IMDD Chapter 44 [NOVEL] (Patreon)

That was the first time Eva ever experienced such intense moment. Being backed up and fully supported by someone was such a heady feeling!

Thinking back, she was already so used to always being the one at fault, the one that had to bear all the scolding and reproach. She was always being the one the blame always fell on. Between her and Jessa, her family and everyone else had always chosen Jessa’s side no matter if she was right or not.

This was the first time that someone chose Eva’s side over Jessa’s and to think that she was really the one lying this time. The feeling was… just indescribable for her. She had never in a million years, thought that being chosen over Jessa would feel like this.

Trying her best to contain the emotions that had unexpectedly burst out from within her, Eva took the glass of wine that was sitting in front of her and drank it down in one gulp. She kept staring at Gage who was currently being occupied in conversation by a Mr. DiMarco and some other high-profile CEOs, charming them again with his impeccable conversational skills, just a little farther away from their table.

Earlier, Gage had led her back to their table and sat back down with her, sporting an extremely unsightly expression on his face and did not speak for a few moments. Then Mr. DiMarco walked over and invited Gage to join him and a few other VIPs for a private talk. Eva had urged Gage to go on and join them because she knew how important it was for businessmen to never miss these kinds of opportunities to make connections. And that was why, now she was sitting there alone at their table.

At first, she was still doing fine. But then, she spotted Jessa also standing among the group of CEOs, right next to Gage. She had momentarily forgotten that Jessa was the one who had replaced her as the current CEO of XY Corp.

Getting the waiter to pour her another glass of wine, Eva forced herself to relax. She should not feel this riled up just with this little bit of annoyance. This kind of scenario was not even something that surprising. This was perfectly normal. She had been there and done that previously as the ex-CEO and during the past few days, Gage had even dined with a couple of beautiful superstars that they had chosen to cooperate with on a commercial for their brand. She had never felt this bothered even when she saw how those ladies acted so touchy feely with Gage. So why was she having a hard time keeping her cool, today? Why was she this affected when Jessa was now involved?

Eva squeezed her eyes closed and drew in a deep breath. Ever since she was young, no matter what she did, her family had never given her even an ounce of their love and care. Even if she was not their child by blood, they should have at least given her a little. But they had not bothered at all. All their love were only reserved and poured out wholeheartedly onto Jessa. And Jessa… greedily took it all. Now that she thought about it, she remembered she had once received a gift from one of her aunts when they were still children. Jessa had wanted it even though she already had a mountain of gifts as high as Mount Everest. Usually, she would relent and hand over the things Jessa wanted without putting up a fight. But that time, she had really liked the gift so much that she had fought for it. Jessa had forcefully snatched it from her and then burst out crying, bawling to their parents that Eva had hurt her. She ended up being scolded harshly and was slapped hard by her mother. She still could not forget the scorn on her mother’s face that day. For a long time, she had wondered if it was normal for a mother to look at her own child like that. Only now she understood.

“Mind me joining you, Miss Lee?” a male’s voice pulled her out of her thoughts. But she was still distracted and did not recognize that voice. So, when she lifted her gaze and saw Julian’s expectant gaze staring back at her, she was slightly taken aback. “Our partners are busy right now, so I think we should hang out while we wait for them. What do you think?” He smiled with what she guessed he thinks might be a charming smile. That gentlemanly smile that she was so used to seeing for years. A smile which she had foolishly thought was one that is genuine and full of his sincere feelings. Hah! What a joke! Eva almost scoffed out loud but managed to restrain herself right before she gave herself away. Outwardly, she still maintained her passive and neutral expression as she stared at him.

Julian had already seated himself next to her before she could even respond. Seeing that he had done so, she could not be bothered to reply and only continued sipping on her wine, ignoring him. She truly did not have the mood to talk to this b*stard right now.

“You know what?” his smooth voice echoed as he rested his head against his knuckles, watching her with those almost sticky eyes of his. “I somehow keep getting the feeling that I’ve met you before, Miss Lee.”