Chapter 3

The rest of the birthday party was a wild affair.

Only two people were quiet.

One was Lu Xiao.

He wasn’t interested in the drinking games, choosing instead to lounge lazily against the sofa. The other rich kids all seemed to subtly defer to him; even their jokes were tinged with respect.

The other quiet one was me.

I kept my head down the entire time, silent as a mouse. If there had been a crack in the floor, I would have crawled into it. I didn’t dare look to my left.

My bestie noticed how withdrawn I was and whispered in my ear.

“What’s wrong? Is my Brother Xiao’s aura too much for you? Or did he give you a hard time when he came in?”

I shook my head. “No.”

“Then what is it?”

“Well, here’s what happened…”

I leaned in and quietly told her about my little mix-up.

After she heard it, she struggled to hold back her laughter, her face turning red from the effort.

I pleaded in a panic, “Stop laughing! Should I go apologize to him right now?”

“I don’t think you should.”

“Why not?”

“If you apologize, Lu Xiao will immediately know you mistook him for an escort, and that might actually piss him off.”

“But if you don’t say anything and just let it slide, he’ll probably just think you were trying to hit on him.”

“The first one will get you on his bad side, and he could crush you with a snap of his fingers. The second one just makes you lose a little face. Which do you choose?”

I wasn’t an idiot.

I chose the second option without hesitation.

My bestie patted my shoulder reassuringly.

“Don’t worry, he’s a busy guy. He won’t remember something this small.”

“Thank god.”

Her words were a huge relief. I finally felt relaxed enough to join in the games, trying my best to ignore the man named Lu Xiao and fade into the background.

But, of course, what you fear most is always what happens next.