Adrian Hawthorne sat a short distance away, his handsome face etched with icy indifference.
The surrounding revelry had absolutely nothing to do with him, creating a stark sense of disconnect between him and the entire scene.
Hearing Silas Sinclair’s words, he lifted his cold gaze.
“Wife?
What wife?”
Adrian swept a chilly glance toward the wall.
Hung there was a red banner emblazoned with gold letters: “Warmly Celebrating Adrian Hawthorne Joining the Ranks of Golden Bachelors!
Happy Divorce!”
He didn’t know who had leaked the rumor that he was getting a divorce today, but these drinking buddies had thrown a party to celebrate for him.
He hadn’t even finalized the paperwork yet, and they were already celebrating?
The crowd even wore knowing expressions, as if they understood completely.
Silas clapped Adrian on the shoulder carelessly.
“It’s the divorce cooling-off period, we know, we know.
Let’s just drink for today.
In a month, when you officially get the divorce certificate, we’ll throw you a massive bash.”
“I think you’re asking for a beating,” Adrian said, his voice ice-cold.
He hadn’t shown a shred of good humor all night.
Silas knew his good intentions had backfired, so he hadn’t dared to provoke Adrian all evening.
That was until he stood by the glass wall just a moment ago and inadvertently spotted what looked like Leah Sterling downstairs.
Only then did he speak up.
Hearing Adrian’s frigid tone, Silas rubbed his nose and took another look down.
He said awkwardly, “Maybe I saw wrong.
After all, Leah probably wouldn’t come to a club to order male models.”
Adrian’s eye twitched violently.
“…Order what?
Male models?”
Downstairs, Charlotte Quinn was acting incredibly high and mighty, pointing at the row of male models lined up in front of them.
She said to Leah, “Leah, my treat!
Have fun!
Take two!
Are two enough?”
Charlotte was completely plastered after just a few drinks.
Leah even wondered how on earth her friend had managed to negotiate all those past business deals at dinner tables.
Did the clients just take pity on her?
Leah was utterly speechless.
“I don’t need a single one!”
“Why not?
Are their pecs not big enough or their abs not defined enough?
Are they not handsome enough or are their legs not long enough?”
Leah was dying of embarrassment, yet these male models didn’t seem uncomfortable in the slightest.
Two of the more outgoing ones even winked at her.
“If you can’t make up your mind, you can feel us up first before choosing.
Just pick whoever is the biggest.”
As expected of a high-end club!
They had to have been professionally trained.
Their voices were as deep as subwoofers, the trailing notes lilting upward in a blatant display of seduction.
Leah only wanted to tell Charlotte to tone it down.
However, Charlotte patted her own chest with boundless bravado.
“Hurry up and pick one.
If you don’t choose, I’m going to tell them all to stay!
I’ve got plenty of money!”
Leah felt utterly exasperated.
She must have been out of her mind to follow her friend to Night River for drinks.
What a colossal embarrassment!
She knew how stubborn Charlotte could be.
If she didn’t pick one, Charlotte really would make all these male models stay.
Left with no choice, Leah braced herself and looked at a male model who had just walked over.
He was very handsome, with a tall, straight posture.
More importantly, he was dressed much more normally than the rest.
The other men were wearing either muscle tees or tight-fitting shirts that strained against their sculpted physiques, making her dizzy just looking at them.
Leah quickly pointed at the more appropriately dressed man.
“I choose him.
Are you happy now?!”
The man froze for a moment, raising a finger to point at himself.
“You’re choosing me?”
Finding it rather amusing, he arched a brow and sat down right next to Leah.
His voice was deep and magnetic, carrying a playful smile.
“How do you want to play with me?”
Leah had been a well-behaved girl since childhood.
Before marrying Adrian, she had never even set foot in a club, so how could she possibly know any of these tricks?
Her head was spinning, and she looked as if she were marching into battle.
Other people came to clubs to relax, but for Leah, it felt like being subjected to torture.
“My last name is Sutton, Samuel Sutton.
Don’t be so nervous.
How about we have a drink first?”
The name sounded familiar, but Leah couldn’t immediately recall where she had heard it.
He reached out with one hand to pour a glass of wine, draping his other arm around Leah’s shoulders.
On the other side, Charlotte was already surrounded by men in her arms.
Never having witnessed such a spectacle, Leah sat stiffly on pins and needles.
Yet, held in Samuel’s embrace, her petite frame naturally exuded a delicate and fragile charm.
“What’s your name?” He picked up the poured glass of wine.
Before he could bring the drink to Leah’s lips, a man’s voice rang out coldly.
“You can call her Mrs.
Hawthorne.”
Hearing that voice, Leah stiffened.
It was Adrian.
His deep voice carried a distinct, textured hoarseness that was highly recognizable.
On the staircase, Adrian stood in the center of a group, descending from the second floor like a king surrounded by his court.
A mocking smirk surfaced in Adrian’s deep, narrow eyes.
His icy gaze landed on the hand resting on Leah’s shoulder.
The faint curve of his lips seemed laced with ridicule.
“Samuel Sutton, if you don’t want your hand anymore, just say the word.
I can chop it off for you.”
Samuel leaned back into the sofa with a lazy posture, revealing a careless smile.
His previously boyish, puppy-like demeanor vanished without a trace, replaced by a sharp, piercing aura radiating from him.
“So it’s Mr.
Hawthorne’s wife.
No wonder she’s so beautiful.”
The floor manager, who had rushed over to mediate, originally assumed it was just some wealthy socialite caught red-handed cheating on her husband.
But the moment he saw a titan like Adrian on the stairs, his scalp went numb.
He then glanced at the man on the sofa and was instantly dumbfounded.
“M-Mr.
Sutton!
Why are you here?”
Hearing how the manager addressed him, Leah suddenly realized why Samuel Sutton’s name had sounded so familiar.
A year ago, Suncrest Group expanded its business into Corvin, making the headlines.
The title had featured his exact name: “Samuel Sutton—The Rising Star Expected to Rival Hawthorne Group.”
So this was that rising star.
He was Adrian’s business rival, yet Leah had treated him like a male model—and they had run right into Adrian’s group to boot.
What an absolute humiliation.
Leah just wanted the ground to swallow her whole.
Adrian’s gaze was cold and detached as he looked at her.
“Are you coming over or not?”
It was the same harsh, uncompromising tone.
As always, he wasn’t discussing anything with her.
It was merely a notification, an order.
Leah pressed her lips tightly together.
What was the meaning of this?
They were clearly about to get a divorce, yet he was asserting his dominance as if he actually cared.
Leah sat motionless, feeling as if every bone in her body had frosted over and frozen solid.
Samuel chuckled softly.
“But Mr.
Hawthorne, didn’t you and your friends come here today to celebrate your happy divorce and return to the single life?”
Adrian furrowed his brow, not bothering to entertain Samuel’s provocation.
He kept his eyes fixed on Leah, his voice dropping lower with a clear note of warning as he called her full name.
“Leah Sterling.”
“I don’t think we have anything left to say to each other,” Leah said, raising her head to look at him.
Her eyes were entirely empty as she repeated the same phrase she had said before.
“Whenever you have time to process the paperwork, just contact me.”
Adrian’s eyes grew cold enough to freeze over, yet an amused smirk tugged at the corners of his exceptionally handsome face, as though his fury had peaked and circled back to humor.
Leah knew that Adrian had never been a good-tempered man.
Defying him meant paying a heavy price.
Seeing that smile, Leah’s heart trembled.
Meanwhile, Charlotte, whose reactions had been dulled by the alcohol, finally snapped back to her senses.
Moving with awkward unsteadiness, she scrambled up and lunged toward Adrian, hurling filthy curses at him.
“Adrian Hawthorne, you’re an absolute beast!
Don’t you dare threaten Leah!
Haven’t you hurt her enough already?
You think having a little filthy money makes you so great?!
I’ll kill you, AHHHH!”