CHAPTER 4: THE JERK
Winter’s POV
“Miss, excuse me? Miss?”
I opened my eyes and saw a man that has an eye patch on his right eye while looking at me. He was wearing a plain black shirt, faded jeans, and black cap. I roamed my eyes around the place and realized I was in a hospital. I immediately got up.
“W-Why am I here? What happened? Who are you?!”
“I-I’m Matthew. You accidentally hit my car a while ago. You lost your consciousness so I had to bring you here. But don’t worry, you just had a small cut on the side of your lips and a bump on your head but the nurse already cleaned it. And, I already paid the bill.”
My brows furrowed. “Cut and bump on my forehead?! No!”
I immediately reached for a hand mirror to look at my face and I saw a small bump on my forehead.
“No! I just went to my dermatologist yesterday! What happened to my beautiful face?!”
“D-Don’t worry, I think it will heal in about two to three days. And, it’s just a small bump anyway.”
I glared at him. “A small bump?! Do you even know how important my appearance is?! It’s more important than your life!”
“E-Excuse me?”
“What if my fans see this?! They’ll surely think I’m so ugly!”
“Wait, why do you sound like you’re blaming me for what happened? You are the one who wasn’t watching where your car was going.” He said, sounding so irritated.
I widened my eyes at him. “My fault?! Why didn’t you just avoid my car then?!”
“You know what? I have never encountered a woman like you before. I mean, someone like you who acts so ungrateful. You must thank me for bringing you here and even paying for your bills.”
“Hey, you one-eyed man!”
“W-What did you just call—
“Do you even know who I am?! I’m Winter Wesley!”
He looked at me, confusingly. “O…kay. I am so sorry, but I have to go now, Winter Wesley. I still have some important things to do.”
“W-What? H-Hey!!”
But the jerk didn’t bother looking at me again. He just continues running away until I could no longer see him.
“That jerk! I will surely pop his eyes out when I see him again!” I yelled.
After a few minutes, the doctor arrived and told me I could already go home. I called Olivia to fetch me before some fans could even see me at the hospital.
***
“M-Miss Winter, what happened?” Olivia asked worriedly as soon as we both arrived at my house.
I took my glasses off and turned to her. “A jerk hit my car. I lost my consciousness and when I woke up, I was already at the hospital.”
“Oh my God, Miss Winter. I’m so glad you didn’t get hurt.”
I glared at her. “Who didn’t get hurt?! Are you blind?! Can’t you see the bump on my head?! Come on, bring me a cold compress!”
“Y-Yes, Miss Winter!”
I lay down on my bed as Olivia placed the cold compress on the bump on my head.
“M-Miss Winter, can I go home now?” she suddenly asked.
“Yeah, you may leave now.”
“Thank you, Miss Winter!”
As soon as Olivia left, my house went silent again. I reached for my phone above the side table and checked my Instagram account. There were so many notifications of my fans’ comments about the photo I posted this morning which already accumulated twenty million likes and twenty-one million comments.
‘Oh my God, you really are a Goddess!’
‘I love you so much, Queen Winter!’
‘You are the best!’
‘I wish I’m as beautiful as you!’
A smile appeared on my face as I was reading the comments of my fans. I put my phone back to the side table and stared at the ceiling of my room.
‘If only Winter is as smart and capable as her younger sister, then maybe she will have a better job than being a clown.’
They never really loved me. Mom and dad.
Even when we were just kids, they never treated me like their daughter. It was always Summer. Summer is the smartest, the best, Summer who will do nothing but our parents would still be proud of her. While me? No matter what I do will always be a failure to them. Winter can’t do anything. Winter is dumb. Winter is who they will never be proud of.
But it’s fine.
Because I still have fans who love me no matter what I do. They are the people who will appreciate everything about me. That is why I always do my best when I’m acting. Because that is the only world where I am accepted. Because in the real world, in the world of my family, I will always be the side character and will never be the main.
Winter’s POV
“Congratulations, Winter and Wilson you did a great job!” the director cooed as soon as the last take was done.
“The drama remained the highest viewed since the very first airing of it!” Anne, the assistant director added.
Everyone started clapping as they handed Wilson and I a bouquet of flowers as a congratulatory present.
Wilson and I bowed our heads to give respect to them. “Thank you so much, Director Ricky. It was so nice working with you.”
“Oh, Winter. It was really nice working with you, too. I hope I can work with the two of you again.”
“Of course.”Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.
After celebrating with the drama staff for the success of the drama, Olivia and I went straight to my van.
“Ah, it was so tiring.”
“By the way, Winter. You have new offers of five dramas. Maybe you can look through each script when you get home and tell me which drama will you choose.” Haley said to me.
I heaved a sigh. “I just finished a drama and here comes another drama again.”
“Of course, you are the highest paid actress here in our country. Many film producers and agencies are trying to work with you.”
“Oh, well. By the way, can I go to my favorite restaurant first? I just want to eat something delicious since my drama was successful.”
“Sure, I’ll even treat the two of you.” Said Haley.
I raised an eyebrow at her. “Are you sure about that?”
“Of course, I am! Let’s go!”
The three of us went to my favorite restaurant to eat since Haley said it would be her treat.
“Say, Winter, would you like to work with Wilson again?” asked Haley.
I sipped some of my wine before looking at her. “Well, if there’s a good offer, then why not?”
“You know, the audience loves seeing the two of you together. They think you make a good couple.”
“And what is that supposed to mean? Do you want me to date Wilson?”
Haley smiled. “Well, if you like him, I guess there’s nothing wrong with dating him at all.”
“I don’t want to date him.”
“And why not?”
“He’s not even my type. I don’t like the way he dresses. He looks like an old-fashioned geek when behind the camera.”
“Oh, Winter. You really are so picky when it comes to choosing a man, even though you never even had a boyfriend.”
I widened my eyes at her. “W-What did you just say?!”
“Nothing, nothing.”
Then my phone started ringing. I checked who the person who just called was and realized it was actually grandpa. Wait, why is he calling me?
“Hello, grandpa?”
“Winter? Can you go here to the mansion after your work?”
“Why grandpa? Did something happen?”
“I have to say something important to you.”
I didn’t speak immediately. I wonder what is it. And what is that? Something that he wants to tell me.
“O-Okay, grandpa. I’ll go there now.”
As soon as I put my phone back in my bag, I caught Olivia and Haley looking at me as if trying to listen to what I was talking about with my grandpa.
“I need to go now; my grandpa wants to see me.”
“Alright. Just don’t forget to read and pick one of the scripts that I gave you, okay?”
***
“Where’s grandpa?” I asked one of the maids as soon as I reached the mansion where grandpa asked me to go to, saying that he has something to tell me.
“She’s inside the library room, Miss Winter.”
I proceeded to the library room as she said and I saw grandpa sitting on his swivel chair while staring at a space as if thinking so deeply about something. I smiled as I walked toward her. “Penny for your thoughts, grandpa?”
He got surprised, but then he smiled upon seeing me. “You’re finally here, Winter!”
“Yeah. You told me you have to say something important. What is it?” I said as I sat on the chair in front of his desk.
Grandpa took a deep breath before looking at me again. “Actually, there is someone I want to introduce to you.”
“S-Someone? Who is it?”
“He is someone I really trust and is someone reliable. His grandfather was actually my best friend back in the days.”
“He? You mean, he is a man? Who is he? And why do I need to meet him, grandpa?”
Grandpa smiled, then he turned his gaze to the door of the library room. As if on cue, the door went open and a familiar man with an eye patch on his right eye stepped in. I stood up when I realized who that man was. “YOU?!”
“THAT WOMAN!”
We both pointed our fingers at each other as soon as our eyes met.
Grandpa looked alternately at the two of us as if he was confused about what was happening.
“Do you know each other?” he asked.
“Yes!” we answered in chorus.
I glared at the man before I faced grandpa again. “He is the man who hit my car the other night!”
“What? I didn’t hit your car! You were the one who wasn’t in the right condition while driving.”
“W-What?! I didn’t even—
“Alright, enough now,” Grandpa said to stop the two of us from arguing.
I was still glaring at the man as I sat back down in my chair.
How can he blame me for what happened? Does he even know who I am?!
“Grandpa, what is this man doing here?”
Grandpa straightened his back and cleared his throat before talking. “Well, as I have told you earlier, Winter, his name is Matthew Davis. His grandfather was my best friend back then and we really were good friends.”
“Grandpa, why are you saying these things to me?”
“Winter. You’re twenty-four now. And you’re not getting any younger. And you know how much our family needs a man to run our company since both you and your sister have your own jobs. We need someone who is a kind, smart, and reliable man. Like Matthew.”
I narrowed my eyes at grandpa. “So, what do you mean by that, grandpa? Are you planning to adopt this gibberish man?”
“No, I’m not.”
“Then what is it?”
“You are going to marry him.”