Chapter 2

2

Hayden broke the kiss, laughing as he scolded his friends.

"Alright, settle down, all of you! It took me forever to get her to look at me, and you're going to scare her off again. I told you, she's shy."

The crowd chuckled, showering him with praises about what a devoted lover he was, though the noise gradually died down.

From the darkest corner of the lounge, Silas Mercer, who hadn't spoken a single word all night, suddenly let out a low sneer.

Instantly, all eyes shifted toward him.

Silas's sharp gaze drifted from the girl in Hayden's arms to Hayden himself.

"I heard you had a girlfriend in London, Shaw," Silas said in a calm, drawling tone. "Didn't you take a business trip three months ago specifically to see her? Does she know about this?"

Before anyone could react, Silas casually added another line.

"Just asking. It's only something I heard through the grapevine."

He measured his words with surgical precision.

He sounded like he was merely making casual banter, yet the entire room instantly froze.

I stared at Silas in shock.

Hayden had always described Silas as an immoral, reckless playboy.

Who knew he actually possessed such a sharp moral compass?

Sensing the tension, a few partygoers tried to laugh it off and smooth things over.

Hayden glared at Silas with cold fury, a storm brewing in his eyes.

Then, Hayden suddenly laughed, shattering the tension in an instant.

He poured a glass of water for the girl beside him and spoke dismissively.

"Girlfriend? She's just a little sister whose family asked me to look after her."

"My one and only girlfriend is Hannah here," Hayden said, resting his hand on her waist. "She wasn't easy to win over. I heard you used to have a crush on her too, Mercer. Of course, just a rumor I heard."

Hayden leaned back on the plush sofa, pulling Hannah against his chest.

Hannah playfully poked his chest, only for Hayden to catch her wrist.

She giggled softly before chiming in.

"Stop being jealous over nothing. Silas and I are strictly platonic. Unlike you, he keeps his circle clean and never messes around with women."

"Oh, come on, I was only joking," Hayden teased, tapping her nose affectionately. "I'm on my best behavior now. You can ask any of the guys. Besides, even if I'm bad, don't you still love me?"

"Who knows?" Hannah leaned into his chest with a coy smile. "I guess I just fell for your sweet talk."

Across the room, Silas picked up his tumbler and downed a massive gulp of whiskey.

What a captivating drama.

It would have been even better if I wasn't the humiliated party involved in it.

The room filled with suggestive laughter again.

"That's our Mr. Shaw! Come on, kiss her again to seal the deal!"

The chanting peaked, and Hayden, eager to mark his territory in front of Silas, grabbed Hannah and kissed her deeply.

His desperate need to assert dominance gave me all the time I needed.

I pulled out my phone, opened the camera, and hit record.

Because the room was so dark, the blinding flash automatically fired.

Hayden instantly shielded Hannah's eyes, breaking the kiss with a furious snarl.

"Which blind idiot turned on the flash? Are you out of your damn mind?"

A couple of his sycophantic friends marched toward me, spewing curses.

One of them lunged forward, reaching out to snatch the phone from my hands.

I slapped his hand away with a loud, sharp crack.

The room went so quiet you could hear a pin drop as they finally realized something was very wrong.

"Keep kissing, guys―I'm recording!"

"It would be rude to stop before you've had enough, wouldn't it?"