Chapter 3

We made our way through the crowd of wildly dancing people to a booth.

Rachel ordered drinks with familiarity, and soon the table was filled with an array of colorful cocktails.

"No men tonight, I'm here to keep you company. Here, Lily." Rachel handed me a bottle of alcohol with a grand gesture, then grabbed one for herself and took a swig.

I swirled the blue liquid in the bottle, wondering when drinks had become so pretty.

I took a sip and licked my lips. Not bad, it was sweet and sour.

It was more like an alcoholic beverage than actual liquor.

Seeing me start to drink, Rachel burst into laughter.

"Ladies, why drink alone? Want to play a game with us?" A cool-looking guy with a flashy thick chain around his neck and black gemstone earrings tilted his head and invited us.

I glanced at the sofa next to us and shook my head.

A bunch of kids who looked barely of age - what fun could that be?

"My baby just got cheated on and isn't in the mood. Maybe next time," Rachel waved her hand, declining as well.

"No way! Even a beauty like you gets cheated on? Congrats, sis, you're free now." The guy gave me a thumbs up.

If it weren't for his sincere expression that didn't seem mocking, I would have smacked him with the bottle.

He was congratulating me for being cheated on? How brain-dead do you have to be to say something like that?

Seeing that we really weren't interested, the guy shrugged and left.

I leaned back on the sofa and took out my phone from my bag, turning on the screen.

"Hmph, that bastard hasn't even called or messaged once." I angrily tossed my phone onto the seat next to me and kicked off my high heels.

From the corner of my eye, I caught a burning gaze. I turned to look.

It came from the table next to us, from a handsome guy sitting next to the chain-wearing guy from earlier.

The guy was staring right at me, and when he saw me looking, he boldly raised an eyebrow instead of looking away.

I rolled my eyes and turned away.

He was pretty handsome, not much worse than Jason.

But were young guys these days all so confident and sleazy?

For a while after that, I could feel that unabashed, burning gaze from the next table every now and then.

I really didn't like the feeling and was about to get up and tell Rachel we should leave.

Suddenly, the booming music that had been filling the air stopped, as if someone had hit pause.

But immediately after, everyone started rushing towards the dance floor.

I didn't know what was happening and looked around in confusion.

Then I saw the handsome guy from the next table who had been staring at me walk straight over, the corner of his lips curled up in a smile as he extended his hand to me.

"You seem down today. It's midnight now, want to go wild on the dance floor?"

"Let's go, Lily! It's midnight, time to party!" Rachel jumped up from the sofa.

"No thanks, I'll wait for you here. We can leave after you're done partying." I shook my head in refusal.

Rachel knew my personality well. Seeing my firm attitude, she didn't push further and ran off to the dance floor herself.

The handsome guy raised an eyebrow, withdrew his hand, and turned to head towards... the stage.

So the DJ was this handsome!

The guy was operating the turntables on stage, with the crazy crowd going wild on the dance floor in front of him.

As I was staring at him curiously, unable to look away, he suddenly looked over at me and pointed his finger straight at me.

Everyone on the dance floor turned to look at me, and I suddenly felt very uncomfortable and self-conscious.

A few girls in matching outfits ran over and forcibly pulled me onto the dance floor, dancing around me.

Oh god, this must be what they call "hype girls," right?

I stood there awkwardly among them, moving stiffly and feeling utterly embarrassed.

People on the dance floor started snickering, and I angrily glared at the instigator on stage.

But I saw that he also looked shocked, forgetting to DJ for a moment.

It was as if he had never seen such an uncoordinated newbie at a club before.

Luckily, Rachel saved me. She let out a loud yell, drawing everyone's attention, and started swaying her hips.

The music on stage started up again.

People once again lost themselves in the frenzy of the atmosphere.

Rachel was really getting into it, pulling out her hair clip and letting her long hair cascade down.

Her chestnut-colored curls seemed to come alive, swaying with her movements - it looked amazing.

Suddenly, my heart skipped a beat. In a flash of insight, I felt like I had grasped something.

Chestnut-colored curls? Bathroom? Jason's underwear?

I pushed my way through the crowd in front of me, not caring about anything else, and rushed to Rachel's side, grabbing her tightly.

Rachel was startled and quickly stopped dancing.

"Lily, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

I stared at her intently, licking my dry lips, and asked, "Rachel, the day before yesterday when Jason wasn't home, after you showered at my place, did you use my hair dryer?"

Rachel nodded, "Yeah, why? Did it go missing? I left it on top of the washing machine."

I looked at her for a long moment, then suddenly burst out laughing. "So it was you! The laundry basket next to the washing machine had Jason's unwashed underwear in it. You must have shed some hair!"

Jason hadn't cheated on me! I had misunderstood him!

Thinking about how I had thrown the hair into his bowl, I felt a pang of regret.

Jason had severe germaphobia. Oh god, what had I done?

I needed to go home right away.

I needed to tell him that I had misunderstood him.

He hadn't betrayed me. It was all my fault for jumping to conclusions without thinking.

I needed to apologize to him.

"You keep partying, I have to go," I said, letting go of Rachel and running towards the exit.

The taxi dropped me off at the entrance of our neighborhood. It was only then that I realized I had left my phone and bag at the nightclub.

Fortunately, the security guard recognized me and helped me pay for the taxi.

I jogged into the complex, feeling guilty and excited as I ran towards our home.

Just as I was about to turn the corner to our building, a gentle male voice stopped me in my tracks.

The voice sounded crystal clear in the silent night.

"Babe, why did you come here?"

Jason!

This voice had become a part of my life, but I had never heard Jason speak in such a tender and affectionate tone.

For a moment, I thought Jason had seen me.

But the female voice that followed completely shattered my illusion.