Thousands of Brilliant Stars: You Deserve the Best!-Chapter 54: After Being Hurt, Can You Heal?

Lachlan Wyatt finds Iris Crawford intriguing because she is different from those other women.

Humans are such pathetic creatures, once they’re entangled in the word "love", they instantly become dull.

Lachlan’s gaze is so cold, staring at the turned back like he’s going to pierce a hole through her slender back.

Iris Crawford looks at the scenery flying past outside the window, accelerating along with the images in her mind. The woman slowly closes her eyes, as if saying a silent farewell to an emotion.

The tightly clenched fingers suddenly relax.

When she opens her eyes again, Iris Crawford smiles softly, her laughter spreads like a silver bell through the carriage in the deep night, like a siren’s enchantment, cold yet enticing. She answers Lachlan Wyatt’s question from minutes ago, "Young Master Wyatt can see me as whatever he wants."

Love is like a plague, inescapable.

As if the disappointment in her eyes just now was all smoke, blown away by the wind outside the car window.

As if she never suffered because of him.

Lachlan Wyatt’s Adam’s apple moves up and down, saying nothing, the night outside is deep, highlighting her snow-white skin, and in her cold, indifferent pupils, Lachlan Wyatt sees his own face.

******

Because they left early, everyone hasn’t caught up yet, and Martin Hawthorne still has to handle Gia alone; she has clues to follow, leaving only Lachlan Wyatt and Iris Crawford returning to Sarah Shaw’s villa. The empty house is filled with tension. The two of them silently stare at each other, until Iris Crawford speaks first after a long silence, "I’m a bit tired after a busy night, so I won’t accompany Young Master Wyatt. I’ll go take a shower first."

"Stay."

Lachlan Wyatt’s voice is somewhat cold, like the moonlight outside the window.

Iris Crawford indeed stands, this obedience makes Lachlan Wyatt feel uneasy.

Where’s that rebellious spirit of hers!

Lachlan clicks his tongue, "Are you resentful of me."

Iris Crawford’s back trembles slightly, she says, "How could I be."

"If you resent me, just say it."

Lachlan raises an eyebrow, still looking defiant, "I sent you to seduce Peter Marshall, you weren’t happy about it, right?"

Iris Crawford’s teeth clenched abruptly!

She turns around, her voice filled with disgust, "Yes."

He always knew yet still ordered her, Lachlan Wyatt, can you be any more selfish?

Lachlan laughed, "So what do you want me to do to make you feel better?"

Iris Crawford couldn’t catch her breath, Lachlan Wyatt steps forward, touching her hair, "Hm? How much compensation would make up for it?"

"I’ve never lacked for money." Iris Crawford bites out each word, "But just as well, didn’t I owe you a favor? Consider it paid tonight."

Lachlan Wyatt seemingly deep in emotion, yet really cold to the extreme, says "But Iris Crawford, other than money, there’s nothing else I can give you."

It seems something hits Iris Crawford hard in the chest, her eyes widen slightly, as if she’s comprehending the deeper meaning in Lachlan Wyatt’s words.

Lachlan Wyatt observes Iris Crawford, watching the changes in her expression until the end, Iris Crawford also smiles, "Young Master Wyatt worries too much, I haven’t asked anything of you."

"Really?" Lachlan Wyatt’s hand slightly tightens on Iris Crawford’s hair, then he releases it, smiling with relief, "Good then, I’m indifferent about giving money, there’s nothing else."

This smile, indifferent to the extreme.

Iris Crawford mimics Lachlan Wyatt, saying, "Young Master Wyatt saying it like this is best, money—no one ever finds too much of it. If all you can give is money, then perfect, money is all I want."

What a perfect line, all I want is money!

After saying this, Iris Crawford showed no regard for Lachlan Wyatt, huffed coldly and went to the bathroom, leaving Lachlan Wyatt standing there, alone.

In the world, the only one who dared to treat Lachlan Wyatt with such disdain was probably Iris Crawford.

Lachlan watched Iris Crawford leave for quite a while, suddenly laughing!

That night, Martin Hawthorne was the last to return, with a woman following behind him. Peach and James Chesterton were playing cards, surprised to see Martin Hawthorne bring a woman in.

James Chesterton immediately shouted, "Gia?"

Peach dropped the cards on the table, "Martin Hawthorne, why did you bring Gia back?!"

Although they had said they would get evidence from Peter Marshall and Gia and capture them... but they didn’t expect to bring her back so directly!

Martin Hawthorne pushes Gia in front of everyone, "She says she wants to talk to us."

Gia is pretty, a shining star in the entertainment industry, if anything happens to her, a lot of fans will be heartbroken. But now... Gia wants to come to them voluntarily?

"Hello." Gia says calmly, as if she’s seen her own death date, "I know someone is investigating Peter Marshall and me, wanting to catch us."

With such a blunt opening, Sarah Shaw, who was playing on her phone on the couch almost asleep, also opens her eyes, "What did you say?"

"I can tell you all about Peter Marshall’s secrets." Gia remains motionless, as if she would no longer resist, "Behind Peter Marshall, there’s another mastermind, a person of great power, usually secretly contacting Peter Marshall. I only learned about this after months by Peter Marshall’s side."

"Were you involved in Peter Marshall’s affairs?"

"I wasn’t, but if Peter Marshall gets exposed, I’ll definitely be dragged down because I’ve had many shows and events pushed by him."

Gia spoke about her own fate with an eerie calm, as if she had anticipated from the start that she wouldn’t come to a good end.

The woman stood in the middle of the living room, her face pale, completely unlike the imagined mistress of a villain.

Martin Hawthorne stood at the door, arms crossed, "Ever since Peter Marshall was under your surveillance, she’s been trying every way to contact us."

Inside the room, Iris Crawford heard the commotion and came out as well, but Lachlan Wyatt’s door remained tightly shut, as if once the evidence was found, how the rest were dealt with was none of his concern.

Walking into the living room, Iris called out, "Gia?"

"I knew it." Gia finally smiled when she saw Iris, "I knew back then you approached Peter Marshall on purpose."

Iris walked up to her, "Why did you want to find us? Whether it’s Peter Marshall’s terrifying backer or us, neither is here to save you."

"I never expected anyone to save me."

Gia looked at Iris numbly, "I couldn’t be happier if Peter Marshall were taken out. But if he’s silenced by the forces behind him, his crimes would never be known to the world, all the clues would be cut off... It’d be better if he were caught by you, judged by the law."

Hearing Gia’s words, Iris was stunned. No wonder back at the club, Gia gave Iris such a pitying look; perhaps she had always had her reasons...

"I want Peter Marshall dead."

Gia clenched her hands tightly, "I’m willing to pay any price as long as he can die."

From the moment she was forced to become his mistress, her heart had become empty.

Peter Marshall supported her, making her famous, with one film after another, and advertisers flocked to her; logically, she should have been satisfied. After all, many starlets were kept but never got such treatment.

But the more it went on, the more Gia hated it.

She thought if one day she became the hottest female artist, maybe she could choose that moment to commit suicide, leaving behind a suicide note to shake the entire entertainment industry.

But now she was kept by Peter Marshall, her news suppressed by him, and all she had was overflowing hatred.

Finally, someone was going after Peter Marshall, and Gia felt she was hanging on by a thread. She handed her phone to Iris Crawford; for some reason, this woman made her feel at ease.

"You’re not like me." Gia handed over the phone, "You give me the feeling that you can live without relying on anyone."

Iris’s heart trembled as she looked at the phone Gia handed over and listened to her continue, "This phone holds all the evidence, including photos I secretly took and videos containing meetings between Peter Marshall and the person behind him. However, he’s very cautious, fully disguised during meetings, making it hard to recognize him... Anyway, I’ve put all the evidence that could topple Peter Marshall into this phone. I never dared to hand it over before, for fear that even the last resort would be placated by Peter Marshall, leaving me without a grave and all my efforts in vain..."

Iris tightly held the phone, "Don’t worry, we won’t be bribed by Peter Marshall." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

"I trust you." Gia finally smiled for the first time that night, "I don’t know why, but at first glance, I felt you were not an ordinary person."

Iris wanted to reach out to Gia; her stage name was so charming, she should have been someone cherished...

"Peter Marshall forced me, then took photos and videos to threaten me. If I spoke out, it would only be me who’d lose everything. My sister still relies on me to live, she’s in the hospital..." Gia covered her face, as if she couldn’t hold back anymore, leaned on Iris, and broke down crying, "I didn’t want to become Peter Marshall’s accomplice, but I had no choice. He seemed to treat me well, as if I were a shameless woman being kept by him; everyone said I only became famous after climbing onto Peter Marshall — in fact, I’m utterly disgusted! He even uses my acting contracts to launder money! My fans don’t know, my company doesn’t know, they still need me to smile in front of them. I’m a star, I can’t let them panic... The only thing I can do is keep all the evidence, maybe one day, someone will save me, then I can expose everything to the world, and hopefully get some justice for myself..."

Both had to support their families, but Gia and Crystal Rhodes were completely different. Crystal harmed others for money, while Gia found strength for self-rescue in despair.

Hearing Gia’s sobs, Iris couldn’t bear it and said, "Don’t cry anymore, stay here with us tonight, someone will take you away tomorrow."

"I won’t run." Gia, with red eyes, forced a smile and said to Iris, "Who’s coming to get me tomorrow? The police station feels safer to me."

As long as Peter Marshall could be brought down, she would stop at nothing.

Iris sighed; the hatred in Gia’s heart was so strong, perhaps comparable to her hatred for Jordan Jacobs.

The group hurriedly contacted Elias Shaw. Elias suggested coming to pick up Gia now for questioning and investigation, so he hung up. Gia pointed to herself, "Should I leave now?"

"Yeah... he said he’ll come pick you up now." Iris, uncharacteristically gentle, for she was never stingy with her scarce kindness towards the unfortunate, "Trust us, Peter Marshall will definitely be brought down."

"Okay." Gia quietly sat on the sofa waiting for Elias Shaw and the police to come for her, but Iris couldn’t bear the scene. She felt sad and, after gesturing to James Chesterton, went back to her room.

Walking into the room, before she had a chance to close the door, another foot wedged itself into the door gap, holding the door open.

Iris was taken aback; it was Martin Hawthorne.

She let Martin in, then shut the door and asked, "What’s up?"

"There’s something wrong with you."

Martin’s tone was cold but decisive, "Your expression is off."

In the past, Iris never had such a melancholic look.

"I just feel sorry for Gia."

Behind the glamorous facade lay a muddy mess.

"Do you also find yourself pitiful?"

Martin and Iris were alone in the room, yet there was no awkwardness. He sat cross-legged with Iris by the bedroom’s floor-to-ceiling window, Iris smiling as she opened a bottle of wine she’d brought in earlier, not bothering with glasses, taking a sip straight from the bottle.

The light red wine left a trace on her lips, the woman tilted her neck, looking at the night outside and said, "Martin, do you think a wounded heart can ever recover?"