Dance Party Invitation

Talia returned to her room. The house on the dark side of the island had a gloomy atmosphere.

Talia switched on the lights and narrowed her eyes slightly as they adjusted. She sat gently on the soft bed, her emerald eyes fixed on a battered photograph hanging on the wall.

The young man in the photograph was handsome, with long golden hair and a white shirt, like an angel descending from heaven into the mortal world.

"Hah."

Talia snorted coldly and pulled a dart from her pocket.

With a swish, the dart's cold, sharp blade sank into the young man's crotch in the photograph, as though doing so might make her feel a little better.

"Despicable bastard." Talia gritted her teeth bitterly. She did not understand her own feelings—there was resentment, but also confusion.

"Ding ding~"

Her phone chimed. Talia opened it, and upon seeing the message, she frowned slightly before letting out a cold laugh.

"Recommending an assistant to me?" Talia snorted and muttered, "He clearly intends to send a spy to keep an eye on me."

Thinking of Jino's threat, Talia ultimately agreed in humiliation and arranged a place to meet Tina.

The first rays of morning sunlight spilled into Luthor Manor. Jino, dressed in pajamas, stood in the bathroom and spat out the foam in his mouth.

"Young Master." The butler approached Jino carrying a stack of invitations. "Your memo indicates that you planned to send your classmates invitations to a dance party during this period."

"I have prepared several hundred invitations for you. It is scheduled for ten o'clock tomorrow night."

"Ah, I would've forgotten about that if you hadn't mentioned it, Butler."

Jino smiled and took the invitations.

The invitations, decorated with gold accents, looked quite elegant.

Jino glanced out the window.

On the lawn outside the manor, servants were busily moving tables and chairs.

"Tomorrow night is bound to be lively." Jino smiled.

He was looking forward to the dance party tomorrow night.

"Oh, right, Butler." Jino turned to his butler. "Prepare a plane ticket to London. Have Tina go to the café on Sixteenth Street in London, then call this number to contact her superior once she arrives."

After speaking with Talia last night, Jino had already arranged the course of Tina's future life.

"As you wish."

"Vroom~"

The engine roared as the Bugatti sports car sped onto campus.

It was another day of school. Jino had arrived neither early nor late, and quite a few students were already on campus.

"Good morning, Jino!" Chloe suddenly jumped out from behind Jino and lightly patted the boy's shoulder.

"Should I act surprised?" Jino turned to look at the campus trio.

"I knew I couldn't scare you." Chloe sighed. The four of them walked side by side, chatting as they went.

Chloe leaned close to Jino mysteriously and lowered her voice.

"Did you hear? A thief broke into Loren's Antique Shop last night, only to find Mrs. Loren's body inside a cabinet!"

"Wow, did they catch the murderer?" Jino's expression remained unchanged. Clark, meanwhile, had been staring at Jino, trying to read something from his friend's face.

Unfortunately, Clark did not know that the Ziben Family were born actors.

"The police suspect Loren's daughter killed her."

Jino shrugged. "That really is unfortunate."

"But I brought some good news too."

Jino winked at the girl, then pulled a stack of golden invitations from his pocket.

The exquisitely made invitations looked especially beautiful in the morning sunlight.

"What are these?" Chloe's eyes widened as she hurriedly pulled one out and opened it.

The girl read the words on the card aloud. "Jino Luthor sincerely invites you to attend a dance party at Luthor Manor at 22:00 on May 24th!"

As she reached the last sentence, Chloe's voice suddenly rose. "Oh my God, it's a dance party invitation!"

Hearing Chloe's scream, both Little Black Pete and Clark's eyes lit up.

To teenage boys in the throes of raging hormones, a dance party meant inviting the girl they liked. Lana Lang was the first person Clark thought of.

Clark imagined himself holding Lana's hands and dancing gracefully with her across the broad lawns of Luthor Manor.

"Gulp."

Clark swallowed and immediately cast the matter of Tina aside. Tina? How could Tina possibly be more important than Jino's dance party?

Chloe's eyes darted about. She took a deep breath to steel herself, then looked at Jino. "So, do you have a dance partner?"

Chloe's large eyes were filled with expectation. She had no idea what answer she would receive.

"Dance partner? No." Jino shook his head, glanced at Chloe, and smiled. "Want to dance with me?"

He naturally understood what Chloe was thinking, but Jino had no intention of dating right now.

Chloe nodded repeatedly. "Of course!"

Jino ruffled Chloe's short blond hair. "I don't have a problem with that."

Pete, standing nearby, seemed hesitant to speak. After thinking it over, he still asked, "But Jino, with so many invitations, who are you planning to give them to?"

"To be honest, I don't plan on handing them out myself."

Jino waved the stack of invitations in his hand and seemingly casually looked at Clark. "Maybe I need a few helpers to distribute these invitations for me."

He had his reasons for doing this. If he handed them out himself, a whole crowd of girls would definitely swarm him in groups, begging for spots. Jino hated wasting time on such things, so he simply tossed this attention-grabbing task to a few friends.

Beautiful women? He had been tired of seeing them since childhood. For those at the top of the food chain, beauty was not a scarce resource.

"Ahem, I'm willing to help!" Clark raised his hand to volunteer without hesitation, puffing out his chest to show how dependable he was.

Little Black Pete raised his hand as well.

This was a great chance to stand out.

"Why not?"

Jino split the invitations into two stacks and handed them to the pair, laying out his conditions as he did so. "First, absolutely no drug users are allowed into Luthor Manor, and neither are assholes who like bullying people at school."

"And no bringing your own alcohol or 'leaves.'"

American high school students liked chasing thrills, but Jino had no desire to see a bunch of "junkies" at his manor.

Clark and Pete nodded repeatedly. "Don't worry, Jino. We'll screen them carefully."

Jino smiled. "I'm not worried about Pete. Clark, on the other hand, doesn't have much of an opinion of his own and is easily influenced."

As he spoke, Jino lightly bumped Clark with his elbow and lowered his voice. "Maybe you could also go talk to Lana Lang about who should be allowed to attend the Dance Party?"

"Good idea!" Clark took a deep breath and tightly gripped the golden invitation in his hand. Just as Jino had said, this was a great opportunity to grow closer to Lana Lang.