Reborn, Reawakened, Rekindled novel Chapter 156

"Ali, let's get some breath?"

The moment Russel showed up, Barbara quickly stood up, grabbed Alicia, and left. Both of them, like Stella, believed that Russel had a thing for me and even encouraged me behind my back to accept him. They thought it would not only piss off Neil, but also would get me a good man.

But of course, I flatly refused. I didn’t want to exploit Russel's feelings.

The more genuine people are to me, the less I want to take advantage of them.

"Dr. Russel, you're looking dashing today!" I complimented him sincerely.

"How dashing am I?" Russel sat down beside me, asking with a smile.

In a teasing tone, I said, "So dashing that half of the young women in the room are sneaking peeks at you. Haven't you noticed? Or are you shortsighted?"

Russel glanced around the room. Indeed, there were many young women, all beautiful and affluent.

His gaze remained steady, then he turned to me, "What about you? Have you been sneaking peeks at me too?"

I awkwardly avoided his gaze. Of course, I had been watching him, but my watching was different from that of the other women. I was merely observing how popular Russel was.

With his good looks, I could not help but admire Bonnie for being the only one he liked in my past life.

Bonnie truly had a perfect alignment of time, place, and people in conquering Neil and Russel. Karina's heart and her own tactics were both indispensable.

In this life, Russel was not in love with Bonnie anymore but seemed interested in me.

Although I felt a little embarrassed, deep down, I felt a bit triumphant. His liking me was proof that I was attractive.

"It's not quite accurate to say 'sneaking a peek' in our case, is it?" I answered with a smile.

"That doesn't sound right indeed," Russel smiled. "Didn't you invite Neil?"

My family and the Whitmores have some business collaborations. Business isn't like marriage; you can't just divorce it.

If we were to cut off everything in a fit of anger, it would definitely harm both families' interests, and my family's loss might be even greater.

Our not inviting anyone from the Whitmore family could be seen as my mom's deliberate provocation for the Whitmore family, a topic of gossip for others.

"Why would I invite him?" I retorted indifferently.

"Is there absolutely no chance of you two getting back together?" Russel seemed to be testing me.

I answered earnestly, "No, aren't you aware of the situation with Karina?"

Although I hadn't told Russel, I believed Mitch must have mentioned it to him privately.

Karina's heart was transplanted into Bonnie, a shocking piece of news.

As expected, Russel was aware of it. "I know. I didn't expect such a twist. I think Neil doesn't truly love Bonnie. He just feels guilty about Karina and can't let go for now."

"Is a heart that important?" I suddenly asked.

"Do you find what I'm saying hard to understand?" Instead of showing a look of contempt, Russel earnestly explained, "Suppose you love Neil deeply, and then he leaves you. Later you find out another man has his heart inside him. How would you feel?"