Christan pressed his tongue against the roof of his mouth, tilted his head, and gave her a look full of impatience. "I told you, I've seen plenty of tricks like yours. Drop the act!"
"Hah." Serena's last ounce of patience vanished. She stepped into her car without another word.
Bang! The car door slammed shut as she pulled it closed. She reached into the handbag on the passenger seat, grabbed her phone, and dialed 111.
Outside the car, Christan watched her every move with cold eyes, sneering with a crooked grin. "Still putting on a show? With so many actresses in the entertainment industry, every single one of them could act better than you. Let's see how long you're planning to drag out this whole 'hard to get' routine."
Once the call was made, Serena rolled down the window. "Let me ask you one last time-are you going to move your car or not? If you move it now, I can cancel the call. If not, once the cops get here, don't say I didn't warn you!"
Christan leaned forward, smirking. "Great! I'd love to see how long it takes for the police to show up."
Deep down, he was convinced the police wouldn't come. He figured Serena was bluffing-just a desperate ploy to get his attention.
Not far off, a few girls were still lingering around, all glaring at Serena like she'd stolen their man.
"Do you think that woman really has something going on with Christan?"
"Hard to say. It looks like they're arguing. Doesn't seem too friendly."
"Yeah, I thought so too. I even saw Christan being visibly annoyed."
"Mmhmm! Whatever their relationship is, how dare she upset our Movie Star? She should be grateful-honored-that he's even speaking to her!"
"Exactly! So ungrateful!"
"Totally!"
They didn't bother lowering their voices, so Serena could hear everything clearly even from inside her car.
Her delicate brows pinched together slightly as she sneered internally.
Just wait until the police arrive-let's see if you all are still so bold then.
Seconds ticked by, the start time for the stone auction drawing nearer. Serena was growing increasingly anxious.
Finally, ten minutes later, the sound of police sirens approached in the distance.
A slow smile crept onto her lips as she turned eagerly to see the man's reaction outside her window.
Just as expected, Christan's face paled, his eyes widening in disbelief as the police car pulled up.
"You... you really called the police?!"
"What do you think?" Serena flipped her hair. "I gave you plenty of chances. You chose not to listen."
The girls nearby were dumbfounded at the sight of the police.
"Why are the cops here?!"
"No idea! Do you think something happened to Christan?!"
"Shh! Don't jinx it! Our Christan is such a good person-no way the police are here for him."
"Right! I bet that woman was harassing him, so he had to call the police."
"Yeah, that must be it!"
The police car pulled up between Serena's vehicle and the black SUV. Two uniformed male officers got out.
Serena stepped out quickly and waited by her car.
The two officers approached and saluted, "Hello. Are you Serena Knowles?"
"Yes, that's me."
"You reported someone for blocking your vehicle and restricting your personal freedom?"
"I did." She nodded, then pointed toward the black SUV. "Officers, it's that vehicle. It deliberately blocked my way and wouldn't let me leave."
The officers turned to glance at the car.
Inside the black SUV, the driver looked toward them nervously.
"Do you know the people inside the vehicle?"
"No." Serena gave the driver a cursory glance, then pointed at Christan. "He came out of that car too. It's probably his."
The officers sized up Christan.
Serena went on, "He's the one who stopped me and wouldn't let me go."
By now, Christan had pulled his baseball cap down low, hiding most of his face in shadow.
"Is what she said true?" one of the officers asked.
The man kept his head down and muttered, "Officers, this is all a misunderstanding."
"Misunderstanding?" The officers frowned. Their tone grew sharp. "You're acting shady-doesn't look like you've got good intentions. Lift your hat!"
Christan didn't move.
Beneath the brim, his eyes shut tight. He gritted his teeth in frustration.
He never thought she'd actually call the cops!
If he had known, he wouldn't have wasted time arguing with her. He could've found another time to talk.
If his identity was exposed and the media got wind of him being questioned by the police, it could cause a huge scandal.
His younger sister, Celia, had just been thrown into the spotlight for publicly confessing to Xavier. If something happened to him now, wouldn't the entire Ryder family become a laughingstock?
What do I do?!
Just then, the group of girls who had been watching from a distance suddenly rushed over and stood protectively in front of Christan, shouting at the police, "Why are you bullying our brother?! She tried to seduce him, and when it didn't work, she falsely accused him!"
The officers were a little surprised. "You girls... are all his sisters?"
"Uh..." The girls looked at each other but none of them dared nod with Christan standing right there.
Serena raised an eyebrow and watched coldly from the side.
After a moment of silence, the officers grew impatient. "Well? Speak up! If you don't, we'll consider you obstructing law enforcement and take all of you back to the station."
The girls' arrogance instantly deflated. They lowered their heads, silent and fearful.
At that moment, Christan suddenly pushed the girls aside and stepped through the crowd toward Serena.
He stopped in front of her.
Then-
Under everyone's watchful gaze, he bowed slightly and said through clenched teeth, "It was my fault. I shouldn't have blocked your car. Please explain that to the police. Let's just end this here."
Serena narrowed her eyes and let out a laugh. "Weren't you all high and mighty just now? I tried to reason with you nicely, asked you to move your car, but you wouldn't budge-and even accused me of acting. So, what do you think now? Was I acting?"
Christan swallowed his anger and nodded. "I misspoke..."
Before he could finish, the girls jumped in again, furious.
"You shameless woman! He already apologized-what more do you want? Stop trying to make a scene just to get attention! You-"
"Enough! All of you, shut up!"
A low, angry voice cut through the chaos. The girls all froze and turned around, stunned.
***