Chapter 11
In a private club room, Roman poured drink after drink down his throat.
His friends tried to take the bottle away, gently reasoning with him.
“That’s enough! Roman, you’ve had way too much. Your body can’t take any more!”
“I know you’re hurting, but destroying yourself won’t help anything!”
But Roman seemed deaf to their pleas. He clutched the bottle with a death grip, his expression numb.
Seeing they couldn’t persuade him, one friend came up with a questionable plan-paying a woman to pretend to be Hazel.
Bryce handed her a card: “Get the guy in there to put down the bottle and go home with you quietly, and this card with a hundred grand is all yours. But remember! Don’t try anything funny with him, or you’ll regret it!”
Hearing “a hundred grand,” the woman’s eyes lit up. She gently pushed open the door and approached Roman, speaking in a soft,
affected voice.
“Stop drinking. Let me… let me take you home, okay?”
Roman completely ignored her, cradling his bottle and mumbling to himself.
“Hazel, where did you go? I miss you so much. I know I was wrong. Please come back…”
The woman’s eyes gleamed with understanding. She leaned in close to Roman’s ear.
“I’m Hazel, baby. Stop drinking. Let’s do something more fun, hmm?”
As she spoke, hidden from the others’ view, her fingers slithered like water snakes boldly into his shirt.
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She wasn’t some naive innocent. If the man outside could casually offer a hundred grand just to get this guy to stop drinking, this man’s worth must be exponentially higher.
If she could hook him, her future would be set. With this in mind, her movements grew bolder. The man finally turned to look at her.
The woman gave him her most seductive gaze, carefully moving closer. But the next moment, her fantasy shattered as Roman grabbed her throat.
“Why did you seduce me?! If it weren’t for you, Hazel wouldn’t have left me. You whore!”
The woman’s face turned purple as she clawed desperately at the hands crushing her windpipe.
“H-help me!” She deeply regretted not heeding Bryce’s warning.
Hearing her strangled cry, the men outside finally rushed in and rescued her from Roman’s grip.
The woman fell to her knees, clutching her throat and coughing violently, her face a mask of terror and regret.
Bryce took one look and knew she’d done something stupid.
“Get out of here now!” he snapped.
With that, the woman fled without another word.
Eventually, Roman regained some clarity. His friends offered to take him home. But he waved them off. “No need. Let me be alone
Chapter 11
for a while.”
At one in the morning, the streets were deserted except for Roman stumbling along the sidewalk.
He couldn’t bear returning to that house devoid of any trace of Hazel. He deluded himself that perhaps Hazel was waiting somewhere, ready to accept his apology and take her back…
Passing a dim alley, he faintly heard sobbing.
