Chapter 9

Buzz!

Joseph looked down and saw a text from Chloe.

She was asking him to attend a business gala at eight in the evening at a hotel.

The car ground to a halt at the hotel entrance.

Joseph walked hand-in-hand with Rachel into the banquet hall. A few familiar faces came over to greet him and chat with him.

“Dadd…Uncle Stephen!” Rachel was beaming as she looked at the man from afar.

Stephen was wearing a silvery-gray tailcoat, his hair neatly slicked back as he walked straight toward them.

Everyone present had heard about the intense romance that Stephen and Rachel had shared in the past. Now that he was back and on such good terms with Rachel, many people couldn’t help but be curious about how things would turn out.

“Stephen, are you in a relationship? Your girlfriend looks like a wild one,” a lady said as she looked pointedly at the scratch marks on Stephen’s neck. “Is it any of the ladies here today?”

Stephen said mysteriously, “Shh, there’s a child around.”

Joseph looked at Chloe who was a short distance away, smoothing out her gown. Her assistant handed her a silk scarf to cover the marks on her collarbone.

Their gazes met, and Chloe walked over.

There was a faint scent of men’s cologne on her. It smelled similar to the cologne Stephen wore.

Joseph pretended nothing had happened and gave her his arm as they went around socializing with other guests.

Halfway through the socializing, Rachel fell and ended up with cake on her dress. He brought her to the lounge area to clean up, but turned around and realized that she had fallen asleep.

Joseph was about to go fetch a blanket when he heard a woman’s voice from the corridor outside.

“I saw it all. What’s between you and Stephen right now? Joseph doesn’t know about it, does he?”

“Given his character, how could he remain so calm if he knew?” Chloe said, her voice carrying a stern warning. “Don’t you dare be a big mouth and blurt anything out!”

“Now that your first love is back, when are you intending to divorce Joseph? I have a friend who’s a pretty good catch. I’ll introduce her to Joseph once you two get a divorce…”

“What’s your problem? Our lives are perfectly fine! Why would I want a divorce?” Chloe snapped rather fiercely. “Joseph saved my life, and his life has been revolving around me over the years. Whenever I fall sick, he'd make me warm soup and take care of me. He’s so head over heels in love with me, do you really think he’ll fancy your lousy friend?”

“Tsk! Then why are you having an affair?”

“If he doesn’t know it, it’s not an affair.”

Their voices faded into the distance.

Joseph forced a smile on his face and asked the Gibson family’s driver to come and fetch Rachel home.

When he returned to the hotel, he walked into the elevator and saw Stephen standing inside as well.

They looked at each other in silence.

“You’re a smart man and probably could tell since a long time ago," Stephen said, twirling a finger around his long hair. “What I have with Chloe is true love. You’re hogging something that doesn’t belong to you. You're pretending you don’t care when you clearly feel beyond miserable.

Suddenly, the elevator stopped working on the eighth floor.

However, they were supposed to go to the fifteenth floor.

Joseph and Stephen stood stunned.

“What’s going on?” Stephen started to panic. “Quick, think of something!”

Joseph dialed the emergency number in the elevator. He soon received a reply.

“Hello, the hotel suddenly caught fire and all the elevators have stopped working. Please wait for help and do not jump in the elevator. Otherwise, it might fall.”

Stephen was so overwhelmed with fear he collapsed on the ground.

Their phones lost signal.

Half an hour later, they were still trapped in the elevator. No help had arrived.

The smoke was getting thicker as the fire continued burning fiercely.

Stephen, fear-stricken, kept yelling at the top of his voice.