Callum slightly closed his eyes while looking rather weary. “Just go back.”
Unwilling to let him go, Emma leaned even closer to him. “Callum, I’m only here to have a little fun with you. Don’t tell me you’re so mean.”
Callum opened his eyes. “How did you know I’m here?”
A smile appeared on Emma’s face. “It’s because we’re telepathically connected, of course… Alright, I was just joking. It was Arthur who told me that you’re here.”
“How did Arthur know that I’m here?” Callum narrowed his eyes; for some reason, he felt kind of uncomfortable deep down.
Thinking that Callum was finally paying attention to Arthur and changing his attitude toward him, Emma hurriedly replied, “That’s got to be because he cares about you. You’re his eldest brother, and besides, he’s very sorry about the previous conflict between you two. He told me last time that he was looking for an opportunity to apologize to you in private.”
Naturally, Callum didn’t buy her story, but before he could ask her about it, he noticed Elspeth coming toward himself.
“Well, if it isn’t Elspeth! What brings you here to Luna Bar as well?”
Callum never expected Elspeth to come to the bar, nor did he expect her to find him here. For a moment, he didn’t know what to say.
Elspeth let out a sneer. “What does my coming to a bar have to do with you?”
“It has nothing to do with me, of course, but no decent lady would come to a bar alone at such a late hour, no? Not to mention you have to watch yourself as Callum’s girlfriend… Back when I was going out with him, he never allowed me to go to a bar,” Emma replied. Recalling the sweet moments that she had shared with Callum back then, she covered her mouth and giggled, looking all bashful.
Elspeth smiled a faint smile. “Callum has never restricted me on this. Perhaps it’s because you look especially adulterous to him?”
“How dare you!” Emma’s face turned livid with rage. This Elspeth lady really has a caustic tongue that puts people at a loss for a retort! “Look at your girlfriend, Callum! She’s got such a fiery temper; she’s not gentle at all.”
She had wanted to act coquettish in front of Callum, only to find him saying nothing; he had no intention of sticking up for her at all.
Elspeth didn’t want to continue listening to Emma babbling. She turned to look at the man right away, asking, “Callum, are you going home?”
Callum didn’t answer her. Not only that, he even slowly closed his eyes.
Emma taunted, “Say, Elspeth, are you blind or something? Callum is obviously in a bad mood. Aren’t you upsetting him by pushing him to go home right now?” Thinking she knew Callum very well, she spoke in a voice full of consideration for the man.
Elspeth looked daggers at her. “It’s not your place to interrupt when I’m speaking to Callum!”
She had a pair of pretty eyes that were full of tenderness, but when they were ablaze with fury, even Emma had the daylights scared out of her, to the extent that she shuddered with fright.
Only then did Callum slowly say, “You go home first, Elspeth.”
He was openly chasing her away.
Elspeth took a step forward. Seeing how Callum’s eyes were as calm as a stagnant pool of water, she could hardly suppress the bitterness in her heart. “Callum, are you telling me to leave?”
Callum said nothing while looking as usual.
Elspeth took a deep breath. Then, she said impassively, “I’m staying.”
“Don’t you know what’s good for yourself, Elspeth? Callum already asked you to leave, so why are you insisting on staying?”
Emma was inwardly pleased with herself. She was understandably delighted, for Callum had defended her without hesitation in front of Elspeth. As expected, as long as I keep at it, Callum will fall in love with me again sooner or later!
“Talk nonsense again and I’ll have you thrown out of here, Emma!” Elspeth wished she could stitch up Emma’s lips when she saw how Emma kept going on at her.
Emma let out a snort of laughter. “You want to have me thrown out of here? Who do you think you are? This place isn’t yours!”
“This place is mine.” Elspeth stood while looking down at Emma, being a head taller than the latter.
Emma’s countenance changed at once. “What do you mean?”
“This bar is mine. Don’t you worry that I’ll have you thrown out of here after you yelled at me on my turf like that?”
Elspeth loved to see the look on Emma’s face when the latter was displeased with her yet unable to do anything about her.
Just when the atmosphere between the three grew somewhat awkward, Harper came over after having gotten Brianna settled. When he saw how Emma clung to Callum, who didn’t turn her down right away, his inner dislike for the man grew. Then, looking at Elspeth beside them, he let out a whistle, saying, “Elspeth, why are you here? Everyone’s looking for you. The young man in a basketball jersey just now liked you a lot. He even asked me for your phone number, so I gave it to him.”
Callum’s hands balled into fists in secret when he heard this.
Harper continued, “I was sorry about that at first, Mr. Winthrop, but judging from the way you look, I guess you won’t mind it. After all… you’re having another lady in your arms.” Although he addressed Callum respectfully as Mr. Winthrop, his words were full of ridicule and disdain for the latter.
Seeing no change in the man’s expression, Elspeth was disappointed deep down. “Let’s go.”
“Yeah, come on! They’re all waiting to toast you.”
Just when Harper held Elspeth’s arm and was about to leave with her, Callum suddenly stood up. Then, his voice rang. “Let’s go home.”
Startled, Elspeth curled her lips into a smirk. “Callum, I thought you weren’t going home, weren’t you?”
Harper let out a snorting laugh. “Aww, what a spoiler.”
Seeing that Callum would still be visibly moved by Elspeth, Emma was incredibly displeased. “Callum, why are you going home now?”
Callum quietly looked into Elspeth’s eyes without paying attention to anyone else. “Let’s go home together.”
Elspeth didn’t let him have his way, though. She asked with a smile, “Say, Callum, are you being jealous?”
“It’s bad for a lady to have drinks out there at night.”
“So, you’re not being jealous?”
“No, I’m not.”
“Why?”
“Harper is one of your people.”
The smile on Elspeth’s face vanished at once. “Leave me alone, then.” She turned to smile charmingly at Harper. “Come on, let’s get a couple more drinks and drink ourselves drunk before going home.” With that, she turned around and left without even sparing Callum a side glance.
Emma looked at Callum’s face; it didn’t show any strong emotion, but she could nonetheless sense a hint of dejection from it. “Callum, don’t be upset over such a woman. I’ll always stay by your side,” she said, assuming a kind and understanding demeanor while looking at him with eyes full of pity.
Callum’s voice was full of indifference. “You should go back early. If a public figure like you gets photographed while lingering at a bar… Surely you don’t want to appear on the news tomorrow.”
Emma leaned over to him. “I’m not leaving, Callum. I’m staying here with you.” Seeing that only half of the man’s drink was left in the glass, she checked the time as her lips curled into a smile. The drug will take effect very soon.
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