C1 PROLOGUE

"Come on, Jia!"

Due to the alcohol I consumed a while ago, my eyesight was already blurry. I became woozy as Yemi dragged me towards the dance floor while frantically holding my hand.

I closed my mouth to keep it from making me throw up because of nausea. I couldn't even remember how many tequila shots Yemi had made me drink a while ago.

Yemi turned to look at me with a wide smirk plastered on her lips. Based on her look, it seems like she enjoys seeing me unsteady.

Drinking wasn't on my list. I don't drink alcohol. She was the one who forced me to take a shot, even though it was against my will. She promised me that she would let me go home if I ever drank the glass of tequila she offered me a while ago.

I didn't expect that she had a plan like this.

"You're supposed to enjoy this night, Jia!" she said, raising her voice while looking at me with her furrowed brows.

She looked annoyed because she knew that I was not enjoying her party. I already told her that I don't drink alcohol, and I don't know why she's forcing me to do so.

All I remember is that these past few days, our friendship wasn't that okay, and I don't know why, all of a sudden, her attitude towards me changed once again.

"I'm already tired, Yemi," I said.

She hovered her eyes over the club and started jumping when the disc jockey played another song.

"Stop being so dramatic," she said, letting go of my hand. "Enjoy this night, Jia!"

"Caleb didn't agree with me attending your party here, Yemi," I said, which made her snort and roll her eyes in irritation at what I said. "I'm sure that he will scold me once he finds out that I went with you."

"He's not your fucking boyfriend, so why are you afraid of him?"

Her brows were furrowed while she looked at me. Annoyance was already visible in her face as she looked at me.

"This is just the first time you spend your night with me, Jia." She crossed her arms and snorted in annoyance. "Why can't you just forget him, even just for now?"

Some of her guests slowly turned to look in our direction. Some of them were whispering to each other, while the others looked at me as if I had done something wrong against Yemi.

"If you want to make up with me, then enjoy this night and forget about Caleb," she said before she turned her back on me and went to her friends from afar.

She's my best friend, but why do I feel like she's the one who turns her back on me? Did I do something bad that made her upset?

I pursed my lips and carefully walked toward my table a while ago. Yemi was too busy to accompany me at that table. I kept walking off the dance floor, even though some of her guests kept bumping into me while dancing.

My legs are already shaky because of exhaustion. Drowsiness caused my eyes to get a bit fuzzy, and I couldn't even move my head because of a headache.

I feel like the music that the disc jockey plays from the dance floor is the reason why my head hurts like hell.

My attention went to Yemi's group of friends when they started to laugh insultingly. My brows raised in confusion when they slowly turned to look at me and at my dress.

I was wearing my favorite dress. I bought this dress at a thrift shop by accident. My dress wasn't awful. It was just an ordinary dress, a dress that doesn't fit in places like this, and it seems like I already know what they're laughing at.

Did Yemi bring me to this place just to laugh at me and mock my dress with her upperclass friends?

My eyes darted toward the man who sat on the seat beside me. He put his arms on the back of my seat, and I admit that his deep eyes sent shivers down my spine.

"Are you alone?" he asked, which made me slowly nod and avert my eyes from him. "Do you want me to accompany you?" I bit my tongue and decided not to answer his damn question. "It looks like your friend left you to join her own circle."

He laughed a bit, and when he noticed that I didn't laugh with him, he scoffed and leaned back in his seat. He poured another shot of tequila in my glass and handed me the glass he had been holding a while ago.

I smiled a bit and said, "I've had enough," refusing his drink, which made his smile turn into a thin line. "Thank you."

He sighed and continued to hold the drink in front of me. It seems like he didn't get what I wanted to convey to him.

"Do you know that refusing a drink from a guy was a bit rude?" he asked.

My eyes slowly darted at the glass he was handing me. I sighed heavily and slowly took the glass from him. I saw how his eyes darted to the table where Yemi was, so I knew that this guy was among her friends.

Is he going to leave me alone if I drink this?

I smiled at him and took a sip from the glass he gave me. The guy smiled sweetly at me because of what I did before he decided to stand up from his seat and walk back to the table where his friends were.

I admit that the tequila I drank earlier made me dizzy, but it seems like this drink was even stronger compared to it. It only took a few minutes for me to feel the dizziness.

My eyes darted to my phone on the table. I slowly took it and looked at the message that Caleb sent to me. Just like usual, he's asking where I was as if he's my boyfriend and we're in a relationship.

I was so inebriated that I wasn't even able to respond to his message. I slowly got out of my seat, despite my dizziness, and made my way to the door.

I'm sure that Yemi was already busy with her friends, so I decided not to inform her that I had already left this place.

Even though I was dizzy, I still tried my best to leave this place. I feel like my stomach hurts a lot because of what Yemi made me drink a while ago.

Even before I could walk straight toward the parking lot, I bumped into the man who was walking toward me. He hurriedly grabbed my arms to keep me in my position in front of him.

That familiar scent...

I couldn't help the way my blurry eyes traveled through his body. He was wearing formal attire, and it looks like he just came from work and headed here just to ease his boredom.

"Why did that asshole let you stay here without him?"

That cold baritone yet familiar voice sent shivers down my spine. I felt like that voice was familiar to me, but I couldn't figure out who actually owned it.

Even before I could raise my head to turn to look at who it was, everything went black