Chapter 180

Ashlyn fell silent.

Was it considered harassment if he acted like that? They were divorced, after all.

She twisted away, and Lucas’ angry whisper sounded next to her ear. “If you keep moving, you’ll know what’s coming to you.”

Ashlyn was a smart girl. Her body stiffened, clearly sensing the way Lucas’ breath started to heat up.

She knew very well what this all meant.

This man was getting fired up even in front of so many people!

How could he!

When he felt Ashlyn stop moving around, his hand tightened slightly.

Lucas picked up his glass and swirled it around slightly before taking a sip.

“Today, we’re here to celebrate Lyanna’s birthday! Let’s all lighten up, okay?” a different young guy called out. “Come, I’ll give you my gift first.”

Ashlyn finally understood that they came to celebrate the birthday of the pretty woman in the middle of the room.

“Lyanna, this is for you.” Joseph took out a wrapped box and passed it to Lyanna.

Everyone in their inner circle knew that Joseph had a big crush on Lyanna.

Lyanna had never been clear about who she liked, either, keeping their relationship ambiguous.

Lyanna opened the box and smiled at what was inside. “Thank you, Joseph.”

There was a pretty expensive diamond necklace lying inside.

Lyanna was the daughter of the Larson family, and she had plenty of money behind her. She managed to sign a contract with Nolan Entertainment, so she didn’t have much to worry about.

Now, she was the star of Nolan Entertainment. She had quite a few well-received movies under her belt, and most considered her an up-and-coming A-list celebrity.

Compared to some C-list celebrity like Cindy, she was much more famous. Recently, there had even been talk of her making a debut on the big screen.

Since she was a huge celebrity and was an actual socialite, she had plenty of admirers.

Damian was close to Lucas and Joseph, so their bunch of friends usually were huge supporters of her.

Plenty of other rich kids gave them their gifts, too.

Winsor looked at the flirtatious tension between Ashlyn and Lucas and frowned. “Why isn’t Mr. Nolan giving a gift to our gorgeous Lyanna?”

The moment those words left his mouth, everyone looked at Lucas.

Lyanna, too, directed her gaze toward that tall, handsome man with a glimmer of hope in her eyes.

However, she managed to hide it well enough that no one noticed.

Lucas’ deep voice said, “Ah. Well, my wife gets jealous pretty easily. She doesn’t like it when I give gifts to other women.”

Ashlyn stayed silent once more.

Lucas, you better watch yourself.

Joseph frowned, not understanding what Lucas was saying. Hadn’t they gotten divorced? Why is he calling her his wife?

Lyanna’s pretty eyes darkened in disappointment, but once again, it happened so quickly that no one noticed it. She purposely acted nonchalant before saying, “That’s fine. Lucas has never given me presents before this, either.”

“Lucas, aren’t you being a little too cold?” Joseph frowned.

Winsor raised an eyebrow as he looked at Lucas mockingly. “I didn’t know Mr. Nolan was such a cheapskate.”

Lucas picked up Ashlyn’s hand and started playing with her fingers in his large palm. His magnetic voice spoke again. “I’m not a cheapskate. I’m simply a slave to my wife.”

Winsor looked at Lucas’ large hand playing around with Ashlyn’s and got even more angry. “Why are you so close with Ms. Berry? Aren’t you, your wife’s slave, scared that Mrs. Nolan will get mad?”

At that moment, everyone looked toward Ashlyn.

They had all sensed the strange atmosphere between Ashlyn and Lucas since they walked in.

Now, with Winsor’s obvious prodding, the gossips started getting interested.

“You’re all welcome to let her know.” Lucas tugged Ashlyn over and casually made her land on his lap.

Ashlyn’s pristine features remained expressionless as she held onto Lucas’ shoulder and whispered next to his ear, “Lucas, that’s enough.”

To the eyes of everyone else, it looked like shameless flirting.

Lyanna’s expression started to sour as she looked at Ashlyn perched on Lucas’ lap like some shameless succubus.

Lucas had been ignoring her for yet another year now. Every year, she held onto the hope that Lucas would give her a birthday gift. Every year, she’d be disappointed once again.