“Then get the fuck out of my sight.”

“Isabella! What’s wrong with you?!” Vanessa defended Gabriel desperately. “If anyone is at fault, it’s me! This has nothing to do with him! How could you treat him this way?!”

Bella suddenly clapped slowly.

“Wow.”

“What a touching relationship.”

She smiled faintly.

“You two really could move heaven and earth.”

Then her gaze shifted toward Vanessa.

“Well then, dear sister, since you’re willing to do absolutely anything to make amends, and since you love Gabriel so much…”

“You should also be willing to sacrifice something important too, right?”

Vanessa’s heart instantly tightened.

Even so, she could only force herself to answer,

“…Of course. What do you want?”

Bella deliberately pretended to think for a very long time beneath Vanessa’s tense stare before finally speaking casually.

“Simple.”

“Since Gabriel refuses to dump you, then you can give up your identity as the Hartley family’s eldest daughter instead.”

“Return to your real family in the village and go back to being Vanessa Daniels.”

“Do that, and every debt between the three of us will be wiped clean.”

Vanessa’s face instantly turned deathly pale.

Her eyes widened in horror.

“No… no way! Never!”

She shook her head violently as tears filled her eyes.

“Isabella, how could you be this cruel?! How could you force me to leave Mom and Dad? Force me to leave the home I’ve lived in for over twenty years?! I—”

“That’s enough.”

Bella interrupted impatiently.

“Your acting is terrible, so stop performing already. It’s hurting my eyes.”

“I’ve told both of you countless times to stay away from me, yet the two of you keep coming back to beg for forgiveness.”

“You kept saying you’d do anything I asked.”

“But the moment I actually made a request, your faces immediately turned into ‘How could you be so heartless, shameless and unreasonable?’”

Bella laughed mockingly.

“How interesting.”

“You speak so beautifully about guilt and apologies, but those apologies only matter when your own interests aren’t affected.”

“The moment real sacrifice becomes necessary, suddenly I become the villain.”

She slowly stood up.

“To put it simply…”

“I find both of you absolutely nauseating.”

Then her expression turned completely cold.

“So please…”

“Fuck off.”