Chapter 9
When Louis heard Sylvia insult him like that, his face darkened.
"What, can't take it?" Sylvia let out a cold laugh. "Move."
Luna stepped in front of Louis, glaring at Sylvia. "Don't get too full of yourself. You got kicked out of the Lynn family — you're nothing now."
"Aren't you curious how I got in here?" Sylvia's lips curved slightly.
Luna froze.
"What's going on?"
A low voice came from behind them.
Sylvia turned to see George walking over.
Luna looked at the man — sharp features, commanding presence. A flicker of surprise crossed her eyes, followed by a quiet unease.
Last time at Platinum Haven Hotel, Sylvia had been protected by the Martinez family. Now here was another powerful-looking man stepping up for her.
But Luna refused to admit that Sylvia had the upper hand. She smiled nastily. "Sylvia, is this your sugar daddy? No wonder you got in here. He's not bad-looking — just has terrible taste, going for trash like you."
"Shut up." George frowned slightly, his eyes going cold.
That look sent a chill down Luna's spine, and the words died in her throat.
Louis studied George with a frown. "Who are you?"
George looked at Sylvia. "You know them?"
"Not really." Sylvia shrugged. "They were just in my way."
George turned to the club manager nearby, his voice flat. "These two harassed my sister and disturbed the other guests. Handle it according to club policy."
The manager's expression shifted immediately. He signaled the bouncers.
Two bouncers in black moved in, one on each side, and dragged Louis and Luna straight out the door.
"What are you doing? Let go of me!" Luna shrieked.
"Do you know who I am?" Louis struggled and shouted. "I'm from the Hill family!"
The bouncers didn't even blink. They hauled the two of them out like they were nothing.
George glanced over at Sylvia. "They didn't give you a hard time, did they?"
"No." Sylvia shook her head. "What are you doing here?"
"Friends get-together. You?"
"Adrian invited me."
George nodded. "Go have fun. I'll have a car ready to take you home later."
"Thanks, George."
Sylvia pushed open the door and went back into the private room.
George thought about the two people who had stopped Sylvia. He pulled out his phone and texted his assistant, asking him to look into who they were.
Luna and Louis were dumped outside the club entrance.
The night wind hit them. Luna was shaking with rage.
"Why does she get to do this? She got kicked out of the Lynn family — she's nobody. Why does she have people protecting her?"
Louis rubbed his arm where the bouncer had grabbed him, his face dark. "That guy looked familiar. I feel like I've seen him somewhere."
"Who cares who he is!" Luna said through gritted teeth. "He's obviously some sugar daddy Sylvia dug up. Who else would help her?"
Louis kept thinking about the man's presence. He didn't carry himself like just another rich guy.
Luna noticed his expression and got even more irritated. "Louis," she said, her voice tight, "don't tell me you still have feelings for her."
"Don't be ridiculous." Louis put his arm around her. "You're the only one I care about."
Luna leaned against him, her eyes full of resentment.
One day, she was going to make Sylvia get on her knees and beg.
The private room was lively.
Adrian had been belting into the mic so off-key it was almost impressive.
When he saw Sylvia come back, he tossed the mic aside and went over to her. "You went to the bathroom forever. I thought you ditched us."
"I ran into some people. It took a while."
"Good timing you're back — let's play dice."
"What are we playing for?" Sylvia asked.
"Truth or Dare!" a girl in a denim jacket called out.
"Boring." Adrian shook his head. "Let's just roll dice. Lowest number goes out to the hallway and yells 'I'm a pig' three times."
Another guy burst out laughing. "Adrian, sounds like you want to be the one yelling."
Adrian shot him a look. "Less talking. You in or not?"
"In!"
Everyone gathered around, each grabbing a dice cup.
Adrian laid out the rules. "Lowest total loses."
First round, they lifted their cups.
Sylvia had three fives.
The girl in the denim jacket had three fours.
One of the guys had two threes and a four.
Adrian had two ones and a two.
The room exploded with laughter.
"Adrian, your luck is something else."
"Go, go, hurry up!"
Adrian looked miserable. "This round doesn't count. I wasn't ready."
The girl in the denim jacket grabbed his arm. "No backing out. Let's go."
Adrian took a deep breath and stepped out. His muffled voice came from the hallway: "I'm a pig. I'm a pig. I'm a pig."
A door from the next room opened and someone stuck their head out. "Who let a pig loose in the middle of the night?"
Adrian immediately ducked back inside, his face bright red.
The whole room lost it.
Sylvia picked up her glass and took a sip.
Adrian came over. "Sylvia, what are you laughing at?"
"You."
Adrian went quiet.
The others started egging him on to go another round. He absolutely refused and retreated to a corner to eat fruit.
She'd thought Adrian was the cool, aloof type. Turns out he was kind of a goofball.
They played until past midnight before finally heading out.
Sylvia walked out of the club and found a black sedan waiting at the entrance.
The driver opened the door. "Ms. Martinez, Mr. Martinez asked me to take you and Mr. Jones home."
Adrian let out a low whistle. "George is solid."
Back at the Lynn Villa, Jade was still up when Luna got home.
She'd been waiting to ask about how things were going with Louis — but one look at Luna's face told her something was wrong.
"Luna, what happened? Who upset you?"
"Who else? Sylvia." Luna was almost in tears. "She's got some guy backing her up now. Louis and I got thrown out of the club."
Jade's expression hardened. "She actually did that?"
"Why wouldn't she? She has someone in her corner now. She doesn't care about us at all."
Luna vented the whole story.
Jade patted her hand. "Luna, don't let her get to you. She's just a foster daughter who got kicked out. What kind of influence could she really have?"
"I just can't stand that look she has," Luna said, seething. "She's not even Mom and Dad's real daughter. She took my place and she acts like she's better than everyone."
"Alright, alright. Get some rest. We have the dress fitting tomorrow." Jade's eyes flickered slightly as she kept her voice soft.
"Okay. You get some rest too, Mom."
Luna went to her room but couldn't sleep, Sylvia's annoyingly beautiful face stuck in her head.
Then her phone buzzed.
She picked it up. A few photos appeared on the screen.
Photos of Sylvia with different men, in different places — the angles suggestive, the lighting dim, everything looking very intimate.
Luna's eyes lit up. She typed: [Who are you?]
[We have a common enemy. Use the photos however you want. Don't hold back.]
Luna bit her lip: [What do you want out of this?]
[I want Sylvia's life to fall apart. Her misery is enough for me.]
Luna couldn't help but smile: [Pleasure doing business.]
She had no idea who this person was — but they'd just handed her exactly what she needed.
