Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Fortunately for Samantha, Zachary was not a very attentive person. She could handle the situation as long as she was cautious.
Samantha raised her hand and tucked her hair behind her ear. She lowered her voice and pretended to giggle softly, âYouâre hilarious, Mr. Summer. How could I have met you when this is the first time I attended such a large party?â
As she spoke, she lowered her eyes slightly and avoided Zacharyâs eyes smoothly.
The lights in the room were dim and she donned a mask in addition to changing her voice deliberately. As long as Zachary was not serious, she would probably be able to hide her identity from him.
Zachary squinted at her for ten seconds and his reply was just as she expected, âYouâre right. How could a little dancer like you ever cross paths with someone like me?â
Samantha was about to breathe a sigh of relief when he heard Zachary continuing in an intrigued voice, âStill, Iâm very interested in your appearance. If you were able to pole dance in such a seductive manner, I wonder if your face is just as extraordinary.â
As soon as he spoke, his hand reached for the mask on her face.
His movements were too sudden, but Samantha was lucky to have kept her guard up. She pretended to turn her face sideways by accident.
Zacharyâs fingers could only grasp thin air.
Rather than feeling annoyed, his interest was piqued even more. He touched his chin, âWhy donât you take it off yourself, Beautiful. Iâm really looking forward to seeing what you look like under that mask.â
On the other side, Felixâs attention was drawn to her again despite earlier losing his interest in her. He pushed away the woman in his arms and pointed at Samantha, âCome on, Beautiful. Since Mr. Summer here wants to see your face, you might as well take that mask off. If he likes you, you stand the chance of sampling gourmet food and fancy wines if you stay by his side.â
The others chuckled ambiguously as soon as he said that.
Samanthaâs eyes narrowed slightly. If it were any other person, she would not really mind taking off the mask for the sake of getting it over with. Unfortunately, the man in front of her was Zachary, and there was no way she could take off that mask.
She had not forgotten the time Timothy thought she was with other men at the club. The horrible things that happened to her after that caused her to come down with a sickness that nearly took her life.
If Timothy caught him yet again, whatever punishment she would receive from him was beside the point. If he interfered with her attempt to save Corey, she would never be able to forgive herself.
When Felix saw her staying silent and keeping still for a long time, he immediately became unhappy. His face sank and he asked coldly, âWhat? Do you have to continue being that pretentious just because you were told to take off your mask?â
The Summers was one of three powerful families. Felixâas the hostâcould not afford to upset Zachary simply for the sake of an insignificant dancer.
He snorted again. âYou should be honored that Mr. Summer wants to look at you, although you donât seem to appreciate his courtesy. If youâre not going to take it off, Iâll have someone take it off for you!â
Felix lifted his chin and gestured to his men.
They nodded at once and immediately walked toward Samantha in an intimidating manner.
Samantha clenched her fists all of a sudden and scanned her surroundings rapidly. Once she ascertained the position of the room door, she got ready to run at any time.
As the subordinateâs hands reached over to grab Samantha, Zachary unexpectedly grabbed his hand and stopped him. âCome on, canât you be gentle? How can you be so rough to a beautiful lady? Itâs important to be delicate to members of the fairer sex. Capiche?â
His words were directed at Felix.
Those words were muted but possessed an individualistic aura. Felixâs fierce expression froze and he immediately put on a flattering smile. âYouâre absolutely right, Mr. Summer.â
After reprimanding Felix, Zachary returned his gaze to Samanthaâs face. He groaned and said, âItâs rather boring to have you just take off your mask like that. Letâs play a game, shall we?â
He pointed his finger at the pool table placed on the other side of the room. âDo you play pool? Letâs have a little match. Pot five balls and you win the game.â
âYouâll get five chips for each pot you make, but for every pot I make...â
Zachary glanced over Samanthaâs long legs and smiled like a fox. ââ¦youâll take off one item of clothing.â
Samanthaâs face changed slightly as soon as he said this.
The other men in the room immediately started whistling and shouting, âIf it comes to playing pool, Mr. Summer is an expert!â
âHow about it, Beautiful?â Zachary looked at Samantha.
Samantha clenched her jaw slightly. She was starting to suspect that Zachary was making things difficult for her because he had recognized her.
Judging from the situation, she might have no choice but to turn him down.
Then again, it was pool...
In the past, Timothy had brought Samantha out to play with Jonathan and Zachary. She had seen Zachary play before and he had quite the skill. However, her abilities were not that far off either.
She surmised that their skill was probably on par with each other, so much so that she might be able to beat him if she put on a stellar performance.
Should that happen, she could stand to earn even more money without having to take off her mask.
Samantha curled her lips and responded softly, âI canât possibly refuse your kind invitation, Mr. Summer. Iâll agree to your conditions.â
âSweet.â Zachary patted his palms. âCome on, Beautiful. Letâs head over there.â
Samantha and Zachary walked to the pool table. The rest of the men could not resist following along, as they too were interested to see what would happen.
After all, Samantha has to take off one article of clothing with every pot she failed to make. With only two pieces of clothing on her body, she would already be naked if she could not pot two balls.
Their game seemed to be much more interesting than everything else.
Samantha and Zachary stood at opposite ends of the pool table. Samantha picked a random cue and held it in her hands to get the feel of it.
Zachary looked at her for a few seconds, then suddenly said, âJudging from my horoscope today, my luck will be pretty bad if I gamble so I wonât be playing. Iâll let...â
He raised his hand, swept his finger across the numerous young men there, and finally pointed to a booth in the corner before continuing, ââ¦one of best bros take my place!â
Zacharyâs âbest broâ?
Samanthaâs grip tightened around the cue and she raised her eyes abruptly to look at the booth.
A man was sitting quietly there. Half his body was hidden in the dark, and he had escaped Samanthaâs attention earlier because no one dared to come over and disturb him.
At that moment, she looked right into the manâs dark eyes and recognized his familiar facial features despite the dim light.
His long legs were gracefully crossed as he leaned lazily against the sofa. A cigarette was held between his fingertips and a slight flame lit the tip of the cigarette.
Despite not saying anything, the sight of him was enough to make one shudder.
To her marked surprise, Timothy had been inside the room all along! He even saw what she had done that day!n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
Samanthaâs black pupils contracted all of a sudden and she somehow stopped breathing too.
Timothy was in no hurry as he took the last puff of his cigarette and exhaled the smoke.. After putting out the cigarette in the ashtray, he uncrossed his legs, got up, and took slow steps over to her.