Chapter 32

Natalie felt a strong arm wrap around her waist, pulling her forward. In the next moment, her face was pressed against the other party’s chest. Through the thin fabrics of the other party’s clothes, she could feel the other party’s heat and muscles. Most importantly, she smelled the familiar and subtle scent of eucalyptus. When she raised her head, she met a pair of cold dark eyes.

‘Oliver?’

Natalie’s eyes and mouth widened in shock as she looked at Oliver speechlessly.

Oliver looked down at Natalie expressionlessly. It was as though he did not recognize her.

“Thank you for helping my friend, but you can let go now,” Jane said, rescuing Natalie from Oliver’s grasp before she stood protectively in front of the latter. Although she was smiling, a hint of vigilance could be seen in her eyes.

Oliver ignored Jane, looking directly past Jane at Natalie.

Natalie bit her lip, feeling slightly vexed. ‘Why do I always run into him whenever I go out?’

At this time, Isaac, who was already holding a handcrafted pool cue, asked, “Miss Jane, care for a game?”

Jane recognized Isaac and Wyatt, who was standing next to Isaac, but she did not know the handsome man who had hugged her best friend earlier. She knew most of the young elites here, but she did not know who he was.

“These are my good friends,” Isaac said, introducing Oliver and Wyatt, before he said, “Miss Jane, you were teasing that beautiful lady with your superior skills earlier. Why don’t we have a competition in teams of twos?”

“Teams of twos?” Jane asked.

Jane knew that Isaac was in charge of RK Media, so she was more tolerant of him. After all, it would be beneficial to Natalie. She observed him briefly and saw him looking at Natalie a few times. Then, she asked half-jokingly, “Are you trying to catch my friend’s attention?”

‘If that’s his intention, then there’s no need for us to play the game…’

Meanwhile, as soon as Jane spoke, Isaac felt a chilly gaze on his back. When he turned around, he saw Oliver’s cold expression.

‘Oh, it seems like Oliver is really interested in that woman!’

Isaac reacted quickly and said, “Miss Jane, you can’t say words like that casually. You don’t want me to exiled to a remote country because of your words, do you? I really don’t have any intentions regarding your friend. I was going to suggest that you and I team up while Oliver teams up with your friend.”

After Isaac made his stance so clear, how could Jane not understand what was going on? She looked at Oliver and said, “I’m sorry, but Natalie already has a boyfriend, so don’t bother. It’s okay to be friends though.”.

Natalie was going to explain the situation to Jane, but she was a step too slow.

Jane continued to say, “Her boyfriend’s name is Adrian.”

Natalie quickly stopped Jane and said, “Alright, alright, that’s enough. Let’s just play.”

Jane raised an eyebrow, surprised. After all, she knew Natalie was extremely loyal in her relationships. She said teasingly, “Oh? You have Adrian, but you still want to flirt with another guy? Alright, alright. No matter what you want to do, I’ll always support you.”

Natalie lowered her head, too afraid to look at Oliver. However, even if she did not look at him, she could imagine how terrible his expression must be at this moment.

Indeed, Oliver’s expression was rather dark, especially after he heard the words, ‘You have Adrian, but you still want to flirt with another guy’. He did not say anything. Instead, he picked up a pool cue and tested its feel before he walked toward Natalie.

Upon seeing this, worried that Oliver would swing the pool cue at her, Natalie called out, wanting to explain, “Oliver…”

Seeing the nervous expression on Natalie’s face, Isaac chuckled and said to Natalie, “Hey, if you’re afraid, you can team up with Wyatt.”

Oliver glanced at Isaac upon hearing this. Then, he took a step toward Natalie.

Natalie took a step back.

“I…”

“What? Do you want to team up with Wyatt?” Oliver asked.

Natalie could not tell if he was being sarcastic or not, but she soon heard him say, “Let’s start.”

The group’s attractive appearances quickly attracted the attention of others. Many people nearby stopped their own games to watch them play.

Wyatt stood in the middle and arranged the balls, acting as the referee. He said, “Best of three. What are the stakes?“

One of the onlookers called out, “The losers have to kiss!”

Wyatt truly admired the courage of the onlooker for daring to suggest such a thing in front of Oliver. Unexpectedly, he heard Oliver say, “Deal.”

Natalie stared at Oliver in disbelief.

“Miss Watson, are you unwilling?” Oliver asked expressionlessly.

“N-no…” Natalie did not dare to refuse Oliver.

Jane did not expect Natalie to agree so readily. After a moment, she turned around and looked at Isaac playfully as she said, “If we lose, do you really dare to kiss me?”

Isaac shook his head and said without any hesitation, “Miss Jane, I value my life very much. I have no interest in risking my life.”

Wyatt thought about it for a moment before he said, “Alright, for the both of you, if you lose, you’ll both get a smack on the arm.”

“That’s fine with me.”

Meanwhile, Natalie muttered to herself in confusion, “Why does Isaac seem afraid of Jane?”

Unexpectedly, Oliver, who was standing behind her, said, “Don’t you know?”

Natalie shook her head.

‘Should I know why?’

Oliver scoffed slightly. He was not sure if Natalie was just stupid or if Natalie just trusted Jane unconditionally. However, it was clear to him that Natalie had never asked Jane about the shocking Watkins case years ago.

At this time, Wyatt flipped a coin. With that, it was decided that Jane and Isaac would go first.

The patrons of the clubs were almost all young elites. It was not surprising that they were all somewhat acquainted with each other. However, it seemed like not many recognized Oliver.

One of the onlookers, who recognized Isaac, cheered, “Go Isaac!”

At the same time, a few women could not help but discuss among themselves.

“I don’t know who that man is, but he’s really handsome. I’m really considering asking for his phone number.”

Her friend raised her chin, gesturing at Natalie, as she said, “Can’t you see he’s interested in that woman?”

She glanced at Natalie’s strikingly beautiful face before she finally sighed in disappointment.

At this time, Jane had already hit two balls into the pocket.

Upon seeing this, Natalie felt a little nervous. She said to Oliver in a low voice, “I don’t know why I feel a bit nervous…”

“It’ll be fine,” Oliver said as he lowered his head to chalk his pool cue. His movements were elegant yet lazy, and they held a hint of arrogance.

Natalie continued to say, “But my skills are terrible…”

“If you’re skills are terrible, why do you even bother to play?” Oliver asked, showing no mercy.

‘Can’t I play to improve?’

Natalie pursed her lips.

Jane was very good at calculating the formation of the balls after she hit them, making things difficult for the opponent who went after her.

Sure enough, Natalie missed.

Isaac pocketed a ball, then it was Oliver’s turn.

Natalie said, cheering Oliver on, “You can do it!”

Natalie naturally wanted to win. She did not want to kiss Oliver. Although they were married, their relationship was not even as intimate as that of friends.

Oliver looked at her. Her voice was soft and sweet when she spoke, and her eyes were bright and clear when she looked at him. He thought she likely did not know that her current appearance was very alluring.

“We’ll get by. Don’t worry.”

Then, Oliver tossed the block of chalk to the back, and an employee hurried forward to catch it. Then, he leaned forward and took aim. His movements were fast and accurate, with a hint of leisure.

In the next second, he pocketed all the remaining balls.

The whole venue fell silent for a moment before everyone exploded in cheers.

”So cool! He’s so cool!”

“That can’t be the extent of his skills, right? It’s obvious that he was just playing casually earlier!”

“Hey, handsome! Do you have a girlfriend? What do you think about me? Can I pursue you?”

Meanwhile, Natalie looked at Oliver in shock. “You call that just getting by?”

Oliver feigned modesty and replied, “It’s just luck.”

Wyatt really wanted to see Oliver kiss Natalie, so he said, “This is not fair. The skill gap is too big. It’s not fun like this!”

Oliver put down the cue and said, “Let’s continue playing then.”

In the second round, Natalie did not pocket any balls.

When it was Jane’s turn, she almost swept the whole table clean, leaving only one ball behind.

With this, the teams came to a tie.

In the third round, Oliver flipped the coin, and he started first. He easily pocketed four balls.

“I’ll have to rely on you to win again!” Natalie said. She had the feeling of winning without exerting any effort.

‘It seems like she really doesn’t want to kiss me…’

Oliver narrowed his eyes but did not say anything.

Isaac and Wyatt exchanged a glance silently. With Oliver’s skills, they knew he could have easily pocketed for balls. There was no doubt he was intentionally downplaying his skills.