A Graduation Gift

Ivy immediately sensed that something was wrong when she got back to the villa. Uncertain of what it was, she decided to stand outside the yard. From there, she saw the brightly-lit house and the chaos happening inside.

Knitting her eyebrows with suspicion, she went back to the car and started the engine. Then, she saw someone suddenly walk out into the lawn beside the hallway, and start to throw up. The person was clearly intoxicated.

'What kind of people did Joel bring home?'

Ivy said to herself, irritated. She just had a very disappointing date with Clark who still seemed so indifferent to her. She was feeling very upset about it. Now, her brother just made her feel worse!

Fed up, she got out of the car and slammed the door of the car behind her fiercely. Then, she started to march towards the house in huge, heavy steps. Unexpectedly, a man walked out.

He was very tall and quite good-looking. The drunk man who just finished spilling his guts bumped into him on his way stumbling back into the house. Instead of being angry, though, the good-looking man helped him by holding on to him to keep him from falling over and smiled.

His name was Adrian. The party was starting to bore him so he decided to go out and get some fresh air. He was conserving his energy because his current priority was to get the girl he liked, drunk.

Ivy froze. Realizing how close she was to him, her knees wobbled. She could not seem to stand still.

That was the man who had a one-night stand with her! She couldn't believe her eyes.

Adrian took a deep breath, exhaled, and looked around the yard. Then, he saw Ivy. She was standing not very far away from him.

He was not so sure at first. Then, he smiled. Gradually, his smile started to spread across his face. Stretching out his hand, he waved in greeting.

Ivy, on the other hand, was frightened out of her wits. She found herself stepping back unconsciously. She did not know what to do.

Adrian laughed even more when he saw Ivy's expression.

He recognized her. She was the rich woman he slept with one time. That was a fun night. What an interesting coincidence it was that she also happened to be the owner of the villa: Joel's sister!

Suddenly, his interest on the girl inside the villa was replaced with an intense fascination with the woman outside. Adrian started to walk towards her, looking at her intently and appreciating every curve of her body.

Ivy felt the hair on her limbs stand. The reason why she had a one-night stand with Adrian was because she wanted to be pregnant. When that failed, she did not bother to contact him again.

that, Adrian's sister seemed to know Cassandra. It was another reason why Ivy wanted to avoid

expect to see him tonight, especially in her own house!

huge, charming smile. This time, Ivy was too

me, beauty? I'm not going to

like a wolf that saw a rabbit

closer! This is

attempt to feign confidence in hopes that this

polite

intimidate him at all. He slept with her once. He was certain

women. Whatever he wanted, he would

go blank. She

everyone that his family was rich so he wanted to borrow your villa

stiff when she recalled that.

else to go. If you keep stepping back, you'll soon be out of your

he continued stepping forward. He was moving closer and closer. Soon, Ivy found herself against a rail. She couldn't

on between you

felt her feet grow cold. If the man before her were faking his wealth, what happened in

making him hesitated. Soon, he responded, "Beauty, why do rich women like you believe that true friendship exists between women? When you think about it, we, the scum of this society, are actually the ones who are the most honest. Look at us. Look at how well I treated your brother. Look at how well I took care of him. From the moment he dropped out of school and started

his face was

made Ivy sad.

though he did not directly answer her question, he told

was helping her but she was

she was still Lionel's girlfriend. Amanda used her so she could drive Lionel mad. This, in turn, would please Rufus. She suddenly

furious. Maintaining her composure, she forced herself to

correct. Thank you for taking care of Joel. I hope you can really take care of him and help him do better in his life.

In her heart, she always wished that he would stop doing things that could possibly risk his

you who asked Joel to get an aphrodisiac from me. Am I right? What was it for, I wonder. Something...crooked? Come on, sweetheart. Life is a survival of the fittest. Do you think I care about what other people think? Are they the ones who will put food on my table? Honey, I