There were some common apps on it, but the ones which made her sparkle were the security kind apps. A tracker, a GPS locator and other apps were helpful in identifying fraudsters as well as unknown callers. There were many others that she planned to take a look at closely in the future.
With a new phone in hand, she wasn't in the mood to sleep at all. While browsing the phone, Gloria saw that Xander's number was already saved as 'Hubby' and it made her cheeks feel hot, but she didn't bother to change it. She loved how the number was saved.
There were no other contacts on her new phone. So, she checked her old phone and picked the numbers she wanted to save on the new phone. Among those numbers, there was Cassy, Ian, Iris, and the butler.
As for the family members, she didn't bother to add them there. After all, they were the reasons why she opted for a new number.
Gloria also added a few more apps she liked on her new phone as well as media. Once that was done, she eagerly turned her old phone off before stashing the phone in the bottom drawer of the dressmaker.
Because of that one move, Gloria, who didn't bother to check her messages due to the extreme excitement of the new phone, didn't get to see that Simon had sent her numerous messages and that the man was anxious and in panic.
Unfortunately, he was doomed not to receive any response until several days later.
It was truly unfortunate.
Meanwhile, on Simon's side, the day hadn't been that good, to be honest.
After getting the investment, he had been busy putting the company back on track. After getting the certificate with Sia, he threw himself into work and didn't have much time to spend with Sia.
Luckily, she was understanding and since she knew how terrifying it could be at work, there wasn't much for him to worry about. That's why he worked diligently until he returned to the clan house later that night.
However, when he got home, Sia didn't seem well at all.
He pulled her in his arms and made her sit on his lap as the servants warmed the food.
"My darling, who angered you?" he coaxingly asked, placing his chin on her shoulder.
"Umph!" Sia snorted as she looked away, her arms crossed, and upon seeing that, Simon knew that he might be the one who angered her. But when? He didn't just get it.
So, he continued to coax her using soft words, which finally worked. And his mood worsened, or rather he nearly exploded upon learning why Sia was like that.
"Hubby, you won't believe what that useless sister of mine told me. She dared flaunt your love in my eyes. How dare she? Don't tell me that you love her. Just because you have known each other for decades, where does that put me?"
Simon had to put a lot of effort into coaxing Sia when he heard that.
"Dear, how can you say that? We might have known each other for decades, but don't we know each other for decades as well? Babe, we were fated to be with each other from the day that you were born. Have you forgotten about that?"
Sia snorted as she harrumphed at him, though a smile was on her face as she recalled how there was something like that.
Gloria didn't know, but the two families had set an engagement and that engagement was between her and Simon and not with Gloria.
Growing up, Sia was raised and led by Gloria and Simon. She had always envied the love and chemistry between those two. Growing up with them and being the third wheel, she got greedy but held herself back, knowing that Gloria and her crush were going to be married and be family.
However, when she was fifteen, in the same year that those two got married, she overheard a secret between her mother and Simon's mother. Perhaps they didn't even think that there was someone around. So, they chatted freely.
'In-law, must we really do this?'
'It's the only way we can keep the marriage in our families. We can't wait until Sia grows up. By then, who knows which vixen would have plotted against Simon?'
'But … won't this be trouble in the future? After all, everyone knows how much Gloria loves Simon!'
'Huh, what's the point? Don't worry, he knows who he should love. We can't have an outsider and a person with that person's blood to carry our bloodline. Only by marrying Gloria and suppressing her can we live without worry!'
At that time, Sia was shocked by the numerous secrets she overheard in a single conversation. First, Gloria wasn't her biological sister and Gloria knew nothing about it.
The two families had an engagement that Gloria wasn't aware of.
Simon didn't love Gloria at all but was with her to suppress her, but from what, she didn't know and didn't care.
All she cared about in that conversation was that Simon was hers and the feelings that had been tormenting her weren't wrong at all.
When that truth was learnt by her, she was so happy and finally at ease. She was no longer bothered by Gloria's marriage or envious of her at all.
She also started understanding why the two families had always been encouraging her and pressuring her to be the best, while Gloria was always underestimated until she believed herself to be mediocre.
It was all for her. So how could she not be happy?
Thankfully, when she was eighteen, she and Simon officially started seeing each other and she had to suppress the urge to chase Gloria out of that house. The thought of Simon sharing the bed with Gloria made her heart ache so much, but what could she do?
There wasn't a reasonable explanation or excuse to make her divorce. While she was thinking of plans to drive Gloria away, the disaster struck, and then years passed by fast, and a chance finally cropped up.
Who would have known that the Frost clan leader would agree to buy Gloria and Gloria would be so foolish to agree to divorce Simon, thinking that she was doing it for the clan?
It was at this stage that Sia finally witnessed the power of the manipulation Simon and her family did on Gloria. Even now, she was still thinking carelessly and hoping to remarry Simon. Whom did she think she was?
After Simon successfully coaxed Sia, he dotingly fed her during the meal, a sense of satisfaction on his face as his gaze lingered on her flat belly where his flesh and blood were.
Although it was a pity that he never touched Gloria much and didn't deflower her since he practically raised her. A loss that makes him click his tongue in pity at times. It was still great that he didn't do anything. After all, Gloria fetched a good price because of her chastity.
Was he afraid that Gloria would know about the sale one day?
He wasn't at all.
After all, Xander wouldn't be a fool to let that matter slip. Would he?
Who knows what a cornered person would do upon learning that?
Thankfully, Gloria was well-trained and wouldn't even think in such a direction. Otherwise, she wouldn't be working hard to steal information about how risky it was.
After the meal, Simon went to the study while Sia returned to bed feeling sleepy.
With Sia away, Simon recalled how he hadn't responded to Gloria lately. He didn't like giving in and giving her what she wanted.
When it comes to her, he always liked playing hunger games. He wanted to make her desire him, miss him so badly to the extent that she would be grateful towards him even when he responded with a single word.
That's what it had been like since day one, and nothing was going to change. It would be a miracle if Xander put greater importance on Gloria. She was as useless as she could be. If she got lucky, perhaps she would sleep with Xander once, but he doubted if she would agree to such a thing.
She was the kind of person who would rather die than be humiliated. He was very confident.
Thinking about how he had ignored her and how she had provided some useful information to him through various channels. He decided to reward her.
So, he sent her a message expecting a reply as quickly as possible. After all, when it comes to Gloria, she is always on her phone and she set a special tone for him. That way, she could respond to him as fast as she could.
However, he waited five minutes and there was no response. So, he sent another message, and it was ignored and that ignited him to send more, but the results were the same.
[Where are you? What are you doing?]
[Did you find something?]
[Gloria. Where the fuck are you? Answer the damn texts!]
Seeing the numerous messages, he had sent and yet none of them were responded to, his gaze darkened, not liking Gloria's attitude.
When had he ever been ignored by her?
To suddenly not receive a response from her, especially since the first message was sent thirty minutes ago. Bells started ringing in his head.
"Something is not right here!" he was certain of that.
Instead of waiting for a response, he decided to call.
"Sorry, the number you are dialing is not available at the moment. Please try again later! Doot. Doot. Doot," and that cold female metallic voice greeted him. Angering him so much, he nearly threw the phone on the floor but held himself back, recalling how there wasn't much money to waste. Moreover, his phone had a lot of secrets he couldn't afford to lose because Gloria was refusing to answer, or rather in this case, she had turned off her phone.
How dare she?
Thinking about how Gloria's wings were starting to harden, thinking about the ambiguous words she told Sia that angered his pregnant baby, he narrowed his eyes murderously as he rose to his feet thinking, 'I will have to remind you who you belong to, Gloria! Don't dare defy your master!' completely forgetting all the wonderful deeds he committed against her.
After all, in his mind, he was never wrong, and Gloria was born to obey.
Who made him born lucky and different?