Selena Sinclair smiled faintly and said nonchalantly, “He’s my ex-husband!
But we have nothing to do with each other now.”
Everyone knew that Hannah Hayes had pushed out Sylas Vaughn’s wife after returning to the country, so no one was surprised by this answer.
In a situation like this, there were only a few likely scenarios.
They were all screenwriters, after all, and had seen more than enough clichéd plotlines.
To encounter one in real life was certainly an eye-opener.
“Selena, you… Are you coming back?” Ian Irving asked delicately, swiveling in his office chair and gently tapping his nose with a pen.
“Yes, I will!
I’m just going home for a little while,” Selena answered honestly.
She then gathered the items on her desk and put them into a drawer before standing up.
Seeing her about to leave, Ian walked up to her.
“How about a few of us go for karaoke tonight?
My treat.
Selena, you should come too!”
He had originally wanted to ask her to dinner, but the delicate atmosphere made him suggest karaoke instead.
“Okay!” Selena thought for a moment.
‘A lot has been happening lately, and I’ve been feeling pretty stressed.
This is a good chance to relax.’ So she agreed.
Hearing this, Julia Dawson and Jasper Shaw, who were standing nearby, were delighted and chimed in, “Great!
Let’s all hang out tonight.
I’ll invite a few more friends.”
…
「By eight that evening, night had enveloped the bustling city of Brookfall.」
Selena Sinclair followed Julia Dawson into the venue.
Claire Cameron had a last-minute emergency and couldn’t join her.
Once inside the private room, she started singing with Julia and a few other friends.
Meanwhile, in another private room, Sylas Vaughn was sitting on a black sofa, making small talk with several other wealthy young scions.
The atmosphere in the room was quite congenial.
Perhaps because everyone present was of extraordinary status, the room seemed more lavish and distinguished than the others.
Someone asked teasingly, “Heard you and Miss Sinclair really got divorced?”
Sylas Vaughn took out a cigarette but didn’t light it.
His hand paused for a moment, then he handed the cigarette to the person beside him and put the pack away in his pocket.
Another person answered for him, “What kind of news network are you on?
This happened ages ago, and you’re only just finding out?”
“I just got back to the country today.
It’s not my fault I didn’t know, is it?” Aaron Yates said lazily, leaning back in his chair.
“Ever since Selena Sinclair left, this is the first time Sylas Vaughn has come to hang out with us,” Ethan Pierce said with a mocking tone.
“Sylas, since you and Miss Sinclair are divorced, does that mean I have a chance to pursue her now?” Aaron Yates said.
Sylas Vaughn’s head snapped up, his eyes filled with a fury that instantly silenced Aaron.
“Hey, haven’t you already gone public with Hannah Hayes?
Are you trying to play both sides, with Selena Sinclair on one hand and Hannah on the other?
Be careful you don’t capsize and drown.”
Sylas Vaughn said, “This has nothing to do with you.
And another thing—stay away from her.”
“Her?
Who exactly are you talking about?” the man asked, deliberately raising his voice after taking a couple of swigs of alcohol.
Sylas looked flustered.
He tugged at his tie before saying, “You know who.”
“You’re already divorced, but you’re still so interested in her private life.
Sylas Vaughn, don’t tell me you’ve actually fallen in love with her!”
“Impossible.
She schemed against me and humiliated me.
How could I ever let her off so easily?”
“Yeah, keep acting tough.
Let’s see if you can still be so cocky after I start courting Miss Sinclair.”
Sylas Vaughn shot him a glance.
The thought of how Selena had engineered their divorce made his blood boil.
“You can try,” he threw out coldly.
Aaron Yates laughed.
“Give me a break.
You’re divorced, yet you can’t let go.
That’s not like you.”
“Seriously, Sylas, when are you and Hannah Hayes planning to tie the knot?
That girl is completely devoted to you.
You shouldn’t betray Miss Sinclair just to break that poor girl’s heart too,” Ethan Pierce chimed in.
Hannah Hayes grew up in the Vaughn household alongside Sylas Vaughn, so she was practically an old friend to all of them.
Everyone in their circle knew that Hannah was head over heels for Sylas; it had been obvious since they were children.
Unfortunately, her status didn’t quite match Sylas Vaughn’s.
There was no way Mr.
Hawthorne would ever accept someone like Hannah as the Vaughn family’s granddaughter-in-law.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been forced to go abroad three years ago when Sylas married Selena Sinclair.
Sylas Vaughn stroked his chin and said, “Don’t you all think you’re overstepping a bit?”
“We don’t care about your business.
We just want to know if you want to get back with Miss Sinclair or choose that adoring fan of yours.
I mean, come on, brother, you can’t possibly be trying to have them both, right?” Aaron Yates asked with a sly grin.
Ethan Pierce added, “If Sylas wants to, who can blame him?
They both like him, after all.”
“You all know my grandfather would never allow Hannah to become the Vaughn family’s granddaughter-in-law.
As it is, his biggest concession is allowing Hannah to continue living at the Vaughn estate, and even that required Selena’s approval.”
He thought about how Selena had gone to see his grandfather.
He didn’t know what she’d said, but the old man’s attitude had softened considerably, at least to the point where he no longer completely opposed Hannah’s presence.
Having had a little to drink, Selena Sinclair sat quietly to the side, watching the others sing and dance.
The room was a boisterous scene, and for the first time, she truly let loose and threw herself into the moment.
After a while, she got up to go to the restroom.
She hadn’t drunk much, so she wasn’t stumbling all over the place,
but her head was a little dizzy.
She splashed her face with water at the sink, which sobered her up quite a bit.
After a look at herself in the mirror, she turned to leave.
Just as she rounded a corner, she accidentally bumped into a solid figure.
She instinctively looked up, her eyes meeting a pair of clear, dark eyes, and she abruptly held her breath.
Suddenly, a crowd of reporters appeared behind the man.
Before Selena could process what was happening, he grabbed her and pulled her into a nearby stairwell.
Selena stared at him, dumbfounded, and was about to speak.
“Leo Aldridge, what are you…”
Before she could finish, he clamped a hand over her mouth.
“Mr.
Aldridge?
Hey, where’d he go?”
“I just saw him here.
He vanished in the blink of an eye.”
Soon, the voices of the reporters faded into the distance, and he finally removed his hand.
Selena, who had been holding her breath, glared at the man before her.
Leo Aldridge sheepishly let go, and Selena immediately darted to the side.
“Being a celebrity is such a pain.
There’s a crowd everywhere you go!” he muttered, pulling a tissue from his pocket to wipe his clothes.
Selena just stared at him.
Though they weren’t particularly close, he was by no means a stranger.
She had met almost all of Sylas Vaughn’s friends, but there were very few she could name.
Perhaps sensing her intense gaze, Leo Aldridge turned his head to look at her, then said with a grin, “Am I handsome?”
Selena gave him a disinterested look and started to leave.
“Hey,” Leo Aldridge called out from behind her.
“Sylas Vaughn is in private room 202.
You should be careful.”
Selena stopped dead in her tracks.
She didn’t look back at him.
After a brief pause, she walked away.