Stanley felt extremely annoyed by the questions. Slowly, he stood up. “I’m going for a smoke outside. Enjoy your chat,” he said before nodding politely at the group of people and walking out the door.
After leaning against a lamppost, he slowly lit a cigarette and took a puff at it. The warm light above his head seemed to create a layer of luminescence around him. Meanwhile, he could still hear laughter from the brightly lit living room.
Now that the wind had stopped, a sky full of stars could be seen.
“Cousin-in-law, do you mind sharing a cigarette?” a crisp voice asked.
Stanley looked over at the girl, who was the second daughter of Emily’s uncle, whose name he had forgotten.
The girl was beaming at him with bright eyes.
Stanley did not answer her. Instead, he pulled a cigarette out from its box and tossed it to her. After that, he took a long puff at his cigarette before letting it out as he looked up at the stars. Stanley did not look at her again. In fact, he did not even allow his gaze to linger upon her the first time.
There was a coldness about him, which made him appear unapproachable. The more he seemed hard to get, the more attractive he was to women.
There was a saying that the more challenging something was to get, the more someone wanted it. Hence, greater scarcity meant higher value.
This girl thought of Stanley in the same way. Although he was already married, she did not mind sleeping with a handsome man like him.
“Cousin-in-law, can you lend me your lighter?” She asked.
Annoyed, Stanley frowned and tossed his black, diamond-plated lighter to her without even looking at her.
She immediately caught it.
“Cousin-in-law, your warmth still lingers on this lighter…” She said.
Stanley ignored her.
“Cousin-in-law, my name is Cecilia Conner. Surely, you must remember me. I am Emily’s second cousin,” she said.
After finishing her sentence, Cecelia lit the cigarette and moved closer to Stanley. She then dropped the lighter into his shirt’s pocket before taking a puff at her cigarette and leaning against the same lamppost. “The night sky looks beautiful with all these stars, just like you, Cousin-in-law.”
Frowning coldly, Stanley took a step forward to put distance between themselves. There was a look of disgust in his eyes.
However, she refused to give up. After walking over to Stanley, she pretended to slip and fall in his direction. As soon as Xyla came out, she saw this scene unfolding before her. She could not help but frown as a feeling of panic spread from her heart.
Xyla had always known that Cecelia was a b*tch, so much so that she had even tried to seduce Tom Sullivan. Hence, Xyla was not surprised that she was trying to seduce Stanley now.
With a deep frown on his face, Stanley dodged reflexively. In the next instant, Cecelia fell onto the ground.
“Ahh…” She shouted in surprise before looking up at Stanley’s face.
Cold as usual, Stanley turned around and walked away without even looking at her.
Xyla observed everything from the top of the stairs, and she could not help but smile. She had never seen a man as straightforward as Stanley. Cecelia must be furious by now.
When Stanley looked up, he could see Xyla smiling from cheek to cheek. Where Xyla stood, it seemed as if her body was glowing. Despite the sky full of stars, none of them could compare to her.
Stanley smiled faintly in response. The coldness in his eyes disappeared completely as he approached her.
When Cecelia saw Xyla, she immediately felt deeply embarrassed. Hence, Cecelia frantically got up and walked into the house with her head down. She was furious.
