Chapter 38 You Bet, You Pay
Chapter 38 You Bet, You Pay
The man wore a black woolen coat, outlining his handsome figure. However, his cold temperament and heavy gaze made it hard for people to get close to him.
When Sydney’s eyes fixed on the man’s face, her heart could not help but skip a beat, and she soon lowered her head naturally.
She did not expect his influence on her to remain so long after the divorce.
"You're here, President Flint?" Kate was angry with Sharon, but she immediately greeted Julien with a smile the second she saw him. "I heard from Lyra that you're very busy with your company. Are you here now to pick Lyra up?"
Julien hummed politely in response. When his gaze swept over to Sydney, his eyebrows furrowed. Deep down, he felt a little unhappy.
Did that woman forget her lesson from Red Plum Villa?
Half an hour ago, Hunter called him and said Lyra and Sydney were playing cards in a private room at Club Lunaris. However, he did not believe it. He knew that Sydney was bad at cards and would not be so stupid as to dare play at the same table with Lyra.
Hunter knew he did not believe him, so he took a picture and sent it. Only then did Julien drive to the clubhouse.
Julien went over to Lyra, and his tone softened when he saw her delicate expression. "Didn’t you say you were coughing this afternoon? Why are you here playing cards?"
Lyra smiled. "It was just a small cough. I'm fine. Besides, Macy is in Port City, so I want to entertain her."
Julien knew about South Lake's Graham family, and he was acquainted with Mr. Graham.
He took off his scarf and draped it over Lyra. The small action caused the women around to giggle like a child.
Kate said, "Gome on, President Flint. We all know you love Lyra, but the heating is turned on in the room so Lyra won't get cold. You're just forcing us to watch your public display of affection, huh?"
Lyra's cheeks flushed from the teasing, and she glared at Kate. "Talk nonsense again, and you can make your way out."
"Fine, fine. I won't say anything."
Sydney watched as the man draped a scarf over Lyra and took care of her. He even sat down beside her and gave her a warm drink.
Their intimate appearance stung Sydney's eyes.
She deliberately entered Lyra’s trap earlier because she wanted to punish Lyra and see her leave Julien, never to return to Port City again.
However, Julien had shown up.
When she saw the man offer all his tenderness to Lyra, Sydney had no interest in fighting anymore.
Julien glanced at Lyra’s cards and said, "Ms. Raines isn't good at playing cards, so just finish this round and forget about it. It’s not fun for you ladies to play with an amateur like her anyway. I’ll play with you instead.’’ Còntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org
The smile on Lyra's face froze before she agreed gently.
On the other side of the table, Kate had been looking at Sydney's cards. Seeing that Sydney was close to winning, she became afraid and was just about to tell Lyra when she saw Sydney sabotage herself and throw a card out.
Delighted, Lyra slowly showed her hand. "I win, Ms. Raines.”
"Wow, you're amazing, Lyra!” Kate said to Lyra excitedly.
"Sydney, you lost three rounds, so you have to accept it." Macy sneered. She rang the bell, called the waiter to come in, and handed over a stack of bills. “Call a tattoo artist over as soon as possible."
"Certainly. Please wait a moment."
Julien watched all that with a frown on his face. Then, he asked Lyra, "What's going on?”
"Jayden said that Ms. Raines has a tattoo of your initials on her waist..." Lyra bit her lip and said softly," It was Ms. Raines who wanted to bet with me. She said that if she lost, she would remove the tattoo on her waist."
Sharon looked at her incredulously. "Ms. Madden, you were the one who met Ms. Raines at the entrance, asked if she had a tattoo of the initials 'JF' on her waist and wanted to bet with her over cards. How dare you say now that it was Ms. Raines who wanted to bet with you? You're really unbelievable."
"Watch your words!" Since Kate had someone backing her, she had no reservations about flying off the handle at Sharon. "Lyra just doesn’t want her boyfriend's name tattooed on another woman’s body. What's wrong with that?"
"Lyra just asked if Sydney wanted to play cards. Did she put a gun to Sydney's head and force her to agree?"
"Exactly. No one forced Sydney. She agreed by herself."
U H
Besides Sharon, the other three women in the room were Lyra’s friends, so they naturally stood by Lyra’s side and echoed Kate's words.
The women were still quarreling when the tattoo artist came in with a toolbox.
"Enough.” Sydney stopped Sharon from arguing with them and looked at Lyra calmly. "Since I lost the bet,
I’m willing to accept the consequences."
She went to the sofa by the side and lay down. When she lifted the hem of her sweater, her white waist was revealed along with a striking 'JF' tattoo.
The tattoo artist hurried over and helped Sydney remove the tattoo.
Seeing Sydney lie there calmly to let the tattoo artist fiddle with her and glancing at the tattoo on the waist made Julien’s brows furrow even more. He was feeling an indescribable sense of restlessness.
He remembered that when he was still corresponding with 'Maple Leaf, she had told him that when the wife of an actor she liked passed away, the actor tattooed his wife's name and hobbies all over his body so that he could see it every day. That way, it was like his wife was still present.
Maple Leaf said she could not and was afraid of pain, but she could endure it and tattooed the name of the person she liked on her body so that he would be with her all the time.
That was when Julien suddenly asked Lyra, "What did you say your tattoo was during our correspondence?"
"We exchanged too many letters, and it was a long time ago. I don't remember." Lyra shook her head.
Then, she took his arm and tilted her head, asking, " Julien, am I... wrong for making Ms. Raines remove the tattoo from her body?"
Noticing the suppression in her voice and the corners of her eyes slightly red, Julien could not bear to reproach her. Instead, stroked her hair with his large palm.
"You're not wrong."
"Mm." Lyra smiled faintly and leaned her head on the man’s arm.
She rejoiced that after Julien left this morning, she immediately took the letters out of the drawer and burned them, driving the pen pal 'Maple Leaf' out of Julien’s heart.
Her heart was overjoyed when she saw Sydney frown in pain because of the tattoo removal.
Sydney still lost to her!
Kate stood to the side with her arms crossed and could not help but mock Sydney when she saw the tattoo being removed. "Lyra gave you a chance, yet you refused and insisted on continuing the game. Ms. Raines, if you don't know how to play, go back and learn. You’re only asking for trouble by trying to force it!"
The other women laughed in low voices and looked at Sydney with gloating eyes.
Tattoo removals hurt, so Sydney had been enduring it. Her forehead beaded with sweat, and she had no strength to pay attention to Kate.
When the tattoo was almost completely removed, a club attendant walked in and politely asked, "Which
one of you is Ms. Sydney Raines?"
"I am." Sydney looked at the attendant. "Do you need something?"
The attendant handed over the small bag in his hand." A gentleman named Mr. Lowe has asked me to hand this to you."
"Thank you."
In order to divert her attention to make her tattoo removal less painful, Sydney opened the bag on the spot and fished out the small box from inside. When she opened it, she found a ring embedded in the blue velvet cloth.
The ring was oblong shaped, small and delicate, and it dazzled under the light.
"This is the work of the famous designer 'K'." Sharon recognized the ring the moment she saw it. "I heard that ’K’ handcrafted this ring. It sold for more than four million a few months ago in Island Gardens auction house."
"It's one of a kind like the Azure Heart. It's so expensive that barely anyone can afford to buy it."
"It's beautiful!"
The women's eyes burned as they stared at the ring in Sydney's hand, wanting nothing more than to take it and wear it. They wanted to show it off to their circle of friends.
Just then, Sydney received two new WhatsApp messages on her phone.
[CaydenLowe: Luke said that today’s his birthday, so you should celebrate with him. I sent you a small gift along with his birthday present.]
[CaydenLowe: Do you like it?]