Charlie wailed as he placed his hands upon his chest in an exaggerated fashion. “Am I an embarrassment to you now? I can give all the fun that women can provide you with. Do you want to try, Mark?” Mark looked in disgust at Charlie, who winked at him flirtatiously, his eyebrows twitching. “You are disgusting.” “I am disgusting? How am I disgusting to you? I might not have what women have, but I have everything that women do not. Don’t you want to try?” What were those embarrassed and disgusted looks on his face about? Charlie did that deliberately. The more Mark found him disgusting, the more excited he would be and tried to push his luck. He lay on the conference table with his legs crossed in a charming and sultry posture. “Look at my body and face. Aren’t they great? Don’t you want me?” “I think you may find yourself a second job as a hustler. By the way, are you sure you don’t need me to call Grace to come over?” Charlie gave a nervous cough upon hearing that, and then
The three of them had been sitting there waiting. It was not until 7:10 pm when Mark finally appeared at the restaurant entrance.He first glanced with his eyes slightly narrowed at Summer, then at the other three, before he took his seat.“Did your dad call you?” Yvette still did not give up.Jazz felt a headache. ‘Can’t she stop it even for a while?’“No, he should be very busy at this time,” Mark said faintly.“However busy he is, he should call you on your birthday. You are his son. But he did not even bother to call!”Raine pulled at Yvette’s sleeve to remind her. “It is Mark’s birthday today, Yvette.”Only then did she restrain herself, taking a deep breath to regulate her breathing.Jazz took out a pen and handed it over to Mark. “Here you go, Mark. Happy birthday. It might not be an expensive brand, but I bought it with my money.”After working part-time at the gas station for some time, he bought something with his hard-earned money.“Thank you.” Mark’s lips turned u
Summer looked away when his stare made her felt awkward. “But something I didn’t forget.”“What?” Mark was still staring at her, his eyes sullen.She took out the good-luck charm she got from the astrologist from the pocket of her coat. “I got this good luck charm from an astrologist. Give me your hand.”Mark extended his hand in front of her and observed her every move.Her fingers were soft, but felt cold. She lowered her head and tied the good luck charm to this wrist matter-of-factly. “It really suits you.”Mark raised his long eyebrows as he stared at the dark red mahogany bracelet on his wrist, doubting if this thing really suited him.Summer was observing him. Seeing the look on his face, she said, “Take it down if you don’t like it.”Jazz heard that and nodded in excitement. “I like it. Take it down and give it to me, Mark.”“It actually looks pretty good.” The longer he looked at the dark red mahogany bracelet, the more pleasing to the eye it became. Not half bad at al
Summer walked out of the revolving restaurant.Raine was typing a message on her phone under the table. She pressed ‘send’ as she finished writing.She did it discreetly, so neither Jazz nor Yvette had noticed it. She got up and excused herself to the washroom.As she left, he gave Mark a meaningful look.While looking at the dark-red mahogany bracelet on his wrist, Mark felt his phone vibrating in his pants pocket. He fished it out and took a look.Raine sent him a short and concise text message.‘See you in front of the washroom.’Mark put the phone back quietly with an impassive face, pushed the chair back a little, and got to his feet.“Where are you going, Mark?” Jazz asked after taking a sip of red wine.“I must have had too much water and need to take a leak,” Mark said with a magnetic voice as he went.He had disappeared out of the door before his voice trailed off.But Jazz and Yvette had sensed nothing wrong with the surrounding atmosphere.In front of the washroo
Summer let out a soft sigh. “You can swallow vinegar to get rid of the thorn in your throat. But what do you need to swallow when it is a thorn in our heart?”“I don’t know, but the only thing I know is that I will swallow anything as long as I can get rid of the thorn. Come, drink with me.”“It is his birthday today. I can’t go right now. Once it’s over, I will find you, okay?”She coaxed Sherman like a child, with patience and a soft voice.As sad as Sherman felt, she was still sensible. “Sure, Summer.”After hanging up, Summer let out a long sigh. She knew how Sherman felt, and she felt sorry for her. But how could she help her?She collected her thoughts and glanced toward the dining hall before heading to the washroom.She knew she would tense up again as soon as she returned to the dining hall. She wanted to relax her mind. Besides, she had nature’s call to answer.When she came in front of the washroom and was about to push the door open, she heard voices coming from the
Suddenly, Mark felt a pair of hands wrapping him from behind. He stopped and said in a flat voice, “Raine, why are you hugging me now, hmm?” He sounded so emotionless yet deep.“I don’t know, I don’t even know myself anymore! I just know that I want to be with you, but I can’t... I have my responsibilities!”Raine had finally let out all the sadness and vulnerability behind her facade, shaking her head as she felt the pain in her heart. Mark turned around and pushed her away with both hands, grabbing her shoulders tightly. Their eyes locked, and his tone turned soft, “Share them with me, I am here.” “I am here…” A phrase so simple yet so full of promises.His gaze felt bottomless, so deep, and so dark. Through his eyes, she felt like he was ready to shoulder all her burdens and worries. As long as he was with her, nothing in this world was impossible! His gaze lured her into a deep trance. She was completely smitten! At that moment, she wanted just to put everything behind a
It was as if the man standing in front of her was not her husband, but just another stranger who had walked into the wrong restroom. Raine was taken aback by Summer’s response. It took her by surprise as she did not expect Summer to react in such a way. Mark lifted his brow, his gaze as dark as night. It was almost frightening. He just stared at Summer intensely without uttering a word.“It’s really urgent, I have to go now. Could you please leave, Mr. Valentine?” she spoke coldly once again, her palms starting to hurt. However, she needed physical pain to keep her cool. The more it hurt, the clearer her head was.Still struck and speechless, Mark continued standing with Raine in his arms. He just kept staring at her deeply, as if he was frozen in time. However, if observant enough, one could easily see the emotions he hid behind his dark eyes—feelings of panic and helplessness.At that moment, Raine was also at a loss of words. Her tongue was tied. There was no other exp
“I can’t trust you anymore. You just showed me that your words carry no weight, you almost seem pretentious...” Word by word, she spoke slowly but clearly, “You made a promise to me back in Grudin North and I trusted you. But by the looks of it, I guess your promise didn’t age well, huh?” Raine could not respond to what Summer said. Her innocent face flushed with embarrassment. “Also, there is something that I really don’t understand about you,” Summer said. “You told me that you don’t love him, yet you are seducing him behind my back, saying that you love him. So tell me, do you actually love him, or do you not?”Raine bit into her lip with her pearl white teeth, leaving a deep mark on her lower lip. Summer was still staring at her while she uttered these sharp words.“You said you had your reason, that you could not love him. That was the reason you left for three years. Since you already have a reason, shouldn’t you bury your feelings at the bottom of your heart? Shoul