Chapter 17: That's All!

Sierra returned to the restaurant just in time for her performance. Jason didn't bother her and waited until Sierra finished work before finding a place to talk things over. Jiang Sheng was obedient and agreed to let Sierra teach her. The tuition fee that Jason gave was quite high, and he even paid two months' worth in advance, which made Sierra more financially comfortable. She understood that Jason was helping her in a different way, something she might have refused before due to pride, but now she couldn't afford such luxury.
When she got home after work, Olivia wasn't there. Sierra called her on the phone and Olivia said she would be back soon. After about half an hour or so, Olivia came back with one arm swollen on one side.
"What happened to your arm?" Sierra helped Olivia sit down.
Olivia replied nonchalantly, “I’m getting old and useless; doing some work caused my hand to swell."
Sierra's heart skipped a beat as she immediately looked at Olivia's palm only to find several blisters where it used to be delicate and smooth skin. Tears fell from her eyes uncontrollably as emotions overwhelmed her... She tended to Olivia's wounds then took out ten thousand yuan from her room for household expenses while insisting that Olivia should not go out anymore.
That night, Sierra cried for a long time.
The next morning when she woke up, there were obvious dark circles under her eyes despite using lots of concealer which failed miserably at hiding them completely. During breakfast, Olivia reminded her, “If you can't handle it physically then do less; if necessary I'll sell the small apartment too."
"Don't worry about me too much; I'll be fine after this period." Sierra comforted Oliva who didn't say anything else afterwards.
After finishing breakfast and packing up, Sierra went off to work at the music center. Just as she clocked in, a colleague quietly told her, “Miss Howard is looking for you! If you don't want to see us, just say that you're on leave."
Sierra was taken aback and then saw Linda.
She didn't hate Linda but also didn't want to deal with her. She had to trouble her colleagues instead. However, Linda spotted her anyway.
Linda walked over confidently with a coquettish expression, “Sierra, I want to know why you refused to play the piano at my birthday party? Do you dislike me?"
The surroundings fell silent after she finished speaking. All of Sierra's colleagues at the music center knew about what happened between Sierra and Roger.
Now Roger's fiancée still wanted Sierra to like her; it was too cruel for Sierra.
Those sympathetic and pitying looks made Sierra extremely embarrassed. She whispered, “I happened to have something else to do that day, Miss Howard; please find someone else."
But Linda wouldn't give up easily.
While Sierra worked, Linda waited outside drinking coffee until noon when she blocked Sierra off again. “Let’s grab some coffee together!" Linda persisted annoyingly.
Sierra had a good temper but couldn't remain calm in front of Linda. She went straight towards a simple restaurant where they usually ate lunch while being followed by Linda who wore designer clothes and high heels. “You can't attend my birthday party but surely you can help me choose wedding dresses right? Jason said that you have great taste so could you show me...Roger will come later; let's eat together and get your opinion?"
There wasn’t any color left on Sierras face as she was betrayed by Roger, whose father would go behind bars soon because of his actions while he himself forced her into becoming his mistress.
However, Linda knew nothing about all this. She kept demanding love from others like everyone else.