Chapter 3
We played from sunrise to sunset, and when night fell, the fireworks show everyone had been waiting for lit up the sky.
Each thunderous blast filled the night, as romantic fireworks lit up Redfield's sky in brilliant, colorful waves.
I quickly snapped a photo, and when I checked my camera, it had captured a line of words blooming in the sky:
[Happy 18th birthday, little Willow! From Houston Chapman]
My heart skipped a beat, and a wave of dread washed over me.
The crowd around me was buzzing with excitement.
"Oh my god, this is so romantic! If only some rich heir would do something like this for me!"
"Keep dreaming! I looked it up. Booking a private fireworks show like this costs 300 thousand dollars. Just for a few seconds? Talk about throwing money around!"
I followed everyone's jealous stares and sure enough, there they were, Houston and Willow.
The two of them were leaning into each other, and Houston reached out to ruffle Willow's hair with that unmistakable look of affection.
I shoved my way through the crowd, trying to get to them, but a couple of black-clad security guards blocked my path.
"Sorry, miss, Mr. Chapman's booked the whole inside area. You're not allowed in," one of them said.
I ignored the sympathetic look from the heiress and forced myself to stay calm as I dialed Houston's number.
"Houston, you're such a two-faced player, aren't you? You've got two minutes to get your ass over here," I snapped.
Houston spun around at the sound of my voice. The moment our eyes locked, guilt and surprise flashed across his face.
"Isabelle? Why are you here?" he blurted out.
I snorted, my tone icy. "Shouldn't I be asking you that? Weren't you supposed to be on a business trip?"
There was a pause on the other end.
He quickly explained, "The VP's handling the project. Willow's never been here before, and she just turned eighteen today, so I thought I'd bring her here."
He looked away, ignoring what I said.
"Isabelle, if you want to blame someone, blame me. I was the one who brought her here, and I can't just ditch her now..." he said.
With that, he hung up on me.
Through the crowd, I saw Houston take Willow's hand and run off together. I tried calling him again, but he just turned off his phone.
Not long after, Willow updated her Instagram.
[Mr. Chapman even turned off his phone for me! He said tonight, he belongs only to me. He's so handsome, I wish I could be his birthday gift.]
The photo showed the two of them running, with Houston looking back at Willow with a big smile.
I was so furious I could barely see straight. I took a screenshot of Willow's Instagram post and blasted her sugar-coated shade on my own social media.
[Congrats to my fiancé on his brand new romance, especially with the girl I've been sponsoring!]
The whole rich crowd in Redfield was buzzing.
[Damn, Mr. Chapman's really playing the field!]
[That girl's got something special. No wonder Mr. Chapman couldn't resist her.]
My social media was flooded with the gossip crowd, blowing up my notifications and tagging Houston nonstop, all dying to spill the tea.
People were asking when Houston started climbing the social ladder with the Ward family, and if he was really about to go to war with them for true love.
Houston started blowing up my phone, totally ditching his sweet date and scrambling to call me nonstop.
So I did what he did. I turned off my phone and left him hanging.
*****
The next day, Carlos Chapman and Blakely Chapman hauled Houston over to my place. As soon as they stepped inside, Carlos smacked Houston across the face right in front of me.
"You're an embarrassment! Apologize to Isabelle, now!" Carlos barked.
Blakely echoed Carlos, scolding Houston in tandem. "We've spoiled you too much, and now you're so reckless and out of line!"
Without missing a beat, she demanded Houston kneel before me, her tone leaving no room for argument.
Houston swallowed his pride and dropped to his knees in front of me without a word.
Blakely was calling out Willow for her behavior, criticizing her right in front of everyone.
Houston looked up at me, his eyes rimmed with red, full of guilt. "I'm sorry, Isabelle. I wasn't thinking straight yesterday."
"Willow kept begging me to take her to Disneyland. She looked so helpless, so I... I just couldn't turn her down," he explained.
"I honestly never thought she'd post something like that on Instagram to take a shot at you," he said.
"We've been supporting her for years. Even if she were just a stray we took in, you'd still feel something, wouldn't you? But I promise, I'll never have anything to do with her again," Houston pleaded.
"Please, Isabelle, just let me off this once. I promise, it'll never happen again. This is the last time, I swear!" he begged.
Houston clung to the hem of my pants, looking up at me with desperate, pleading eyes, like he was ready to beg for forgiveness.
I met his earnest gaze, smirked, and raised an eyebrow, my smile tinged with irony.
"That's what you said, last time," I said.
I hated betrayal more than anything, and I always made sure that payback was served.
Giving Houston a pass this time was already way too generous. No way I was ever letting him off again.
Besides, I knew people like him never changed. Old habits died hard.
Just as I'd predicted, Houston didn't let me down. He put on a show of deleting all of Willow's contact info right in front of me, but behind my back, he was always finding new tricks to meet up with her on the sly.