C15 I Disturbed Your Date!

"Aveline, let me see!" Mateo said, reaching to lift my shirt and check my waist.

I quickly pressed down on my clothes, wincing from the sharp pain, and shook my head with clenched teeth, "It's nothing, just a graze. It didn't really hit me."

Mateo seemed about to protest, but we were interrupted by Wesley's icy voice, "CEO Xu, the balls are racked. Time for another game!"

I looked up involuntarily at Wesley.

His female companion had vanished from the billiards room at some point.

With one hand on his hip and the other propped on the upright cue stick, he was giving me a frosty look.

Despite being the one who hit me with the ball, he had the audacity to look at me as if I was the one at fault.

This guy was seriously messed up!

And not just a little.

Mateo, not daring to snub Wesley, scurried back to the pool table.

My waist was screaming in pain. I slipped the bag into the pocket of Mateo's coat on the rack and called out, "Mateo, I've put the stuff in your coat pocket. Come find me at the marketing center tomorrow. I'm heading out now."

I walked toward the door, moving slowly, careful not to touch my throbbing waist.

To my surprise, Mateo, who never risked offending Wesley, set his cue aside and turned to him with an apologetic tone, "Mr. Haineville, I concede. I'll definitely brush up on my game and challenge you again. How's that sound? Let's wrap it up for today. Shall I escort Aveline out?"

The sound of a ball crashing to the floor reverberated through the room.

My heart jolted.

Wesley casually retracted his cue, his voice laced with sarcasm, "Seems I've been inconsiderate today, interrupting your little rendezvous?"

Mateo hastily offered a grin, "Mr. Haineville, what are you talking about? A date? I genuinely enjoy our games. Tell you what, I'll stay. How about we battle it out until dawn?"

"Are those your words, CEO Xu?" Wesley's eyebrows arched inquisitively.

Mateo pledged earnestly, "Absolutely! Spending all night in a thrilling match with Mr. Haineville is a privilege many would beg for. I'm all for it."

Wesley retrieved the ball he had just slammed onto the ground, dusted it with talcum powder, and gave it a firm pat with his large hand before turning to me. "We've finished with this set, but we're one short in the other. Aveline, could you run downstairs and fetch it for me?"

His gaze was inscrutable.

The missing ball he referred to was the very one that had struck my waist earlier, before crashing through the window and tumbling down to the street below.

Mateo quickly offered, "I'll go get it."

Wesley blocked him with an outstretched arm, his eyes still fixed on me with an icy stare. "We need to keep playing, and there's nobody else here. It's not too much to ask someone who's not busy to retrieve a ball for us, is it?"

I felt like such an idiot, even I could tell he was deliberately singling me out.

If I refused to go, I dreaded to think what other, more devious schemes he might concoct.

After glaring at him for a solid three seconds, I replied icily, "I'll get it."

"Maybe I should go?" Mateo suggested, his brow furrowed.

"Didn't you hear her volunteer?" Wesley retorted with a cold huff. "Mr. Xu, always the chivalrous one. But if she can't appreciate your protection, what's the point?"

I couldn't stand another second of his biting remarks. Turning on my heel, I strode out, ignoring the sharp pain in my waist.

Leaving the warmth of the building, I initially didn't feel the cold. But by the time I reached the side of the building beneath the ballroom window, after searching for over ten minutes, I was shivering uncontrollably.

The biting wind, like needles, pierced through my thin uniform and shirt, burrowing deep into my bones.

I never expected my job would involve such a ridiculous task. Had I known I'd be out here hunting for a ball, I would've worn a warmer coat.

Despite scouring the area thoroughly, the elusive black ball remained out of sight.

I had no choice but to overturn trash cans taller than myself, searching each one meticulously.

My nose was running, my body felt exposed to the elements, and I was so cold I could barely think straight. My vision began to blur.

At first, I could curse Wesley's ancestors under my breath as I searched, but soon, I was struggling to catch my breath, using every last ounce of energy to continue the fruitless hunt for that damned ball.

At last, amidst a heap of shattered glass bottles, I discovered the weighty black sphere.

It was only when I lifted the sphere that I noticed my fingers had been sliced by the glass, now oozing blood.

But I was so numb from the cold that I couldn't even register the pain.