Chapter 3 A Strange Face

Seeing the man stop in his tracks, the assistant immediately approached and asked with concern, "Mr. Moran, is there something wrong?"

Frowning, Maurice looked away and continued to walk forward.

Perhaps his mind was all over the place, causing him to feel that the woman he met looked familiar.

As night fell, the Imperial Golden Club came to life.

A Maybach slowly came to a halt at the front door. Maurice got out of the car and strode right in.

"Well, this is a first. You're ten minutes late this time." At the front desk in the center of the hall, Wyatt was playing with a signet ring on his finger with a faint smile. He looked like a playboy.

The receptionist beside him blushed. It was obvious that Wyatt had been flirting with her.

"I'm late because of a meeting." Maurice raised his chin and walked inside without waiting for a response from Wyatt Todd. "If you don't want to join us in the private room, why don't you become a receptionist at my club?" he added.

With a disapproving click of his tongue, Wyatt followed behind Maurice, only to find a gloomy expression on his face. He raised his eyebrows and asked, "I didn't mean anything by calling out your tardiness. What's with the long face?"

Maurice ignored him.

Wyatt studied his face for a while before muttering under his breath, "That mask looks so real..."

Maurice strode all the way to the private room. After he closed the door behind him, he asked in a low voice, "Do you know where the ring is?"

"They're already looking for it." Wyatt shrugged his shoulders. "As of right now, there's still no news."

As he spoke, he poured a glass of wine for Maurice. "Come on. Don't you have a lead?"

Five years ago, Maurice made the mistake of having a one-night stand with a strange woman. The following morning, he found that the family ring had gone missing, and so did the mysterious woman.

"I used to think it was planned by my uncle." Maurice raised his glass lazily and took a sip. There was something about his demeanor that made him indescribably sexy. "But I found out that his people were also searching for the ring. I didn't know what trick he was playing."

Wyatt broke into a wide, teasing smile. "You must've suffered a great loss that night, am I right? Not only did you lose your ring, but also your virginity!"

Maurice leaned against the back of the chair and glanced at Wyatt's direction. He might be smiling, but a chill ran down Wyatt's spine when they locked eyes. He quickly coughed and dropped the subject.

Meanwhile, in another private room in the Imperial Golden Club, Eliana was following Gabrielle inside.

The private room was dimly lit and the table was covered with bottles of different kinds of liquor. A fat man was slumped on the sofa. When the two women came in, his lustful eyes swept over the first one like a venomous snake.

Frowning slightly, Eliana couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.

Gabrielle strode towards the man with a flirtatious smile. "Hello, Mr. Blake. You came so early."

"It'd be rude of me, a gentleman, to let a woman wait."

Antwan Blake laughed and reached out to stroke Gabrielle's thigh with his chubby fingers.

Gabrielle managed to dodge Antwan's advances calmly and beckoned to Eliana. "Come on, say hello to Mr. Blake."

Only then did Antwan shift his focus to the woman by the door.

Eliana was wearing a cream-colored dress, enveloping her tender skin and hugging her small waist.

Antwan's soul left his body the second he laid eyes on her. He immediately stood up and pulled her by the arm. "Come and sit here!"

But Eliana took a step back and looked at Gabrielle hesitantly.

"What's taking you so long? Mr. Blake just asked you to sit down!" Shooting Antwan an apologetic smile, Gabrielle put a glass into Eliana's hand and leaned over to whisper, "Our project's success hinges on Mr. Blake. If you can't even accomplish your first task, don't bother to come to work tomorrow."

Eliana understood what Gabrielle meant. With clenched fists, she had half a mind to up and leave right then and there. But if she wanted to find out the truth about the past, she needed to stay within the Moran Group. She had to endure whatever she was to face tonight.

Forcing a smile, Eliana took a deep breath and toasted to Antwan. She then quickly gulped down the drink in her hand.

"Good girl, Eliana!" Gabrielle clapped her hands and filled another glass for Eliana.

After drinking one glass after another, Eliana began to lose her consciousness.

With a clang, her glass fell to the carpeted floor. She sank into the sofa and raised her hand weakly. "No, I can't drink another glass..."

Seeing that the time was right, Gabrielle quickly exited the room.

As soon as the door of the private room was closed behind her, Antwan couldn't wait to touch Eliana's delicate body and push her on her back.

In a drunken haze, Eliana peeled her eyes open just in time to see the chubby face of Antwan leaning over. He was trying to kiss her.

Before she knew what she was doing, her hand slapped him hard across the face.

The sound of the slap echoed in the private room. Eliana immediately sobered up.

Antwan was knocked backwards by the heavy blow and his head hit the corner of the table as he went down. Then he curled into a ball and whined, "Ah! What the fuck! How dare a bitch like you hit me?"

But Eliana wasn't about to stay and chat. She immediately jumped off the sofa in a hurry and rushed out the door.

"Stop right there!" Antwan's roar came from behind as he tried to get back on his feet to chase after her.

Eliana suddenly noticed a crack in the door of the private room next to hers, so she pounced into the room without thinking.

As soon as she stepped into the room, she suddenly lost all her strength and collapsed, falling into the arms of a strong man.

She struggled to raise her head and saw a strange, masculine face, but his eyes seemed somewhat familiar...