Chapter 9 Live Under Her Shadow

"Nice to meet you. Have we met before?"

Sheila panicked for a moment and subconsciously averted her gaze. "I've acted in a few low-budget films. Perhaps you've seen one of them."

Seeing that Leo didn't seem to doubt her words, Sheila breathed a sigh of relief.

But she was still afraid that she'd be recognized sooner or later if she stayed any longer. Turning to Gerald, she said feebly, "You two can catch up. I'm not feeling well, so I'll go ahead."

Without waiting for a response, she turned around and left in a hurry.

Gerald frowned slightly as he watched Sheila scurry off. He had planned to take her to their family doctor when she first mentioned she wasn't feeling well, but when he saw Sheila join her father, he decided against it.

Thinking that she would be fine with her father, Gerald decided not to follow them. Seeing the worried expression on his friend's face, Leo joked, "I didn't know you care about your fiancée so much."

Hearing this, Gerald glanced at him indifferently.

After returning to the Newell family's house, Sheila said goodbye to Enoch and headed upstairs to her small room.

But before she made it to her door, she heard footsteps behind her.

Wondering who it could be, she turned around to check. Suddenly, a sharp pain shot up from the back of her neck and her vision became blurred.

In the blink of an eye, Sheila's head was covered with a black cloth and she was rudely shoved to the floor. She wanted to cry out for help, but her mouth was stuffed with rags. Bound and gagged, she could only make muffled sounds.

Then, the strangers dragged Sheila out. What was more unbearable than the pain was the fear of the unknown. Sheila's whole body trembled as she feared the worst.

Where were they taking her? Who kidnapped her?

Suddenly, the sound of a whip cracking echoed in the air and Sheila felt a searing pain on her flesh. Somebody was whipping her.

She struggled to evade her attacker, but she was tightly bound.

The whipping was so painful that her whole body began to spasm. Unable to defend herself at all, she let out muffled cries of pain.

"Stop."

Just as she was about to pass out, she heard Winnie's voice loud and clear.

The whipping stopped and the black cloth on her head was removed. It took Sheila a long time to peel her eyes open.

She saw Winnie approaching her slowly. Then, Winnie bent down and lifted Sheila's chin.

Winnie's fierce eyes stared into Sheila's and she spat, "Sheila, you're nothing but a bitch. How dare you want to surpass me?"

Sheila vehemently shook her head in protest, wanting to escape from this inhumane punishment as soon as possible.

But Winnie was unconvinced. "You want to be an actress? Dream on. You can only live in my shadow for the rest of your life."

Sheila's eyes widened. Winnie seemed to want to say something more, but her phone suddenly started to ring.

She clicked her tongue impatiently and checked to see who it was. When she saw the caller ID, her expression changed.

She quickly released Sheila's chin and said to the maids, "Keep an eye on her. Don't let her out."

After giving the order, Winnie turned around and left. She answered the phone and greeted the caller sweetly, "What's up, Gerald?"

Gerald was about to ask if Winnie had gotten home when he heard the sound of a whip cracking. "What was that noise?"

"Oh, I'm... I'm just watching TV. Gerald, why did you call me?"

Winnie quickly came up with an excuse. As she spoke, she quickly walked away from the basement, where the maids were keeping Sheila.

Gerald didn't press her further and explained, "I wanted to ask if you made it home and if you're still feeling unwell."

Winnie pretended to be docile. "Yes, Gerald. I'm home now and getting ready for bed. I'm fine now; I took some medicines."

"Okay, good to hear. Go to bed early." Thinking of her pale face today, Gerald didn't want to keep her up any longer.

After hanging up, Gerald fell into deep thought. Winnie's behavior at the engagement party earlier was completely different from how she acted at the dinner previously.

For some reason, his mind kept wandering to the girl in the black-framed glasses.

But it was undeniable that Gerald preferred today's gentle and docile Winnie over the arrogant and domineering Winnie at the dinner.