Chapter 782:
His composed reply only stoked Paola’s fury. With the weight of curious stares pressing down on her, humiliation burned through her chest. The mix of alcohol and her pent-up resentment stripped away her restraint entirely.
“Me, ran into you? Do you believe you are so striking that every woman can’t wait to throw herself at you?” Paola snapped, her voice sharp as she struck upward, aiming to knock the remaining glass from Lenny’s grip.
But Lenny shifted smoothly aside, spilling only a few stray drops. His effortless evasion only sharpened the sting of her rage.
“You dare avoid me? You think you’re above me, don’t you?” Her voice cracked as she lost all hold on her composure, her hand swinging wildly toward his face. Gasps rippled through the crowd.
But before the blow could land, her wrist was caught mid-air, restrained by a slender yet unyielding hand that halted her motion as if time itself had frozen.
Paola froze, her anger flaring as she turned to meet a pair of steady, frost-edged eyes.
Rylie had appeared beside her without warning, her grasp on Paola’s wrist firm and unrelenting. Her voice was low, yet the weight in her words cut through the noise. “This is a public place. Restrain yourself.”
The instant Paola realized that it was Rylie, her fury deepened, tangled with long-held grudges. She struggled against the hold, shouting, “Rylie?! You again! Let me go! You’re really going to interfere when I’m teaching this blind fool a lesson? Who do you think you are?”
Rylie let go, and Paola staggered back into a table, tears of humiliation spilling down her face.
From the booth where he had been sitting, Mylo noticed the commotion by the entrance and walked over.
His expression shifted when he saw Paola bent against the table, holding her stomach. He rushed to steady her. “What happened? Who hurt you?”
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With Mylo at her side, Paola cried openly, gasping for breath. “That man ran into me on purpose to take advantage, and Rylie stood up for him, targeting me instead.”
“On my turf, and someone dares to take advantage of you?” Mylo’s voice thundered with fury. “Tell me—who was it?”
From behind Rylie, Lenny emerged, calmly wiping his damp hand with a napkin. His composure was steady, though the glint in his eyes betrayed annoyance.
Mylo paused upon seeing him, then frowned. “You took advantage of her?”
Lenny cast Paola a brief, disdainful glance, his words sharp as steel. “Don’t be ridiculous. My taste isn’t as terrible as yours.”
Paola, playing the victim, picked up on a hint of familiarity in their dialogue. Raising her head, she asked with a trembling voice, “You know him?”
“I hadn’t introduced him yet,” Mylo answered, a shadow crossing his features. “This is Lenny Buckley, heir to the Buckley family business, my old friend from university.”
Paola had come to the bar with the sole purpose of making one last effort to gain the Buckley heir’s favor.
But when she realized that the man she had just condemned was Lenny himself, the color was drained completely from her face.
How could this be? Shock widened Paola’s eyes as she took in Lenny. Clad in unremarkable clothing, he radiated the aura of an ordinary person, yet he was supposedly the heir to a jewelry empire.
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