Chapter 98 - Bargain

Joreen made a decision in her mind and began to head towards the two cheaters. Yes, they were cheaters according to her. 

Hoy seemed to act nicely to every other woman and now she was getting confused whether he genuinely liked her more than she normal for the present kind of relationship, or it was just in his nature to look cold but act like a gentleman to ladies. 

Since Changyu was a woman she admired very much, she was just going to start acting like her. Being an actress, it wouldn't be so difficult taking up her character. She was going to outrightly pursue him. Well, but not in front of her family. 

Whoever wanted to write and spread rumours about them could go ahead. She was tired of worrying about Hoy's reaction to the scandal. She was just going to be selfish. 

She was almost close to them when Aishu turned. It seemed like she was about to take a stroll and she would be damned if she was hoping to stroll with Hoy. 

"Oh! Aren't you Joreen? Nice to meet you again." The girl said with a kind smile. Joreen smirked when she saw her smile. She had a feeling this girl wasn't as nice as she appeared to be. She looked like some of the actresses she had met so far. They acted nice when they weren't. 

Aishu wasn't very tall, she had a slender figure and she looked like the type who wasn't completely depending on her family's money. She began to remember all Mr Ping told her about Hoy's ideal type of woman. 

Joreen returned her smile. If Aishu was observant, she would have noticed how fake the smile was, "You both seem really... close." Joreen pointed out. Since she approached them, she made sure not to look at Hoy because she feared that one glare from him or a piercing look would make her lose her confidence. 

Aishu giggled when Joreen said that. 

'I have never hated someone's laugh this much.' Joreen said in her head as she kept trying to keep a smile on her face, but it was harder by the second. 

I told you the other night but I guess you got too drunk and didn't remember. We've... actually known each other for quite a while now."

"Awww... that's so sweet. I guess you are hoping for it to go further than that. Right?"

Aishu blushed and stole a glance at Hoy. Meanwhile, there were two people watching the scene from the common room.

"Oh God! What does that crazy girl think she is doing?" Cixi asked, closing her eyes and placing a hand on her forehead. 

"I think she is trying to hit on Hoy—"

"Not that girl! I am talking about Joreen. What is she thinking? Just look at her face. Anyone can see how much she dislikes that girl." 

"Does it matter? We don't have to like everyone." Changyu answered with a shrug. 

"You keep spoiling this girl! I have a feeling this bold and rebellious act of hers has something to do with you." 

Changyu chuckled. "You are only worried about the breakout of another scandal. Jo is going to be fine. She is a big girl. We already talked about this so she knows what she is doing."

"Oh God! I knew you had a hand in this." Cixi glared at her, making her sister in law to laugh. 

"Calm down. Hoy doesn't look like he is complaining. 

~~~

Aishu looked at Hoy shyly, hoping he would say something. But she was surprised to find him staring at Joreen instead. His gaze didn't look empty compared to how he looked at her. There was even a tint of a smile on his face. 

She didn't want to think there was more to it than their guardian–ward relationship everyone knew about. Because judging from Joreen's Joreen's right now, she could tell Joreen didn't want her beside him. 

"Uhm.. It was nice speaking with you again Joreen. Please excuse us."

"Of course you are excused." Joreen said with a smile. "I need to speak with him." 

"He... is with me." Aishu said, her voice came out quite cold and it didn't escape any of them. 

'Finally dropping her facade.' Joreen thought to herself triumphantly. 

"And you were just about to excuse us." Joreen continued, not letting the smile leave her face even though it looked stiffer now. 

Aishu scoffed before running a hand over her hair. She wanted to say more but she knew she was going to show she was angry if she spoke. Besides, why wasn't Li Hoy saying anything? 

She turned to look at him fully. He was still looking at the rude teenager but when he noticed she was looking at him, he moved his gaze to her. 

"It was nice speaking with you." He said in a dismissive tone. 

It was all confirmation that she needed. With burning anger, she still managed to keep a smile on her face.

"We will meet another time." Aishu gave him a slight bow before walking away, leaving the other two. 

As Joreen's eyes followed her back, she caught sight of Reen who gave her a big thumbs up.

"Ah! I told you Jo was going win!" Wang Jianjun, who was watching the scene unfold in another spot, clapped his hands once in excitement. "You lost. So you are going to chop all the veggies for dinner tonight." 

"Eish! That little..." Jaime exhaled sharply. "She was supposed to act nonchalant and walk away!!!! I can't believe that girl." 

"She has been taking advice from my wife lately so I guessed she was going to act that way. I wasn't wrong after all." Jianjun said smugly. 

~~~~~

Joreen pursued her lips together, waiting for him to scold her but surprisingly, he didn't. He tilted his head to the side as if he wanted to look at every corner of her face. She followed his movement and also tilted her head to the side.

He smiled a little and straightened up. 

Joreen would have taken her time to admire his body if she wasn't in a foul mood now. 

"Did you enjoy watching two ladies fight over you?" Joreen suddenly asked him. 

The corner of Hoy's lip arched higher, "It... was fun." 

"Fun?" She scoffed in disbelief. "You act nice to everyone and welcome their advances. You think it's funny? Maybe I should also do same since you obviously do not care about my feelings." She glared at him and was about to walk past him to make do her threat when he held her hand and pulled her back.

"What?!" She snapped angrily at him, snatching her hand away from his hold. 

"I wanted to get rid of her. You helped me—" 

"Then you should have just told her you didn't like her! You know she likes you and she can flirt with you publicly without anyone saying a thing but I cannot. So she'll keep having the upper hand. It's not a fair competition!" 

He arched his back to meet her height causing her to step back when his face was right in front of hers. 

"You... may want to keep your voice down a little, Luo Joreen. You don't want people hearing you confess to me." He said lightly before throwing one stubborn box braid of hers to the back. When it returned to the front, he carefully tucked it behind her ear. 

"I... think your... actions would cause even more scandals than my words." She said, feeling a little flustered as she stepped back. 

He finally realised what he was doing in public and straightened himself before clearing his throat. He could not bring himself to look around for fear that a lot of people must have caught him act that way to her. 

"Do not think about meeting any guy." He said, looking her up and down before saying, "You should go cover up now. It's getting colder." 

"The sun just came out." Joreen reminded him, pointing at the sun's direction. 

"Doesn't matter. You should still cover up" 

"Ha ha! Very funny." She said sarcastically. "You don't have any right to tell me what to wear. I can wear whatever I want. And if I decide to flirt with men while wearing this, I'll do that. But... I can listen to you on one condition." She said with a sly smile. 

He liked it when she was firm with her words and usually stick to her decision without easily getting influenced by others. Of course he liked it, until she was doing it directly to him. 

"What... condition?" He asked carefully. 

"Well... until I am sure you like me and treat me differently than you treat other ladies. That's when I'll listen to you." 

"You are getting really bold lately." He noted with a smirk. 

She shrugged. 

"What if we bargain properly?" 

She eyed him wearily, "What?" 

"How about... I wire you some money while you change out of that?" He said. He wasn't going to be comfortable if she remained like that. He had witnessed two men approach her earlier and he could tell they were going to be more. 

She scoffed. "What do you think I am? Bribing me with money won't —"

"200,000—"

She scoffed again. "That won't work–"

"500,000—"

"Not intereste–"

"Two milli—"

"I'll go change now!" 

He turned to look at her running towards the resort where they had left their bags, while talking to herself. He could hear her saying, "Why is this short so uncomfortable?" 

A big smile formed on his face, "Why didn't I ever think of that the entire time?" He wondered, feeling pleased with himself.