Jared was stunned by Debbie's words. 'You drank this expensive wine like water?' "Tomboy, it's such a waste! If your husband found out, you'd break his heart. By the way, he's on that business trip, right? Let's get some of the hard stuff. I mean, did you see his liquor cabinet? Vodka, whiskey, brandy, Maotai...He has the best stuff. Tomboy, how about a bottle of limited-edition brandy? This isn't that expensive, I think," he said, grabbing a bottle and examining it.
Lured by the alcohol, he completely forgot about Carlos' warning.
'Limited-edition brandy?' Debbie blinked and wondered. 'This is all my husband's liquor. No big deal to drink a bottle or two. Besides, he's with Megan now...'
When Megan popped into her mind, Debbie slammed another glass of wine, snapped her fingers and told Jared, "Sure, why not? Besides, I'm not letting you leave. You haven't drunk enough."
Jared clapped his hands, cheerful at her assent. "Awesome!"
He took the bottle from the cabinet, removed the lid and poured her a glass, then himself. The smell of alcohol filled the room.
They clinked glasses and drank the brandy. They were feeling pretty good now, the two of them. The room was warm, the lights making the place somewhat indistinct, and their cares were largely forgotten. It was a good time, just these two friends, and in some ways just like old times.
After two glasses of brandy, Debbie's mind was a blank—no more Carlos, no more Megan. She felt great at that moment. And that was the whole point of this little rendezvous.
Jared was a heavy drinker. He was still playing on his phone—it was the latest version made by Carlos' company. After the upgrade, a whole world of games opened to him. And so he was busy downloading one while playing another.
They polished off the bottle of brandy and were about to find something else to drink when Jared's phone rang. He showed Debbie the caller ID and said, "It's Kasie."
With a red face, Debbie stammered, "W-Why is she...calling you now?"
"Not a clue. Maybe she's in trouble." Jared and Kasie were good friends, but he and Debbie had a better relationship. He'd known Debbie longer, and she was just more fun to be around. Still, he cared about Kasie.
When he answered the call, his face changed dramatically. He jumped to his feet and yelled at his phone, "Where are you? Debbie and I... Okay, got it!"
His face became a mask of solemnity. Debbie shook her dizzy head and asked, "Jared, what happened?"
"Something happened to Kasie. She asked me to bring some people along to help. Let's go."
Once she heard that, Debbie sobered up a little. She guzzled some more wine and put on her coat before the two of them left the Orchid Private Club. Kasie was in trouble.
Jared's Ferrari was parked not far from the gates. He managed to make his way into the driver's seat, but Debbie dragged him out and snapped, "Get out! You're too drunk to drive."
"You kidding? I can hold my liquor." Jared's face was a little redder than usual, but he was fully awake now.
Debbie shook her head. "No! What part of 'no' don't you understand? You'll lose your license and rot in jail. I don't think you'd look good in prison grey. Let's just get a taxi. Or call for a driving service."
Although Debbie was drunk, she always kept that in mind. According to the law, if a drunk gets behind the wheel, he'll be held by the Traffic Administration Department until he sobers up, and his driver's license shall be automatically revoked. He'll face criminal charges, and lose his license for 5 years.
"Driving service?" Jared looked at the two-seat sports car. "You want to stay in the trunk?"
Debbie rolled her eyes and snapped, "Forget it. Just call a taxi."
Sighing in defeat, Jared gave his car keys to a security guard at the club and told him, "Call the driving service for me, and ask the driver to follow our taxi."
"Yes, Mr. Han."
At the Merja Karaoke
When Jared and Debbie entered the private booth where Kasie was, they saw many young boys and girls having fun.
The room was very bright. The lyrics of a love song were displayed on the screen, but it was in quiet mode.
People came up to Jared and welcomed him to the little soiree. "Jared, what brings you here?"
"I haven't seen you in a long time. Your girl looks familiar."
"She looks pretty. Your new girlfriend?"
Coming from a well-off family, Jared was popular in upper class circles.
Most of the guys in the room were from rich families as well, and were Jared's friends. Jared couldn't be bothered to introduce them to Debbie. He greeted them back and pointed to Kasie, who was surrounded by several people. "She's my friend."
"I get it. She called you." A girl's soft voice sounded. Both Jared and Debbie knew her.
And Debbie hated her—she was Portia, Hayden's sister.
Brown beret, beige knit dress, black boots, haughty expression. That was Portia. Her brown long coat was folded and draped over the couch.
She was rich, and looked the part.
'How did Kasie piss off Portia?' both Debbie and Jared mused.
Hands in pockets, Jared walked up to Kasie and then flung his arm around her shoulders. With a broad smile, he turned to Portia and said, "Yeah, she called me. She's my best friend."
Portia cast a scornful glance at Debbie, who was leaning against the wall, trying to look detached. Then she turned to Jared. "Jared, why are you even friends with this woman? You know she's a mistress, right?"
Portia stressed the word "mistress", which enraged Kasie. She shouted, "Don't throw shade at me! Dammit, I didn't know he was your boyfriend. He told me he was single."
Disdain was obvious in Portia's eyes. She told Jared in a mocking tone, "You need to be more careful next time you want to make friends with someone. Look at you. You have a ho and a tomboy as friends. Good thing you guys are just friends. If you were dating one of them, you'd probably be tearing your hair out by now."
Everyone realized that she was calling Debbie "tomboy". They turned to look at Debbie and whispered to one another.
Debbie was still drunk and you could smell the alcohol on her.
Jared's face soured at Portia's words. The only person he couldn't afford to offend was Carlos Huo. As for people from the Gu family, he didn't give a damn about them. He pointed to Portia and snapped, "Who do you think you are? You don't even deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as my friends. Come on, Kasie, let's go."
The boys around Kasie immediately blocked Jared's way.
Jared fumed with rage. "Get the hell out of my way!"
These boys were all young and rich. They didn't like what Jared said. One of them shouted, "Shut up! Did Portia say you could go?"
"Why do I need her permission?" Jared's eyes swept over the boys around Portia. "Why do you guys all bow down to her? What do you get out of it? It's not like you need the money...I've got it! You guys fucked her once, and now you're hoping she'll put out some more, right?"
It was quite normal for these rich boys to have threesomes. As for rich girls like Portia, only a few of them would agree to it.