Ririko picked up the champagne glass beside her and walked away without looking back.
Jeremiah stood there with effortless poise, his gaze following the glittering straps of her burgundy gown, then the champagne in the crystal glass she held...
He pondered for a long time.
Ririko had just told him, her voice trembling slightly, that she disliked him because he did not care about Jerome.
The beast inside him howled with laughter. Jerome was sneering at him, endlessly mocking his presumptuous affection and pointless efforts.
At last, Jeremiah's lips curled into a cold smile, and he suppressed the emotions surging madly within him...
Ririko finished her champagne and placed the empty glass on a passing tray.
She was about to go back to Bruce, but her first step felt unsteady.
Something felt wrong.
By her second step, her vision had begun to blur.
She thought she had eaten too many chocolates in one go. Perhaps the fillings contained alcohol, and she had gotten drunk without realizing it.
Seeing a sign for a lounge nearby, she decided to go in and sit on a sofa until she felt better.
Bracing herself against the wall, she made her way down the corridor.
She reached the end of the corridor and was about to push open the lounge door when her legs suddenly gave out, and she collapsed.
Half asleep and half awake, she realized she had been moved onto a bed.
Her head rested on a soft pillow, her body sinking into the soft mattress.
She was about to roll over into a more comfortable sleeping position when she saw a face right in front of hers.
The face was coated in white paint, unevenly applied across features so exquisite they seemed unreal.
His lips were painted an exaggerated red that