Chapter 868: Do you guys want to date me?

"Patricia Miller, you should leave now, or I’ll have to have you dragged out of this place just like how my kind cousin did during that charity event. Have you not learned your lesson? Do you want me to show you the door?"

Patricia drew a deep breath, keeping her strong front. However, with Dean and now Ray here telling her to leave, she had no choice. Patricia cleared her throat, keeping her chin high.

"Hah!" she scoffed, glaring at Nina, who was acting like a damsel in distress when Patricia knew that Nina was just like her. "Before I go, Nina, don’t think that—"

"Go," Yuri huffed, pulling her arms from the men who were still holding her. "Just... go. No one wants to hear whatever you have to say."

"Patricia, does your brother know that you’re even here?" another former basketball team member remarked. "Although I’m not in business, my brother-in-law is. From what I’ve heard, the Miller family is in crisis. Aren’t you afraid this will reflect badly on the Millers even more?"

"Wow... I can’t believe such a girl exists."

"Your face is pretty, but seriously, you need to get checked."

"This is why I don’t date. I thought Ginnie was already scary, but wow... I should apologize to Ginnie. She’s actually an angel."

Patricia’s face twisted, sneering at these men, who didn’t even have the guts to speak up earlier. But now that Dean and Ray were here, they realized they had a voice.

"What a bunch of fools!" she spat out, no longer scared despite not having anyone on her side. "It’s not like I want to be here! I just came here because I was invited, but you know what? This party isn’t even worth my time! It’s disgusting!"

She glared at everyone, especially Nina, who had everyone wrapped around her little act. However, Patricia was already satisfied with what she had done. She had already brought up what happened in the past and humiliated Nina, which she was meant to do.

"Hmph!" Having said that, Patricia turned her back and sauntered off with a smug look on her face.

Meanwhile, everyone just watched Patricia leave. However, seeing her go didn’t fix their already ruined mood.

"Nina," Lily called, tugging at Nina’s hand gently. "It’s okay. I’m sorry this happened."

Nina shook her head, wiping her tears with the back of her hand. "It’s not your fault," she said, forcing a smile at Lily. "I’m sorry that..."

"Don’t mention it," Lily nodded reassuringly. "Patricia just made it sound malicious, but that... I’m okay now. We’ve bantered before, and I even fought with you, even when you didn’t try to. Mr. Pierson is right. Our past is the truth we can’t deny, but it doesn’t define us. We’re friends, good friends now. What happened back then are things we’ve already put behind us."

Their eyes shone with tears as they looked at each other, smiling. Others also smiled as they looked at Nina and Lily, sighing in relief that things hadn’t gotten out of hand. Yuri, on the other hand, quickly pulled out her phone and ended the call that had been going on for minutes.

"Nina," Yuri jumped to Lily and Nina’s side. "Since that’s settled, how about... we, uhm... I mean, you two should rest...?"

Lily shook her head. "There are still a few things we need to do, so..." She then glanced at Nina. "Nina, you should rest for a while. Everything’s almost done, anyway."

"Miss President, you should rest. Don’t worry, we’ll get the bulletin done."

"How about you retouch your makeup?"

"Or just sit and tell us what to do."

Lily looked at the basketball players before smiling beautifully. "Do you guys want to date me?"

"What?" they blurted out in unison, stunned at the assumption they were hearing just because they felt bad for her. But Lily just suddenly made that huge jump.

"Come on. We’re not young anymore. If you’re interested, just tell me so you guys can line up, okay?"

"..."

Lily chuckled, making everyone laugh as well. "Now, let’s get back to work. We only have—ah, shit! We only have fifteen minutes before people start coming!" Her initially teary eyes turned sharp, and her energy quickly returned to how it had been. "Let’s get moving—chop chop!"

"Ye—yes, ma’am!" The rest of the men who were helping couldn’t help but look at each other, puzzled by how quickly Lily had changed in attitude.

As they got moving, Lily turned to Nina again with a smile. "Nina, rest for a bit, okay? I’ll check in on you later."

"I’ll help!" Yuri suggested, raising a hand and earning a nod from Lily. But Yuri didn’t immediately follow Lily, stopping in front of Nina. "Should I stay with you?"

Nina shook her head. "I’ll be fine. Just... help Lily. Otherwise, she’ll start freaking out."

"Okay." Yuri nodded in understanding, knowing Nina would want to be alone to recollect herself.

With that, Yuri followed Lily while Nina stared at them. When Nina looked away, she intuitively set her eyes on where Dean was. Although Nina and Dean had little to no interaction, Nina was aware that Dean was Finn’s friend and also a business associate. But alas, just as her eyes landed on the man, Dean already had his back to her while Ray was approaching him.

"..." Nina pursed her lips, seeing that Dean had walked up to Ray, and the two of them engaged in conversation. A part of her wanted to approach them now, but another part of her told her she could probably thank him later.

When Nina decided to thank Dean later once she got the opportunity, her brows rose as another realization dawned on her. When she turned her head, her eyes quickly met with Jonathan.

’Right... he’s also here,’she told herself, sighing heavily as she offered Jonathan a helpless smile. ’How am I going to explain all of this to him?’

It wasn’t like she had to explain this to her client, as this was something very personal. But since Jonathan was there to witness it all, and he had even sided with her despite Patricia’s disrespect toward him, she felt like she owed him an explanation.