Fading Slowly but Surely

That was why Isla only thought it was ironic when she saw Emmett putting on this act in front of her again.

She placed her wine glass down and left for the washroom. After splashing her face with some water, she felt more sober and pulled out a tissue from her bag to wipe her face.

As her vision was blocked, Isla did not realize that someone had come to stand beside her. She only found something amiss and glanced to the side when she heard Sadie's peculiar tone.

Sadie said, "You've been pursuing Emmett for so many years, Isla, and he never accepted you. Yet you still dared to show your face at his birthday party?

"Oh please—he doesn't like you at all. Can't you have some self-awareness? You're so cheap with your obsessive pining!"

She looked so well-behaved, yet her words were beyond vulgar.

Isla did not show any signs of displeasure upon hearing Sadie's words. She merely looked at Sadie calmly and asked, "Are you done cursing at me?"

Sadie was stunned as she wasn't expecting Isla to have such a small reaction. However, she refused to back down and planted her hands on her hips.

She continued, "Of course not! Do you know what everyone has been saying about you? You're the "obsessive pining woman that confessed 99 times"! Can you stop being this shameless? Everyone can tell that Emmett likes me. Why can't you just see that?"

Isla was still unperturbed seeing Sadie's shrew-like behavior. She simply shifted her gaze to look behind Sadie and said, "You might want to look behind you before you continue cursing me."

Following her gaze, Sadie turned around looking perplexed. She immediately noticed Emmett, who was standing outside the door. He seemed to have been standing there for quite some time. He likely witnessed everything that had happened.

The thought of it made Sadie panic instantly. Her expression quickly morphed into a pitiful look. All traces of her earlier arrogance disappeared.

She hurriedly walked over to Emmett and took his arm. She started explaining herself nervously, "It's not what you think, Emmett. Isla was the one who bullied me first—"

But Emmett seemed completely unfazed. Even though he had clearly witnessed Sadie cursing at Isla, he acted as if he didn't see anything.

He looked up at Isla before removing his coat and draping it over Sadie. His tone was gentle when he said, "It's so windy outside. You should be careful not to catch a cold when you're dressed so lightly."

Emmett then took her hand and walked back to the private room.

Sadie wasn't expecting him to act this way. He seemed unbothered that she had just cursed at Isla. Sadie immediately gained confidence and smugly turned around. She flashed Isla a mocking smile as if laughing at her audacity.

Isla, who had her head lowered, did not notice Sadie's provocation. She crumpled the used tissue into a ball and tossed it into the trash can. She then turned around and headed downstairs.

The hallway was silent save for her footsteps. She recalled what had just happened and let out a cold chuckle in the dark.

Emmett's gaze was clearly on Isla when he draped the coat over Sadie earlier, yet he was expressing his worry toward Sadie.

Isla had to give it to him—his acting skills were way too good. If she hadn't known about his little secret, she might have fallen into his trap and ended up upset for a long time.

It wasn't the first time something like this had happened.

Over the years, Isla had set aside all her pride and reserve just to pursue him. No matter how much others mocked or insulted her to her face, she had never taken it to heart.

She only wanted to focus on herself and achieve her goals without any regrets. As such, she was determined to confess 99 times.

However, the person Isla had liked for two years chose to ignore the rumors and insult just because he enjoyed the pursuit—that hurt her more than any other curses and mocking ever could.