"Is there anything else you want?" The manager asked with a panicked look in his eyes. He wondered what Daisy was thinking right now. Fear made him take a step back.
"I'm interested in the beautiful woman behind you," Daisy said, standing up. She had already changed out of her uniform into the casual clothes that she kept in the car before she walked in. Because she didn't think it was appropriate to wear it. She wasn't here on army business.
As soon as Daisy finished her words, all the people in that room stared up at her incredulously, wondering if she was planning to seal the deal with the women who hooked up with Edward. Did she swing that way? Was she serious? After all, Edward had a lot of history with the women there.
"Lady, you're kidding, right?" The manager replied, moving his lips. He doubted that the woman standing in front of him was a lesbian. He had been in this business a long time and he had dealt with a lot of lesbians. But Daisy looked so cold and dignified, delicate yet strong. She was not a lesbian, he figured.
"No, I'm not kidding. She's the one I want. The other girls can go now." And one girl, one who had heavy makeup and looked quite lovely in spite of that tilted her head and said, "It's you! Daisy!" The girl's expression darkened, her voice heavy with astonishment. She never imagined she'd meet Daisy here, of all places. It really made her feel ashamed.
"I know, right? So how did you end up here? I would never have guessed." No one there knew the girl with heavy make-up was Mary. It was obvious these two knew each other.
"If you want to insult me, sorry! I'm not in the mood," Mary said and looked around. Her eyes fell on Edward, and that was when her spirits fell as well. She couldn't have him before, and she couldn't have him now. That was painfully obvious to her, finally.
"Oh? You don't like being trash-talked? Then why did you think I would?" Daisy said. She didn't mean to embarrass Mary or laugh at her. She just felt bad seeing Mary standing in front of her like this. Daisy had a soft heart, and didn't enjoy gloating. Mary was now a common whore, and it wasn't something to laugh about. It was sad.
"Are you here to lord it over me? Sorry, I'm too busy for that," Mary said. She had thought about so many things since her dramatic rescue by Daisy and Leena. She didn't have it in her to fight anymore. She wouldn't even fire back if Daisy decided to insult her right now. But she hoped Daisy would hold back. All she had left was her dignity, and she desperately needed to preserve it.
"You don't have to do this. You're a sharp cookie. You could work at any company, and live a good life," Daisy said, frowning. Mary had learned a lot about management, wanting to take over Ouyang Foreign Trade. She could probably walk in any door and get a pretty high-level position.
"Haha! The world's not as simple as you think. I don't have a home now. It's widely known I was driven out. Knowing that, who would offer me a job?" Mary said with a cold smile. 'Daisy, you're still so naive for all your experience,' Mary thought.
"Okay, think about this: if you don't ask too much, you can probably get a good job," Daisy replied. She didn't know so much about the business world, the intrigue and cheating. It was a dog-eat-dog world out there in the corporate environment. Being a career soldier, Daisy had no clue.
"I wish that were true. But it's not. Sorry, I can't stay. I'm on duty. I need to go." Mary rushed out of the room after nodding to everyone. Working at that kind of place, she knew she might meet them sooner or later, but she didn't expect it would happen so quickly.
Daisy watched Mary run off. Maybe she should call Brian to see if he could arrange work for Mary at Ouyang Foreign Trade. She knew Mary was familiar with the ways his company did business. She really hoped she could help her out. Otherwise, Mary's life would be ruined if she kept living like this.
She was so blindsided by this, that Daisy wasn't able to enjoy herself. She didn't really want Mary to suffer, despite all the bad things she did. Apparently, she wasn't good at holding a grudge.
"You are worried about her?" Edward asked and looked at Daisy with a teasing smile, leaning against her. 'Did Daisy forget that this woman made her life a living hell? How could she waste her time thinking about that tramp?' he thought to himself.
Not exactly. I'm just sad for her," Daisy said, fidgeting. What happened to Mary wasn't her fault, but Daisy thought she needed to care about her. Mary was Brian's sister and she didn't want to see Brian sad about it.
"Woman, you've been around the block a few times. Don't tell me you didn't see this coming," Edward said. He didn't like seeing Daisy unhappy. In his opinion, he didn't want her worrying about Mary, who was so sinister she didn't deserve anyone's sympathy.
"You think it's not worth it, right? She hurt me lot, so therefore I can't care about her," Daisy said, looking at Edward, her head tilted. As a matter of fact, she didn't like being this way. But still, she couldn't turn her back on Mary. They grew up in the same house together. She knew Mary, knew she couldn't cut the relationship, no matter if Mary treated her badly or not.
"Not at all. You're honest, and I love you for it," Edward said, folding Daisy into his arms tenderly. He would respect her decision if she cared about Mary so much. He just hoped that wouldn't land her in trouble. They'd had enough drama for a lifetime.
Claire and Gerard were both single and the same age, so they were bantering back and forth. They were really comfortable around each other, laughing and having a good time. People would think they were a couple if they didn't know better. Rain was miserable. Everyone in the room was a couple -- everyone except him. He decided to drown his sorrows, downing shot after shot. Finally, he was so drunk that Tom had to carry him back home.
Sorry, Kevin! They're snubbing you. I guess you still have a long way to go to be one of them." Leena apologized, biting her lower lip slightly.
"It's fine. I get it," Kevin said, playing with Leena's hair. Actually, based on his observation, every single person in that room was enjoying their own significant others, so they didn't care about him. But everyone in that room was also offering him a drink. As long as they were buying, he'd be drinking. Most likely they just wanted to get him drunk so he'd make a fool of himself and they could laugh.
"But you have stomach issues. Now everyone plies you with booze," Leena said resentfully, pouting.
"What? You are worried about me?" Kevin said with an evil smile. Obviously, he was drunk.
"Yes! So, stop drinking," Leena replied, frowning. If he didn't watch what he ate, they couldn't figure out whether his tummy issues would be getting better or worse.
"Don't worry! I didn't drink too much. It wouldn't be harmful to me," Kevin said, patting Leena's shoulder to console her. He felt a little dizzy, but not drunk.
"You should care about your health!" Leena said. At that moment, she wasn't a carefree princess but a responsible wife who was worried about her husband. It turned out she could readily move between the two roles.
This time, the party didn't spill over into the wee hours like usually happened when they got together. Still, it was around one o'clock in the morning. It was warm in the club, but outside it was frozen. Leena gathered her coat around her and shivered.