His voice trailed off as he realized he hadn't told Michael and the others that he and Rachel had been
living together.
Jack thought Rachel might feel embarrassed. He tried to change the subject and alleviate their
suspicions. "We'll drop you off on the way home. Would that be fine with you?" he asked.
"You don't have to. I came with Lucas, and he'll drive me back," Rachel politely refused.
Jack had heard from Rick that she did come here with Lucas.
In truth, he was trying to tell Rachel that they could go back home together later.
But to his dismay, she refused without a hint of hesitation.
His face twitched, but he tried to hide his disappointment from Rachel. "So where is he right now?" he
asked.
Rachel didn't know how to answer that because she herself didn't know where Lucas was right now.
"If you can't find him, I can drive you home," Jack offered again.
Marcus noticed that some people were approaching them. He tapped Jack's shoulder to catch his
attention. "We should find somewhere more private. There are a lot of prying eyes and ears here," he
whispered to Jack.
More and more people would come and mingle.
Soon they would be surrounded by people that would flock around them like flies. Marcus didn't want to
endure that kind of trouble.
Rachel didn't exactly say yes or no to Jack's offer.
Now she had no choice but to leave this place with them first.
Celine was only here because of Rona. If not for Rona, she would not be able to come here as she was
not invited.
Claris and her brother had different friends. She had just come back from abroad, so she was eager to
invite her new friends over for a night of fun.
Thankfully, Claris was a welcoming and gracious host. She even allowed her invitees to bring their own
friends along if they wanted to. Rona didn't even know Claris, at least not personally. She had the
chance to be here because her father was invited by Rick. She brought Celine along to at least have
one friendly face along with her.
Rona knew that Celine was not having the best of times. She thought that Celine needed to unwind
and just let loose. A party would help Celine relieve some of her stress.
Most of Claris' guests were girls, and many of them came from overseas. Celine hardly knew these
girls and she felt quite relieved.
She didn't want other people to know what had happened between her and Jack.
Jack had proposed that they stayed far away from each other and calm down for a while.
Celine found this plan ridiculous. She was angry and aggrieved. She was scared that they wouldn't get
back together again. She felt so many emotions all at once that it drove her to tears.
However, her tears could no longer arouse a trace of pity in Jack's eyes. She had a premonition once
that he would no longer return her calls and that he had suddenly disappeared.
'Why would he tell me that we should separate for the time being? It's clearly just an excuse!' she
thought to herself. 'He only wants to break with me once and for all!'
Celine thought that Jack might have gotten bored of her. It was a sad thought but it was a reality she
had to accept. His marriage played a huge part in their separation.
'There's no love between Rachel and Jack, but they can go to various occasions together without being
criticized by people behind their backs.
Even though he doesn't love Rachel, he still won't divorce her!
Am I just another one of Jack's whores? A typical home wrecker? And when he gets tired of me, he's
going to discard me like some used up napkin.'
Celine had been most afraid that this day would come. She knew that this day would come sooner or
later, given that Jack was a married man. However, she had wished that it could have been later rather
than sooner.
When Jack decided to break up with her, she begged him to stay. She even broke down in tears, but he
didn't give a damn about her anymore. Instead, he left her with a message. He told her that she should
figure out a way to deal with their relationship.
Celine would not have begged him to stay, if she knew what to do with their relationship.
After she had stopped crying, he left her on her own. She cried and cried until she felt less burdened by
her emotions. She must have cried a river of tears for the whole day.
The first time Jack treated her so coldly, she already knew that their relationship was doomed.
Now that she was looking back on it, she was not so heartbroken when Jack decided to break up as
she thought she would be.
But she was still too sad to cheer herself up. Her heart was filled with all kinds of complex emotions.
Jack had promised to spoil her and give her everything that she needed or wanted.
On the bright side, Celine thought that she was smart to not have fully trusted Jack. She felt lucky to
have been given so much, but at the same time, everything that she owned right now was given by
Jack.
Now that they have broken up, what would people think of her? What would those people do to her? All
those people that she looked down on, and all the people she had belittled. All of them would try to take
revenge on her now that Jack had left her.
When she came to Ying family's villa, she was still a little restrained and reserved. Just like the way she
was when she was first brought into this circle by Jack. But now that she had become more mature and
experienced, she knew how to hide her true emotions and intentions.
She didn't know anyone here so she didn't have to worry. They were all in the same age group, so she
could let herself go a little bit.
Her mood was gradually getting better.
Claris told them that there would be a fireworks display later and that they would be invited to the open-
air balcony to watch the fireworks in twenty minutes.
Celine freed herself from the card game and went to the bathroom to fix her makeup. Then, she
received a call from her mother, asking whether she could come visit them some time.
"What's the matter? Did something happen?" she asked.
Celine's parents lived in a small town. They had no idea what she was doing in this city, or who she
was affiliating herself with. They only knew that their daughter was very busy with the hustle and bustle
of the city life. In fact, she was too busy to visit them.
"Nothing, really. Your father and I just really miss you. When will you be coming home? We're going to
prepare you a nice dinner!" Celine knew that her mother was trying to sound happy, but the tone of her
voice was a little worried.
At first, Celine was touched by her mother's sincerity and kindness. But when she heard her mother's
local accent, she was completely annoyed. "I've just been very busy lately. I'll come home when I have
more time on my hands," she said.
"I see," replied her mother. There was silence at the other end of the line for a few seconds, but Celine
could hear her mother's deep sigh. "Please take good care of yourself, Celine." Her mother sounded so
disappointed. She must be heartbroken that her daughter could not come home yet again.
"I know, I know," said Celine. She clicked her tongue and rubbed her eyes with her fingers. "I got it,
Mother. I'm a grown woman, you don't have to worry so much." Before her mother could have said
another word, Celine dropped the call. She was too annoyed to hear more of her mother's
chastisement.
She returned her phone back to her purse and continued retouching her makeup.
Celine was terribly embarrassed of her family background, let alone her low educational background.
If anyone from her hometown saw her now, none of them would believe that she could be the same
country bumpkin that she was five years ago.
She had been living an indulgent and extravagant life for the past few years. She didn't want to go back
to her old life.
In her eyes, this city was where she belonged. A party for the rich and elite was more suitable to her
tastes.
In Celine's mind, she didn't want to have any ordinary friends, but she couldn't live without friends in
this circle. She had to make use of her charisma to make more powerful and influential friends.
Since they were friends, it would be convenient for her to do anything. Even if Jack had abandoned her,
she wouldn't be completely alone. As long as he had not said anything about their breakup yet, nobody
would still dare to insult her.
As long as people thought she was still Jack's girlfriend, no one would mess with her or make fun of
her. She thought that it would be best to make the most out of this situation for as long as she could.
Even if everyone found out that they had broken up, Celine wanted people to think that the reason they
broke up was because she didn't want to be with him anymore. She did not want people to know that
Jack offered to break up with her.
Although the results were the same, the effects were completely opposite. Celine had a lot of schemes
under her sleeves, but she did not expect such a coincidence.
After she was done retouching her makeup, Celine got out of the bathroom and returned to the party.
At a corner of the garden, a fireworks display was being set up. Many workers went in and out, passing
through where Lea and Henry had been staying.
Because of this, they didn't feel comfortable talking anymore. "Why don't we go inside?" Henry
suggested.
Lea nodded and stood up. There was something different in the way that she walked. She held such
elegance and delicacy that only princesses could have.
It was dark outside, so Lea didn't notice that Henry blushed a little.
"Let's go back to the banquet hall.
They are looking for us," said Henry.
Lea felt a little shy. She once thought that she would express her feelings straightforwardly if she fell in
love with someone. But it seemed that she was wrong.
The path was too narrow for them to go through at the same time.
Lea noticed two workers coming towards them. They both held fireworks in their hands.
She stopped and tried to move aside to avoid it. Henry reached out his hand and protected her from
getting hit. This thoughtful action impressed her. She thought that he was quite the gentleman for
protecting her.
The two workers walked through the narrow path, with large boxes of fireworks in their hands. There
were some branches on both sides of the path that stretched out into the pathway.
She didn't want her clothes to tear or get dirty, so she had no choice but to avoid the branches.
The worker in a blue uniform couldn't help but look at Lea, and their eyes met momentarily.
He looked away in a hurry. The two workers left quickly.
'Why did the workers leave in such a hurry? Am I ugly or something?' Lea thought to herself.
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