Chapter 7: A Poisonous Drink

Adriel looked up from the indescribable warmth that she was feeling. For all this time, she felt uncomfortable in Kayden's arms, but now, she was being caged by a much warmer, much more comfortable, and much homier pair of arms.

"Who is this?" she slurred, narrowing her eyes to look at the person's face.

She dramatically gasped when she saw Zeth's handsome face. "Ah! Such a handsome young man you are," she said, gently poking his cheek.

"Adriel?" Zeth said, wondering how she got so drunk.

"Oh, Zeth. You're here," Kayden said. "Sorry for that. Adriel had way too much to drink, so I'm taking her up her room right now," he said, trying to take Adriel away from Zeth's arms.

Zeth's frown deepened. Why the hell did she drink so much? And why is Kayden the one bringing her up to her room?

"Wait, no!" Milo exclaimed, coming in between Kayden and Zeth. "It's Adi and big bro's first time meeting!"

"Ohhh!" Adriel said in a high-pitched tone. "This is your big brother?" she trailed her finger down his cheek. "Your big brother looks familiar," she muttered under her breath.

Adriel was already too out of her mind to even recognize the man she was supposedly trying to avoid. To her, he was just an attractive man who turned out to be Milo's big brother.

"Then," she snapped her fingers and held onto Zeth's wrist. "This calls for a celebration! Let's go and have a drink!" she dragged him back to the table.

Zeth had no choice but to let himself be dragged away by the drunk woman.

"Zeth! My grandson, I'm glad that you've come. Oh, I see you've also met Adriel. Is this the first time that you've met?" Mr. Earl greeted his grandson.

Zeth pursed his lips together and was about to respond, but Adriel beat him to it.

"Yes!" she cheerfully said. "It's my first time meeting your grandson! You never told me that you've got such a handsome grandson," she giggled, still out of her mind.

Mr. Earl chuckled. "Well then, I hope the two of you get acquainted very well."

"Of course, we will! He's your grandson after all," Adriel said, making Zeth sit on one of the chairs. Afterward, she sat next to him.

Zeth frowned at how Adriel was currently treating him.

'Why is she treating me so differently today?' he thought. 'Is it because she's drunk?’

He shook his head. 'No. Drunk people are still relatively reasonable. This shift in attitude is probably because she found out that I'm the farm owner's grandson.’

He chuckled in disbelief. Of course. What did he expect from a shallow person like Adriel?

"What are you idling around for?! Come on and let's drink," she said, placing a drink in front of his lips and tilting it backward. Zeth was surprised by the bitter liquid suddenly flowing down his throat. Some of the liquid also flowed down his chest.

He held onto the bottom of the glass and removed it from Adriel's hands, the liquid splattering everywhere. "What the fuck, Adriel?" he exclaimed.

“Oh my god! You know my name?" she endearingly said. "I didn't know that such a handsome man would know my name," she laughed.

Zeth clicked his tongue and decided that he couldn't handle her anymore. He was not only tired from overseeing all the preparations, and now he had to take care of the drunk woman while drenched in alcohol.

He saw Francine from his peripheral vision and called her over.

"Sir," she bowed her head.

"Help her upstairs, please," he said, gesturing towards the drunk Adriel, who was now playing with the flowers on the table.

"Right away, sir," Francine attentively said and started leading Adriel out of the event hall.

"No, no, wait! More drinks," she pouted as she was dragged away.

Zeth shook his head as he wiped himself down with a napkin.

***

Zeth sighed in relief as he was finally able to sit down. People kept coming up to him, and he didn't have a choice but to entertain them.

"Tired?" he heard a familiar voice say behind him.

He turned around and saw Kian and Cedric looking at him with teasing smiles.

"Whatever, man. I shouldn't have come to this party," he said, already regretting his decision.

“I'm tired just looking at you, man," Cedric said, patting his back. "But at least you got to see Milo."

Zeth unconsciously smiled. "Yeah, I guess that's one good thing that came out of this party."

"Oh my gosh! I've been looking everywhere for you," a shrill voice interrupted their conversation.

They all turned in the direction of the voice and internally grimaced when they saw who it was.

Alicia.

Zeth turned to the twins with a frown on his face. It was as if he was asking what the woman was doing here when he didn’t even invite her.

"Hey, Alicia," Kian said, awkwardly waving his hand.

Alicia ignored Kian and squeezed herself beside Zeth. She trailed her finger down Zeth's chest and smirked. "I haven't seen you in a while, Zeth. Why didn't you contact me?"

"Because you're a menace," Kian muttered under his breath, but it was still heard by all of them.

Cedric stifled a laugh while Alicia threw a cold glare at him. Zeth, on the other hand, remained stoic and unmoving.

He massaged the bridge of his nose and removed the woman's grip on him.

"What are you doing here, Alicia?" he asked in a monotone voice.

"What do you mean, silly? It's your grandfather's birthday. Of course, I have to attend," she said, giggling.

Zeth sighed. He never remembered giving her an invitation.

"You're not invited, though," Kian said, taking Zeth's thoughts right out of his brain.

This time, Cedric couldn't hold in his laugh.

Alicia unstably smiled. "I see that you still haven't changed, Kian. You're still as immature as ever," she said.

"I could say the same to you," Kian retorted. "You're still a bitch."

Alicia gasped and was about to slap Kian on the face, but Zeth's deep voice stopped them.

“That's enough," he said, tired. He thought that he was finally able to rest, but here he was. "I'm going to leave," he said, trying to walk away from the scene, but Alicia held onto his wrist and anchored him in place.

He turned around with one eyebrow raised. "What?"

Alicia's eyes shined, and she pouted her lips. "Didn't you miss me?"

Zeth clicked his tongue. "Why would I miss you, Alicia?" he asked.

The woman went closer to him and pressed her chest against his. Her breath and strong perfume invaded his senses. "Don't you miss...my body?" she whispered into his ear.

Zeth gently pushed her away. "I already told you, Alicia. That was a one-time thing. Now, just please let me go. I'm very tired from all the preparations, and I would just like to rest."

Alicia looked down at the ground, dejected. "Then, before you leave, can you do one last thing for me?"

Thinking that this could be a faster way out, Zeth agreed.

"What is it?"

"Can you have one last drink with me?" she said, handing him a glass of wine.

He hesitatingly took it from her hands. "If I drink this with you, then you're going to leave me alone?"

Alicia nodded, but deep inside her heart, she knew that she wasn't going to give up. Zeth was too good to be true, and she wanted every ounce of him. She came to this party with one objective and one objective only—to make Zeth hers for the rest of her life.

She took another wine glass from the waiter and clinked glasses with Zeth. "Let's have one last drink, Zeth."

Zeth downed the glass in one shot and then placed the empty glass on the table. He stood up from his seat and looked down at Alicia. "Then, we're done, right? Don't bother me anymore."

He walked away from the table, leaving Alicia and the twins behind. Alicia tried to stop him, but he hastened his footsteps, making her unable to catch up. He was originally planning to stay in the event hall to eat and drink some more, but now all he felt in his body was tiredness.

He made his way up the stairs and walked to his room. However, he stopped midway when he felt an unbearable heat go through his body. It was so unbearable that he had to stop walking just to lean against the wall.

He started sweating out of nowhere, so he loosened up his tie. He fanned himself and wiped the sweat on his forehead with the back of his wrist.

He also felt an aching sensation on his crotch. He looked down at his pants and saw a large bulge on his pants.

"Fuck," he cursed under his breath. "I need to lie down," he said, already out of his mind.

He entered the first room that he saw, and he trudged toward the bed despite the deep ache that he was feeling.

He trudged towards the bed, eager to lie down, but he was surprised when he felt someone else lying down on the bed.

He removed the covers away from the person and furrowed his eyebrows.

"Adriel?"