Stole His Clothes

An hour later, Jonathan woke up.

He looked under the covers. Other than his underwear, he was not wearing anything.

Not only so, but that woman even stole his clothes!

Jonathan's expression turned gloomy.

As soon as Zac Gibson entered the room, he saw the sullen Jonathan lying on the messy bed. There was also a torn red dress on the floor. Zac immediately realized what was going on.

"You're … transitioning?"

Everyone knew Jonathan never got involved with women. Still, countless women had tried to sleep with him.

Jonathan was cold and heartless toward women. None of those women had ever succeeded before.

But it seemed like it had been quite an intense night last night.

Zac had been utterly drunk when he received Jonathan's call the night before.

Once he sobered up this morning, he finally remembered Jonathan asking him for a doctor.

A month ago, Jonathan had defeated the other members of the Finch family. Hence, he became the new person in charge of the Finches.

Since then, there had been no lack of assassination attempts on him.

In fact, Jonathan had encountered an assassin soon after he arrived in Aquastead.

He suffered a slash on his waist, which required some stitches. Zac had thought that Jonathan's wound had opened up again.

Glancing at the red mark on the snowy white sheets, Zac clicked his tongue. "You're injured, but that didn't stop you from having an intense workout!"

"Get lost!"

Jonathan glanced at Zac coldly. The murderous intent in his eyes was obvious.

Zac rubbed his nose awkwardly and conceded defeat right away.

"Well, since you can still do intense workouts, you're probably fine. The first-aid kit is right here. As for your wound … you can deal with it yourself."

After Zac left, a set of clean clothes was sent in.

Jonathan's wound had indeed split open.

The blood on the blanket was his, but the blood on the bed sheet …

He vividly remembered the obstacle he faced last night.

For a moment, Jonathan was dazed.

But when he saw a coin on the desk opposite the bed, his expression stiffened.

The woman had said she was booking him for the night and asked him to name his price.

She thought he was one of the male escorts, and she only left a coin.

"Hah. I see how it is!" he scoffed.

Jonathan had never been humiliated like this before. Clutching the coin in his hand, he exuded a terrifying air as he walked out of the room.

He said to Zac, who was waiting at the door, "Track down someone for me. It's a woman …"

Deep down inside, he labeled her as a bold and despicable woman.

…

Over at Scenic Gardens, Rose was entering the Shaffer residence. She sneezed violently.

On her way home, she kept thinking about how she had been drugged last night. She had a niggling suspicion that she needed to verify right away.

Maya was her aunt's daughter. They grew up together, and they had always gotten along very well.

They went to Nightfall Lounge together last night. Maya only had a glass of wine before excusing herself to go to the restroom. After that, she never appeared again.

Rose suspected that it had been Maya's doing, but she refused to believe it.

"Mr. Lane, Uncle Jamie, it was Rose who persuaded me to go to Nightfall Lounge with her. I told her not to go to a place like that.

"But she said that she wanted to try something exciting before getting married to Mr. Lane. I feared that she would be in danger, so I went with her.

"I went to the bathroom, but when I came back, Rose was gone. It was my fault. I should've held her back and stopped her from going … Boohoo …"

As soon as Rose walked through the door, she heard Maya sobbing and blaming herself.

Rose went into the living room. She saw her father, Jamie Shaffer, and her stepmother, Chelsea Sutton. Kelly and Nixon, the adulterous pair, were there as well.

A few photos were placed on the coffee table in front of them.

When Jamie saw Rose coming in, he grabbed the photos and flung them at her. "How dare you come back? Look what you did!"

In the photos, Rose was wearing a red dress. Her entire body was wrapped suggestively around a man.

The man had his back to the camera. He was tall and his face was not shown, but Rose's face could be seen clearly in the photos.

Rose's mind went blank. She felt as if something had exploded inside her head.

Conduct the Marriage Ceremony

Those were photos from the bar last night.

Rose wondered who had taken them.

She felt like her head was buzzing.

"Dad, calm down. Don't let your anger affect your health. Rose probably wasn't thinking straight.

"It's a good thing Nixon bought those photos. If not, when the photos get leaked to the public, it would affect the Celeste Jewels' share price."

Kelly coaxed in a gentle tone, but she was gloating inside.

Last night, she had asked Maya to take Rose to Nightfall Lounge. She also arranged a few strong men for Rose. She wanted to take photos of Rose making a fool out of herself in public.

But by the time Maya went back, a man was already taking Rose away.

Maya could only snap a few photos hastily.

Still, those photos were enough for Nixon to call off his engagement to Rose.

Kelly stared at Rose with the expression of an innocent child.

She suddenly noticed the man's shirt Rose was wearing. "Rose, your shirt … looks so weird! Why does it look like a man's shirt?"

Not only that, she could also see a few obvious hickeys on Rose's pale skin near the collar. With just a single glance, she knew what had happened.

"You're such a debauched girl, Rose!"

Jamie's face was filled with disdain. Raising his hand, he was about to hit Rose when Nixon stood protectively in front of her.

Nixon stared at Rose. "Rose, even though you betrayed me, I won't hold it against you. I love you. As long as you behave yourself in the future, I'm still willing to marry you."

Rose was speechless.

She could not believe her ears.

He said she betrayed him.

Who had been the one in bed with Kelly yesterday?

She could not believe he claimed to love her and wanted to marry her.

He looked at her with scornful eyes, and yet he pretended to be gracious and loving!

Was it because she was the only heir to Celeste Jewels?

The company, Celeste Jewels, belonged to Rose's mother, Celeste Young. Celeste had founded it before she got married.

After Celeste's death, Jamie took over management of the company.

But Celeste had left a will.

Once Rose got married, she would inherit Celeste Jewels and all of Celeste's properties.

Rose recalled how Nixon spared no effort to court her. Had it only been because he wanted Celeste Jewels?

A mocking smile appeared on Rose's face.

She stared at the hypocritical look on Nixon's face. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kelly biting her lip with slight indignation.

Rose's eyes flashed viciously as she said, "You're willing to marry me. But what about Kelly, then?"

Nixon's expression instantly turned dark.

Hastily stepping forward, he grabbed Rose's wrist and pulled her out of the villa.

Gritting his teeth, he warned her, "Rose, you'd better appreciate it while I'm playing nice. You've done such terrible things, yet I'm still willing to marry you. You should be grateful.

"If you tell Mr. Shaffer and Ms. Sutton about me and Kelly, Kelly will be disgraced!

"Unlike you, Kelly is a simple and innocent woman. She loves me, and I'm the only man in her life. She said she doesn't care about status as long as she can be with me."

Rose felt so disgusted that she wanted to throw up. "How long?"

Nixon was startled.

"How long have you been going behind my back and cheating on me with her?"

Since the truth was already out, Nixon did not see the need to lie.

"It's been three years. I wanted to get more intimate with you on the night of your birthday, but you rejected me."

"So you turned around and slept with Kelly instead?" Rose sneered.

Nixon felt a little guilty. He instantly lost his patience as well.

A few of his businesses were in trouble. He had to get married to Rose as soon as possible so that he could get his hands on Celeste Jewels.

"It's Grandma's 70th birthday tomorrow, and Uncle Jonathan has come to Aquastead.

"Grandma wants us to get married while Uncle Jonathan is in town. He can conduct the marriage ceremony for us.

"Grandma will invite Uncle Jonathan to attend the birthday banquet tomorrow. Be prepared. I'll introduce you to him."

When Nixon mentioned his Uncle Jonathan, he did so with a look of admiration and respect.

Initially, Rose had been uninterested in Nixon's Uncle Jonathan.

But when she saw how excited Nixon was about meeting him tomorrow, she changed her mind abruptly.

Get Married

"Alright. I'll meet Uncle Jonathan tomorrow. He's an elder, so I'll prepare a huge gift for him. Don't worry, I'll behave myself."

…

After Nixon left, Rose picked up the photos on the floor.

She glanced at Maya coldly while saying, "These are pretty good shots. It's a pity that you didn't capture his face."

The man last night had extremely good looks. He was as handsome as the hottest male celebrities.

Maya felt a little guilty. She knew Rose would suspect her for what had happened last night.

She was about to argue when Rose looked at Kelly instead.

Kelly had an innocent look on her face. She looked gentle and harmless, but deep down inside, her heart was filled with hatred.

She did not expect Nixon to proceed with the marriage—not after Rose had been caught making out with another man.

Kelly refused to back down. She wanted to press on with this incident and fan the flames so that Jamie would drive Rose out of the house.

Just then, Rose smiled. The next words that came out of her mouth hit Kelly right where it hurt.

"They're holding a birthday banquet for Mrs. Lane Senior tomorrow night. Nixon wants me to get ready to discuss our marriage plans. Will you be attending the banquet as well, Kelly?"

Kelly was silent. She was so mad that she began trembling.

Nixon had never allowed Kelly to go to the Lane residence. He would never appear in public with her either.

Kelly and Rose were both daughters of the Shaffer family. She did not understand why Rose got to move around in public, while she could only hide in the shadows.

Her harmless and gentle expression faded away. It slowly turned into one of reluctance and jealousy.

Rose sneered as she watched.

Was this the woman Nixon thought of as innocent? The woman who would give up on status to be with him?

Before Rose found them in bed yesterday, she received a message from Nixon telling her to see him.

Kelly must have sent that message.

What an innocent woman indeed.

Rose eyed Kelly mockingly. Then, she took the photos and left the villa.

She was not going to marry Nixon.

But she would give him a surprise during the birthday banquet tomorrow!

Nixon wanted Celeste Jewels, so she was going to foil his plans.

The best way for her to achieve that was for her to get married, but not to him!

Rose wondered who she should pick to be her bridegroom.

Suddenly, she noticed the man in the photos. She immediately narrowed her eyes.

"Haha. I have just the right person."

…

Rose arrived at Nightfall Lounge.

It was noon, so the lounge was not open for business yet.

Rose stared at the closed entrance. She wondered how she could contact the man from last night as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, a bodyguard was showing Jonathan the surveillance footage on a tablet. They were in a room on the second floor of Nightfall Lounge.

"Mr. Finch, there's a woman sneaking around the entrance. Should we deal with her?"

Zac was the official owner of the lounge, but Jonathan was the biggest shareholder. He had invested the most into the lounge.

Jonathan had encountered an assassin soon after he arrived in Aquastead. Hence, he left Charlie and a group of bodyguards at Aquastead Hotel.

Then, he came to the lounge alone. No one knew of his whereabouts.

At this moment, Jonathan's mind was filled with the woman from last night. She had stolen his clothes and humiliated him with a coin!

Jonathan wanted to ask the bodyguard to drive the woman away.

But then, he caught sight of the woman through the surveillance footage.

It was her!

He narrowed his eyes and his gaze sharpened.

A cold and dangerous smile spread out across his face as he gave his orders, "Bring her in here!"

Moments later, the doors to the lounge opened.

A few muscular men in black suits walked up to Rose. "Please come with us, miss. There's someone who would like to see you."

Taken aback, Rose followed them into the lounge.

When she finally regained her senses, she immediately realized something. She could ask these people for the man's contact information.

She was about to speak when she realized she did not know the man's name.

Could she refer to him as … the star escort?

The man had a handsome face, and he was very professional at what he did. It would make sense if he was the star escort.

"Excuse me, but your star—"

Before Rose could finish speaking, the door slammed shut behind her.

It was only then that Rose found herself in a room.

The room was dimly lit. The only source of light was aimed at a painting on the opposite wall.

A man stood in front of the painting.

He was wearing a black satin shirt, just like the one she was wearing. His figure was tall and stately.

Rose found the silhouette rather familiar somehow.

Suddenly, the man turned around. When Rose saw his face, she grew excited.

"It's you!"

It was the star escort she was looking for!

Jonathan stared darkly at the woman standing by the door. There was a cold look in his eyes.

"Yes, it's me!"

He had been looking for her, but she showed up of her own accord instead.

She was still wearing the shirt she stole from him.

The half-hidden hickeys near the collar reminded him of how he had lost control last night. He also recalled the humiliation he felt when he saw the coin this morning.

She would pay the price for humiliating him.

Jonathan smiled menacingly. He was about to speak when Rose stepped forward and grabbed his wrists excitedly.

She looked at him with an enthusiastic and expectant gaze.

"Let's get married!"