Curtis lifted his eyes languidly.
He slowly got up, reaching forward to pour himself another drink, "If you want to drink, go for it."
"That's not right," Jasiah looked at him.
He stroked his chin, pondering, "You're not usually like this. This moodiness means something's up."
Noe was a bit confused.
Curtis glanced at Jasiah indifferently as he suddenly leaned in closer, "Curtis."
"What's up?"
"You wouldn't have fallen for some girl recently, would you?"
Jasiah thought he had sharp eyes, "And it seems like it's a one-sided crush."
Curtis's hand holding the glass paused for a second.
But quickly, he resumed sipping his drink nonchalantly, scoffing disdainfully, "How could it be? That she could make me pine for her?"
It's clear she had a crush on him first.
But Jasiah and Noe caught the key phrase, sharing a glance before asking in unison, "Who?"
Curtis: "..."
His glass, about to be raised, paused mid-air, his seemingly calm demeanor betraying everything.
Jasiah suddenly became interested, sitting closer on the sofa, "Tell us, tell us, the one who bit your clavicle? We can help you strategize!"
"No."
Curtis lifted his chin defiantly, his eyes filled with arrogance, "It's her who has a crush on me."
"Wow, oh..."
Jasiah feigned exaggeration, but quickly composed himself, "I don't believe it."
Curtis stared at him with deep, dark eyes.
Jasiah was adamant, "Based on my extensive dating experience, it's obvious you're the one falling. Whether the girl has a crush on you or not is irrelevant."
Curtis: "..."
He huffed dismissively, his arrogant demeanor suggesting he was certain, "Impossible."
"It's because she had a crush on me first that I started noticing her more."
"After all, one should respect a girl's feelings and not trample them casually."
Jasiah: "..."
It sounded quite matter-of-fact, almost flawless. The key was that when beauties used to pursue him, he didn't hesitate to trample their feelings.
But Jasiah dared not say this outright.
He grumbled inwardly.
"So, who is it?" Noe cracked sunflower seeds, "Someone we know? It can't be Lailah, right?"
"Can you guess any less likely? Why don't you say that Curtis is so narcissistic he thinks Dakota has a crush on him?"
Curtis: "..."
Noe leaned back, exclaiming, "No way, Curtis isn't shameless to that extent."
Curtis: "..."
He threw back another drink, feeling something stuck in his chest.
But Jasiah noticed his actions and suddenly leaned in, staring at him, "You're not really letting us guess correctly, are you?"
Curtis's eyes were pitch black.
He narrowed his sharp, cold eyes at him, then turned away nonchalantly, seeming indifferent but actually afraid of revealing his secret if they stared too long.
"So, what do you think—"
Curtis swirled his glass slowly, taking a sip as if nothing happened, "She wouldn't really have a crush on me, right?"
Noe and Jasiah looked at him.
After a moment of silence, they boldly and in unison said, "Idiot."
Curtis snorted disdainfully.
Thinking they really had no insight, not even realizing Dakota had a crush on him.
Later, Curtis lost interest in drinking with them.
After all, he came here tonight just hoping to bump into Dakota, since the damn bar had several large signs telling him—
Tonight, she will be here.
Turns out it was a damned scam.
Curtis got up to leave, and the drunk Jasiah boldly teased, "Where are you going, Curtis? Not to find Kota who's supposedly crushing on you, right?"
"That's terrifying, it's like a horror story."
Noe couldn't imagine what it would be like for those two to be in love, "I must be drunk out of my mind to imagine those two exchanging rings."
Curtis nonchalantly put his hands in his pockets.
He didn't comment on these remarks, preparing to leave the room, but his phone suddenly rang.
Curtis walked out, lazily lifting the phone to his ear, "Who is this?"
"Curtis..."
The voice on the other end was Reagan, sounding both angry and tearful, "You've disappointed me so much!"
Curtis was stunned for a moment.
He took the phone away from his ear, checked the caller ID, and put it back, "Mom."
Andre could be faintly heard trying to console his wife.
Reagan seemed on the verge of tears, "You actually lied to me. I thought you were happily married with Kota, but you didn't even bring her to your wedding house."
"What did Kota do to deserve this? How can you be so careless after marrying her? I don't care, my ship can't sink, sniff sniff..."
"You go and bring her back right now! Tomorrow, I'll check on you at the marital home. If I see you treating Kota like this again, I'll dismember you!"
Reagan hung up with a "slam."
Curtis: "..."
He took the phone down with a complex mood, looking at the call log without fully processing it.
Two minutes later.
Curtis called his special assistant Jakob Herman at H Group, "What's going on with Mom?"
Jakob understood the meaning of this call immediately.
He reported truthfully, "Mr. Pineda, Madam bought something at the auction today, and it was delivered to Maplewood Lane. I guess that's how Reagan found out."
Because the items weren't sent to Whispering Pines.
That means Dakota doesn't live there at all.
Curtis acknowledged with a "Got it," hung up the phone, and rubbed his nose twice.
He loosened his collar irritably and walked out, then called Dakota, "Where are you?"
