Without Deep Love, How Could There Be a Misplaced Heart?

While the glasses clinked and laughter rose around us, everyone else just assumed we were flirting. The crowd even broke into a chorus of teasing cheers.

I felt his whole body go stiff. Smiling, I patted his back, then turned away, picked up a glass of champagne, and walked to the other side of the room.

When the party finally ended, the guests drifted out one after another.

I’d thought my words had been clear enough, the disgust in my eyes obvious enough.

Turns out I still underestimated just how thick some people’s skin could be.

Because when we were leaving, Chloe wanted to get into Sebastian’s car with us.

“Chloe’s school is far. It’s hard to get a cab this time of night. It’s on the way anyway, we can just drop her off,” Sebastian said to me.

Such a dignified-sounding excuse. I ripped it apart without mercy. “She’s in the south of the city, we live in the north. How the hell is that ‘on the way’?”

Sebastian’s brows visibly furrowed, and Chloe looked at me with eyes shimmering with tears.

The way the scene looked, I really did come off like some bully making trouble for no reason.

Seeing I wasn’t playing along, Sebastian shifted tactics, appealing to emotion. “Evelyn, you’ve always been sensible—”

I cut him off before he could finish. “And what if I say no?”

Chloe, eyes red, walked up to me. “Evelyn, I shouldn’t have tried to take your necklace. Tonight was my fault. But I really can’t get a cab right now…”

“I’ll trade you my favorite perfume, okay?”

She said this as she held out a beautifully wrapped perfume box. From the look of it, it wasn’t cheap—probably another gift from Sebastian.

I wrinkled my nose in open disdain. “What does your perfume even smell like? Reeks of green tea bitch.”

After being humiliated again and again, Chloe’s face flushed a deep red. She stood off to the side, swallowing back tears.

Sebastian, who had been acting the gentleman all night, finally couldn’t keep it up. His voice dropped, cold and low. “Evelyn Caldwell, you’ve gone too far.”

I let out a short, sharp laugh. “That’s ‘too far’?”

“Sebastian, don’t forget—this party tonight was mine. Without my father smoothing things over, this deal of yours would never have gone through.”

Without waiting for his reaction, I brushed past the on-the-verge-of-tears Chloe and got straight into the car.

He was a businessman, through and through, always weighing pros and cons.

Sebastian knew exactly what my words meant.

He might be aloof and highborn, but I was born with a silver spoon too, raised as a pampered heiress.

In the arena of power and profit, feelings don’t count for much.

In the end, he still followed me into the car.

We rode in silence, that suffocating quiet filling the entire cabin.

I didn’t stoop to fighting a little girl over a man, but people in our circle cared about appearances. If word got out that Mrs. Harrington had been kicked out of her husband’s car and left on the street, it wouldn’t sound good.

Especially when I noticed the passenger seat had been adjusted. I had to admit, my tolerance was low—I was actually getting prickled to the point my scalp tingled by a girl who hadn’t even seen the real world yet.

Anyone with half a brain could guess who had been sitting there.

On the door’s armrest, there was even a sticky note that read: “Seat reserved for Little Fairy.”

A rush of fury shot through me. I wanted nothing more than to kick the man in front of me out of the car and sprint back to slap Chloe. Twice.

Just as I was about to blow up, his phone rang, slicing through the silence. Chloe’s sobs sounded painfully loud in the quiet car.

“Sebastian, *sob* I couldn’t get a cab, and I think someone’s been following me this whole time. I’m really scared. Can you come get me…?”

Sebastian didn’t hesitate for even a second. He slammed on the brakes and pulled over.

He spoke gently into the phone. “Okay, don’t panic. Stay where you are and don’t move. I’ll come pick you up.”

My hand, halfway through adjusting my seat, froze. I turned to him, stunned.

Sebastian frowned. “Evelyn, you go home first. Chloe might really be in danger. I have to check on her.”

I actually laughed from sheer fury. “This is the busiest commercial street in the city. Within a hundred miles it’s packed with people. And if you walk toward Arden University, there are several police stations along the way. What kind of ‘danger’ could she be in?”

“What are you to her, her fucking dad? She’s in danger and instead of calling the police, she calls you?”