His Naughty Lessons-Chapter 285: Heartthrob

[ A/N: please note that the previous Chapter has been updated. If the version you read didn’t start with an author’s note that indicated such, please refresh for the latest revision (the original plot won’t flow naturally into this Chapter). Sorry again for the trouble and thank you! ]

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** Harper **

"You should’ve seen how popular he was in college." Julie swirled her red wine, idly watching the liquid clinging in a thick pattern to the glass. "We were always the center of attention at whichever party or club we showed up at. Imagine being swarmed by dozens of beauties at once! But he would only dance with me, of course, and that almost made a handful of my girl friends blacklist me completely from their little groups."

Harper didn’t mean to take that obvious flaunt seriously, but in pure reflex, a few scenes from the past couple of months were already flashing across her mind. The crowd of ladies circling Eli at the evening social in Hawaii. The girls in colorful bikinis surrounding him at the beach volleyball game. Even the dance they shared at the park two weekends ago ...

Damn it. She had to slam on a mental brake before going full force into imagining those scenes being a daily commonality for Eli, only with herself swapped for a different girl. She knew that wasn’t a rational thought — from the bottom of her heart, she was certain that he had eyes only for her now, and even if he had danced a thousand times with someone else in his arms before, he would’ve never looked at them the same way he looked at her. But still ... Confronted with such blatant gloating from his ex, it wasn’t that easy to stop those ugly little doubts from creeping into her mind.

Mentally shaking her head, Harper reminded herself that she couldn’t let trivial comments like this tarnish those sweet memories. "Well, I see why people say it’s best to be careful with the friends you choose." She decided to focus on a different part of the conversation instead, not giving her companion the satisfaction of seeing her jealous. "Your friends didn’t seem all that loyal, if they excluded you so easily for just a guy."

The smug expression on Julie’s face fell a little. But then she shrugged it off with a casual scoff. "What can I say, dating the heartthrob of the campus comes at a price. It’s totally worth it though, don’t you think? He’s such a treat to the eye to wake up to ... and one who takes such good care of his women as well."

Now, that was a totally different level of jealousy Harper never saw coming. Especially when she heard the "takes such good care of" stressed in a meaningful tone.

Ever since the beginning of their relationship, Eli had warned her over and over again that he wasn’t a saint when it came to women. Harper had been prepared — or at least she thought she was — because logically, she understood that all that mattered was who he chose in the end, not before. But once again, when words like this came so explicitly from a woman who had shared his bed just like herself ... It stung more than she imagined it ever could.

Shit. This conversation was not going well. Though in Harper’s defense, she wondered how it’d be possible for anyone to handle such a run-in with their boyfriend’s ex without feeling this sort of bitterness. Especially when the ex seemed to have come prepared. Every sentence was barbed, and every reference was going for the most sensitive feelings. It was difficult not to fall into dark thoughts when every word seemed to be chosen solely to provoke on purpose—

Wait.

Prepared ... On purpose ...

Fighting back all the ugly doubts that were starting to cloud her judgment, Harper tried to think. It didn’t make sense. It wasn’t like Julie had just broken up with Eli last month. Why bother, going after the current girlfriend of an ex from so long ago? And at such a high-profile gala out of all places, where the last thing anyone would want to see was a nasty fight between love rivals?

Besides, despite the obvious enmity exuding from all over this woman, she didn’t seem ... quite like the vengeful type of ex one would expect. She didn’t reminisce about how close she was to Eli, or about how much they might have been in love. Instead, every sentence she said was out for blood, as if her only purpose was to make her companion jealous and hurt.

Why? What was in it for her?

Harper pursed her lips, and she decided to probe for the answer.

"For how fondly you remember your time with him, it must’ve been a hard decision to break up." She watched Julie’s expression closely as she feigned a nonchalant look, hiding her own feelings.

As she expected, the woman was all too calm at the mention of "break up" for someone who went all the way out for a love rival. "Ah, graduation is always a tricky time for relationships. It is what it is — for some women, careers are more important than men." She smiled condescendingly once more. "I’d say the sacrifice to stay in town was worth it, especially considering where I’ve gotten to now at the largest city bank after four years."

The largest city bank?

A spark went off in Harper’s head when she remembered something Eli had once mentioned to her. That Voyage Bank was different from all the rest of its competitors, running only local investments within the city despite its unmatched capital size.

Voyage Bank ... Unless Julie was somehow already an executive or board member at such a large enterprise after four years — which was just a bit unlikely — then she must be the last-minute guest who took away Chelsea’s invitation, because of Vanessa’s meddling.

All the dots connected. No wonder the hostile attitude that seemed to come from more than a past relationship, and no wonder the perfect "memory" of a face she had seen only once four years ago!

Good scheme, Vanessa. But now two can play the game.