Jerome's POV:
Although I was dancing with Linda on the dance floor, my attention was fixed on Skylar.
When I saw her gulping down glass after glass of alcohol like she wanted to drown her sorrows, I felt
as if a knife was piercing my heart.
"Focus, Jerome," Linda said to me.
She even slipped her arms around my waist, trying to get close to me.
"Sorry, I have to leave now.You can dance with someone else."
Excusing myself as politely as I could, I pushed Linda away and walked towards Skylar.
When I reached the table Skylar was sitting at, I grabbed her glass out of her hand and shot her a
pointed look.
"Skylar, stop drinking.Let me take you back," I told her.
To my dismay, Skylar was so drunk that she didn't even recognize me.
"Who are you?" she slurred.
Her cheeks were flushed red, and her eyes looked hazy.
It seemed that she was already dead drunk.I couldn't let her drink anymore.
"Why did you steal my glass? I want to drink more! Give it back to me!"
Skylar's voice rose in anger as she spoke, and she snatched the glass back from me.
"Skylar, listen to me.Stop drinking.I'll take you back to your room,"
I coaxed her gently.
But as if she didn't hear me at all, Skylar picked up the bottle of alcohol and poured herself another
glass to drink.
Sitting next to her, I hugged her and looked at her sadly.
"Skylar, please don't torture yourself, okay? You're breaking my heart."
"You know what? I've lost the one person in the world that I love the most.I thought there was finally
light in my world, but now it is dark again.Do you have any idea what despair feels like? Since I was a
child, I grew up without a family.I thought I'd finally have a family now, but I was wrong," Skylar cried.
Her words were like a slap in my face.
What did she mean by saying she didn't have a family now? I was her family, wasn't I?
"Skylar, what are you saying? You have me, and you have great friends like Jennifer.All of us love you,
and we will always be by your side."
I held her tightly in my arms, wishing that my embrace would be enough to comfort her and calm her
down.
Somehow, I had a bad feeling that if I loosened my grip on her now, she would disappear from my life
forever.
"No, I don't know you.Go away! I just want to get drunk and forget everything,"
Skylar slurred, holding on tightly to the bottle.It seemed that I couldn't stop her.
"Fine.Since you want to get drunk, I'll drink together with you.I'll be here with you.I'll do whatever you
want."
I picked up an empty glass and poured myself some wine.
"Jerome, it's already late.You'd better go back.Everything will be fine tomorrow."
All of our friends came over to persuade us.
"Don't worry.I know what I'm doing."
I waved their concerns away and continued to drink with Skylar.
"Come on, guys.It won't be often that we'll all be able to gather like this.Let's have a drink together."
With my persuasion, everyone gathered at the table to drink with us.
Linda's POV:
I was still trying to get Jerome's attention on the dance floor when he pushed me away, asked me to
dance with someone else, and walked off.
I saw him going over to sit with Skylar, who was drinking like a madwoman.
To me, it was obvious that she was acting depressed and pitiful to win over the soft-hearted Jerome.
It seemed that my words hadn't had any impact on her at all.
She still wanted to pester Jerome and keep him away from me.
What a shameless bitch! As I watched their table, I saw Jerome hold Skylar in his arms and patiently
coax her.
It had been a long time since I had seen Jerome act this tender and affectionate, but to my dismay, it
wasn't towards me.
I felt like I would go crazy with jealousy.
But I couldn't fight for him openly.
After all, I had to maintain a kind and gentle image.
So for the time being, I had no choice but to sit ina corner with Andy and just watch while Skylar's
friends surrounded her and Jerome.
Why? By right, the protagonists of tonight should have been me and Jerome.
I should be the one highlighted.
By now, it looked like Jerome and Skylar had drunk a lot.
They were both swaying unsteadily.
I wanted to go over there and stop Jerome from getting sloshed, but all of a sudden, something
occurred to me.
This was an opportunity that I could take advantage of.
Since Jerome was so drunk, I could easily seduce him tonight.
As long as we had sex together, he would have to take responsibility for me.
The more I thought about it, the more confident I was that my idea would work.
When Skylar discovered that Jerome slept with me, she would have no choice but to leave dejectedly.
With this plan in mind, I secretly lingered near their table.
By the time the dinner party was over, everyone was a little tipsy.
Skylar and Jerome seemed to have drunk the most.
"I'll take care of Skylar.Don't worry.I'll send her back to her room.Anthony, help Jerome go back,"
I heard Jennifer say to Anthony.I watched as she took Skylar away, while Anthony left with Jerome.
"Good night, Jennifer."
I waved goodbye to Jennifer with a friendly smile.
"You too, Linda.Go to bed early," she replied with a smile.
I took Andy back to our suite.
In the bedroom, I tucked him into bed and touched his head.
"Andy, sleep by yourself tonight.Don't run around, okay?" I said gently.
Andy nodded obediently, and I coaxed him to sleep.
After he was asleep, I secretly went to Jerome's room.
Luck seemed to be on my side, because the door wasn't locked from the inside.
Perhaps he was too drunk to remember to lock the door.
Chuckling to myself, I entered the room.
I was greeted by the sight of Jerome curled up in bed.
He seemed to be only half-asleep, but he kept drunkenly uttering Skylar's name.
Skylar, Skylar, Skylar.
Why did I have to hear her name everywhere I went? She was like a haunting ghost.
To be honest, I was very jealous of Skylar at this moment.
Jerome's love for her was beyond my imagination.
But soon, the tables would be turned.
After tonight, Skylar would never get Jerome's heart.
From then on, he would only be mine.
"Jerome, wake up,"
I called softly, sitting on the bed and leaning over him.
Jerome didn't move at all.
He seemed to have drifted off to sleep.
I took off his clothes and caressed his chest, trying to seduce him.
But no matter what I did, there was no response from Jerome.
He just lay there motionlessly.
With a groan of irritation, I took off my clothes and lay on top of him.
"Jerome, it's me, Skylar.I want to have sex with you."
Since Jerome was dead drunk, I was sure that I'd be able to get away with deceiving him like this.
I gently bit his ear, but there was still no reaction from him.
Since I couldn't wake Jerome up, I didn't know if I'd be able to have sex with him.
In the end, I just took off his clothes and lay down by his side, pressing my naked body against his.
He slept soundly next to me, but I was not sleepy at all.
It had been a long time since the two of us had lain down next to each other.
There was a time when I loved him very much, and I still loved him now.
But he didn't love me anymore.
If I hadn't left Jerome for money back then, would I be in a better situation now? Maybe we would have
been a happy couple.
But it was too late for regrets.
There was no way to turn back time.
The only thing I could do was to try my best to win Jerome back.
And to make that happen, I was willing to pay the price, whatever it was.
‘Jerome, how will you react tomorrow morning? You'll be surprised to see us lying naked together,
right?’ I wondered excitedly.
For the first time, I saw a glimmer of hope.
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