“Honey, he’s our younger brother.
Whether you make a good impression or he does, it’s the same for our family.” Hearing her say that, I could only swallow my displeasure and put my smile back on.
“Do I look that petty to you?
It’s just that in a situation like that, it should have been the two of us singing in harmony, and then this kid barges in; it just feels weird.” With a hint of playful irritation, Diana rolled her eyes at me and leaned close to my ear, her breath fragrant and warm.
“To calm you down, tonight I’ll…” Before she could finish, the elevator door opened again.
“Derek!” “Wesley!” The feminine scent from Diana’s body slipped into my nose, igniting a fire in my chest.
I was about to say something sweet to her when I saw, from afar, my childhood buddy Derek stepping out of the elevator.
He’d slicked back his hair and, dressed in a suit that didn’t quite fit his slightly chubby frame, looked a bit like a nouveau riche from the countryside.
His arm was hooked around his delicate wife’s as he waved at me.
I had once trusted Derek completely, not just because he’d leveraged his family’s influence to become a deputy police chief in Huashan, a county‑level city under Handong, before the age of thirty, but because many years of camaraderie had made us closer than brothers.
His beautiful wife, Nicole Lin, had also, thanks to Derek’s family, become a deputy mayor in charge of finance and taxation in Huashan that year.
Don’t be fooled by the “deputy” in a county‑level city; the power in her hands was no small thing.
Huashan was Handong’s main high‑tech development zone in recent years, and every company boss in the industrial district had to curry favor with them.
Even my father‑in‑law, a star entrepreneur, wore a warmer smile than usual that New Year when he saw Derek’s wife.
At the time, I thought this was just the charm of power and never imagined that one day it would become the nightmare of Derek and his wife’s downfall.
I had to admit, Derek was blessed.
He was plain‑looking and, back in school, had never liked studying.
But with a silver spoon in his mouth, he’d climbed a few steps and reached heights others couldn’t reach in a lifetime.
Even I, successful as I was, felt a twinge of envy at his illustrious family background.
What made people even more speechless was that it wasn’t enough for that guy to have a good life; he’d also married such a beautiful wife.
Even I sometimes felt a bit jealous of Derek, the toad who had eaten swan meat.
My eyes traveled to the woman on his right arm, Nicole.
Her looks and temperament were perhaps a shade less than Diana’s, but matched with the plain‑looking Derek, they were more than enough.
At 1.60 meters, she was petite and charming.
Her palm‑sized face radiated an aggressive pride.
Like Derek, she had rocketed up to be a deputy mayor of a county‑level city at a young age, and such rapid promotion naturally gave her a bit of arrogance.
Standing beside Derek in a lake‑blue, mid‑length, spaghetti‑strap dress, with its waist‑cinching design highlighting her slender figure, her black‑stockinged feet in red strappy heels, she looked from afar like a budding begonia blossom.
The skin exposed by her dress was as white as congealed fat, delicate and pink.
As she walked up arm‑in‑arm with Derek, her eyes first landed on me, then turned to Diana.
She smiled sweetly, her red lips opening with a hint of competitive flavor.
“Ah, honey, look at Wesley.
It’s one thing for him to be handsome, but he’s also so capable.
Standing with his wife, they’re such a perfect couple.” “I spent so long dressing up today, but I’m still overshadowed by our city’s ‘Ice Mountain CEO.’ Look how beautiful her shoes are.” “Diana, those shoes are haute couture, right?” With a sweep of her hand, Nicole brushed her hair back over her shoulders.
Her slightly curled lashes blinked, her red lips curved into a soft smile, adding a touch of playfulness to her somewhat loli‑like face.
Although her tone was playful, teasing, her words were full of disdain for Derek.
Watching her, like a peacock in full display, proudly showing off her beauty to everyone around, I couldn’t help frowning.
This woman, who had climbed up thanks to Derek’s family, where did she get the nerve to look down on him?
Did she not understand who had given her that power?
Her behavior, in this stream of guests, left Derek no face at all.
But this was a matter between husband and wife, and I had no right to intervene.
“Heh, I’ll ask a friend…” Pretending not to hear the mockery in his wife’s words, Derek smiled, playing along, seemingly utterly bewitched by her soft voice, like silk laced with a sweet, milky tone.
His puppy‑dog gaze never left the adorable, small face of his wife.
Her two dimples, revealed with every smile, clearly made him indifferent to anyone else’s opinion.
Thinking about it now, I can’t entirely blame Derek’s wits for dropping straight down under his wife’s coquettish act.
A guy who’d never held a girl’s hand from primary school through university had long since been bewitched by her deliberately gentle, seductive gestures.
He was more than willing to be her lapdog.
Yet that day, the proud peacock had no idea that a vicious wolf had already set its eyes on her.
“Brother‑in‑Law, is this pretty lady a friend of yours?
Since Sis’s shoes are a present from me, if you like them, I can choose a pair for you too.
I promise they’ll be haute couture as well.”