Chapter 127 Don’t You Ever Leave Without Asking My Permission (Part One)


    "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 n through! She was d, 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 disy.


    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 theputer, he slipped into hisfortable slippers,


    powered down hisputer, 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


    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


    wasparable 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


    N?velDrama.Org holds text ? rights.


    least have a wrap or shawl to wear on top of this?"


    Her words surprised the assistant. She was ustomed to working with celebrities who were always


    confident, if not extremely proud of their bodies. She had forgotten that not everyone was happy


    disying 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 eyesnded 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 hadplimented 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 ss 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 disy 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 ufortable, 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 ced 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 bnce 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 bnce. 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 nk 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 nk 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 havee to a standstill. They counted the ticking seconds but Zed did not


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


    ruined!


    While idents on a shoot site weremon, 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 hade 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!"