Chapter 123

And with that, she drew me back into her embrace.

“And I’ll help you with mom…” she spoke in a whisper. “I promise you

that…”

“No!” I yelled out in shock. “I don’t want to… Please don’t mess around

”

It’s impossible for me to picture myself being kindly and sweet

towards Olivia Anderson. I have no problem with the fact that she despises me, since I am aware that no matter what I do, Brylee will always be the apple of her eyes.

As soon as the driver arrived at the school’s main gate, I gave hir instructions to take Cynthia back to the villa.

“Aren’t you going home with me, my sister-in-law?” she smiled sweetly, her beautiful eyes flickering at me and I couldn’t help but smile back. I didn’t know if she was just playing around or this was actually her sweet side.

“I said, stop calling me that…” I playfully poked her forehead with my index and she pouted as she leaned on her seat, while I was standing outside of the car, staring at her.

“Where are you going?” she asked once more, and I didn’t know what alibi I should give her in response to her question.

I was actually planning to attend Jenny’s birthday party, and I don’t think it’s necessary for her to know. We weren’t even close to being there yet.

“Can we go home together…? My brother is on a business trip right now and won’t be returning until tomorrow. Who’s going to pick you up?”

Right! Sebastian left for a business trip in Europe, which means that I am free to go wherever I want, because if he was here, I was certain

+25 BONUS

that he would go with me to the party.

“I still have some important things to do…” I said, tearing my gaze away from her. “Please send Cynthia back home, and drive safely…” I told the driver and he bowed his head in response.

“Wait!” The squeak that Cynthia made caused the driver to stop short before shifting the gear from neutral into drive. “Are you going out on a date tonight?”

“Of course not!” I grimaced and sent a malicious glance in her direction.

“If that’s the case… then where are you going?” I rolled my eyes at for what must have been the hundredth time she asked that quest “Can you… bring me along with you?”

And because I was aware that she wouldn’t give up searching for the solution until she didn’t find it, I made the decision to tell her the truth. “Fine! I’m going to my friend’s birthday celebration. You should know that it’s not convenient to bring you along…” I could bring her even if she’s not invited, but Cynthia’s family is wealthy, and she was not accustomed to attending a simple party like the way that we, ordinary people, used to celebrate it.

“All right… are you able to get back to the house relatively early tonight?”

“Yeah, sure…” I responded as I took a step back and waved my hand in her direction while she was rolling up the window of the car, waving back at me with a beautiful smile on her face.

425 BONUS

THE PARTY

CELINE’s POV

The party to celebrate Jenny’s birthday was held in the city where it took place at the residence of her boyfriend, Blade. She let me know that she had invited some of our friends and classmates from Staten

Island.

As I approached the house… I noticed that the garden was crowded with guests, but I didn’t recognize any of the people that were there. It’s possible that Jenny knew them from her current school where she was enrolled.

I proceeded further into the house, and when I spotted Jenny talking to Blade, I rushed over towards them and gave her a hug from behind.

“Happy birthday, Jenny…” I leaned up close to her ear and murmured something, and she shrieked with delight as she turned around to give me another hug.

As soon as I pulled away, she exclaimed in an exasperated tone,” You’re late!”

“I’m sorry, got stuck in traffic…”

“Now that you’re here, let’s get this celebration started!” She then made the announcement as she took my hand and led me into the garden.

We got closer to the gathering, and realized that some of the people there were from Staten Island and some were Jenny and I’s classmates. We acknowledged one another with a “hi and hello,” and I was relieved that they didn’t inquire about the scandalous act that I had done in this town. They were just chatting and joking like they used to, back in the good old days.

+25 BONUS

Everyone resumed eating, and after what seemed like an eternity, Jenny muttered something that caused the creases between my brows to deepen.

“Let’s go to the bar after dinner!” she announced. “We haven’t gathered together for a long time, so we must have to go wild tonight!’

Naturally, nobody objected, and I didn’t even have the courage to do so myself. It was Jenny’s birthday celebration, and I didn’t want to ruin it for her.

I was able to catch a glimpse of Sean as he entered the room through the periphery of my vision. He looked very dashing in his black skinny jeans, a white button-down shirt, and a black and gray double- breasted vest. He wore a sleek black tie that was tied around his

neck, and a silver chain watch dangled from the pocket of the suit he

was wearing.

I went straight to the kitchen in order to get away from him, and I grabbed a drink from the counter where they had lined up all of the beers. There are a lot of drinks here, so why would Jenny still want to go to a bar?

I took a sip of the beer, and I was surprised that I took almost half of it when I put it down… but before I could finish it, someone dragged me outside. I tried to figure out who it was, but I was already being pushed inside the car that would take us to the bar.

I have a sneaking suspicion that Sean paid for the private room that Jenny rented for us so that we could celebrate her birthday in private. I am aware that Jenny does not have the financial resources. necessary to pay for such a luxurious room.

“Come, pick a song from the list…” Jenny said to the raven-haired girl, and I recalled that she was one of the students in my class who had a

2/5

+25 BONUS

particularly lovely and sweet voice. She stepped up to the microphone and started singing.

After taking a seat at the far corner of the room, one of my fellow students, whose name I cannot recall, handed me a bottle of beer. ” Celine, I don’t understand why you’re sitting there by yourself…”

And before I had a chance to respond to him, I became aware of someone sitting next to me. Sean…

The man who offered me a beer was grinning widely as if he was teasing me with Sean, then quickly scampered away to join the others in singing.

I held the bottle of beer in my hand, and didn’t know where to look. My heart was beating faster as I waited for Sean to start a conversation.

“I’ll be heading back to France in a few days…” Sean began, and his tone was soft and tinged with a touch of melancholy.

I turned to look at him, and we locked gazes. My heart sank straight into my stomach.

“You’re leaving again?”

He nodded. “There’s an emergency in the office, and I have to get back there as soon as possible to deal with it…”

“Oh, okay…” I flashed him with a brief smile before diverting my attention elsewhere and taking another sip of my beer. Because I wasn’t sure what I was going to say, drinking my beer gave me th feeling that I was being excused from having to react or talk to him

“But you have to know that the reason I came here is to bring you with me to France…” he remarked, in a tone of helplessness, and I nearly choked to death on the beer was sipping. “Hey, are you okay?”

Almost immediately, Sean extended his hand to me and began lightly patting me on the back.

3/5