"Going in?"
"Wait."
Vivienne Hartwell stood by the half-open private room door for quite a while without moving.
The music inside was so loud it rattled the walls. Mixed into it were men laughing way too freely and women speaking in those soft, sugary voices, all of it drifting out through the crack in the door.
Manager Chen stood half a step behind her, bent slightly at the waist, so nervous he barely dared breathe.
He seriously had no clue what Mrs. Aldridge was trying to do.
If she was here to catch her husband cheating, why was she still just standing there?
If she was heartbroken, she sure didn’t look it.
She just kept staring into the room without blinking.
Under the crystal chandelier, a group of rich young heirs lounged around with sexy, curvy women tucked against their sides.
Some were drinking, some were talking, some had their hands wandering where they obviously shouldn’t be.
And Sebastian Aldridge, the husband she’d been married to for three years, was no exception.
He sat lazily in the center of the velvet sofa, long legs crossed, a cigarette between his fingers. The drifting smoke blurred his sharp, handsome features.
A woman in a tight red dress was pressed right up against him, like his secondhand smoke didn’t bother her one bit.
"Mr. Aldridge~ You’re this young, this successful, and this handsome. No way you’re married, right?"
Sebastian lifted a brow. The hand holding the cigarette rose slightly, and the platinum wedding band on his ring finger caught the light.
"What do you think?" His voice was low, flat, impossible to read.
"Oh, stop it~" The woman’s eyes dropped to his ring. She gave his arm a coy little slap and laughed sweetly. "Then... is your wife prettier than me?"
Sebastian took a drag, then slowly let the smoke out. He turned his head and glanced at her, the corner of his mouth curving in a half-smile that looked more mocking than warm.
"What?" he drawled. "You want to replace her and be my wife?"
The woman seemed to take that as a green light. Emboldened, she smiled and said, "Mr. Aldridge, I really wouldn’t mind being the younger one~"
A wave of knowing laughter broke out in the private room at once.
"Hahaha, this girl’s got guts!"
"Way more fun than those fake shy types!"
"His wife’s at home right now, probably sneezing already!"
Outside the room, the manager, Mr. Crane, had cold sweat beading on his forehead. Seeing that Vivienne Hartwell still had no intention of leaving, he quickly raised a hand and tried to push the door open, clearly planning to go in and smooth things over.
But Vivienne stopped him, her hand pressing down on his arm.
The next second—
She kicked the half-closed private room door open without the slightest warning.
Bang—
She did not hold back at all.
The door slammed hard against the wall with a heavy thud that echoed through the room.
In an instant, all the laughter, flirting, and teasing inside cut off dead. More than a dozen pairs of eyes turned toward the entrance at the same time.
Sebastian Aldridge lazily lifted his eyelids. But the moment he saw who it was, a flicker of surprise flashed through his eyes.
Vivienne wore no makeup. Her clothes were plain and simple, so clean and understated that she looked completely out of place in this glittering, wine-soaked room.
Her delicate face, usually soft and gentle, had lost every trace of warmth. What remained was only coldness. Ignoring all the prying looks around her, she walked straight to Sebastian.
"Mr. Aldridge, wow. Looks like you’ve been living the dream."
"When are you planning to replace me as your wife? Give me a heads-up first, yeah? Wouldn’t want to get in the way of your good time."
Sebastian stared at Vivienne, his expression unreadable, almost complicated, like he was sizing up a total stranger who had suddenly barged into his world.
Before he could say anything, the woman sitting right beside him got cocky from all the praise she had just received. Wearing the smug tone of someone acting like she knew better, she started lecturing Vivienne.
“Sis, no need to come in this hot,” the woman said with a fake smile, her tone dripping with sarcasm. “Men are born playful. A little acting up outside? Isn’t that normal? The real loser is the woman who can’t keep her own man in line.”
As she spoke, she lifted her chin at Vivienne Hartwell again, full-on provocation, like she was scared nobody would notice her.
“Instead of losing it in here like some shrew, maybe you should go home and think real hard about what you’re lacking. Otherwise, how could you fail to keep Mr. Aldridge’s heart?”
“Damn, well said.” Tristan Mercer, Sebastian Aldridge’s old buddy, clapped right on cue, clearly loving the chaos. “You’ve got guts, little thing. I like that.”
Vivienne only gave the woman a casual glance, like she couldn’t even be bothered. Then she fired back, cool and sharp, “A woman like you, always busy reflecting on whether you’re ‘good enough,’ probably couldn’t find a husband even back in your own village, huh?”
She paused, lips curving faintly, her voice turning even meaner.