67 The First Enemy 3

<System Announcement: Congratulations to host for completing 'Secure The Secrets From Unimportant People' task. 500 Pleasure Points Rewarded. Check your interface if you want to confirm the reward.>

She threw George and four others an apologetic gaze, then looked down to her shoes to hide the slight guilt in her eyes. A few seconds later, the five then suddenly acted lost and puzzled before deciding to leave.

She had just hypnotized the five, forcing them to forget what they knew and heard from Floyd. It was a quest given by the system and she didn't let it by as she was in dire needs of points. However, even though she knew it was for her and their own good, she was still feeling slightly guilty, concerned that she had used her ability to Gio's men.

She sighed and tried to rationalize her actions, 'This is for the best. It's not good for them to know so much about the system. The devil seems to dislike non-host knowing about it. It will be bad if the system suddenly went berserk and decided they should disappear from the face of the earth for knowing what they should not.'

She grimaced because this happening was extremely probable.

Ten minutes later, on the TV screen, news about the unbelievable confession of several criminal and corrupt low-level politicians was being reported, but Sofony who was at home sitting in front of it was being absent-minded.

'Now my points are more or less five thousand.'

'...still not enough,' she whispered to herself.

Sofony shook her head and decided to temporarily toss the matter aside.

Thinking of some other worries that just popped up in her mind, she phoned George again and requested to send people to monitor and protect Steffy and Wendy.

After saying her thanks to the assistant. She called out to the system and inquired about one thing that puzzled her.

'System, just to clarify. The task should be about ensuring no non-hosts knew about you, right?'

A reply came immediately.

<System: Yeah. Obviously.So? If you're gonna ask why I spared Gio, read the title again, okay? There's another reason, but why should I tell someone who can't give me a single point? Hey, if you're thinking you will be able to receive free information from me, just please, stop dreaming, okay?>

The whole Saturday passed, and Sofony chose not to talk with the system anymore. It was thoroughly ignored even after it gave her nice commentaries about the unusually vigorous sessions she had with her bedmate.

...

The bits of lessons she had in her free time about etiquette and the world of the rich finally came to use a day later.

It was on Sunday, at 7 pm. The wide and spacious hall of the Silver's family mansion was lavishly decorated and varieties of food and wine were served to the guests. On the left part of the raised platform in front, a famous male pianist was filling the place with pleasant classical music hence making the hall lively yet still sophisticated. Every person inside was dressed in expensive suits or gowns and none of them looked common or average people. With their accessories and branded items on their bodies, all of them really seemed like celebrities or members of the high society.

Sofony couldn't tell if it was because the Silver couple had yet to formally announce the start of the gathering, but she hardly saw anyone staying in one place. People kept roaming around with smiles on their faces and champagne flutes on their hands. Everyone seemed to be changing conversation partners every five minutes.

'Just wow, more than half of the invited guests aretalking about business.'

'The other half is also scheming for money or thinking ways to expand their businesses and influence. An example is this rich madam on my right who's trying to get her daughter engaged to a politician's son.'

'It seems they all reached their current wealth and position for a reason.'

She quietly looked around while studying the fake smiles and gestures of every attendee. The devil in her head then commented,

<System: Naturally. Do you think they get rich without rhyme or reason? Assuming they all won the lottery and then titled themselves 'socialites', just like that?>

Sofony almost coughed. Thankfully she managed to restrain herself or else, she'd be shaming herself in front of Gio's current conversation partners.

The two of them were currently somewhere near the center, surrounded by many people who looked very eager to have connections with the Albarez. As there were still a few minutes before her official introduction as Cindy and Harry Silver's daughter, the couple let her walk around, though not without being followed by a black dressed woman who should be one of the family servants or bodyguards. Since she knew no one but Gio, she naturally stuck herself with him, acting as his companion when he greeted some acquaintances.

As this cycle repeated, she encountered many people taking her for a fresh celebrity Gio had momentarily taken fancy of. Because of this, none cared to bother her. Some asked for her name. But that's it. There were men who tried to hold a conversation with her, but ever since they got themselves a glare from her man, they all stopped having any ideas towards her. As a result, some time passed, and no one was speaking with her anymore.

Anyhow, it seemed everyone here was used to seeing others bringing beautiful showbiz personalities as escorts.

But these prideful beings, though they understand their peers' love of parading celebrity escorts around, they would not really give respect or appreciation to these muses or escorts unless they were in their circle as well.

Sofony could tell that there a few who even looked down on them. She knew as she had just experienced it at least ten times tonight. She meant, being mistaken for a showbiz personality who climbed onto Gio's bed.

Whether she was one or not, it was easy to tell that these rich creatures were thinking that celebrities who managed to attend events like this were those who sold their soul, dignity, and body. This was why the gaze directed to them was quite unfriendly.

This case was not very obvious if the escort was a male. But if it was a female, then some of the guys would act like it was a great honor for the girl to be lusted upon by high beings like them.

She forced herself not to shake her head just to not appear disrespectful and weird in front of Gio and the others. The man beside her noticed her strangeness though.

Sofony didn't notice that Gio had stopped talking and stared at her thoughtfully thus she was quite startled by the heat that suddenly blew on her ears. The man had actually bent down his head to slightly to whisper to her ears.

"If you want to go to the restroom, go ahead."

For five seconds or so, Sofony was stupidly blinking at him, one part of her brain wondering if he was being considerate or what.

She controlled the impulse to ask him how he managed to arrive at that conclusion, reminding herself that she was currently being observed by three or more pairs of eyes. Then, as if the system couldn't hold back anymore, it began to share its observation regarding her obvious discomfort in the presence of business aliens around them. In short, Gio noticed it all.

This made her slightly wrinkled her brows and asked, 'Did I look so bored or out of place just now?'

Feeling uncomfortable, she gave Gio an apologetic smile and then excused herself politely to the rest. Sofony saw a hint of surprise appearing on their faces, which was probably due to her mannered speeches, but she only smiled before walking away elegantly. Of course, the elegant part was partly trained, the facial expressions, gestures, and walk controlled through her acting and modeling skills.

She tried to look for the Silver couple around and found them near the wide and elegantly decorated entrance, busy entertaining guests. The black-dressed lady following her saw the situation and gave Sofony a shake of the head.

'It seems I'm not yet ready for this kind of events.'

She helplessly looked up and sighed. Then she walked to the side where sofas were placed. Seconds after she took a seat, a waiter passed by and handed her a glass of wine. As she stared at the champagne flute on her right hand, she began studying the liquid on it and wondered why people love to drink this.

She was feeling curious because she had never drunk any alcoholic beverage before.

'I remember, at gatherings like this, most protagonists in TV are always schemed against, most of the times, victimized due to drinking drugged wine.'

Sofony was having this silly thought when a man who looked to be in his forties approached her. His motives were obviously impure as reflected by his lusty eyes. Sofony frowned a bit but didn't stand and walk off. Anyway, the black-dressed lady bodyguard was nearby so she has nothing to fear.

"It's my pleasure to meet you, beautiful lady. May I know your name?"

A polite smile was now back on her face as she cautiously answered, "I thought gentlemen are supposed to introduce themselves first?"

If the person who said this was not a fair lady like Sofony, the man would have scowled by now. For individuals like him, being asked a question like this was to be taken negatively, especially since he was famous in the circle as a business tycoon. Hot-blooded or proud men would normally assume that they were being insulted. However, the scrawny middle-aged man only smiled.

"My mistake. I am Bienvenido Hermoso, owner of Victory Foods."

Sofony blinked twice as she was pretty surprised that this man was the owner of that multinational food and drink company. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Hermoso. My name is Sofony Mendez."

After hearing how her last name didn't sound like any prominent family name, the changed in the man's expression could be easily seen. Sofony was totally unnerved by his stares so she immediately activated her hypnosis ability. "It seems Mr. Hermoso is finding me boring. Why not find someone else to talk to? You don't have to mind me, I'll be okay. I'm fine being left alone."

The lady bodyguard saw the sudden blanking of the man's expression and found this quite weird. Nonetheless, she didn't speak up and was even glad that the man nodded and turned around. After all, she was offended when she saw some random scourge staring lustfully at her client.

As for Sofony, she watched the person walked away with frost threatening to seep out of her eyes.

She was really displeased.

So far, her experiences at this party were nowhere near the word 'pleasant'. Sad to say, it seemed this unwelcomed encounter with that man was not the end of it. When she was almost sipping on the glass of wine, she perceived many malicious stares coming her way thus prompting her to pause her hand midway and suspiciously looked around.

The girl currently dressed in a gorgeous custom made black-and-white gown made sure to not let things show on her face while alertly roaming her eyes around. Inwardly though, she was wondering if this was Clarissa's first move. She arrived at this conclusion since the ill-disposed stares were from young men. Honestly, she had nothing to base this assumption on, but given her current situation, it was hard to not doubt everyone. After all, the only person hostile to her was not just a random anybody, but that woman.

'If my guess is true, then I should be more careful. It means that girl has not only seduce politicians and gangsters but also heirs to rich families. I should have known that she won't completely reveal her backers and connections to me. She must be much more resourceful than me. Ugh.'

She put away the wine glass in dismay then stood up. She was planning to go the restroom when she noticed the Silver couple and Gio walking to her directions.

She realized it was already time for the introduction.

The rich madam was smiling towards her. Out of respect, she also put up a smile on her lips, then began to cross the distance between them.

However, a glamorous woman dressed in black suddenly appeared on her way and blocked her when she was still about ten meters away from Gio and the rest. When she raised her eyes to the other party's face, the sharpness in the other's eyes made her stare blankly.

This one was a lady. Mid-twenties if she would estimate the age. Was she another subordinate of Clarissa? If not, why else will she stare at me like she wants to stab me with a knife? But, wait... A seemingly high-class lady like this could be that person's lackey?

At this thought, her face immediately hardened and her mouth opened to ask. "Do you have any business with me, Miss?"

The woman's eyes directed to Sofony was cold. The voice she used to reply was even sharper and colder to the point it was already hard not to notice her hostility. "You don't know me?"

"I'm sorry, but I don't. I hope you forgive me for not knowing."

Sofony was speaking the truth. She really had no idea who the other person was or else she would have known by now what caused this unknown tigress to be so unfriendly.

On the other hand, the woman seemed to have thought of the reason behind her response, so with ridiculing eyes, she slowly enunciated, "As expected... You're really nothing but an illiterate, uneducated, ignorant, dumb, stupid whore."

"Excuse me?" It took Sofony great efforts to control her expression but even so, she couldn't stop the slight raise in her tone as she replied. The disbelief in her voice showed how baffled and offended she was.

She didn't even know the woman. It was their first meeting. But she insulted her big time and called her a whore?

Did she just hear correctly?

The woman seemed to like the response she got from Sofony, and therefore added, "Am I wrong? Which part? Enlighten me! Because I'm thinking if you are not ignorant and dumb, how would you not have known me, Lara Abenson, the beautiful daughter of the city mayor? And if you are not a comfort girl, why then would Gio keep you, when you're just a whore with nothing but nice skin and a pretty face on you?"

Sofony appeared stunned.

And she had not yet come back to her senses when the self-introduced daughter of the city mayor spoke again, this time, with much more hatred and madness, as if Sofony was the most hated enemy she long wanted to tear into pieces.

"Listen to me, slut! No matter what you do, you're still nothing but a cheap, disgusting slut!"

"A nobody! A whore! You're somebody who should disappear from the earth! I am the one ashamedbecause you're so damnably wasting space!"

"Do you hear me!? A nobody like you has no right to appear by his side! So I'm telling you, and ORDERING YOU, to bear this in your little stupid brain. Get, away, from, Gio!"

"You get it? I said, get away from him!"

"Heed this warning. Or else, I'll kill you!"

"..."

When Sofony finally realized what was really going on, she only felt one thing.

A strong desire to slap this Lara whoever to death.