Stone could not be bothered to explain what he had just done to cause Thorin’s confusion.Instead, he directly said to Harold, “Remember to clear up all of the debt you claimed you were going to settle before you get the f*ck out of here. You declared that all of the expenses here tonight would be on you, so go get it settled at the counter. If you don’t, I’ll make sure you have it settled at your house!”Stone was a member of the circle, so of course, he did not mean it when he said he would head up to Harold’s doorstep to settle his bill.Thus, as much as Harold was unhappy about his situation and how confused he was, he could only suppress the anger he felt and walk out of the room under the public’s gaze. Most importantly, he still had to pay off the expenses of everyone there that night, to which most of them had a hand in laughing at him.There was someone who was even shameless enough to head up to the counter!“Hey Harold, I’ll do you a favor. Get me ten bottles of Remy Ma
Countless people cheered and shouted Luca’s name in the bar. They were several times louder and stronger than the cheers for Harold earlier.Luca felt like he was energized upon hearing the cheers for his name. The tidal strength came from just one sentence by Javier. It felt addictive, and the gratitude was never before felt.Not only had Javier not held grudges against his recklessness back then, but he had also helped him up to such a high position from being a prodigal son.Luca gnashed his teeth as he made a silent resolution, determined to manage this shop properly and not let Javier’s trust in him down.A girl was hanging her head and looking disinterested among the partying crowd. It was Gigi. Her friends had come out for some fun with her tonight since they had noticed she was moody the past few days. It was unexpected that Gigi had spotted Javier, who was in the booth on the second floor during the night.She had been delighted, thinking she could go to Javier tonight an
Harold panicked. He felt fear overwhelm him. He knew that Javier was going to cripple him and he was not joking about it!Just as he was about to wail and beg, however, another voice spoke up, “Isn’t this going a little too far?”Lloyd Young was disgruntled. He had been ecstatic over the small progress he had made in a business deal he had negotiated tonight but when he was passing by the junction just now, his car got hit by a Bentley Bentayga. What was more infuriating was that there was no one driving the Bentayga.His chauffeur went down to check and said the front window on the left side was crushed while their Rolls-Royce Phantom had a dent at the front and the side airbag had deployed. When the chauffeur was getting out of the car, he had to use the passenger side too.It was ridiculous. They got hit by a car that was without a driver during the nighttime.His chauffeur later reported to him that two people were fighting up ahead. More precisely, someone was being beaten up
Javier did not even care that he had encountered Lloyd. He just thought that the guy was…all right, not as brainless as the other guys he had met previously. As for treating him like a serious opponent, Lloyd was far from it. It was not only that Javier was disdainful, he did not have such leisure time either.He was still occupied with finding news about his parents and he had to find a chance to find out about the Osborn Award from people in the show business. While he contemplated, he received a text. [I’m back. Luca said you came. Are you asleep?]Just when Javier wanted to get someone in the show business to answer his questions, Edelgard texted him. What a coincidence. Javier sent a “not yet” reply and the next moment, his phone rang. Edelgard was calling. Both of them chatted for a bit on the phone before Edelgard invited Javier for supper. “I just got off my flight and haven’t eaten anything. Let’s eat together!”Javier readily agreed as there was no way he would reject her
The jolt that went through her thigh rocked her senses. Edelgard shot a glare at Javier, though she did nothing else to stop him.“I’ve given this a lot of thought, Javier,” she said solemnly. “I’ve come to realize that my body is just used to your touch. My heart, though? It belongs to Pangani. Luca…is more my type than you are, if I’m being honest. And he’s going clean too. He’s turned pragmatic.“I know you’re more or less the same, but you only like me for what this body holds. What you like about me is sex and nothing more—because your heart belongs to Jade Odell,” she continued. “That makes us friends with benefits, Javier. At most, we’re best friends with benefits.”The corner of Javier’s lips twitched. “Well, that’s quite the analysis. So, now what?”Edelgard broke out a smile. “So here I am, standing here, telling you goodbye. I’ve decided to accept Luca’s confession and get together with him, so we can’t be caught doing this anymore, Javier. I don’t want to hurt him.”Ja
With regards to forming a film company, Chad would have had to consider and come up with plans and make preparations if it had been someone else.However, with Javier, it was a completely different matter. Chad knew better than anyone just how much resources the Kersey family had, which was why he very readily agreed to it. “But we haven’t got the professional staff required though. The setting and filming crew would be a simple matter, but we still need studio managers, directors, good scripts, and so on. We haven’t got experience in this field, so if we end up investing too much, we might end up with insufficient cash flow in the end.”Javier was not worried about Chad’s concerns at all. “That won’t be a problem. I’ve got the money, so we can directly hire the professional staff required. I want you to focus on the preparation, I’ll have the money transferred to you in a moment. I’ll go contact someone about this, so you don’t have to worry about it.”With both money and personn
While waiting, the female attendants from the company entered the house and poured glasses of water for Javier and the young man.Javier said his thanks and placed his cup on the table, where there was a vase of light pink rose with a shade of orange.The young man immediately became unhappy and threw his cup onto the floor.“Are you f*cking blind? Can you not recognize this rose? That’s the Juliet Rose, said to be the king of all roses. Just that bouquet alone cost around 150 thousand dollars, so do you think you’d be able to pay for it if the rose ends up being damaged by the heat from your cup just because you placed it next to it?!”Javier did not say a word, but the female attendant was shocked senseless. “Are you kidding me? Is this bouquet really that expensive?!”The young man mockingly laughed, which was filled with sarcasm as well. “I don’t blame you if you don’t know it, but that’s the purest of all Juliet Roses, so it’s the most expensive rose in the world. Also, a ros
The female attendant was now officially fired. If Saoirse were to decide that someone is to be fired, not even the company’s chairman would be able to overrule her.Something like this had happened before in fact… The chairman’s nephew had said some rather inappropriate words to Saoirse that were filled with obscenity. Later on, Saoirse had him packed up and thrown out.However, rather than leaving quietly, the guy kept on yelling out how he was the chairman’s nephew.The chairman caught wind of the situation and asked his nephew to apologize to Saoirse to close the matter. However, Saoirse immediately turned towards the main entrance and headed out. When asked by the chairman where she was going, Saoirse said she was going to go work for his competition. The chairman panicked and kicked his nephew out of the company immediately, banning him from entering his company ever again. Such was Saoirse’s capabilities. She was so capable that the chairman had no choice but to go along
As Bernadetta launched a barrage of kicks against the restaurant door, Mrs. Greene summoned 120% of her strength, holding the fort. The older woman had made a living terrorizing others with absurd accusations and downright unreasonable demands, but this time, she had met her match. Bernadetta James put the “man” in the word “woman”—in that she resorted to violence as soon as things escalated. In the end, it took both Mrs. Greene’s apology and a deal to provide Javier and Bernadetta with three days’ meals, all free of charge, to make the young woman stop. Then—“because I actually have a weakness against people sincerely appealing to my better angels,” according to Bernadetta—she amended the peace offer, changing the three days’ free meals to…a week’s worth. Back in the inn, Javier expressed his heartfelt gratitude to Bernadetta for rescuing him. “I can’t thank you enough for standing by my side when I needed it the most, Bern. But I can thank you a bit more if you refrain from using t
Mrs. Greene opened her flap and unlocked the floodgate, the spit during her tirade so profusive that she could water an old lady’s lawn. “It’s him, officers! It’s all him! He did this to his own camera just to remove himself as a suspect, but we know better than that! He’s the guy who stole my goddamn lingerie!”She turned and trained her finger on Javier. “You vile, disgusting, degenerate piece of sh*t! Ptooey!”‘Back at you! I'd rather spend the night with my left hand than with you!’ By this point in the morning, Bernadetta had arrived at work. Her heels clicked onto the floor as she sauntered toward the commotion. As soon as she heard what had transpired, she laughed, looking clearly amused. She trained her perfectly manicured finger on Javier and piled on. “Oh, it was him. I can testify to that! He stole Mrs. Greene’s bra because he is…the Lingerie Phantom Thief! By day, he is Javier Kersey. At night, he is Jo Ker, the Bra Stealer!” Javier threw his arms up in exasperation
Javier shook his head. By the time his vision was back to normal, the dog was gone. It had escaped! “What kind of hell spawned this little sh*t?!” Javier wondered to himself aloud. “Was this really an effect of the world changing? Is this an example of mutation because of the Storm? Or is there something else at play?”Baffled and unsure what to think, Javier returned to the dorm and told the residents to open the door. Inside, he found Florence huddling the frightened kids closely. She was white from fear, and yet in the presence of vulnerable kids, she had assumed the role of the protector without a second thought. “Hush, it’s alright! It was fake. Someone pulled a terrible prank and put on this white sheet and…” Javier made up a fib to explain the haunting away exactly because the truth could land him in a mental institution. No one would believe him—and for good reason too!Javier drove Florence back to the Yuzuian restaurant, where the latter’s electric scooter was. While
A resentful wail—interspersed only by sobs that sounded more like someone was being strangled—was echoing in the middle of the night while Javier and Florence could not see even a single soul out there? Animated by the power of “hell, naw!”, Florence dove into Javier’s arms for protection. Her hands were clasped firmly on either side of her head, hoping to block out the ghastly demand in her ears. Her eyes were squeezed so tightly shut that even a crowbar could not pry them open.Javier himself was just as terrified. He would have felt better if he could see the source of the voice rather than just hear a woman sobbing about getting her head back. At least he would know what he was up against! But just hearing it without any visuals at all?! Nooooope!Then, Florence hugged him in a “help-me!” sort of way. She was soft and supple—damn, that sexy figure in combination with her silky-smooth skin sure was welcoming. She was warm, and damn did she smell good! Nothing competed with fea
The dog barked in protest as it pointed its paw at Javier with the intensity of a mob before executing a monarch. The flames in its eyes were so bright that they could incinerate Javier into ashes in milliseconds. In the end, though, all that protest was for naught. Constance tied it up in the parking garage, while Javier watched in glee. Ah, sweet, sweet revenge! The stupid dog had thought it could set him up, had it? That would teach it!The look the Pomeranian shot him almost felt like a threat: ‘Just you f*cking wait, hooman!’‘Wait for what? How much can a stupid b*tch like you do to me?’ Javier scoffed in his mind. Now that the four-legged pest was gone, Javier turned back to Constance and talked about the new orphanage. As it turned out, despite the old woman’s sentiments for the building she had founded, she was a lot less obstinate and unreasonable as she might appear. “I mean, I don’t object to it completely. I know the new place is gonna be better, but…” She faltered a
Florence called half an hour later to tell him where they’d be having dinner. After leaving the inn in Bernadetta’s care, he hurried to the venue. Florence had picked a newly-opened Yuzuian restaurant. Javier had never liked Yuzuian restaurants, but since Florence had invited him, courtesy stopped him from asking the woman to change their meeting venue. He found Florence quickly enough and sat across from her. They placed their orders, and Javier began his performance: He started sighing and doing his best to look forlorn. It intrigued Florence enough to ask what was wrong, and Javier told her about his unfortunate beef with Constance that day.“It’s so unfair, man! Why would I bully a dog for no reason?” he moaned. “I’m sure Aunt Constance misunderstood. You’re a knightly, heroic, kind man! How could someone like you possibly get off on hurting a dog? I’m sure Aunt Constance was just too worried about the dog’s welfare to think things through. She didn’t mean it. I can vouch for
Herschel was dressed quite sharply today. It was the full ensemble—black leather shoes, black slacks, a white collar, and last but not least, the good old oil-slicked hair. The typical look of a high-ranking office worker, just as Javier had requested. Ordering him to get in his car, Javier asked, “You brought all the stuff I told you to?”“Yo, I would never forget the stuff my boss told me to bring. I’ve got all the preparations down pat. You can check ‘em if you don’t trust me,” Herschel replied. He fished an ID and some documents out of his leather bag. “See? All the documentation a journalist in the most important room of a news agency would have.”After a round-check and some instructions, Javier sent Herschel on his way to complete his mission. The man was strangely reluctant, though. “Boss, you told me you decided to work in that inn, right? Does that mean, you know, that you’re gonna call me ‘boss’ while you’re there?”Javier had almost forgotten he had mentioned this. It
Javier’s suspicion turned to Constance Hellman’s white Pomeranian. He turned to the director’s office and met the dog’s eyes. With its paws on the windowsill, it hoisted itself up to look out of the window. Seeing the dog cracking a lopsided grin and baring its fangs—beaming as smugly as a teacher’s pet who had managed to subdue everyone through the power of being the boss’s favorite—made it look both amusing and chilling. It would have been had the dog not caught Javier’s gaze, suddenly dropped the smile, and put on a face that seemed to be saying, ‘I’m just your average dog! Nothing to see here!’And then it feigned—yes, feigned—a yawn as its one last measure to cover up the fact that it had been laughing smugly to itself. ‘What. The. Actual. F*ck?!’ Javier thundered in his mind. ‘B*tch’s a natural actress! What’s it doing here instead of being interviewed on a talk show after becoming viral on TikTok?’In combination with Russell’s report, the incident inside the director’s of
As Javier was befuddled, Constance rushed in from outside and picked up the white Pomeranian gingerly to carefully check its injured leg.“Oh, baby, what’s the matter? Did you hurt your leg?”The white Pomeranian whined in pain and began twitching upon hearing Constance’s concerned question. This upset Constance so much that she admonished him sternly. “Mr. Kersey, I thought that you were a loving person, but I can’t help doubting your motive now.“I’m skeptical about you taking good care of the kids here when you’d even hit a cute dog!”Javier felt extremely offended. When had he hit the dog? He hurriedly explained, “Madam Hellman, I didn’t do anything!”Constance asked angrily, “You didn’t do anything? Why would it suddenly limp now and whine so pathetically? Why did it hurry over to me? Give me a reasonable explanation!”Javier was in distress as well. “How would I know? It was fine when I was carrying it just now, but it wanted to get down on the floor, so I carefully placed