Accidental Marriage With Mr Billioniare
Chapter 71: ASTRID REGRETS

Chapter 71: ASTRID REGRETS

Astrid’s eyes widened as Julian’s angry gaze burned into hers. Then she reminded herself, "He doesn’t own my life, I shouldn’t be scared of him." With restored confidence, she walked past him.

As she strutted down the catwalk, admiration filled the eyes of the audience. She repeated the process several times, showcasing various dresses until the show concluded and Maren spoke with the audience.

Astrid just finished changing out of her dress when Maren rushed over, her voice filled with excitement.

"Yay! You did amazingly well! Everyone can’t stop talking about you." Maren praised Astrid who returned a little smile at Maren.

Astrid’s mind, however, remained preoccupied with Julian. "I thought you said Julian wouldn’t come?" she asked, her brow furrowed.

Maren’s smile faltered. "I didn’t know he would come. I received the news late and didn’t want to scare you."

Just then, Mattie stormed over, her face twisted in anger. She roughly grabbed Astrid’s arm pulling her toward her.

"Mattie what!" she smacked Astrid across the face and the room fell silent, shocked by the sudden outburst.

"Hey!" the remaining girls gasped, shifting back in unison.

Maren stepped forward, her voice firm. "How dare you?" Her voice screams irritation.

But then Mattie sneered. "I should say that to you. You are still defending her after what she did?" she retorted.

Astrid quickly stepped forward, wanting to stop the argument before it would escalate.

"It’s fine, Maren. You don’t have to get mad at her, she’s one of your top models."

Maren’s expression remained stern. "No, Astrid. I won’t tolerate disrespect toward you or any of my models."

This made Mattie’s eyes flash with anger, but Maren continued, unwavering.

"Apologize to Astrid. Now!"

"Me? Apologize to nobody like her?" Mattie shook her head and then the girls exchanged glances between themselves.

This is the first time they are seeing Mattie display this kind of behavior, everyone knows they are the little fairy. They assumed she was nice, but seeing how she had just treated Astrid proves otherwise.

"I told you already the clothing line is not your style, so why get mad at what you can’t model for it?"

Mattie nodded her head as she looked around, already seeing the eyes of the makeup artist and model on them.

"Then I quit working for you!" Gasping followed and Astrid’s eyes widened, everyone in the city knew who had made her who she was today.

If she quits it means she might cause a rift between the Adams, Logan, and Maren, this might be a big disaster.

"Mattie, there is no need to get this angry. We can sort it out," Astrid said soothingly, extending a calming hand.

But Mattie pushed her away roughly, sending Astrid stumbling backward on her heels.

She lost balance, almost hitting the ground, when a firm hand gripped hers, preventing her fall.

Astrid looked up to see Julian’s eyes blazing into Mattie’s, his jaw clenched.

She wanted to stand and rush away, but Julian’s grip held her steady.

"Relax," he whispered coolly, his breath tickling her ear, as he gently helped her stand.

Mattie’s face twisted in rage. "Everyone, please leave," Miles announced, and the room quickly emptied, with the others fleeing to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.

Julian’s gaze narrowed. "What is going on?" he asked, his voice low and stern.

Astrid shifted away slowly finding her way to where Miles stood, terrified of Julian’s response if Mattie whined to him.

"Are you asking me after seeing the trash she just pulled?" Matter fired and Julian’s eyes locked onto Astrid’s, and she swallowed hard.

"I... I..." she stammered.

Maren intervened, cutting off Astrid, "You are putting pressure on her, Julian."

Julian’s gaze snapped to Maren, his expression still the same.

"Mattie, do you want to stop working for me right?" Miles and Julian exchanged glances.

"What do you mean by that?" Miles asked, stunned, and then Martie proceeded.

"Do you recall that the contract is now in favor of me and against you?" Maren asked and Mattie’s eyes flashed.

"Are you threatening me?" Maren’s smile was icy. "Yes, if that’s what you consider it."

Astrid’s head drooped, tears welling up in her eyes. She only needed payment for her mother’s surgery, never expecting a fight to escalate to this.

Mattie’s voice trembled. "You are going to regret this."

Maren’s eyes hardened. "I doubt it. You’re breaching your contract. You will pay the penalty." and this made the tension in the room increase.

"But you know what? I wouldn’t take the charges of the contract against you," she let out and she swallowed hard.

"There is nothing between us anymore, you no longer work for me, you are no longer a model of Luminous Model Inc. Everything stops as of this second," Maren announced making Astrid speechless.

"Maren, you are taking it too far," Miles let out, "Excuse me?" Maren faced him.

"You need to consider that we are friends... to understand her temperament you can’t just stop it." Miles let out.

Maren scoffed, "I have been tolerating her for you." She shut her eyes, realizing her slip of the tongue.

A hint of blush crept onto her cheeks as she hastily added, "And also for Julian."

Since she had been harboring a secret crush on Miles, her words betrayed her emotions, she thank goodness they didn’t catch on quickly.

"Now, I am sick of her," Maren declared, regaining her composure and Mattie sneered at her.

"Then the Logans will attack you," Maren smirked, strutting beside Mattie with confidence.

"Pride makes humans fall. You have nothing associated with the Logans, but Astrid bears their name." Mattie breathed out, frustration and shock etched on her face.

"They won’t watch you tarnish their reputation," Maren added, her voice firm and so low tonjuts her heating.

Mattie’s anger boiled over, and she raised her hand to slap Maren.

But Maren grabbed her wrist, pushed her back, and returned the slap with her other hand.

"I may no longer be your boss, but I am older than you so show respect." Maren asserted, her eyes flashing.

Maren pulled Mattie roughly again, their faces inches apart.

"Look deep into my eyes, I am nothing like Astrid, who tolerates your abuse because she lacks a backbone."

With a final push, Maren sent Mattie crashing to the ground. The two men watched in stunned silence.

Julian’s eyes narrowed, impressed by Maren’s bold move. Miles, however, looked at Maren with a weird emotion twirling in him.

As Mattie struggled to rise, her face reddened with rage and humiliation.

"I am Maren, I don’t allow any brat to mess with me, I built my shit while you depend on your man and family, another shit against me and I would show how crazy I can be."

Astrid was left in awe, as she stared at her, "Astrid?" Maren called and Astrid cleared her throat.

"Do you want me to help you stand in the world or would you also depend on your husband?" Mattie snicker at this.

"You think it would be easy to do that? I will make sure to ruin you and your so-called power.." Mattie announced running out of the room in tears.

Julian sighed and also went along with her, Astrid looked down sadly at this. No matter how she couldn’t get his heart and couldn’t fight against the Logan’s.

"Maren, I only accepted this show because I needed the money so badly, I don’t want to fight against those two... I am just Daniel."

Astrid shut her eyes at the thought of how her dad would disown her instantly if he got to know she messed with these people.

"She has a family that would fight for her, but I have none to do so."

With that Astrid stride out of the room, her heart pounding, and all her mind could be was what Stephan would do to her this time.