His Naughty Lessons-Chapter 258: Exclusive Invitation

** Eli **

"I see there’s something tastier than brunch going on here." May leaned over the salad bar and regarded the two new arrivers with a meaningful expression. Clearly, she had already reconstructed the whole scene of their love history in her head based on two sentences alone. "So my prediction in the early days wasn’t far off — you two are really living the best life of kinky dreams together! Don’t forget to thank me someday for all the help I pushed on you, Harper."

Hmm? Help? What help? Suspiciously, Eli looked over to Harper, wondering what reference it was that he missed, though his suspicion only grew stronger when his girlfriend grinned without explaining.

"May, you’re starting to talk like me and raising your voice too much with that K word." Chelsea came up and pinned her friend with a warning look. "Be a little more sensitive! Look at these two lovebirds all dressed up for a romantic date! Surely they were talking about a different type of stunt that’s too innocent for your unholy mind to imagine. Right Harper?"

Harper replied with an elbow to Chelsea’s side, and the three gossip girls giggled together.

"We came from a tailor’s appointment," Harper said when the joking was done. "Wait, no Chelsea, don’t give me that look. It wasn’t for a wedding dress or anything! Eli is getting me ready for a summer party at the end of the month, and apparently I need a crazy formal evening dress for the occasion. So that appointment took us all morning and then some. Now I’m famished and can probably finish off the whole buffet station myself."

"Don’t do that, you still need to fit in your crazy formal evening dress in a few weeks." May gave her a friendly reminder.

Chelsea, on the other hand, suddenly looked pensive. "A formal summer party at the end of the month? It’s not the one at Garden Royale, is it?"

"It is. The finance district’s annual gala," Eli replied when Harper darted him a confirming look. He hadn’t given his girlfriend the full details about the venue yet, though apparently Chelsea was already in the loop. Expectedly so, he supposed, for someone who was also working in finance.

But then Chelsea’s expression started looking ... even more pensive, and a little dark.

"Oh great. Now you’ve found the perfect victims to whine about that gala invitation to." May patted Chelsea’s shoulder before turning to the two newcomers. "Well, I was heading out, but you guys enjoy the chat. Don’t forget to let Chelsea leave you some time to get food before the buffet closes!"

The blue-haired girl sauntered past, leaving Eli and Harper staring at Chelsea in puzzlement.

"Argh. F my life." Chelsea, having suddenly turned into a different person exuding a pissed air, passed them each a plate and gestured for them to start getting their food. "So, since you guys are going, I assume you’re aware that this is an ultra exclusive event for the top finance circle in the city, with a very limited quota for guests by invitation only? Typically you’d only get a chance to go if you’re connected directly to some important CEO, such as the case with Mr. Billionaire Heir here."

Eli wasn’t sure if he liked that title ... but he nodded at the fact nonetheless as he started adding slices of toast to his plate.

"It’s arguably the most coveted annual event in our field, so naturally, Voyage Bank has an unwritten tradition to take advantage of it. Every year, one lucky employee gets to be invited to the gala without requiring personal connections. And according to what happened in the past whole decade, that lucky person has always been the Employee of the Year. It’s an effective strategy, if you think about it, to use the huge appeal of the event to make people work hard and fight for the Employee of the Year award."

"The gala is that popular?" Harper asked, sounding a bit skeptical.

"A lot of bankers consider it the best opportunity to network and build relationships for future career advancements," Eli offered. In his current position, he wasn’t personally interested in such a thing himself, but he understood well the need for such connections. "Let me guess, Chelsea — you went for the Employee of the Year to try your hands at the invitation?"

"Heck, I worked my ass off all year for it!" Chelsea groaned indignantly. "Not for an honorable reason like building career connections though, Mr. Heir. I just want to see the gala. I heard it’s a whole red carpet show with all kinds of hot men and gorgeous women and private collectors’ liquor. Harper knows me here — I just want to experience a world class party like that!"

Harper snorted a laugh without comment.

"But guess what," Chelsea continued, "after I won the Employee of the Year with all the hard work I put into it, I wasn’t invited! The gala invitation just came out yesterday, and it’s the first time in over ten years that the name on it isn’t the Employee of the Year!"

"Wait, seriously?" Harper paused in the middle of scooping up some scrambled eggs. "Was it ... a mistake?"

Eli, however, didn’t dare to think the surprise could be that simple. "Was it Vanessa?" he asked straightforwardly without beating around the bush.

He had hoped that the baseball game last month was already behind them, or at least as far as this side of the repercussions were concerned. Chelsea had merely been a witness who happened to be there at the wrong time, not even directly related to any of the shit that hit the fan. But somehow, instinct told Eli that this was Vanessa getting back at the poor girl and letting out her steam on completely the wrong target.

Harper’s eyes widened at his suggestion. Apparently the sweet angel could barely even imagine anyone being so vicious toward such an innocent victim.

Chelsea sighed. "I’ve no idea if she did anything shady, to be honest. She gets her own invitation with her daddy, of course, but it seems like the person who replaced me on the guest list is a new buddy she just made recently, so it’s not entirely impossible that this was her doing."

There was an awkward silence as the three of them took the food to a nearby table and sat down.

"Hey, is this something we can help her with?" Harper nudged Eli lightly and asked, worry knitting her brow. "I mean, the whole situation most likely started because of us. I kind of feel like we should be responsible ... Could you maybe take Chelsea as a guest too? Like, a plus-two or something?"

Chelsea, who had just started to drink a glass of orange juice, suddenly choked and started coughing violently.

"Harper, sweetie, you must be the best friend to ever exist in this universe. Are you seriously offering your guy to me as a date for such a big party? And letting everyone in the city’s business circle know that you and I are what, bitch-fighting over the Sterling heir? I’m sure that would be a super exciting show to watch."