Chapter 4

Worried that Jacob might wake up any moment, Nicole tiptoed out of bed to change her clothes, only to find that her dress had been torn to shreds. She gritted her teeth and put on Jacob's shirt. She held her tattered clothes in her arms as she sneaked out of the room. She walked so fast that she didn't notice a voluptuous woman entering the hallway as she stepped into the elevator. She was cursing on her phone as she headed toward the room Nicole had just left. "All right, Ms. Amy. I'll think of a way to handle the movie situation. I'm still here with Jacob. Once I've taken care of him, we'll get everything we want!" Sarah hastily hung up the phone. She ran to the door. While she was hesitating whether to bribe a staff member for a room card, she noticed that the door was ajar. She was taken aback. She cautiously pushed the door open, only to be hit by a strong, indescribable scent. "What's going on?" Seeing as Jacob was about to wake up, Sarah wasted no time. She quickly shut the door, undressed herself, and slipped into Jacob's embrace. As Jacob slowly opened his eyes, she feigned a lazy tone and clung to him. "Jacob…" After a brief moment of confusion, Jacob instantly sobered up. He sat up abruptly and frowned as he stared at Sarah. Sarah's heart raced, yet she clung to Jacob. She tried to hold his arm. "It's all right. I won't use this against you. As long as I can stay by your side, I'm happy enough…" Before she could touch him, he slapped her arm away. Jacob's dark eyes seemed to pierce into her soul. "You drugged me, didn't you?" Sarah's pupils shrank. She straightened up and avoided his scrutinizing gaze. She forced a stiff smile and replied, "How could that be? Do you really see me that way?" "I'm aware of my tolerance for alcohol." Jacob looked at her coldly. "It was just three glasses of red wine." Under his probing, Sarah braced herself and insisted that he was simply acting out of drunkenness. Noticing her evasive eyes, Jacob raised his eyebrows. He got up to put on his clothes and realized his shirt was missing. He frowned. As he was about to ask, he noticed a glint near the pocket of his pants. With the action of putting on his pants, he calmly picked up the accessory and slipped it into his pocket before turning to Sarah, who was naked. He spoke coldly, "Get out. We'll talk about this after I finish my business." Sarah didn't dare to say a word. She quickly got dressed and headed for the door. "Hold on!" Jacob suddenly called out. Sarah turned around in panic, causing her pair of pearl earrings to sway. "I have a meeting at the company tomorrow. You can go to the family lunch by yourself." After Sarah closed the door behind her, Jacob slowly took out the earring from his hand. It was a butterfly earring made of tiny diamonds. After changing clothes in the VIP dressing room, Nicole used Jacob's shirt as a rag. She used it to wrap her shredded dress and broken high heels in it before tossing the whole bundle into a trash can in the parking lot. Sue had left due to an urgent matter and left the car keys with Nicole. As Nicole walked toward the parking space, she frowned. She remembered what happened last night. She had never expected Jacob to be the person behind everything. The resort project had taken a year and a half from bidding to planning. There was no way she could give up now. Feeling irritated, she brushed her disheveled hair behind her ear but froze when she touched her bare earlobe. Where was her earring? That was a gift from her grandfather, Keith Lane, for her eighteenth birthday! She could sense something bad was going to happen. "Damn Jacob! I've had the worst luck meeting a bastard like you!" Going back to find her earring was clearly unrealistic, so Nicole carefully tucked the remaining one into the inner pocket of her purse. Feeling dejected, she clicked on the car remote and found the Ferrari supercar that Sue had left for her in the far-right corner. The supercar was squeezed into the parking space at a tricky and weird angle that could only accommodate one car. Right next to it was a Bentley that Nicole knew too well—it was Jacob's regular ride. The best solution would be to call the staff and have Jacob move his car first. Forcing the supercar out would definitely lead to some scraping. Nicole tossed the car keys in her hand. Her eyes roamed over the freshly polished black Bentley before a mischievous smile spread across her face. Jacob had just finished a voice meeting in the VIP suite when Sarah eagerly squeezed into the room. The nervousness she forced on her face could barely hide her joy underneath it. Jacob tossed his phone aside and reached for a glass of champagne. He seemed to remember something and irritably pushed the bottle away. He crossed his legs on the couch and spoke coldly, "Say it. What do you want?" Sarah was taken aback. She hurriedly responded in a soft voice, "Jacob, you have misunderstood me. I don't intend to threaten you. I just—" "So what do you want in return?" Jacob fiddled with a Swiss army knife impatiently. He casually spoke, "Money, status, or resources?" As Sarah was about to speak, Jacob raised his hand to cut off her long-winded speech. "I'm in a hurry. Spare me your clichéd TV drama lines." It was awkward for Sarah. She observed Jacob's expression for a moment before finally mustering the courage to speak up. "I heard that the movie director, Kenney Meyers, is coming back in a few days to shoot a movie. I want…" "All right," Jacob agreed instantly. "Anything else? Say it all at once. I don't do installments." Seemingly stung by his cold and ruthless attitude, Sarah's eyes turned red. Her voice took on a tearful tone. "Is this what you think of me? If so, then I'd rather have nothing. I just want to stay by your side forever." "You have quite an appetite." Jacob quickly wrote a series of numbers on a piece of paper and handed it to Sarah. "Call this number. Mention my name, and tell them what you want. From now on, the entire studio will be at your service." Sarah frowned. She recognized a familiar name among the numbers. Her eyes widened in shock. "Isn't this the top-tier agency in the world? Jacob, you are too generous!" Jacob's phone suddenly rang. He made a gesture to cut off Sarah's exclamation. He frowned as he answered. "I told you to leave me alone before 3:00 am—What? The car was smashed?"