Chapter 3 Encounter
The entrance to Velvet Club was wide open and empty. There was no place to hide. Besides, Julissa didn’t even want to hide.
So she walked over with a fake smile on her face.
Reece, with Cristina on his arm, stopped right there. Seeing the person he didn’t expect, he thought about his feeble attempt at an explanation when he picked up Cristina and she saw the hickey on his collarbone. His eyebrows fur- rowed.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, sounding annoyed.
“Is this part of the Diaz Group too?” Julissa shot back. “Can’t regular folks like us come here?”
Reece’s eyes were cold as ice. He didn’t know Julissa could be so quick with her words.
Before he could say a word, Cristina asked in a soft voice, “Who’s this?”
He replied in a casual tone, “Clara’s relative.”
Clara was the housekeeper at Harmony Villa.
By saying Julissa was related to Clara, Reece was basically calling her a servant in a roundabout way.
“I see,” said Cristina. She was wearing a silver–white dress and looked even more charming as she leaned against Reece. Her gentle voice made the security guards around them feel all tingly.
“Since you’re Clara’s relative, and you’re already here, why don’t you come in with us?”
Either way, it was a huge insult to Julissa.
She felt like she had been blind these past few years.
The man in front of her, scared that his beloved girl might get the wrong idea, wiped their marriage clean off the map.
She thought, “A servant, huh? A servant who could sleep in the same bed?!”
Julissa was about to give a sarcastic reply when she was suddenly wrapped in a warm hug.
“Julie.”
Zayne’s voice was as cozy as his hug. “I couldn’t find you as soon as I got out of the car. Guess you were here all along.”
When Reece saw the two of them getting so close, a cold look flashed through his eyes, but it was gone in a second.
“Mr. Fowler.”
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Zayne didn’t respond. He took off his coat and put it on Julissa. Then, he looked a bit sheepish. “Sorry, Mr. Diaz. I didn’t want Julie to get cold. Oh, congrats, your special someone is back in the country.”
Cristina smiled and thanked him, but Reece’s eyes got colder as he narrowed them, asking straight out, “What’s the story with you two?”
Julissa pulled the coat tighter around her. “At least I’m not related to some housekeeper.”
The comment hit Reece like a slap, making his brow twitch.
But he didn’t say anything. He held Cristina and strode into Velvet Club.
As soon as the two were out of sight, Julissa quickly got out of Zayne’s hug.
“Thanks for helping me out.”
Zayne smiled. He was wearing a silver–gray suit, which made him look like a real gentleman from a rich family. That kind of natural class and pride could only come from a family with a lot of history.
He always spoke politely and kindly. “So, how about you return the favor by going to the party with me tonight?”
Julissa didn’t even think about it before she said no.
“And I’ll pay back the 500,000 dollars you gave me this afternoon,” she added.
She had just gotten out of the mess with Reece and didn’t want to get involved with the Fowler family next.
Both of these two families had come out of tough times, and they were all tricky characters.
“What do you mean?” Zayne was confused.
The Fowler family was a big deal in Archdale, and girls usually couldn’t wait to get close to them. Moreover, Zayne was pretty charming. It was not like Julissa should be running away from him.
“I don’t know what game you’re playing, but I’m not interested in playing along. Sorry.”
Zayne’s smile got bigger. “Well, what do you think I’m up to?”
“The meeting on Emerald Street this afternoon wasn’t by chance. After all, a few thousand dollars‘ worth of stones wouldn’t be a big deal to you,” Julissa said with a smile that was a mix of bitterness and resignation. “And just now, you only stepped in because you figured out my thing with Reece. If I was some housekeeper’s relative, you wouldn’t have lifted a finger.”
All she wanted was to enjoy life without getting tangled up in drama.
“Fine. Suit yourself,” Zayne said with a shrug. But the way he looked at Julissa, he seemed even more intrigued.
Reece’s wife, who everyone thought was just a plain and simple girl, wasn’t so innocent.
She was more like a lazy, sly fox.
“I wanna show you something,” Zayne said, pulling out his phone and playing a video of a stone that had just been
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dug up.
The stone’s skin and color were rare and top–notch.
Julissa’s eyes lit up right away.
In her life, besides having a thing for Reece, she loved gambling on stones the most.
“Whoa!”
“If you go in with me, you can gamble on this stone.”
“Deal!”
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Julissa said yes so fast that by the time she thought she might regret it, it was too late. The top floor of Velvet Club was a huge living room with floor–to–ceiling windows that gave a view of the whole Archdale at night.
Julissa was bored out of her mind, staring outside. People around her were busy toasting and chatting.
When she was with Reece, she didn’t meet anyone. Now, with Zayne, she was being introduced to everyone.
All the guests were big shots, but they were polite and friendly to Julissa. The reason was simple: Zayne had never brought a date before, and Julissa was the first.
“You don’t like this kind of party?”
Julissa nodded.
“It’s boring.”
Zayne smiled and handed her a little cake. “You’re gonna need these people later.”
Julissa frowned, took a bite of the cake, and gave him a sideways look. “I don’t think I will.”
“Who knows what the future holds?”
Julissa ignored him.
“You’ve got a real talent for stones. With the right connections, you could go places.”
Julissa got fed up and stood up, saying she was going to the bathroom.
She knew Zayne was right, but she had seen people who had made it big by gambling on stones.
And she didn’t want to think about how it had ended for them.
Julissa sighed and washed her face with cold water. In a daze, she thought about the last time she saw her mom.
She went to the party all dressed up, wearing one–of–a–kind jewels, but she never came back.
Back at her seat, Julissa was in a foul mood. She downed several drinks one after another, and soon she felt so tipsy that she had to rush to the bathroom to throw up.
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After she was done, she looked up and realized she was in the wrong place.
It was the men’s bathroom!
And there was Recce, staring at her with his sharp eyes.
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