Mia Kane was still in the restroom.

She stared at the glaringly red invitation, finding it laughable.

’He invited his ex-wife to his engagement party and is demanding her blessing? What is he thinking?’

’How is this any different from blessing Vivian Lynch and Chase Lockwood?’

He had assaulted her. The fact that she hadn’t cursed him with the most venomous words imaginable was generous enough. How dare he ask for her blessing?

He was about to get engaged, so what was trapping her in the restroom and forcing a kiss on her all about?

Mia Kane felt wronged to an extreme. ’Adrian Preston is sick in the head,’ she thought, ’seriously sick.’

She returned to Shayla Quinn’s apartment, utterly crestfallen, not expecting to find her home today.

"Weren’t you on a business trip?"

"It was canceled at the last minute, so I didn’t go. Your eyes..."

Mia Kane’s eyes were red, a clear sign she had been crying.

Mia hadn’t gone back to the office, afraid that Owen Sinclair would worry if he saw her. She had planned to come back here to rest and calm down, but she hadn’t expected to be seen after all.

"What’s this?"

Shayla Quinn spotted the invitation in her hand, took it for a look, and immediately understood why Mia was crying.

"This is too much! Adrian Preston actually invited you to his engagement party? Even for an amicable divorce, this is going way too far!"

"Mia, is this why you were crying?"

Mia Kane nodded, not daring to mention that Adrian Preston had forced a kiss on her.

"I’m not going."

"Why not? Not only should you go, but you should go dressed to the nines. If you don’t, people will think you’re scared."

Shayla Quinn immediately grabbed her phone, fiddled with it for a moment, and then held it out in front of her.

It was a photo of a handsome man.

"Who is this?"

"Your date for the party! Isn’t he hot?"

"Where did you find him?"

Mia Kane was stunned.

"He’s a male escort I’ve had my eye on. He’s new to the business, so he’s still ’clean.’ His appearance fee is too high, so I can’t even think about it, but you can! You’re rich now."

"Book him, take him with you, and show Adrian Preston that you’re doing just fine without him. Show him you’re not short on love, or on people to make love with. He’s not the only one who found a partner—you have one too!"

"That makes sense."

Mia Kane couldn’t help but nod. If she didn’t go, it would look like she was intimidated.

So, she had to go.

’If I go all alone, Adrian will just laugh at me with Charlotte on his arm.’

Why should he get to be glamorous and successful after the divorce while she was left a mess? She could live well too.

"Send me this male escort’s contact. I’ll book him!"

"Sis, you better be good to him."

Shayla Quinn tearfully sent his contact information over to her.

Mia Kane quickly added him and booked his schedule for next month, planning to hire him for a few days to see how it went.

Just then, Shayla Quinn suddenly shrieked.

"Mia, have you seen the trending topics?"

"What’s wrong?"

"The Lawson family, the one you’re always at odds with, just had a huge scandal blow up! Isn’t Mrs. Lawson from the second branch of the family? The main branch controls everything, so she should be walking on eggshells, but she’s always so flamboyant in public. It’s all because the ’Second Uncle’ in the family dotes on her husband, his nephew."

"Now it’s been exposed online that her husband is actually the Second Uncle’s illegitimate son! The Second Uncle and his sister-in-law had an affair—he cuckolded his own brother. Now the uncle is under a full investigation, his position is at risk, and the Lawson family is in utter chaos. It’s so bad someone almost got killed."

Stunned, Mia Kane immediately checked the trending topics.

The story was that at a family banquet, a servant made an offhand comment about how Mrs. Lawson’s husband looked a lot like the Second Uncle and not like his own father.

Because of that one comment, Mr. Lawson had a DNA test done and discovered the son wasn’t his.

Normally, a scandal of this magnitude in a wealthy family would never be exposed. After all, it’s a pyrrhic victory.

Moreover, the Second Uncle had an excellent track record and was a patron of the Lawson family. Any internal strife probably wouldn’t have been made public.

So why, out of nowhere, was it all made public?

Mia Kane subconsciously touched her own cheek. The mark from the slap had completely faded.

’Could it be... Adrian?’

But then she dismissed the idea. This was too big of a move; it couldn’t have been accomplished overnight.

Even if Adrian Preston had decided on the spot to get revenge on the Lawson family, he couldn’t have exposed a scandal like this so quickly.

Besides, she had been going through such a hard time recently, and Adrian hadn’t lifted a finger to help. Why would he destroy the Lawson family just because Mrs. Lawson slapped her?

’It’s probably just a coincidence.’

Mrs. Lawson had been bullying people with her borrowed power for too long. It was good to see her finally reaping what she sowed.

"This is more dramatic than a primetime soap opera! The younger uncle had an affair with his sister-in-law and even had his older brother raise his child for him. Do you think the older brother suspected something? Otherwise, why would he give all the benefits to his eldest son and nothing to the younger one, when they were both supposedly his sons?"

Shayla Quinn was still engrossed in the gossip. Since it wasn’t about the entertainment industry, it wasn’t part of her beat, so she could enjoy some downtime.

"Hmm? Why aren’t you saying anything? Aren’t you happy about this?"

Shayla Quinn noticed that Mia Kane seemed to be lost in thought.

Ever since the divorce, she was always spacing out. Her mental state was poor, and Shayla was especially worried.

"I am happy. ’The wicked will be punished by the wicked.’ I’m just tired, I’m going to get some rest."

"Did you work things out with that ’young master’?"

"Yep. He’s going to accompany me to the engagement party next month. Then we can ’study’ his eight-pack abs!"

"Sis, I get to benefit from your good fortune again."

Shayla Quinn excitedly hugged her and gave her a big smooch on the cheek. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

It was already the end of the month. Adrian Preston’s engagement was at the beginning of next month, so there wasn’t much time left.

Mia Kane went to the studio every day. Besides facing the cold shoulder, she also had to design uniforms for the cleaning ladies and the gown for the engagement party.

She chose a blue velvet fabric, which looked noble and elegant.

She also specially asked a friend abroad to have a set of yellow jewelry air-freighted over. The contrasting colors would complement each other perfectly.

When Owen Sinclair saw her working on a custom gown, he couldn’t help but ask curiously.

"Did you get a commission?"

"No, I’m designing it for myself. Adrian Preston’s engagement party is next month, so I only have time to make a simple and elegant design. There’s no time for hand embroidery."

"You’re going to Adrian Preston’s engagement party? Was it your idea, or... or did Adrian invite you?"

"He invited me, of course."

"What on earth is he trying to do? Why don’t you go with me? I’ll publicly announce that you’re my girlfriend. That way you won’t be put in an awkward position."

"I’ve already found a date. Thank you for the kind offer, Senior."

"You found a date?" This time it was Owen Sinclair’s turn to be surprised. "Who? Is there another man in your life? How come I don’t know about him?"

"I hired a very handsome male escort. He’s attended these kinds of events before, so he shouldn’t get stage fright."

"A male escort? You... Mia, Adrian Preston will definitely find out."

"I’m not afraid of him finding out. I have no intention of hiding his identity; he’s an escort. I might even take him home with me that night. After all, I’ve booked all his time!"

"Then why can’t you go with me?"

"It would just get messy. I’m divorced from Adrian, but you and he are still like brothers. There’s no need to create an awkward situation between you because of me. Senior, I appreciate the thought, but I can handle this myself."

Owen Sinclair didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He had been so direct, and she still didn’t get it?

He liked her—he liked her a lot. He didn’t care that she had been kidnapped before, nor did he care that she had been married to Adrian Preston.

He only hated that he had been too late. One step behind, always a step behind!

He mustered his courage, feeling that this was the perfect opportunity.

He suddenly grabbed Mia Kane’s hand. She froze for a second. "Hmm?"

"Mia, listen to me..."