IMDD Chapter 45 [NOVEL] (Patreon)

Eva nearly choked on her mouthful of wine. But she managed not to show the surprise in her face. She recovered nicely and only blinked at him blankly a couple of times.

“You’re probably the sixth man who has already told me that, Mr. Park.” Eva lied rather smoothly, raising an elegant brow at him.

Julian did not look offended or annoyed at all when she refuted him. In fact, he chuckled in a good disposition. “Well, some men do overuse that line quite a lot. So I understand if you misunderstand its credibility. But I am being serious here, Miss Lee. You seem really familiar to me…” he commented and rubbed his chin in contemplation of his own observation.

“Familiar…” Eva echoed. “Well, maybe we have bumped against each other in some other business events before?” Eva supplied an excuse for herself.

“Hmm… I don’t think it’s just one event though.”
Eva’s hand that was holding onto her glass halted in midair. Her heartbeat quickened at the thought that Julian might figure out her real identity soon.

“I keep being reminded by my college sweetheart while looking at you.” He added lightly, still smiling charmingly, and Eva’s heart nearly stopped. Oh damn… did Julian actually already recognized her and was just playing mind games with her right now? College sweetheart? She wanted to scoff once again.

She tipped her glass and finished the rest of her wine while using the time to think on how to respond to his comment. Her phone vibrated before she could open her lips to reply to him. Her stylist? Why was she calling? Eloise never calls her!

Creasing her brows, Eva looked at Julian and found the perfect opportunity to escape for the time being. She excused herself with the reason of answering the call before heading for the garden.

“Hello? Eloise?” Eva asked. But then the line was suddenly cut. Curious, Eva was about to dial Eloise’s number back when she received a text message. It was Eloise, apologizing because she had accidentally dialed the wrong number.

Eva could only blink. Could it be that coincidental? But whatever it was, she was thankful as it gave her the perfect excuse to escape Julian. Shaking her head, Eva sighed and headed to the bathroom. She needed to calm down and get herself as composed and clearheaded as possible in case, Julian was still waiting for her back there. She must watch her words because she must not let him find out that she was indeed Eva. Even if he was suspicious, there would be no way for him to confirm it if she did not give him a reason to.

Upon leaving the bathroom, Eva was shocked to see Julian out there seemingly waiting for someone. When he noticed her walking out, he smiled at her.

Ignoring him, Eva walked past him. But he followed after her, causing Eva to halt and turn around to face him. “Some ladies might not mind, but I find such stalker behavior a major turn off, Mr. Park.” Eva did her best to behave and sound like the sexy Miss Lee – confident and self-assured.

“I went to the bathroom too, Miss Lee. Saw you entered the ladies’, so I waited for you. After all, we can accompany each other back to the ballroom, right?” He replied calmly, but he could not hide the flirty look in his eyes that Eva did not like seeing at all.

A female’s voice pulled at Eva’s attention and the moment she turned, she saw Gage and Jessa together. Gage was looking at her – at them. And Jessa… she was facing him and seemingly leaning against Gage’s chest.

A while ago, Gage had excused himself from the discussions when he noticed that Eva was gone from her spot at their table. Jessa however, shamelessly followed after him and tried to engage him in conversation along the way. But Gage never replied to her chattering. He acted as though he did not hear a thing, causing Jessa to glare at his back. When they were nearing the bathroom, Jessa hastened her pace and walked ungracefully ahead of Gage. Upon seeing Julian and Eva talking at the washroom entrance, and they apparently had not noticed her and Gage, she suddenly turned around and crashed against Gage’s chest, acting as though she had accidentally tripped and fell towards the man.

But Gage who had seen all kinds of women, already knew what tricks and ploys that they would play. Thus, Jessa’s actions were nothing new to him. His hand then shot out and grabbed Jessa’s forearm in a hard grip before unceremoniously setting her aside without even sparing her face a glance.

Gage then took unhurried strides towards Eva, his gaze sharp and penetrating as he stared at Julian. The pressure surrounding him was low and heavy as he got nearer to them. When he stood before Julian, Gage did not say anything but trained his cold gaze to the man who was standing unnecessarily close to his Little Tigress.

He turned his gaze at the silent Eva, gently took her hand – an obvious difference to the way he had so roughly handled Jessa earlier – and pulled her close to him. “I was looking for you, Miss Lee,” he whispered lowly in her ears. He bent over and moved his upper body closer to her than was necessary. “Something urgent came up, so we’ll need to leave the party earlier. Now, let’s be on our way, shall we?”

Eva blinked at him before nodding.

“Yes, sir.” Eva responded softly.

When they walked past Jessa, Eva saw her smirking meaningfully at her. This… little…

She tried her hardest not make any sort of expression. She was now Evelyn Lee, competent personal assistant of her boss, stylish and confident in her own womanly charisma. This current identity she was assuming would not react to such childish and low-class schemes. Calming her heart and steadying her mind, she did not even react and just walked forward, as if she did not see Jessa’s smirk at all.

Jessa looked aggravated at Eva’s zero reaction to her taunting. Her jaws were tightened and clenched as she glared at their retreating backs.

“How dare you both ignore me like this.” She hissed under her breath, eyes filled with jealousy and anger at being treated like air. If anyone were to look at her right now, they would see a scary face on such a seemingly beautiful lady.