I stood there, silently tuning in to their conversation.


    It turned out many were somewhat aware of the events from years back. I had been living in my bubble, not probing into the past.


    As I pondered it, Kate went toward me all by herself. "What are you doing here? I thought you didn''t want to work with me. Who even invited you? Want me to have security throw you out?"Property belongs to N?vel(D)r/ama.Org.


    Gone were the days when she''d put on a pretense before me. She was showing her true colors.


    "No coboration, but I got an invite," I replied, sipping my drink casually.


    Kate scanned the room, her gaze finally settling on Richard. "So, a convict brought you in, huh?"


    "Watch your mouth," I shot back. Richard was my shield and somehow my Achilles'' heel, too.


    Seeing me grow serious, Kate seemed more inclined to tease. "Forgot to tell you, my half-sister from Dad''s side was from the same orphanage as you guys. And guess what? I''ve found someone who was there with her. Guess who?" Her hinting gaze toward Richard made me uneasy. No wonder Richard had an invitation. Kate had deliberately given it to him. So, could the Goodwin family''s heiress be the Tracie Richard had been searching for all this time?


    Life had its way of throwing curveballs. After all his searching, Richard learned that she was the fiancée of the head of the Hilton family.


    "Kate, using Richard won''t work!" I turned, intending to find Richard and leave this ce. The Hilton family was thest thing I wanted to deal with.


    But as I turned, Kate grabbed me from behind. Instinctively, I turned back and spilled my juice on her face. "I really can''t stand gross people touching me!"


    Seeing her reminded me of Daniel, and the hurtful memories came flooding back, disgusting and painful. So, I sshed the orange juice on her publicly. She screamed, "ire, I''m going to kill you!"


    Hearing themotion, Richard


    hurried over. I didn''t feel like exining anything to him. Seeing him approach, I grabbed his hand, "Let''s go. We don''t need to deal with the Hilton family anymore.


    Richard frowned, but he indulged me, so we started to leave.


    But Kate wouldn''t let us, ordering her people to stop us. "ire, you owe me an apology."


    I rejected it. "Impossible. You started it. I was defending myself."


    Richard would get hurt if we didn''t leave soon and Ms. Tracey showed up. But apologizing to someone like Kate? In her dreams.


    "Kate, move," I said firmly.


    Yet, Kate stood, head held high with arrogance. "Apologize, or neither you nor Richard are leaving tonight."


    "What''s going on?" Mingling with others, ude came over. Seeing me and Richard, he scoffed, "Your taste in men is terrible. Could you pick someone better next time?" He had always assumed I had romantic feelings for Richard, constantly belittling us.


    "If you think Kate''s your type, your taste is even worse!" I retorted, desperate to leave. "Just take Kate and leave, or I swear I''ll dig up enough evidence to get her locked up too!"


    As a man ofw and evidence, ude knew me well enough to know I''d find the proof if I said would. And since he still needed the Goodwin family''s influence, he didn''t want Kate in trouble.