Chapter 48: Will You Be My Dance Partner?


    "He''s kissing her, he''s kissing her, he''s kissing her..." she thought.


    "Vivian? What are you doing here?" It was just a simple sentence, but it managed to startle all three of


    them.


    Vivian trembled as she looked in the direction of the voice, only to find Ranzing on the sofa


    opposite the couple.


    If it were any other situation, she would definitely have thought that meeting Ran after the morning


    incident would be terrible, but she was now incredibly grateful to see him here.


    ...


    However, before Vivian could reply, Chow roughly pushed Celine away and repeated Ran''s question


    in a rough voice. "What are you doing here?"


    Vivian looked at Chow, who did not look drunk at all, and simply didn''t know what to say.


    Celine, who''d just been pushed aside, let out a soft smile as she spoke up. "I was the one who called


    her over. It gets boring when you both talk about guy stuff, so I told her toe over to chat with me."


    She threw a sickeningly sweet smile at Vivian, who was still standing at the door. "Vivian, you aren''t


    going to me me for lying, are you? It was meant to be a joke."


    Vivian hurriedly lowered her eyes and shook her head. "Of course not," she said.


    Ran nced at Celine and smiled in amusement. "Don''t just stand at the door, Vivian," he said.


    "Since you''re here, you might as welle in and sit down."


    Vivian nodded at him and closed the door before slowly walking towards them.


    Since there had only been the three of them, they had only booked a small private room. Aside from


    the table in the middle of the room, there were just two more two-seater sofas on either side of the


    table, facing each other.


    With one of the two-seaters upied by Chow and Celine, Vivian had no choice but to walk towards


    the other sofa where Ran was seated.


    Chow had already been weary of Ran for a while, but seeing Vivian sitting with him now made him


    feel extremely ufortable. He red at her angrily. "This ce isn''t for you. Why are you even


    here?"


    "I-I thought you were drunk," Vivian stammered with a shiver.


    Chow knew then that Celine was just trying to create a scene. He threw Celine a dirty look.


    Celine felt extremely smug. Even the look Chow gave her didn''t manage to dampen her spirit as she


    smiled sweetly at Vivian.


    Sensing the ufortable atmosphere, Ran decided to try saving the situation. "It''s just a meal,


    and we all know each other anyway so it''s fine," he said. "Vivian, is there anything you want to eat? I''ll


    get the waiter to bring it over."


    Vivian hurriedly shook her head and refused. "No thank you, Brother Ran."


    This content provided by N(o)velDrama].[Org.


    Ran chuckled and rxed his facial expression. "Even if you don''t feel like eating anything, you


    should still have something to drink. You can''t drink alcohol because you''re still underage, so would


    some lemonade do?"


    Vivian had no reason to refuse this time, so she nodded in agreement.


    Ran quickly pressed down on the waiter button next to the table and ced an order for a pitcher of


    lemonade.


    Chow felt his temper rising when he saw Ran fussing over Vivian like that. Even the way Vivian


    seemed to obediently listen to Ran infuriated him.


    This time, however, he didn''t make any sarcastic remarks. He just stared at her coldly.


    Vivian felt even more ufortable under his eyes. It felt as if she was sitting on pins and needles.


    A waiter arrived quickly with a pitcher of orange juice and poured a ss for Vivian before bowing and


    exiting the room.


    Vivian grabbed the ss of juice in her hand like it was her lifeline and stared down at it, not daring to


    look up.


    The only reason why Celine had called Vivian over was to show off her rtionship to the girl. She


    wanted Vivian to see how close she was to Chow, and wasted no time stering herself all over Chow,


    putting on a show for everyone to see.


    On the other hand, Chow was so focused on watching Ran and Vivian that he didn''t care what


    Celine was doing and just let her be.


    Celine was overjoyed when she realised Chow wasn''t refusing her. She picked up a slice of


    watermelon and fed it to Chow. "Here, darling, take a bite of this."


    Since Chow had his eyes on Vivian the whole time, he didn''t miss her slight tremble when Celine


    addressed him.


    He finally felt his temper going down when he saw how Vivian was trying to restrain herself for him.


    He nced at Celine from the corner of his eyes and made no effort to push her away. Instead, he


    opened his mouth and bit into the watermelon slice.


    Even Celine hadn''t expected him to be so cooperative. With a wide smile on her lips, Celine brought


    the watermelon to her own lips and took a bite from the same spot where Chow had bitten.


    Vivian saw everything with her own eyes.


    She should be used to it by now, but after having had a taste of momentary sweetness with Chow, the


    way Chow and Celine behaved like a normal, everyday couple in front of her was ripping her heart to


    shreds.


    Her face paled so much that everyone else except herself was aware of it.


    Ran narrowed his eyes at Celine, who was busy squishing her boobs against Chow''s arm, and then


    turned to observe the fragile girl besides him. A strange feeling surged in his heart.


    Ran had always been known for his courtesy and good manners, but little did people know that


    those were only masks he wore when out in public.


    The real Ran would never waste his time or energy on people who had nothing to do with him.


    His nature had always been cold and indifferent.


    But now, looking at Vivian''s vulnerable appearance, he felt the strange feeling in his heart getting


    stronger and stronger.


    In order to divert her attention, Ran picked up the ss of wine by his side and took a sip. "Vivian, I


    heard that you''re going to take the college entrance examination soon, right?" he asked.


    Vivian was still in the midst of moping when Ran called out her name. She jumped with a start


    before nodding lightly. "Y-Yes, I am."


    Ran smiled and turned to look at her. "Have you decided which college to apply for yet?"


    Who would''ve thought that Ran would ask this question, of all questions he could have asked?


    Vivian felt her heart shudder in fright when she identally caught Chow''s eyes on her.


    She quickly looked away. "I-I haven''t decided yet," she answered in a soft voice.


    Celine seemed interested in the topic as well. She finally shifted her attention away from Chow towards


    Vivian and gave the girl a smile. "You''re going to have a lot more freedom once you enter college. You


    won''t have to study all the time, and most importantly, you''ll be able to dress up a little and find yourself


    a boyfriend! Girls with boyfriends always look the prettiest."


    Vivian started blushing deeply when Celine started talking about love and rtionships.


    She kept her head hung low and said nothing.


    On the side, Chow''s face had turned dark and thunderous because of Celine''s words.


    He turned to look at her in frustration. "Worry about your own problems. Don''t keep poking your nose


    into her matters."


    The smile on Celine''s face froze suddenly. Hearing Chow chide her like that in front of Ran and


    Vivian was thoroughly embarrassing for her.


    She shut up awkwardly and looked at Vivian with hatred in her eyes.


    Looking at the scene in front of him, Ran really felt that his role tonight seemed to be the


    peacemaker.


    He cleared his throat and turned to an angry Chow. "By the way, it''s Mr. Weston''s birthday party in a


    couple of days. My dad asked me to go. You know that I''ve just returned from abroad and have no


    familiar female friends to bring along to the party. Can you lend me a secretary or an assistant?"


    Chow''s face finally rxed a little. "Don''t you think the young nurses in your hospital would be fighting


    amongst themselves to be yourpanion?"


    Ran shrugged and shook his head, rejecting the idea. "They still don''t know my real identity. It''s not


    appropriate."


    Celine rolled her eyes before the smile returned to her lips. "Just bring Vivian along with you. Those


    kinds of parties are the worst. It gets boring quickly without apanion. If you go with Vivian, she and


    I could even meet up and chat at the party."


    Of course, Celine wanted to do more things to Vivian than just have a simple chat with her.


    Over the past two years, Vivian had never officially revealed herself to the public. People knew that the


    Howard family had taken in thete Dn Howard''s mistress'' daughter, but that was about all.


    Celine was going to publicly reveal Vivian''s identity to everyone so that all the elites would know who


    Vivian was, forcing Chow to be even more cautious with Vivian in public.


    That way, Celine would never be dethroned.


    However, Chow immediately rejected the idea. "No way! How old do you think she is? She shouldn''t be


    attending events like that!"


    Ran couldn''t help chuckling when he saw Chow''s violent reaction.


    Chow''s cold gaze suddenlynded on him. "What are youughing at?"


    Ran smiled again and said to him, "Actually, Vivian is at the perfect age where she should start


    attending these events. Let her experience the world she lives in now, you know?"


    Chow''s gaze suddenly turned even colder. He stared fixedly at Ran as he spat out the next few


    words. "She. Doesn''t. Need. Experience."


    Ran''s eyes shed rebelliously. He still had a smile on his face, but his next words were rather


    aggressive. "I see, but I was thinking of inviting Vivian along anyway. It''s up to her to decide if she


    wants to ept my invitation or not. Not you."


    Following Ran''s words, Chow and Celine both turned to look at Vivian.


    The only difference was that Celine was giving her a malicious look whilst Chow''s eyes were warning


    her not to ept.