Apparently, there is indeed a second floor at that bar and that ends up to be the main reason why Cassidy is able to beat Irish.historical

Because of how dim the whole place was, it was hard to notice at first. She won't be able to find out had she not stood on that stage. Now, it made sense why she got a louder round of applause.

Performing after Irish turns out to be a good thing. It was actually the blasting sounds of cheering and shouting earlier that attracted a larger audience. With that, more people got to see the next performance, thus the louder round of applause.

"Oh, you lost, Irish-"

"I know that, Olivia! I can see it! Ughhh...!" Irish groaned in miff before storming away.

"Let's go! I want to drink right now!"

"What about the bet?" Olivia calmly asked with her arms crossed, already used to her fits of pique.

"She can just walk up to me and be done with it! I don't care anymore!"

At her childish retreat, the blonde only heaves a sigh. She's just frustrated since it's her first defeat by a landslide. It's her own fault for going first, though. She also knew that she just didn't want to admit how astonished she was at their sister-in-law's singing for a moment there.

'Oh, she's leaving? What a scaredy-cat...' Cassidy thought with an amused smirk when she spotted the twins escaping the applauding crowd.

'Well, I gotta give her credits for bringing in this many people, though.'

She took some more seconds to express her gratitude to the audience before eventually stepping down the stage. That's when she was suddenly surrounded by the people who were with Gertrude during dinner. They gathered around her out of nowhere, completely taking her aback.

"What a splendid performance, Mrs. Millicent! Not only are you so beautiful, but you are also so talented!" Levi commended a bit too ecstatically while the others happily approved.

"Oh, ummm... Thank you," Cassidy replied with an awkward smile, not expecting that they would act this chummy all of the sudden.

"You see, Mrs. Millicent, I've had my eyes on you for some time now. I really think you have the potential to be a star! A supermodel even! Say, would you like to visit my modeling agency one of these days?"

"P-Pardon?"

"Excuse me, Mr. Levi..." Gertrude joined in, not liking how this was going.

"I'm afraid I should turn down your offer to my daughter-in-law. Cassidy is just... She didn't really receive any kind of training for that, you see. I'm worried that she would only end up troubling you and wasting your time. Isn't that right, Cassidy?"

Now, that annoys Cassidy.

Her mother-in-law speaks like she owns her - like she's some sort of property. The fact that Levi and the others did not find her wording anywhere insulting made her a little angry too. It's as if they are already used to seeing her like a mere trophy wife who has no say in this kind of matter.

"Mr. Levi is it...?" Cassidy started again and faced the photographer, pretending like she did not hear what her mother-in-law said.

"Were you honest just now? Do you really think I can be a model?"

"My, of course! Well, there's indeed that topic about training and stuff, but that's no big deal at all! Everyone has been a beginner once, after all!" Levi enthused, amusing her a little.

"Alright, then. May I have your contact number?"

As Cassidy asked that, she gave Gertrude a glance and a smug smirk, not giving a damn about what she thought.

Her mother-in-law was thrown off guard for a second before flaring up. She appears infuriated, especially with how one of her furrowed brows twitch in vex. The way she clenches her fists tightly gives her the impression that she is holding herself back from slapping her at that very second for disobeying.

'That's right, that's right. You ain't telling me what to do, Maleficent.'

Cassidy is not doing this just to anger Gertrude, though.

She does think that trying out a modeling job might be worth a shot. After all, she wants to save money for herself before she leaves this household. Since she doesn't really know how to do other works out there, she might as well just pose in front of a camera and make a living out of her pretty face or something.

"Hey, Adrian. I think Sir Levi there just asked Cassidy something..." Edward told the husband as if reporting some semi-good and semi-bad news.

"As far as I recall, he posted a picture of her online without her or your permission-"

"He what...?!" Adrian bolted out, knowing quite well that photographers like him would do anything as long as they were inspired.

"What picture?! Is it something lewd-"

"Chill out, man. No, it's not. Geez... You're too protective. What would happen if he actually asked her to be a model?"

"It's her choice, though my consent will depend on what she will wear, of course-"

Then, out of nowhere, Adrian staggered and cut himself off.

It just happened that someone has unceremoniously bumped into him and poured wine on his suit jacket, catching both of them off guard. Whether it's an accident or not, he tried to find out by swerving his head around to look at the person. His eyes then widen in nonplus at what comes into view.

"Oh no, I'm so, so sorry, Adrian!"

It's Sophie.

She seems to have accidentally made a mess out of his clothes after slipping on her heels - or so that's what would anyone think. For some reason, he finds her actions a little familiar. While she does apologize to him with an innocent-looking expression, her gestures are kind of suggestive.

"Really, I'm so sorry! I was thinking of giving that glass to you. I'm so sorry! Here, let me wipe it for now."

Adrian begins suspecting when Sophie goes ahead and wipes away the forming stain on his jacket. In a panic, she leaned closer to him and put her hands on his chest. For a second there, he can feel how her fingers seductively grace through his skin as if enticing him.

Right then, he already has a rough idea of what she is up to.

"Enough. It's fine. I can deal with this alone..." Adrian spat out with his trademark cold tone, grabbing both of her shoulders and pushing her away.

"Now, excuse me. I'll just go to the restroom."

He said it more to Edward rather than Sophie, though he did hope that she got his message - that he did not want anything to do with her, that is. But even then, she decided to be stubborn and follow him instead of staying there. She even puts on the act that she is so sorry that she can't possibly leave him alone.

"You're being too cold to me, Adrian. All I want here is to make it up to you and fix this, you know," Sophie huffed as she continued to chase after him all the way to an empty hallway that led to the restroom.

"I don't need you to do such a thing. If you're indeed sorry, just do me a favor and leave me alone," Adrian grumbled underneath his breath, tone getting extremely peeved.

"But we haven't really talked for a while now, have we? Even at the party the other night! Why don't we catch up for a moment, hmmm...? I'll go and get you another drink-"

"Stop it already, Sophie."

Already running out of patience, he halted on his tracks and faced her at last. She nearly bumped into his chest again at how abrupt his movement was. His provoked expression is enough to get her staggering backward, though. It's been a while since she saw that look on him.

"I'll get this clear now - you're not going to get anything by doing this to me. I know how much my mother and grandfather support you, but Cassidy is my wife and that's how things will stay. So, stop trying to make a move on me already..." Adrian snarled with a taunting tone.

"I may have tolerated this before, but this time around, I'll really go against my mother and grandfather if I want to."

"You talk big for someone who has always been an obedient son. So, you think going against them now would erase the fact that you had let me get close to you before...?" Sophie retaliated despite the shivers that ran down her spine when he started looking at her so menacingly.

"Negligence is no excuse, sweetheart. Don't you feel bad for doing this to Cassidy? She couldn't even remember what we did during your family reunion. Oh, how we made her feel so bad~"

"Huh? The hell are you saying?"

That's when Adrian feels his face slowly drain out of color.

He can't recall doing anything with Sophie at all.

Yet going by the haughty look on her face, he could feel that something did happen. All he could remember that time was how drunk he was, though.

He was with his grandfather that entire night. Since he would be going back abroad on the next morning, he decided to keep him company for as long as he wanted him to.

He won't deny it. He was really obedient - had always been.

Adrian had been drinking with his grandfather until dawn broke that time, but then again, something else must have really happened - something he could not remember because of how drunk he had gotten.