Arrogant Man VS Unyielding Woman novel Chapter 127

"You would have what?" When Jean didn't finish her sentence, Zed prompted her gently. He was curious to hear how Jean felt about this situation.

Jean shook her head. It was difficult to even imagine being in the actresses' position, let alone putting into words how she would feel had something horrible happened. She didn't know what to say to Zed, and so Jean simply said, "Never mind."

If something irrevocable had happened, she would feel guilty for the rest of her life. The celebrity women that had schemed to get Jean into trouble were certainly hypocrites. But that didn't mean they deserved to be put in such a situation. The more Jean thought about all the things that could have gone wrong, the more guilty she felt. She really hadn't thought her plan through! She was glad, however, that nothing untoward had happened to the four women.

After dinner, Zed fulfilled his promise of taking Jean to the beach. They spent quite a long time on the beach, walking, talking, admiring the setting sun, and doing all the other things any normal couple would do. When they felt tired, Jean and Zed returned to their room.

The next day, they woke bright and early and began preparations for the shoot that had been scheduled for just after lunch. The assistant had selected the appropriate outfits for the program and sent them to the celebrities in the morning.

Jean unpacked her parcel eagerly. So far, she had enjoyed the clothes and dresses that the assistant had picked for her. This time, however, she was surprised to see that she was required to wear a bikini!

A red tinge spread from Jean's neck to her cheeks. She had never worn a bikini before! Just looking at the tiny bits of fabric, Jean could imagine how much of her body was going to be on display.

She stared at it for perhaps half an hour before she was interrupted by Zed. He had been working all this while. When he got tired of staring at the computer, he slipped into his comfortable slippers, powered down his computer, and left the make-shift study.

As he entered the bedroom, Zed noticed how Jean was staring at the box the assistant had sent. When he looked at what Jean was holding, he was surprised as well.

"You will be in a bikini today?" Zed teased.

"Ha ha, " she mocked. "Don't be so happy. This is what you're wearing." Jean lifted the tiny pair of shorts the assistant had selected for Zed. Her mouth curved into a disapproving frown, "Would you feel comfortable wearing something like this?"

Zed paused for a second and raised his eyebrows, "It wouldn't look bad on someone who was in good shape."

As he spoke, Zed walked to the fridge and opened it. He leaned forward and fetched a bottle of water from it.

Jean ground her teeth and threw the shorts on the couch and said with indignation, "Are you trying to imply that I'm embarrassed about the bikini because I'm not in good shape?"

"Did I say that?" Zed frowned and asked. Then he pivoted and slowly studied Jean from head to toe. He raised an eyebrow and smiled in approval. Then he slowly took a sip of his water before saying, "I like what I see. Are you worried it won't look good on you? How would you know unless you put it on?" Jean didn't know if she could trust Zed's opinion on this matter. He had feelings for her, yes. He had slept with her several times, yes. But just because Zed was attracted to her didn't mean that her body was comparable to that of the other four celebrity women. They were actresses and models who spent hours every day taking care of their bodies!

Jean was surprised at what Zed had said. Was he not even going to try and speak with the assistant about alternative clothes? Unhappy, Jean turned away from Zed and sulked on the couch.

Jean had spent the rest of the morning debating the issue. How could she show up in such a skimpy bikini?

Around noon, the stylist came to prepare Jean and Zed for the program. By then, she still hadn't thought of how to talk her way out of this situation. Eventually, Jean had to give up and put on the bikini.

Jean pressed her lips into a thin line in disapproval before asking the assistant awkwardly, "Can I at least have a wrap or shawl to wear on top of this?"

Her words surprised the assistant. She was accustomed to working with celebrities who were always confident, if not extremely proud of their bodies. She had forgotten that not everyone was happy displaying their bodies. After taking a moment to recover, the assistant rushed out to find Jean something to wear over the bikini.

Since the assistant was taking forever, Jean decided she couldn't continue to hide in the bathroom. And so, she stepped into the bedroom.

Zed was drinking water when his eyes landed on Jean. His hand froze midair. He couldn't believe how gorgeous and attractive she looked in the bikini. Suddenly, he worried about how other men would react when they saw Jean.

She flushed and frowned at Zed's expression, "What are you staring at?" She asked in awkward defiance.

"I am looking at you. Your body is beautiful and that bikini.. wow! All this time, you've been wearing such conservative clothing that you have no idea how ravishing you look. It looks like you will enchant many men today." Although Zed had complimented Jean and the way she looked in the bikini, his tone seemed to convey that he was seriously displeased about something. Without saying another word, Zed put down the glass in his hand and walked to the door.

Jean paused as she thought over what Zed had said. Then she put on the shawl the assistant had brought and followed Zed.

She had to admit that it was hot in Sanya and the bikini helped her stay cool. At least she wasn't going to spend the day sweating.

The other four couples had arrived before Zed and Jean. The onlookers had flocked toward the celebrities. They were whispering about how gorgeous everyone looked. Each of the four celebrity women preened at all this attention. The whispers died down when Jean and Zed walked down the beach. Suddenly, the attention shifted toward the young couple.

The white shawl covered most of Jean's exposed skin but since the material was almost transparent, her colorful bikini was still visible. This lent Jean a mysterious element that added to her charm.

Besides, the shawl could not hide the shape of her body. Several men leered at Jean which made her skin crawl. She positively abhorred being in this position. Unlike the celebrity women, Jean hadn't wanted this kind of attention.

The celebrity women were not pleased with the reaction of the crowd. They lost to Jean during the drinking challenge the other day. Now, she stole the spotlight from them. She was nothing more than an ordinary and inconspicuous woman and yet, she overshadowed all of them.

Since everything was ready for the recording, the director ordered that everyone begin. He didn't dare ask Jean to take off the white shawl as he wasn't sure how Zed would react.

Wearing a bikini offered a good chance to display a well-toned body. While Madeline was proud of her body, she was not happy about having to wear a bikini.

The sun was at it's harshest and she was worried about getting a tan. Although she had put on tons of sunscreen, and it made her feel very sticky and uncomfortable, she was still worried about her skin darkening.

What pissed her off even more was that Jean could wear a shawl to cover her body.

The program included an activity that required the women to fill a bucket with water collected from the sea. The buckets were placed on the backs of their respective husbands. Jean didn't care about winning, but she didn't want it to look like she had no enthusiasm.

So she worked hard to fill the bucket with water. She ran back and forth from the seaside, fetching water with the spoon that had been given to the women. Just as Jean made it back to the water, she felt somebody bump into her. Jean lost her balance and fell into the water.

It seemed as though the other women had conspired to push her into deeper water. They pretended as though the waves were causing them to lose their balance. Instead, they were slyly pushing Jean under water and preventing her from getting to her feet.

From a distance, it looked like the women were genuinely struggling against the force of the waves.

Jean could not swim and after several attempts of trying to stand, she became weary. Her muscles ached and she was breathless. Suddenly, a big wave rushed up and dragged her further out to sea.

The director who had been watching from a distance found it strange that none of the women were making it back to continue the game. He stayed silent for quite a while before a nagging feeling forced him to shout at the women to get out of the water. Madeline was the first to notice that Jean had disappeared. She stood in the water and stared for a long time but Jean didn't appear.

"Where is she?" Wendy gritted her teeth and whispered as she searched around. She even bent down and ran her hand through the water hoping to catch Jean.

Maggie panicked and sobbed, "Is it possible that she was swept away by the waves?"

Zabrina's face turned colorless at her words. They were just trying to punish Jean by getting her to drink some seawater. They hadn't expected that Jean would disappear.

Madeline was calmer and she shook her head, "These days everyone can swim. Even if she was swept away by the waves, she will swim back to shore quickly."

"It has been a long time. Where is she?" Maggie said anxiously. She didn't want to ruin her career by being responsible for getting a person killed. She decided it wasn't worth the risk. And so she turned and ran toward the shore while screaming, "Somebody help! Somebody got swept away by the waves!"

As soon as the onlookers and crew members heard Maggie, they panicked.

Even the few crew members stationed on the waterfront became anxious. It was their job to ensure that no one got into trouble. And yet, one of the women had gone missing. They realized that they would get into a lot of trouble. Everyone turned as white as paper.

Hearing that somebody had been swept by the waves, Zed went blank for a flicker of a second before he turned and ran toward the water. His eyes frantically searched every person standing nearby, but he didn't spot Jean.

Frightened, he grabbed Maggie's shoulder and asked, "Who was swept away?"

Maggie saw his blood-shot eyes and the worry on his face. Overwhelmed with guilt, she burst out crying. She pointed toward the water and said, "Jean. She was swept away by the waves."

Zed's brain went blank at her words. He felt as though he had been struck on the head by a huge brick. He shook his head to clear the panic he was feeling and rushed into the sea.

"Help! Somebody help! Call 911!" The director yelled at the top of his lungs.

The celebrity husbands had caught up with Zed by then. They quickly grabbed their wives and led them further away from the water. Simultaneously, the staff jumped into the sea to help search for Jean.

Zed ran as far as he could before diving into the sea. A group of people stood on shore and watched anxiously. Time seemed to have come to a standstill. They counted the ticking seconds but Zed did not come out of water.

The director was perturbed. What if something happened both Zed and Jean? His career would be ruined!

While accidents on a shoot site were common, it was most disastrous if somebody actually got killed. Besides, Zed was a very important business figure! The Qi Group was extremely influential. Most of the investment in his show had come from the Qi Group! How could he be so unlucky as to have something unfortunate happen to the only heir of the Qi Group?

"What the hell you are waiting for? Go get more people to help!"