Even though Celeste felt superior deep down, she couldn't bring herself to say it out loud in front of the growing crowd.
Especially when she noticed people pulling out their phones to record the scene. She was furious inside but had to keep a calm face on the outside.
Soon, more sanitation workers showed up and joined the police in searching for the ring.
In the freezing weather, Celeste and Gloria stood by piles of trash, surrounded by onlookers and questioned by the police, all while enduring the horrible smell.
Naturally, the ring was never found.
When the police finally let Celeste and Gloria go, they were almost knocked out by the stench that clung to them.
"Celeste, what are we going to do? This has turned into a criminal case," Gloria said anxiously once they were back in the car. "Who even reported it to the police?"
"I'll have someone make a call and get the case dropped," Celeste replied, her face dark with anger.
She didn't care about the case itself as much as she cared about her image.
As a popular star, she was used to taking selfies in luxury hotels and fancy restaurants, not next to piles of rotting trash.
And now that so many people had filmed everything, she knew it would blow up online. Celeste immediately called her agent, telling them to suppress any related news.
Rachel, on the other hand, was already reeking of garbage. Even after washing her hands multiple times, the smell still lingered.
She had changed out of her work uniform into her regular coat, but the stink clung to her like it was part of her now.
"These rich people… lose a ring and make us go through all this crap. If it was that expensive, why didn't she take better care of it?" Sister Rivera complained.
Rachel just offered a few comforting words, grabbed her bag, and left the sanitation office.
Because of Celeste's mess, Rachel ended up going home way later than usual.
The streetlights were already on, and the cold wind was biting against her face, making her cheeks sting.
Today, she really felt the difference between her life now and the way it used to be.
When Celeste demanded the ring be found, Rachel didn't even have the right to say no. If she wanted to keep her job, she had no choice but to dig through piles of nasty trash.
In the past, even if she lost a job, she could easily find another one. But now? It was almost impossible.
To survive and have enough to eat, she had to keep going.
Suddenly, she froze in place, her eyes locking onto the figure standing at the gate of the apartment complex up ahead.
It was Jeffrey.
He was waiting for her to come home.
The streetlight cast a warm glow on him, making him look even more comforting in the cold night.
Rachel felt different now than she used to. At least she wasn't alone anymore.
"Jeffrey," she called out, running toward him. But just as she was about to reach him, she suddenly stopped.
Jeffrey's beautiful eyes showed a bit of confusion as he looked at her. "Sis?"
"I… I smell bad right now. Don't come too close," she said. "Let's go inside. It's cold out here."
As she spoke, she started walking toward the apartment complex.
But then she froze again. A pair of arms had suddenly wrapped around her from behind.
The next moment, she was pulled into a warm hug.
"Jeffrey!" she whispered softly.
Jeffrey held her tightly, lowering his head to rest gently against her neck. He knew exactly what she meant by "smell."
He knew what she had gone through today.
The bullying from Celeste, the hours of digging through garbage...
But he just whispered, "Sis, no matter what you smell like, you never need to avoid me."
"But…" she murmured, feeling super embarrassed, not sure if it was because of the smell or because of his hug.
"Didn't we say we'd rely on each other?" he asked. "If one day I smelled bad, would you stay away from me too?"
Rachel was quiet for a moment, then she took a deep breath and said, "Alright. I get it. I won't do it again."
A smile appeared on his face as he took her hand and led her back to their small rented room.
He had already prepared dinner.
Though the food had gone cold, Rachel still ate it happily.
"What happened today?" Jeffrey asked.
Rachel hesitated for a moment but decided to tell him everything.
After all, the whole thing had already gone viral, and even if she didn't say anything, he would probably find out online.
Jeffrey listened quietly. After she finished, he asked, "Aren't you angry?"
She gave a small, bitter smile at his question.
"There's nothing to be angry about."
"She didn't even lose the ring, did she? She just wanted to mess with you. Why aren't you mad?"
"Because getting mad won't help," she answered calmly. "Do you know who Mr Jeffrey is?" she suddenly asked.
His expression shifted a little, and a flicker of surprise showed in his eyes.
"He's like a god in Shen City. So many people want to get on his good side," she said. "When I was in prison, the court said I caused his fiancée's death in a car accident. So a bunch of people tried to suck up to him by making my life miserable in there. If I got angry at every little thing, I would've broken down completely."
Her tone was light, almost like it didn't matter. But his heart felt tight hearing it.
Even though she only mentioned it briefly, he could already imagine what kind of life she lived in prison. Like she said, way too many people wanted to please Jeffrey.
Some of them had even proudly told him how they "taught her a lesson" while she was locked up. And back then… how did he react?
He just laughed it off.
To him, it was nothing.
Just a tiny, meaningless thing. But now, thinking back, regret stabbed at him hard.
If he had known she was this kind of person…
If he had known they would meet like this…
He would've never let anyone lay a hand on her.
He would've never let her serve those three years in that place.
"What's wrong?" she asked, noticing his dazed expression. She waved a hand in front of his face.
Suddenly, he grabbed her hand, feeling the rough calluses on her palm.
"It must've been really hard in prison, sis," he murmured.
Rachel gave a faint smile. "It's all in the past."
But even though she said it so casually, his heart hurt even more.