hapter 133
In the evening, I shared Neil’s words with my girlfriends in our chat group.
Stella and the others started analyzing it like detectives. Stella said, “Rena, didn’t you see Neil asking for Bonnie’s contact info with your own eyes? Doesn’t that mean he was the one who started chasing her?”
Barbara countered, “Not necessarily Just because he asked for her phone number doesn’t mean he’s after her I think Neil may be a bit of a jerk, but I don’t think he would be to Rena”
Stella added, “I am really confused, what the heck are these two up to? It’s such a headache!”
Alicia also chimed in, “Regardless, according to my gut feeling, Bonnie is not as simple as she seems…”
Stella continued. “You’re right, the ones who seem innocent are the most cunning when they’re playing mind games. Rena, you’re divorced now, don’t overthink it, and it’s best not to meet Bonnie or Neil in the future. You three just don’t mix well”
As I watched their analysis, an image of Russel popped into my mind. Maybe he knew something? I gave Russel a call, and he picked up right away.
“When are you free? I have something to ask you,” I asked
I’m free now Can we meet up?” Russel didn’t ask me what was the matter.
“Okay, I’ll come find you because it’s not very convenient for you to come over, I picked up my car keys and headed out, “Where are you now?”
Half an hour later, I met Russel at a restaurant
I had a lot of questions in mind, hoping he could help me clear some up, and put my doubts to rest.
“Russel, did Neil ever tell you how he pursued Bonnie?” I asked straightforwardly.
“What happened?” Russel was a bit puzzled, “Why are you suddenly asking this?”
I took a sip of water, “Just curious, did Neil tell you?”
Russel pondered for a moment, then shook his head, “He didn’t mention it specifically.”
It seemed Russel was also in the dark about this Seeing my puzzled look, he tried to ask, “Did Neil tell
you something?”
If it were before, I might think Russel would also fall for Bonnie, so I could share the story of Neil and Bonnie with him. But not now, he obviously had feelings for me, so I didn’t want to reveal too much about Neil. I just shook my head, “No, it’s just a question that popped into my head.”
Even though I said that, I was actually very curious
My phone started vibrating. It was a message from Stella, “Rena, I got some dirt from Mitch!”
My heart raced as I quickly replied to her, “Spill.”
Stella tried to start a voice call, but I rejected it because Russel was still across from me. I asked her to text instead. Soon she sent a string of messages, “Mitch used to help Neil come up with a lot of ideas to court girls, so he knows the most about Neil and Bonnie. I’m really shocked. This is SO surprising!”
Through Stella’s words, I finally understood the meaning of Neil’s words in the elevator. He did ask for Bonnie’s contact info, because he thought she looked a lot like Karina the moment he saw her. But it wasn’t Neil who first reached out to Bonnie, instead it was Bonnie who got Neil’s number from some person in charge. So Bonnie sent a message to Neil asking why he asked for her contact info from the person in charge.
That was how they got to know each other.
Stella sent a message, “Wow, the top predator indeed makes her entrance as a prey. That’s all Mitch told me, he won’t tell me how Neil pursued Bonnie. I’ll press him more, and let you know ASAP when I get something new”
I was speechless, and then I closed the screen. But at this moment, there was a turmoil in my heart.
In my past life and in this life, the circumstances of Neil and Bonnie’s encounter should not change. In my past life, Bonnie also took the initiative to contact Neil But because I was reborn, things changed after they met.
In my past life, although Bonnie took the initiative to approach Neil, in the end Neil fell in love with her and she succeeded.
But in this life, Neil had changed because of my changes, and it seemed that up to this point, he didn’t love her.
“What are you thinking about?” Russel asked softly after I had been silent for a while.
He looked at me with a rare gentleness in his eyes.
Looking at Russels charming face, I felt a wave of sympathy I seemed to understand how he fell in love with Bonnie in my past life. It was very likely that Bonnie fabricated a story about being forced by Neil, and Russel went from helpless to moved, and then to falling in love with her.
Because he once told me about Bonnie. In his view, Bonnie was a weak and helpless poor girl, and everything was forced on her by Neil. Plus, Bonnie and
Karina were so similar, how could Russel be indifferent?
And my understanding of the story between Neil and Bonnie mainly came from Russel, so I thought Neil forced her. I was fooled by Bonnie in two lifetimes, and Neil, for some reason, never explained to me.
Bonnie’s skills really opened my eyes
1 was thinking what kind of person Bonnie really is I said with a forced laugh. “Do you think she was really forced by Neil? Or did she know Neil’s Identity and my identity from the beginning?”
That would be terrifying, and I got goosebumps just thinking about it.
After I was reborn, did she already know who I was when I was at the café? And when she bumped into me and Neil at the conference, did she pretend
not to see the relationship between us?
Later, when she and I were in the car on the way to meet Oscar for dinner, she actually sent a message to Neil first. Then, while we were eating, she received a reply from Neil. The unease and worry she exhibited, was it all for show?
This was so terrifying, truly scary.
“I’m not sure, but she’s definitely not as innocent as she seems, Russel calmly replied. “I didn’t really care about these things, but after you came to me, I purposefully paid attention to her and found out she’s really good at pretending.”
I didn’t expect that I unknowingly changed Russel’s view of Bonnie. Otherwise, Bonnie could still play the helpless character in front of him. With her face that was extremely similar to Karina’s, she can easily manipulate two rich hunks.
She intentionally made Russel sympathize with her, fall for her, probably to solidify her position with Neil. After all, only competition created pressure.
I reallyfelt that, if I had half of Bonnie’s cunning, would I still spend ten years chasing Neil?!
“I admit, I lost to her, I didn’t want to say anything anymore, and I lost my appetite for the meal. I just stood up with a bitter smile, “I’m leaving first.”
T’ll go with you, Russel also stood up.
“You’ll go with me?” I was a bit confused.
“I didn’t drive here today, so if it’s convenient, you can drop me off first,” Russel made a casual request.
“Alright, let’s roll”
