After the dance was over, Jia began strolling the hall alone while sending Mingshen to scour the rest of the place for any clues. Even though he assured that Ehuang’s parents would definitely spill the beans of the real location, Jia couldn’t sit still until she was doing sothing.
She took a sip of her drink and as she continued walking, she thought she caught a figure of a familiar person. Her head imdiately jerked to that side as her eyes narrowed. She barely saw the person leaving, making Jia quicken her pace.
As she lood closer, she was finally caught up to the woman whose back faced her. She looked to be middle-aged with grey locks of her curled hair dangling by her ear side. She was having a pleasant conversation with another woman and Jia caught a hint of her voice.
"Mr. Huo’s speech was so heartwarming, wasn’t it? It’s so nice to see young lads all invested in such great social causes."
Jia’s eyes slightly widened.
Is that...Mrs. Lai’s voice?
Mrs. Lai was the sa woman Jia ca across in the mall.
"Yes, yes, the food is so great here, haha."
The more she heard her, the more Jia felt the woman strikingly similar to Mrs. Lai. Suddenly, her heartbeats quickened and she placed a trembling hand on her chest.
I am pretty sure I am hallucinating. I am still not over the conversation I guess...
There is no way Mrs. Lai could be here.
Though she tried to console her trepidation, Jia could feel her breaths becoming restless. It was like her words ca back haunting her.
I am just overthinking...
Jia turned to leave and find Mingshen when she bumped into a woman walking her way. She almost knocked the drink off her hand.
"Oh, I am so sorry," Jia apologized. "I was in a daze."
The woman smiled at her. "It’s fine. Happens. But...you don’t look okay to . You are sweating on your forehead a little."
"Really?" Jia lightly patted it and felt a layer of moist beads of sweat.
The other woman with her purple mask on, was taken aback. "You are sweating even with the air conditioning on so high? I think you are sick."
"Ah, no. It’s not like that. I...think I had a little too much to drink. I will head to the washroom. Once again, I am really sorry."
The woman waved her hand in dismissal. "You are too polite. Take it easy."
Jia gave a light bow and left while the woman watched her leave.
A minute later, another young woman caught up to her. "You were here, Miss. Xie."
Xie Mulan tore her gaze from Jia’s retreating figure and looked at the young girl. "Oof, Miss. Li. It’s a masquerade party. Don’t spoil all the fun by revealing our nas."
"Ah sorry...it slipped out by accident," Beiye, who had donned a silver mask, sheepishly grinned. "Who was that woman?"
"She bumped into by accident. Looked a little sick," she tilted her head. "And that was gutsy wanting to pry in your Boss’s conversation."
"I thought I was special since you brought here," she pouted.
Xie Mulan grimaced. "Not as special as a certain man, who I invited to be my partner for this function but who rudely smacked it away like when you kill a bug."
"Who would dare ignore a request from you?" Beiye’s brows curiously arched.
"A normal man would never have. But who said the one I am talking about is normal?" She smiled. "Devils have their own mind, alas."
"I see."
"Then I invited your manager but he insisted on staying back at office. So he suggested you instead. You are way down in the chain, little girl."
Beiye gave another pout. "I am hurt."
Xie Mulan released a sigh. "n are so hopeless."
She eyed Huo Tengqi at the far corner, standing beside a woman in a golden mask. Her eyes squinted and she smiled. "I will be back. A CEO’s life is very tough."
She gave Beiye a stare. "You play around."
"As always."
Beiye snaked her hand at the back of her neck, rubbing the tattoo inscribed on her skin and sighed. "This party is really going to be very fun."
—
Jia held onto the marble railing of the wash basin and stared at herself in the mirror. Taking a tissue out of the dispenser, she softly patted her forehead, wiping off the sweat. She threw it in the trash can and breathed out.
"That was just my imagination."
Jia stepped out, not wasting much ti while trying to forget about the woman who looked like Mrs. Lai.
"Hey, you are a pretty chick~"
Jia looked back and saw a very young boy in formal clothes with a mask on his face. Judging by his overall appearance, he looked to be a teen.
If it was so adult man, Jia would have smacked him right on his face but she wasn’t as offended as with a teenager. She simply smiled it off. "Thanks."
She turned to leave when the young man breezed to her side again. "The red dress really suits you. What is your na?"
"...You do realize that I am older than you, right? Older by ten years at least. You still want to hit on ?"
He shrugged. "Who cares? So why don’t you tell your na?"
"I will be glad to tell you only if you would learn to ask in a dignified manner."
His brow twitched and his expression didn’t look so friendly anymore. "Oh I know. You are like that character who likes to play hard to get."
"I don’t need to play hard to get for...a teen."
"Oh co on. You are definitely like Muna."
"Muna?"
He shrugged. "You won’t understand. But you are just like her. And I know what girls like you like. You won’t like going away. Instead you would want pinning you against a wall, right? Going all manly," he grinned.
Jia was speechless.
What...How does his brain even work?
"You are twisting everything to suit your own convoluted convenience. And don’t even dare pull that stunt with any girl. You think throwing your testosterone everywhere will get you the girl you like? No. It will earn you a nice, cold bed in jail instead if you don’t nd your ways," she sternly said.
She turned to leave again when this ti, he tried to grab her shoulder in an attempt to stop her from leaving.
But a hand appeared out of thin air and coldly grabbed his wrist. An alarming voice passed down shivers in the back of his neck.
"Grabbing my wife’s bare shoulder is a big no-no, you brat whose penis is barely growing to manhood. You really want to lay eyes on the devil’s wife? Think again and very carefully this ti," Mingshen’s dark voice bellowed.
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