Jasmine Sinclair clung to the man’s arm, rubbing against it. He still appeared calm and composed on the surface, but the aura around him had clearly darkened.
’Is he unhappy because he found out I have a fiancé?’
Seeing they couldn’t drag Jasmine Sinclair away, Shannon Ashford and Ava Wallace found a spot nearby to sit. She was so drunk they couldn’t just leave her. She’d already forced a kiss on a man—quite the feat. What if she did something even more outrageous?
Renee Sullivan pushed her small cart over to the sofa. After uncorking the wine, she carefully placed the bottle on the marble coffee table, terrified of accidentally spilling it on someone’s six-figure designer outfit.
Jasmine Sinclair’s hazy, drunken gaze fell upon the cute, fluffy tail swaying before her. She let go of the man’s arm and reached her mischievous hand toward the tail.
Dexter Ashford watched the hand that had just been clinging to his arm now squeeze the fake tail, his eyes behind his glasses growing even darker.
’It’s just a fake tail. Is it really that fun to squeeze? One squeeze isn’t enough for her; she has to do it over and over.’
Renee Sullivan frowned as her tail was being played with, but she continued to open the wine. ’I have to endure this,’ she told herself. ’I can’t afford to pay 31,000 dollars. She’s just pinching a fake tail, not my butt. Besides, she’s a girl, not one of those rich playboys. It’s fine.’
Lachlan Lowell watched this unfold, annoyed. ’Why is it that when I tried to touch it, I got wine thrown in my face, but when she does it, it’s totally fine? What’s that supposed to mean? Is she looking down on me?’
"This is your tip."
Jasmine Sinclair stopped Renee Sullivan, who had finished opening the wine and was about to leave, and handed her a check.
"This is too much. I can’t accept this."
Renee Sullivan looked at the massive 20,000 dollars written on the check and quickly waved her hands, refusing.
"Take it. You deserve it."
Jasmine Sinclair wouldn’t take no for an answer. She stuffed the check into Renee Sullivan’s hand and pointed to the bunny ears on her head. "Just consider it payment for those bunny ears."
"If you like them, I can give them to you. No money needed."
Renee Sullivan took off the bunny ears and tried to hand them back to Jasmine Sinclair along with the check. Even though she was desperate for money, she couldn’t accept it. She had to earn it through her own work.
"What’s that supposed to mean? Do you think I, Jasmine Sinclair, need handouts? If you won’t take the money, are you looking down on me?"
Jasmine Sinclair glared furiously at Renee Sullivan, playing the part of a troublemaking drunk to perfection.
’This ingenue of a female lead is just too naive, refusing money even when it’s handed to her. No wonder that bastard Wyatt Grant tormented her until she developed Stockholm syndrome. In the end, she was so manipulated she actually fell in love with him. Such a pitiful heroine for a tragic novel.’
Dexter Ashford’s gaze remained fixed on Jasmine Sinclair from behind his lenses.
The girl’s almond-shaped eyes were wide and round, her amber pupils slightly constricted with rage. The light-brown edges of her irises shimmered like liquid honey in the light. From glaring so intensely, the corners of her eyes were tinged a delicate red, like peach petals, blending with the drunken blush on her cheeks to create the hazy glow of a sunset.
But most captivating of all were her lips. The once meticulously drawn lipline was now blurred from their kiss, the red lipstick smudged at the edges. They trembled slightly with her ragged breaths, like rain-soaked rose petals shivering in the wind, making one unable to resist the urge to kiss them fiercely.
"Y-y-you... please don’t be angry. I-I-I... I wasn’t looking down on you..."
Renee Sullivan shrank back the moment Jasmine Sinclair glared at her, quickly stammering out an explanation.
"Take the money and go, quickly. Otherwise, when they remember you threw wine on them, you won’t be able to leave. This kind of place isn’t for you. Don’t come back again, or you’ll be eaten alive."
Jasmine leaned close to Renee Sullivan’s ear and whispered these words. Hearing them, Renee Sullivan froze, completely stunned. Before she could react, Jasmine Sinclair snatched the headband from her hair, angrily shoved the check into her hand, and snarled, "Take the money and get lost. I never want to see you in this bar again."
"Th... thank you."
Renee Sullivan whispered, clutching the check in her hand.
’I’m not an idiot. I understand everything now. She didn’t force that kiss on the man because she was drunk; she did it to save me from those guys who were harassing me. She must have realized I was only working here because I needed the money, so she pretended to be drunk to give me some. She’s such a good person.’
「Meanwhile, in the System Space.」 777 watched in fear as Renee Sullivan’s favorability score soared to 70%. ’My host seems to be a little too popular with the female lead,’ it thought. ’This isn’t good. The female lead is supposed to belong to the male lead. How can she like my host?’
Watching Renee Sullivan leave, Jasmine Sinclair let out a sigh of relief. ’I was so worried Dexter Ashford would notice her. If he developed an interest in Renee, it would make my mission to win him over much harder. That’s why I had to get rid of her with that money so quickly.’
Jasmine Sinclair placed the bunny-ear headband on her own head. Turning sideways, she gently poked the man’s arm with her index finger. She tilted her head, batted her eyelashes, and asked, "Am I cute?"
The fluffy white bunny ears trembled slightly in Jasmine Sinclair’s hair, their soft edges brushing against her flushed earlobes. The fingertip poking his arm was searing hot. Tilting her head, she deliberately brought her face close to his, the bunny ears dipping with the movement and casting a swaying shadow in the light.
Her almond eyes blinked rapidly, her lashes fluttering like a butterfly’s wings. Her pupils were filled with eager anticipation for his answer.
"Well? Answer me. Am I cute?" Jasmine Sinclair asked impatiently when Dexter Ashford just stared at her without a word.
"Adorable."
Dexter Ashford’s Adam’s apple bobbed. From behind his lenses, his gaze fell on the girl’s glistening lips.
’What an adorable little rabbit. I just want to devour her whole.’
The knuckles of the hand gripping his wine glass turned white as Dexter Ashford struggled to suppress the intense desire surging within him. He felt himself teetering on the edge of losing control.
A strange craving surged through his veins. He wanted to bind her hands with his tie, to hear her crying in his ear.
Just as Dexter Ashford’s self-control reached its breaking point...
soft, warm lips suddenly pressed against his.
Jasmine Sinclair kissed Dexter Ashford again. Her sweet-scented breath ghosted over his firm, cool lips. The kiss was clumsy yet bold, like a small animal precisely trampling a hunter’s last shred of restraint with its softest paw.
The wine glass finally slipped from Dexter Ashford’s hand.
The sound of it shattering echoed the explosion of his rationality. He cupped the back of her head, deepening the kiss. Behind his glasses, the last trace of his feigned smile was obliterated, replaced by raw possessiveness for the woman in his arms.
Everyone stared, dumbfounded, at the two on the sofa locked in a passionate kiss. This was way too intense.
"Mr. Keane, your friend is something else! She actually managed to pull our cold, distant Professor Ashford off his pedestal."
"So it’s not that our Professor Ashford is all cold and celibate, he’s just into the assertive type—especially the kind that’ll force a kiss on you at the drop of a hat."
While Lachlan Lowell and his friends were enjoying the show and hoping for more drama, the expressions on Kai Keane and Shannon Ashford’s faces turned grim.
If the Lockwood family found out about this, the marriage alliance between the Lockwood and Sinclair families would be completely off the table. Jasmine Sinclair would be devastated.
Kai Keane and his friends exchanged a knowing glance. They would have to make sure everyone else here drank until they passed out. Then, they’d strip them, take photos, and use them as blackmail to ensure not a word of tonight’s events got out.