After Rebirth, I Accept The Arranged Marriage-Chapter 136: Entrapment

"I think my eyes are playing tricks on me." Jessie Sterling had only had one low-alcohol cocktail tonight. It was sweet and certainly not strong enough to get her drunk.

The bar had a small stage where a guitarist was playing a lazy, casual R&B tune. It carried a hint of relaxed romance, and Jessie couldn’t help but prop her head up with her hand, closing her eyes to enjoy it. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

But Jessie was sharp enough to feel when someone was watching her. She snapped her eyes open and turned her head, her gaze meeting that of a man in a black wool coat standing not far from the entrance.

Jessie couldn’t help but tug on Lynn Jennings’s sleeve and mumble.

Lynn Jennings could hold her liquor much better than Jessie. She had ordered a glass of whiskey.

"What’s playing tricks on you?" Lynn asked. As she spoke, she couldn’t resist following Jessie’s gaze, turning to look in the same direction.

Jessie rubbed her eyes. "I think I just saw Victor Morgan..."

She still thought it must be a hallucination. After all, the flight from home was nearly eight or nine hours. Plus, it was the end of the year. Both Quincy Sterling and Victor Morgan should be incredibly busy. There was no way he would just fly all the way here on a whim to find her.

But the man standing by the door looked so much like Victor Morgan that Jessie wasn’t sure anymore, so she kept frantically tugging on Lynn.

The moment Lynn turned her head, she was dumbfounded.

Wasn’t that President Morgan, who was supposed to be thousands of miles away in Aethelburg?

Jessie hadn’t been mistaken, of course.

As Lynn felt Jessie frantically yanking on her clothes, her own mind went blank.

’At a time like this, should I push Jessie out to save my own skin, or should I, in the name of sisterly solidarity, grab her and make a run for it?’

The two ideas collided violently in Lynn’s head for about 0.01 seconds before she quickly made a decision.

’Of course, it’s every woman for herself.’

’What’s the worst that could happen to Jessie in Victor Morgan’s hands? But in his eyes, I’m probably no different from a kidnapper who ran off with his wife.’

"You two have a good chat! President Morgan is here! I’ll be taking my leave. Call me when you’re ready to head back home." After rattling this off, Lynn slipped off her barstool. Before Jessie could even react, Lynn vanished as quickly as a fish darting into the sea.

If Jessie had previously thought seeing Victor Morgan was a hallucination, Lynn’s act of bolting and saving her own skin made it crystal clear: the man standing before them was no illusion.

Victor Morgan had really come for her.

Jessie couldn’t help but swallow nervously.

She had been baiting him with her late-night posts, but now that the fish had not only taken the hook but had also shown up uninvited, she found herself completely unprepared.

’Was Victor Morgan just any other man?’

When he wasn’t smiling, his presence alone was intimidating.

But Jessie was only nervous for a few seconds before she collected herself.

’What do I have to be nervous about?’

’Victor is the one who made me upset. I haven’t even forgiven him yet. Even if he showed up because I was baiting him, I have no reason to be scared.’

It had indeed taken Victor Morgan some effort to pinpoint Jessie’s exact location.

But when he saw that familiar figure sitting inside the bar, he suddenly felt that all the previous trouble had been worth it.

The only thing that soured Victor’s mood was that Jessie was in a bar—and this particular bar just so happened to have a lounge singer holding a beat-up guitar, singing his heart out.

Victor couldn’t control his thoughts; his mind immediately jumped to Jessie’s latest social media post that he had seen.

He couldn’t wait a second longer.

He’d already had Keegan Sanders forward all of his work to his office. After pulling several all-nighters in a row, he had finally managed to carve out enough time to fly to Finland.

There was nothing else he could do. Jessie wasn’t returning his messages and had even blocked his number. Victor knew there was no chance she would listen if he just told her to come home.

Since his wife wouldn’t come home, he had no choice but to come find her himself.

As Jessie watched Victor stride toward her, she buried her initial flicker of nervousness deep inside.

She didn’t greet him. Instead, just as he reached her, she swiveled on her stool to face away from him.

The picture of giving him the cold shoulder.

"Honey." Victor walked over and sat right down in the seat Lynn had just vacated.

Jessie turned her face away, refusing to look at him.

But she was a crier, and the moment she heard Victor’s voice, her nose began to tingle.

Deciding to ignore Victor was one thing, but actually controlling her own emotions was another matter entirely.

Jessie said, "You’re in someone else’s seat, you know."

Even though Jessie knew that heartless Lynn wouldn’t be back, she wanted to provoke Victor.

Victor said, "...Why are you out drinking again?"

Of course, Victor wasn’t going to leave over a single comment. He pretended not to hear, his eyes landing on the glass in Jessie’s hand as he reached to take it.

Jessie shot back, "What’s it to you?"

Victor was starting to get it now. No matter what he said, Jessie had a sharp comeback ready.

’Can I even get angry?’

’Didn’t I bring this all on myself?’

"You can’t hold your liquor," Victor said softly, trying to persuade her. "Besides, it’s not safe for you and Lynn to be out by yourselves."

’If she’s going to drink, she should at least call me.’

Jessie retorted, "I’m perfectly safe."

Victor felt a bit helpless. When his wife wasn’t angry with him, things were easy. But now, anyone could see that Jessie was determined to oppose him.

"You’re a mean drunk," he said.

"What?! How is that possible?" Jessie shot back, dissatisfied. "Victor Morgan, don’t you dare make things up."

"You start hitting people when you’re drunk." Victor replied almost instantly.

"I do not!"

"On New Year’s Day, you slapped me."

"..."

Jessie had been looking Victor right in the eye, arguing with him.

How could she have known Victor would be so cunning and pull such an unpredictable move? He’d hit her with a trump card, and all she could do was frantically look away.

’Fine, so I did slap him on New Year’s Day.’

There’s a rule about not hitting people in the face, and Jessie felt she must have had some serious nerve to lay a hand on Victor Morgan like that.