He looks at Leilani with eyes sharp enough to cut through her and casually reclines on the sofa.
“This is a weak imitation and the effect is quite ludicrous,” Waylen mocks.
“Mr. Bamford, who is the imitator: Mrs. Bamford or me?” Lisa asks.
She seizes the opportunity to wrap her arms coquettishly around the man. To Leilani’s surprise, Waylen doesn’t shake her off. Leilani stands silently and bites her lip softly, trying not to stare at Lisa’s hand caressing Waylen’s body. Waylen suddenly presses that white hand over his heart, staring intently at Leilani.
“What do you want me to say Mrs. Bamford?” he asks.
“You can say whatever you like,” Leilani responds.
She turns away in an effort to leave, but Waylen frowns coldly and Robert grabs her arm to stop her at once. Cheers still come from the stage in a steady stream, but the atmosphere in the room has become stagnant and tense. Lisa laughs in an attempt to lighten the mood.
“Mr. Bamford, forget about it,” she murmurs, “I’m sure Mrs. Bamford didn’t deliberately choose to wear the same dress as me.”
“How do you know that?” Waylen asks.
“Every woman wants to be unique,” Lisa replies, “Why would Mrs. Bamford intentionally try to make herself like another woman?”
Waylen laughs cruelly.
“Unique?” he says, “No. There are some people who don’t like to be unique.”
He wants Leilani to be the unique woman in his life, but he recalls the jibe she made about books at lunch. Her words echoed in his head: “If a reader is uninterested, even a masterpiece can be dull and useless.”
“She’s uninterested,” he thinks sadly.
“How come?” Lisa replies with a pleasing smile, “I like uniqueness.”
“Really?” Waylen asks with a mysterious smirk.
Leilani stands in front of him with a condescending expression, observing the room like she’s an outsider. Waylen can’t believe she’s making that expression again— it’s her don’t-give-a-damn look. His pupils suddenly narrow and he smirks with malicious intent.
“Go get a dress from backstage,” he commands Robert.
“What?” Robert hesitates, “They only have costumes back there.”
The costumes kept backstage are flamboyant and revealing—designed for stripteases and pole dances. Robert knows he won’t be able to find anything that will fit in with the elegant, designer looks at the women in the private room wear.
Lisa’s look darkens. She’s worried she overstepped her boundaries and hurries to explain herself.
“Waylen, I’m only joking, I don’t mind having the same dress like others. And I don’t want to put on costumes. They’re ugly.”
“Who says I want you to wear them?” Waylen replies.
“You mean—?” Lisa’s question trails off as she turns to stare at Leilani in amazement.
“Waylen intends to make Leilani wear it?” Lisa wonders.
The rich and spoiled women in the room gasp. They’re shocked to find out that Leilani occupies such an inferior position in her marriage—they’ve never been treated like that in their lives.
Robert is stunned too.
“Is this Waylen’s way of punishing Leilani for not giving a damn?” Robert wonders.
“Hurry up already,” Waylen snaps irritably.
Robert jumps upon hearing Waylen’s voice, almost tripping in the process. He then hastens to leave. Leilani stands in the middle of the room like she’s the star exhibit in some sort of freak show. Waylen and Lisa have resumed flirting as if nothing else in the world matters to them.
Leilani wants to leave the room, but she doesn’t dare to do or say anything for fear that she’ll find herself in an even more humiliating position. The people in the room are like predators who enjoy toying with their prey—they get off on watching their prey’s vain struggles as it dies. Leilani knows that if she doesn’t struggle, they’ll quickly become bored—there’s no fun in teasing her if she doesn’t struggle.
Leilani doesn’t want to agitate Waylen for fear he might tear his wounds. After all, he’s injured because he saved her from the broken glass. Waylen looks at Leilani coldly, waiting for her to unsheathe her sharp claws. It’s unlike her to submit without a fight. He feels his heart shrink as he sees the tinge of frustration in her eyes. Waylen tightly clenches his glass, fighting the urge to apologize and ask her to come to his side.
Before Waylen can speak, Robert pushed the door open. He carries a hanger from which a black leather suit hangs like the skin of a wildcat. Robert feels chills creep up his spine as every woman in the room turns to stare at him. He scoured the entire dressing room to try to find a costume, but most of them were either too e.r.o.t.i.c or too small.
He knows Waylen well enough to understand that his boss would shoot him in the head if he returned with that sort of outfit for Leilani. He felt immediate relief the moment he saw the leather ensemble.
“Mrs. Bamford,” Robert says embarrassed as he hands it over to Leilani.
He averts his eyes awkwardly because there’s no private space in the room for Leilani to change in. Lisa gives Robert a complaining look; she’s surprised and disappointed that he got a one-piece leather suit for Leilani. If it were up to her, she’d find something that only a strip club dancer would wear.
“Waylen is doing this for me, though,” Lisa reassures herself, “And by the look of it, Waylen wants Leilani to change in public—how humiliating.”
Waylen glances at Leilani, “Why aren’t you changing?”
“Mrs. Bamford, there is a changing room next door,” Robert tells Leilani.
“No need,” Leilani says lightly as she takes the suit from Robert, “I’ll change right here.”
She levels a stubborn look at Waylen and reaches to loosen the zipper at the back of her dress. Leilani’s fair back seems to glow in the dim room. Before Robert can stop her, she unzipped her dress to her bottom. Robert is completely astonished.
“Only Leilani would dare to cross the line in this way,” he thinks.
Waylen squeezes the glass with more force, causing a small crack to appear in the fine crystal. He is on the edge of bursting into a rage.
“How dare she take off her dress in front of so many people,” he thinks.
Leilani gives Waylen a challenging look. She knows that he’s petty and possessive. He will be completely humiliated if she gets undressed in front of so many bodyguards and Robert.
“He’s such a hypocrite,” she thinks, “He has this mad, enraged look but he’s the one who asked me to change!”
Leilani pulls her dress down a little more, shimmying seductively as she lowers the neckline. Waylen’s eyes burned with rage as he stares at her exposed skin—at any moment her cleavage will be completely revealed. Everyone is stunned. No one expected that Leilani would change in public, least of all Lisa who heard from Cindy that Leilani has an odd and haughty temperament.
Leilani pulls the collar down with one hand and peels the tight fabric away from her skin in a flirtatious way. Waylen grinds his teeth so hard that blue veins bulge on his forehead. Before she can expose her bra, he suddenly moves to wrap her in his jacket, “That’s enough!”
“This outrageously audacious woman!” Waylen roars to himself, “I only wanted to provoke some reaction from her, but of course she took it all too far!”
He wishes he had the heart to strangle her, but he knows he doesn’t.
Leilani lifts her jaw up and looks at him provokingly, “Didn’t you ask me to change?”
Waylen presses his lips together and holds her in his arms tightly. He grabs her hands in one of his to prevent her from continuing to undress.
“Take off your dress,” Waylen orders coldly.
Everyone is stunned: he points at Lisa as he speaks.
“Waylen!” Lisa protests.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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