Love Burned, She Rose Unscathed

With a sneer, the woman's gaze raked over Nadine from head to toe. "Well, look at you. That outfit doesn't exactly scream 'respectable lady,' does it? All dolled up, but who knows how many guys you've entertained last night?" Nadine was dumbstruck.

She hadn't expected such a vile barrage of insults, a direct attack on her character.

"You... you" She was so furious, she was shaking.

But to hurl back insults in the same manner? She just couldn't stoop to that level of filth.

"Me, me, me, what? Got your tongue tied, can't speak clearly? Guess your overnight rate must be on discount, huh? Fifty? Seventy? Surely not a hundred bucks? You think you're worth that much?"

Nadine's cheeks flushed with anger, "I won't stoop to arguing with someone as vile as you, utterly nonsensical, unreasonable, and filthy to the core!"

"Oh, getting fancy with your words now? I can do that too-flirt, shameless, harlot, lowlife!"

Nadine was speechless.

"I... I won't stoop to your level. There's no point. You're only fit to be compared with swine."

With that, she turned on her heel and strode away, the click of her high heels punctuating her departure.

"Yeah, right-swine are better company than a lowlife like you!"

Nadine stumbled, her heel sinking into a mud puddle and ruining her expensive shoes. Her mood darkened further.

What a dump Madge lived in, with such trashy neighbors. Today was just one disaster after another.

As for the contract...

There was still half a month left; Madge would surely come crawling back to renew. The publishing market had seen a major shakeup over the fast decade, with physical book sales struggling. Madge's fame had waned, and having withdrawn from social media, she was out of touch with the latest industry news, lacking resources in publishing.

Who else but Nadine would even consider working with her, let alone publish her book?

There was no need for this visit; once the contract expired, Madge would surely come begging to renew.

The more Nadine thought about it, the more she regretted coming. Not only had she been snubbed, but she also had to endure a tirade from a lunatic. Hmph! She would make Madge pay for this!

"When did you start arguing again, Louisa? Didn't Mr. Cole's family move out?" A neighbor passed by, laughing lightly at the scene.This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.

"Hmph! Some stray relative of his, I guess. Banging on my door early in the morning, woke me up from my beauty sleep."

"Mr. Cole's relative? They should've gone to his mansion, not here."

Louisa rolled her eyes, "Who knows?"

"Have you seen Mr. Cole's mansion, though? It's huge, so lavish, with several floors and two gardens. When we visited the other day, the flowers were blooming beautifully! And the vegetables in the garden, so lush..."

The more Louisa heard, the sourer her expression became.

"I'm going back to bed," she muttered an excuse and turned to go inside.

After a moment's thought, she dug out a business card and hesitated before dialing the number on it-

"Hello, Ralph, hey, you mentioned last time you could help me sell this place and find something better. Can you tell me more about how that works?"

The person on the other end lit up at the opportunity: "Let me explain. We could go like this..."

He had recently heard through the

grapevine that the Horizon Future

Middle School staff housing was set for demolition, with a rather generous compensation policy...