Nothing happened.

Elena followed.

Nothing happened.

Karen blinked.

“What?”

David and Elena continued walking.

They didn't even notice the trap.

Karen slowly crawled out from behind the tree.

“How?”

She looked at the ground.

Apparently, the branches had been stronger than she expected.

She stepped onto the spot herself to inspect it.

The ground suddenly collapsed.

Karen dropped into the shallow pit with a scream.

“Aaaah!”

David and Elena turned around.

“Karen?”

Karen scrambled to her feet.

“I—I slipped!”

Elena looked at the perfectly flat trail.

“Right.”

Karen climbed out, embarrassed.

But she wasn't finished.

She decided to follow them from a distance.

She crouched behind another tree.

That was when she heard a strange noise above her.

She looked up.

A monkey was sitting on a branch.

It stared at her.

Karen stared back.

“Shoo.”

The monkey tilted its head.

“Go away.”

The monkey suddenly jumped down.

Karen screamed.

“GET OFF ME!”

The monkey grabbed her hat.

Karen chased after it.

“Give that back!”

The monkey jumped onto another branch.

Karen followed.

Then another monkey appeared.

Then another.

Within seconds, Karen was surrounded by a small troop of curious monkeys.

One grabbed her sleeve.

Another pulled at her hair.

Another stole her sunglasses.

Karen ran.

She tripped over a root and landed on the ground.

David and Elena came running.

“Are you okay?”

Karen sat there covered in leaves, with one shoe missing and a monkey sitting comfortably on her stolen hat.

“I hate this forest!”

Elena tried not to laugh.

David helped Karen stand.

Karen looked at him.

For a moment, she expected sympathy.

Instead, David said, “Maybe you should go home.”

Karen's face hardened.

She watched him walk away with Elena.

The monkey dropped her hat at her feet.

Karen picked it up.

She looked toward the couple.

Her jealousy had become something darker.

She didn't want David to simply notice her anymore.

She wanted him to choose her.

And she was willing to become more desperate.

CHAPTER THREE

Hoa Karen Arrived Dressed to Seduce David — But His Rejection Turned Her Perfect Evening Into a Humiliating Disaster

Karen had decided that subtlety wasn't working.

So she changed her strategy.

If David wouldn't fall for her personality, perhaps he would fall for her appearance.

She spent an entire afternoon preparing.

She chose a glamorous black dress, expensive perfume, high heels, and carefully styled her blonde hair.

That evening, David was attending a small dinner party.

Elena was there too.

Karen arrived late.

She walked through the door slowly, expecting every eye to turn toward her.

A few people looked.

Karen smiled.

She believed David would look differently.

He didn't.

He was standing beside Elena, helping her with her chair.

Karen walked directly toward him.

“David.”