Chapter 32 - Bully

Joreen was used to wearing heels but not one as high as the one she was currently wearing, plus she had been walking around a lot for one evening. She wanted nothing more than to sit down. So as Hoy returned to where he was supposed to sit, Joreen went to the table where Reen was seated with Kyle and two other young men. 

"Jo. Where have you been?" Reen asked and pulled out a chair for Joreen to sit on. 

Joreen smiled at Kyle and the two boys who returned her smile before whispering to Reen. 

"Something happened. It's not good."

"What?" Reen asked in alarm and quickly put down her voice.

"We can talk about it later. I'm starving." 

Joreen looked ahead and locked eyes with Kyle who was staring at her. He didn't look away immediately but smiled at her before he turned to look at Reen. 

The other young guys seemed to recognize her. They looked very excited and began to ask Joreen a lot of questions while making her promise she was going to take a picture with them before they returned to their rooms. 

Joreen became quite uncomfortable with Kyle's stare. She caught him a couple of times staring at her and he didn't quickly move his eyes away. So whenever he smiled at her, she smiled back and quickly look away. The other boys made it uncomfortable for her too but thankfully, they returned to their families, leaving the three of them.

"Have you seen sister Heya tonight?" Reen asked Joreen. 

Joreen inched closer to whisper into Reen's ear. "That's the problem I talked about."

Before Joreen could say much, their attention moved to the stage where a man in suit was standing with a mic. He had a smile on his face as he introduced himself and let them know he would be introducing some of the guests.

The lights turned red while a spotlight appeared and settled on him. The first person he introduced was the CEO of the company responsible for the building of the ship. The spotlight found the middle aged man sitting with his family. They all clapped as he stood up and bowed humbly before sitting back down.

The next family he introduced was unsurprisingly theirs. The light went to the table where all the elders were seated including their parents. Their faces looked grim but they tried to smile polite. 

Most people who didn't know they were there gasped and clapped excitedly.

The spotlight moved next to the table where the three sons of the Li family was seated with their kids. Only Minde had a woman beside him. Sara was nowhere in sight while Hoy was single. No wife. No kids. 

"We also have the biggest investor and partner of this great beauty ship—"

"Tch! I can't believe they acknowledged our family first before the investors." Joreen said.

"Well... there are always going to be bootlickers in this— what the hell!" Reen gasped when she saw the family the light was shining on. 

Her eyes widened to the max. "Is that...." 

"Zhu Liang." Joreen answered as she looked at Zhu Liang who kept a straight face on. Nothing much had changed about him except how rigid his facial features looked. He looked like he hadn't smiled for decades. She still remembered all the times he bought her gifts. Joreen had been sure he was going to marry Heya. Unfortunately...

Reen snapped her head to the side to look at Joreen. "Is this the big trouble you talked about?"

"Actually, the big trouble is that girl beside him." Joreen informed her, "She is his fiancee."

"FIAN—" Reen kept her voice down and looked around.

"Where is Sister Heya?" Reen asked worriedly. 

"Heard she is in her room. I think sister Sara went to meet her." 

"Are you okay?" Kyle asked both of them. 

"Yea. Sure." Reen smiled at him so he turned his attention to Joreen. 

Joreen gulped and quickly nodded.

'What's with him suddenly?' She wondered before looking at Hoy's direction. He was sitting at her 10 o'clock so she got a good view of him. As usual, Li King was sitting beside him, holding his uncle's hand. Joreen carefully observed Hoy.

'Is he sick?' She wondered as she remembered how he had flinched and pushed her away earlier. His face had looked really flushed but he seemed to look better. 

She continued to look at him until he suddenly looked at her direction and their eyes met. 

She wanted to pull her eyes away but instead, she grinned and winked at him. She didn't get to see his reaction because someone came out of nowhere and obstructed her line of sight.

It was a young lady with a pretty yellow dress. 

Joreen could only see the girl's back but she could tell the girl was speaking with Hoy. 

Joreen patiently waited for her to leave so she could wink at Hoy again but surprisingly, the girl took the other empty seat beside Hoy. She was smiling too broadly and the smile annoyed Joreen especially when the other men at the table spoke with her too. 

"What is it?" Reen asked before following her gaze.

"She is flirting with him." Reen deduced. "She is pretty. Maybe she's the one you should matchmake him with?" 

Joreen scoffed. "He seems to be enjoying her presence." She said irritably. "She just suddenly appeared and took his attention away from me." 

"I thought you've always wanted that?" Reen asked in amusement. "You've always wanted him to look at someone else and let you be right? Why are you jealous?" 

"Who is jealous? Whatever! She's not even pretty." Joreen snorted and picked up a glass of wine. She made sure no one was looking at her before taking a sip. 

The sisters had kept their voices low so Kyle didn't really follow their conversation but he got a hint of what they were saying so he asked, "You like that man?" He asked Joreen, making her choke on the wine and spilling some of it's contents on her chest. 

Kyle apologized for startling her and took out his handkerchief. Out of impulse, he stretched his hand across the table to help Joreen clean the drops on her chest. When she noticed his hand, she flinched and stood up immediately not realizing a waiter was behind her.

The waiter had been instructed to deliver a non-alcoholic wine to this table a little while ago but the incident just now caused the wine he was carrying to spill on Joreen. Fortunately, Reen quickly caught the glass before it fell to the floor and got the attention of everyone. She had great reflexes. All thanks to being an athlete. 

Joreen couldn't do more than to gasp in shock as she looked at her dress. Since she was standing, she got the attention of the people around their table. Thankfully, most of the others were more interested in the guests the mc was introducing.

"I am so sorry. I am very sorry." The waiter bowed and apologized repeatedly. His constant apology was making Joreen uncomfortable since that would draw attention to them so she quickly shook her head. "It's fine. I should be the one apologizing." She said with a smile but deep down, she was shedding tears. She wouldn't have stubbornly returned Hoy's jacket because she thought he was cold. But she was glad she wore a black dress. The stain wasn't too obvious except for the wet spot.

Reen was already busy dabbing the wine out of Joreen's body with the handkerchief from Kyle. 

The waiter could not believe what Joreen had just said that. Rich people were always full of themselves so it surprised him when Joreen said it wasn't his fault. He lifted his head and thanked her properly.

When Joreen saw his face, she recognized him immediately.

"Oh! It's you." Reen said in recognition.

When he looked at Reen, he blushed and lowered his gaze. Seeing her made him remember how he had seen her in only a pant and bra a few hours earlier. 

"What the fuck is wrong with you man?" Kyle stood up and asked with obvious irritation as he eyed the waiter like he was a disgusting thing. "You spilled wine on her and now you're trying to flirt?" 

The waiter looked flustered by his accusation. 

Joreen looked at Kyle in confusion while Reen spoke first, "It's okay Kyle. It wasn't his fault." 

"Of course it was his fault! He is a waiter so he should do his fucking job." 

Joreen grew annoyed by his statement. People weren't paying much attention to them earlier but with Kyle's sudden outburst, they began to cause a scene. 

"I am sorry." The waiter repeated with a bow.

"No, you are not." Joreen corrected. 

"Because you are a waiter doesn't mean every accident has to be your fault." She told him before looking at Kyle. "You should be respectful to people." 'Especially when you're on this trip for free' Joreen added in her head. She didn't like to insult people or mock others because she was from a better family and she hated it when people did so to others. All the perfect image of Kyle in her head completely shattered. She eyed him once before turning to look at the boy who looked very embarrased now. 

"Please, lead me to the nearest restroom." Joreen said to the waiter. She needed to clean up and also wanted him to move away from Kyle before he bullied him more. 

Kyle looked surprised because he was obviously taking her side just now so why was she mad at him? He looked at her retreating figure before looking at Reen who was still beside him. 

"That was uncalled for." She said with a tone of displeasure before walking away.