THE HEARTBREAK SOCIETY

➶ 11

OBSIDIAN HAIR SLICKED into an undercut and ice grey eyes that reminded you of a winter's night, to say simply, he was devilishly handsome tonight. He held himself in a way that you couldn't help but admire him for. When we entered the ballroom, the number of women that greeted him was astonishing. A shameless womanizer, that's what he was.

With his hand placed firmly on my waist, he continued to greet and strike up conversations while completely ignoring me. I wouldn't have been surprised if he had forgotten about my presence.

I noticed that to the men he spoke with, they only considered me as eye candy. They believed that since August had brought me along, it meant that I must either be ignorant or naive. Despite feeling slightly offended, it allowed the men to speak casually and freely. And although they refrained from disclosing certain things, it wasn't difficult to piece the information together.

Fortunately, I was able to meet an interesting fellow—Daniel and his father, Nolan Harrison. After the two greeted August and disregarded me as a whole, I had only found this exchange to be amusing. It didn't bother me at all. After all, I was nobody. Without any endorsements or connections to the business world, there was no reason to acknowledge me.

As the men spoke of their recent business deals and asked for guidance, I learned that Nolan Harrison had discovered something about Mauve Diaz. The conversation never fully came up, but I noticed the twitch in his brow at the mention of her name.

Mauve had initially taught at St. Blair's for three days before resigning. Transferring to teach at another academy, I believed that she was afraid that Daniel would catch onto her identity. Perhaps this could be an opportunity to get retribution for her. After a series of remarks and specific answers, I concluded that Nolan planned to frame Crassus—the eleventh largest technology corporation. He would claim that his wife was caught cheating with Mateo Crassus, who wanted to expand his company by threatening Mauve's family. When the shares of Crassus began to crash, Nolan would do his utmost to buy them all until the majority were in his hands. With that, the Crassus' would become a pawn. Not only would this give him an excuse to divorce Mauve, take full authority of her company, but also have Crassus.

What an unapologetic piece of shit, I thought sourly. Since Mauve's whereabouts remained unknown, he would have to plant someone who had similar features. Now all I needed was to build some prestige and provide evidence to prove my predictions correct. Although it was nice extending help, I wasn't necessarily doing this out of the kindness of my heart. Mateo Crassus was a prominent figure and had made many contributions to society's technology today. His negotiation skills and business tactics were adept. Simply knowing him could open many doors.

Searching through the crowd to find Mateo's wife, I'd never been so glad to have done my research beforehand. Fidgeting in excitement, I tapped August's shoulder and stood on my tippy toes with a whisper, "I'm going to get another mocktail," he hadn't bothered to reply but loosened his hold. It had been a while since the last time I was in such a predatory environment. Smirking, I flipped my hair over my shoulders and exhaled to relieve my nerves.

Spotting a greeting waiter with a few glasses on his tray, I slipped by to grab one. Taking a sip, I savoured the flavour of strawberry and sighed. Striding by, I purposely bumped into the woman next to her. Losing her balance, her glass of wine spilled over Mateo's wife. Gliding into the crowd as they searched for the culprit, I circled around and pretended to notice the commotion. With a step forward, I gasped, "Isn't that the limited edition 'Aprohdite's Love' by Valentino?" It was a long-sleeve white dress with a deep cut down the back and a striking bateau neckline. And from the neck down to the thighs, it was detailed with a mix of crystals and diamonds.

"Yes, it is," she said sadly, looking down at her ruined dress. Red wine was hard to get out of clothes, let alone white material. "Mateo bought it for my birthday last year. It symbolizes his eternal love for me."