Celeste stepped forward, her eyes filled with obvious disdain as she stared straight at Danielle. "I remember you're just a small-time actress. What, you came to see Ralph today and keep calling him brother-in-law? Hoping he'll hand you another lead role? You've got some nerve."
Danielle felt completely humiliated, especially with people passing by in the hallway, staring like they were watching some drama.
She could only curse Rachel silently in her heart.
If it hadn't been for Rachel's car accident that killed someone, she'd already be a big star by now, not stuck suffering like this.
Of course, Danielle conveniently forgot that the only decent roles she ever got were all thanks to Rachel's connections.
"Why are you still here?" Celeste snapped, clearly annoyed.
Danielle could only force out a weak smile and looked pitifully at Ralph. If she left now, then coming here would've been completely useless.
"You should go. I have nothing to do with your sister anymore," Ralph said flatly.
"But..." Danielle started to protest.
Celeste let out a cold snort and glared at her. "If you don't leave now, I'll call security and have them throw you out."
Danielle bit her lip and left unwillingly, already planning to find another chance later.
Celeste turned to Ralph and said, "You're not still thinking about Rachel, are you? Danielle kept calling you brother-in-law. Aren't you worried Jeffrey might hear that? Don't forget, my sister almost married him."
Her tone was sharp, like a warning.
Ralph's eyes darkened.
How could he forget?
Just the name "Jeffrey" alone had been like a sword hanging over the Patel family's head.
For the past three years, they hadn't had a single peaceful day.
And the one who caused it all… was Rachel!
Even a super hard-to-get meeting with Jeffrey from just a few days ago was ruined because of her.
"Only three years in prison, that was way too light for someone like Rachel. My sister's life ended just like that, and you still let someone call you brother-in-law?
Ralph, do you think I'm dead?" Celeste shouted, her voice trembling with anger.
"Alright, I get it. I'm not dealing with Danielle anymore. She's just trying to get close to us. I already told her Rachel and I are over," Ralph said, pulling Celeste into his arms.
"Remember how Silas treated Rachel the other day? I didn't say a single word to help her."
Celeste's mood seemed to ease up a little. She let Ralph lead her back into their private room.
Inside, they were surrounded by people from their usual circle. They were having a small pre-engagement party to celebrate.
Suddenly, someone brought up Ralph's 99 holographic ads that were all over the city.
Everyone in the room was excited, saying how romantic it was.
Celeste's close friend, Gloria, said, "Hey, isn't the Silver Dragon Tower right across from this hotel? I remember there's one of those ads there too. We can probably see it from here. Let's check it out!"
As Gloria spoke, she pulled back the curtains.
Celeste smiled sweetly, her cheeks slightly red. "Oh, come on, you guys…"
But when the curtains were fully opened, everyone stared outside for a moment… and saw nothing. There was no holographic ad at all. The building across from them was just lit up with normal lights.
"What's going on? Could the holographic ad be broken?" Gloria asked, sounding confused.
Celeste frowned as she looked at Ralph. After all, this advertisement was placed by the Patel Family.
Ralph said, "I'll go check what's going on..."
But before he could finish, his phone rang out of nowhere.
When Ralph answered, his face instantly turned dark. "What? They pulled it? All of them? Aren't they worried about paying the penalty?"
"They said even if they have to pay the full penalty, they still want the ads taken down," the manager in charge said miserably over the phone. "And President Ralph, we contacted other companies right away, but none of them are willing to take the ad projection."
In other words, besides the Patel Family's own properties, no other buildings would run their hologram ads.
"Who's trying to mess with the Patel Family?" Ralph asked, his expression turning colder by the second.
"It's the Gray Family," the manager answered. "This was handled personally by Finn, the secretary of the Gray Family Group."
Ralph froze.
Finn… that was Jeffrey's personal secretary!
Could this mean it was Jeffrey's decision?
Was Jeffrey the one behind all this?
If that was the case, did it mean Jeffrey was against the Patel and Hao family alliance? Just thinking about it made Ralph's palms start sweating.
The Patel Family's projection ads, shown at 99 places all across the city, were all taken down overnight.
The entire city was in an uproar.
Tons of people online started guessing if something happened between Ralph and Celeste.
That night, Ralph and Celeste made a joint statement, saying their relationship was solid and that the ads were only taken down because the contract had ended.
But their love, they claimed, had no expiration date.
The statement won lots of support from Celeste's fans.
In her small rented room, Rachel was scrolling online when she suddenly saw a news post that completely shocked her.
Just yesterday, she had casually mentioned those billboard ads to Jeffrey, and now… they were all gone.
"Are you happy now that the ads are gone?" Jeffrey's voice suddenly broke the silence in the room.
She jumped, pulled back to reality.
She hadn't even noticed him come in, but now he was standing right next to her, smiling a little as he glanced at her phone screen.
For a second, she had this weird feeling that he was actually behind the ads being taken down.
But then she laughed at herself.
That wasn't possible, right?
Even if he had joked about it before, this was definitely just a coincidence.
"Honestly, it doesn't matter to me. Ralph and I are over. I don't have any feelings for him anymore, so who he loves or marries isn't my business," Rachel said.
"Do you really not care about him at all?" Jeffrey's eyes were sharp, like they could see right through her.
"Would you care about someone who abandoned you?" she asked right back.
Out of nowhere, a woman's face flashed in Jeffrey's mind, the woman he should've called mother.
She had left him behind without a second thought. Even when he'd begged on his knees, she never once looked back.
That was the day he promised himself he'd never beg or kneel for anyone again.
His smile turned a little unreadable. "You're right. That was a stupid question. Who would care about someone who left them?"
Rachel looked at him, feeling this strange kind of distance between them, even though he was standing so close.