Filed to story: Leaving the Country After Divorce Novel (Lucian & Roxanne)
Roxanne frowned slightly and was about to reject Hugo Reynolds. Meanwhile, escaping from the crowd on the dance floor, Madilyn sat beside her directly and started to give Hugo a once-over.
Hugo had an elegant appearance. His chiseled facial features remained obvious under the bar’s dim light. Although Hugo lacked a fit body, he was not too skinny. Besides, judging from his attire, Madilyn could tell that his outfit cost about one hundred thousand.
Hmm. I guess I can give him an eight out of ten?
After rating him inwardly, Madilyn agreed before Roxanne could decline him, “Sure! Do you have any friends? Ask them to come over!”
Hugo’s table was right next to theirs. In fact, he had noticed them earlier when both of them danced together. Hence, he knew that they came together. Hearing Madilyn’s agreement, Hugo did not hesitate and asked his friends to join their table. His friends were good-looking, and all of them dressed in expensive clothes. As they approached the table, they brought along their wine.
As they came over, Hugo’s friends were polite enough to maintain a reasonable distance from Roxanne and Madilyn.
Upon scrutinizing the guys, Madilyn raised her brows as she questioned, “You guys are quite good-looking. Are all of you single?”
They responded, “How dare we sit here if we aren’t single?”
Then, Madilyn swept a meaningful gaze at Hugo who had just approached her table. “How about him? Is he single as well?
Hugo merely smiled at his friends, hinting that he did not mind them telling her the truth.
“Hugo’s been single for years. We have no idea what kind of women he’s interested in anymore. However, today…” As they replied, they cast him teasing glances.
Hearing that, Hugo beamed and interrupted, “Stop talking. Let’s have a drink, shall we?”
In unison, his friends swiftly changed the topic.
After having small talk with the guys, Madilyn got along well with everyone and soon filled the air with chatter.
In reality, Roxanne came to the bar to drink her sorrows away. Facing that situation, she had no choice but to appear unruffled in front of everyone, despite feeling uncomfortable.
Meanwhile, Madilyn was having a great time, and she moved to sit between the guys afterward. Subsequently, she played some drinking games with the others, leaving Roxanne to sit all alone at the side.
There was a space between Roxanne and Hugo after Madilyn left.
“I’m sorry. Did we interrupt both of you?” Hugo asked apologetically.
Hearing his question, Roxanne was briefly stunned. “Don’t worry. We’re all here to have a drink. You’re not disturbing us at all.” She smiled faintly.
He frowned and asked, “You don’t seem to be in the mood for it. Are you in a bad mood?”
Roxanne pressed her lips into a smile, admitting it silently. At the same time, it showed her reluctance to continue the conversation with him.
Nonetheless, her indifference toward him piqued Hugo’s interest.
Hugo could tell that she was unbothered to continue the conversation. Hence, he drank alone slowly at the side while fixing his eyes on Roxanne’s face.
At the side, Madilyn noticed that the two of them were drinking alone. That very sight pulled at Madilyn’s heartstrings. To break the ice, she suggested playing a card game whereby the person who got the King of Hearts card could instruct anyone to do anything.
Before Roxanne could refuse, Madilyn swiftly shoved a card into Roxanne’s hand while she took the King of Hearts card.
“Seven of Spades and Five of Diamonds.”
Everyone looked at their cards.
Looking at the Five of Diamonds card in her hand, Roxanne could feel a foreboding feeling growing in her heart.
Madilyn gazed at her indifferently and voiced, “Since we know each other, I won’t be requesting much. How about both of you drink a crossed-cup wine with each other? It’s not too much to ask for, right?”
It was indeed a simple request in a drinking game. Refusing to be a total buzzkill, Roxanne agreed to Madilyn’s request with a smile.
Hugo flipped his card, only to see he got a Seven of Spades. He glanced at Madilyn the matchmaker helplessly before turning to Roxanne and said, “Let’s just clink our glasses instead of drinking a crossed-cup wine.”
Seeing the Seven of Spades in Hugo’s hand, Roxanne could feel her heart sink slightly. It was at that moment she realized Madilyn’s intention to match them up. She regretted agreeing to her request that readily.
However, Roxanne heaved a sigh of relief after hearing what Hugo said. Then, she raised her glass to clink it against Hugo’s glass.
Meanwhile, in the VIP room upstairs, Lucian watched the middle-aged men with pot bellies toasting each other with a blank expression.
When he picked Estella up that afternoon, he noticed that she was in low spirits. Further to that, Estella had just thrown a tantrum at him upon reaching home.
I guess Essie’s in a bad mood because she hasn’t seen Roxanne in a while. Perhaps she treated Essie aloofly? Regardless of the reason, I’m still the one to blame. She’s keeping a distance from Essie on purpose because of me.
Because of that matter, Lucian was feeling cranky the whole night.
He got even more irritated for not obtaining any satisfactory proposal from those men, albeit having a long day of discussion.
“Excuse me. I’m heading out for some fresh air.” With that said, Lucian stood up directly.
The men dared not utter a word and watched him stride out of the room.
Lucian’s private room was facing the dance floor downstairs. As he walked out, his gaze fell to the dance floor, and he saw a glimpse of a familiar figure.
Immediately, Lucian paused in his tracks.
The light flickered uncontrollably on the dance floor, and it caused Lucian to doubt his eyesight. As he attempted to look again, that familiar figure was already out of his sight.
He stood still, staring straight at the dance floor, hoping that he could locate that figure again. Nevertheless, he found nothing. Lucian retracted his gaze and started to scoff at himself inwardly.
I wonder what kind of magic power Roxanne has? I was merely checking the place out. Why would I have a figment of my imagination?
Just when he was about to turn around and return, he heard a loud noise coming from one of the tables downstairs.
That sound instantly attracted everyone’s attention. With that, almost everyone in the bar shifted their attention to the table, including Lucian.
Lucian’s eyes darkened at once when he saw the person from that table.
It wasn’t an illusion! That familiar figure was indeed Roxanne! She must have returned back to her table after getting tired of dancing on the dance floor.
Lucian fixed his eyes on her and was quick enough to notice that she was getting surrounded by men. Apart from that, he also saw her grinning from ear to ear with one of them.
From the look of it, they broke into an uproar because of what Roxanne did with that man. They look intimate together.
Meanwhile, Roxanne downed her drinks in one go after clinking glasses with Hugo.
Witnessing that, everyone cheered excitedly for them.
Roxanne put her glass down and sensed that something was amiss. She could feel someone looking in her direction from a distance when she drank the wine just now.
She lifted her head to glance up instinctively, but it was dark.
Strange enough, she had a hunch that it was Lucian.
With that thought in her mind, Roxanne suddenly lost her mood to continue drinking anymore.
“I’m tired. I think I’ll make a move first.” Roxanne smiled apologetically to everyone before approaching Madilyn and suggested, “It’s getting late. Let’s go back.”
Madilyn had been drinking for quite a while and was feeling quite tipsy. Hearing Roxanne’s words, she nodded in a daze and murmured, “Okay. Have fun, guys. We’ll leave first.”
With that said, she stretched out her hand toward Roxanne.