When night falls, the streets of country B completely shed the calm, peaceful clothes of the day, becoming bustling with irresistible shimmering beauty. Erina was overwhelmed as she looked up at the skyscrapers glowing in colorful electric light.
Kelvin drove around for her to see and feel the vibrant life of the “night owls” before taking her to the neighborhood with countless bars, discos, and the most luxurious clubs. The place is known as the capital's most famous entertainment spot.
FS discotheque belongs to the multi-industry group Wine Life and is very famous for its bustling nightly atmosphere and huge gilded dance floor.
The customers here are diverse, including the middle class and the upper class. Most of them were sons and daughters of powerful tycoons as well as famous stars. Tourists from all over the world came here with the purpose of meeting their idols.
Erina walked timidly beside Kelvin, her small hand unconsciously holding onto his shirt. She did not expect that he would take her to such a luxurious place that was beyond her imagination.
The luxurious, clean, shiny interior, modern stereo system, talented DJs, and extremely hot bikini-clad waiters have brought the Wine Life group huge revenue of up to tens of millions of dollars each year.
The two walked through the crowd and sat at a table close to the wall. Seeing Erina's face twitch, Kelvin smiled and glanced at the dancing crowd.
“Coming here without a drop of alcohol in your body is really uncomfortable.”
“I feel like my heart is about to burst.” Erina frowned and shouted.
The music was so deafening that every time they wanted to say something, they had to hold their heads and shout into each other's ears to be able to hear.
When the waiter brought the wine to the table, Erina saw that Kelvin did not let them open it but took the bottle, shook it vigorously, then turned on the flashlight on his phone to shine on it, and observed it.
“Open it.” He turned to the female waitress and gestured as he spoke.
Waiting for the waitress to leave, Erina leaned closer to Kelvin and looked surprised.
“What were you doing just now?”
“I checked to see if it was fake wine or not.” He handed the glass of wine to her, winked, and told her to shake it well, then brought it to her lips to enjoy.
Looking at the bewildered face of the girl from Young Market company, Kelvin was really discouraged. Finally, after finishing the first glass, he slowly analyzed for her how to distinguish real wine from fake wine.
Erina seemed to want to swallow every word he said. It turned out that observing the bubbles would help determine whether the product was real or fake. After hesitating for a long time, she reached out to pick up the intact bottle of wine on the table, imitating his movements.
When she saw the bubbles gathering around the edges and settling slowly, she couldn't help but exclaim.
“Kelvin, this bottle of wine is fake.”
“Yeah. Are you so happy? It has nothing to do with you, huh?”
“Huh? What?”
After looking at him, Erina looked at the wine bottle again. The moment she realized it was one of the Young Market company's export products, her tongue suddenly stiffened. How could she be so careless that she didn't notice?
Even though Erina doesn't like Hubert and even though his company is going downhill, she doesn't care, but unfortunately, she is now playing the role of his family member. Just now, she was so happy, so what would Kelvin think of her? She felt like an idiot.
“Erina, if you have any difficulties, please tell me. I will do my best to help you with anything you need in my ability.” Kelvin put down his glass and said.
“You know what I'm thinking?” Erina kept her head bowed and asked.
“All day today, you walked by my side, happy and smiling, but the worry on your face showed that you were having trouble at work.”
Hearing him say this, Erina raised her head. What kind of identity did the man in front of her have? How many types of people had he interacted with to be able to guess other people's thoughts so clearly?
After a few minutes of hesitation, Erina told Kelvin about the mission that Hubert had given her. She also held out hope that he had some relationship with the dance halls and bars under the Wine Life group to help her approach the wine warehouse manager.
“You suspect that the warehouse manager swapped the wine, right? Bring in cheap wine, smuggle real wine out, and resell it to make money?” Kelvin shook the glass of wine in his hand, squinting at Erina.
“That's all I can think of right now. Wine Life Group affirmed that they only import directly from the distribution branch of Young Market company and do not import goods from other places.”
Erina's appearance at this moment made Kelvin feel pitiful. She was like a baby bird that had just left the nest, bewildered and stupid but had to go to a strange place with a mission that seemed impossible.
Did she think that if she just met the managers and asked a few questions, they would reveal all their sins?
“Just relax and have fun today, I promise to arrange to take you to meet them, and if necessary, go straight to the warehouse to check.” He patted her shoulder, reassuring her.
“Can you do that? Kelvin, I didn't hear wrongly, right?” Erina widened her eyes, looking excited.
Kelvin nodded slightly, his lips curled into a smile that brought a sense of security to the girl. Not knowing how to thank him, Erina quickly picked up the bottle of wine, respectfully poured more into her benefactor's glass, and boldly invited him to drink with her.
In just one day, Kelvin saw that Erina's body was already accepting alcohol well. If she becomes addicted to alcohol in the future, Henry cannot blame him. Henry gave the egg to the magpie, so how could the egg have a good ending?
Erina realized that she had no knowledge about wine, so when she finished her second glass, she lowered her voice and begged Kelvin to show her how to become a wine connoisseur, at least when she was drinking.
Although she didn't ask for help, Kelvin also intended to teach her. So, he enthusiastically provided all the theories from choosing glasses, pouring methods, serving temperatures, and choosing suitable food to match each type of wine.
“Do you have a girlfriend, Kelvin?” Erina smiled and probed.
“Why are you asking that? Girlfriend related to wine?” He blushed and said.
“Mr. Kelvin, you are very nice. Whoever marries you must be very lucky. My friend is a future doctor, beautiful, good-natured, and has never loved anyone. Honestly, I really want her to meet a man like you.”
“Let's talk about that later, Erina, I still want to be single.”
Because Kelvin showed no interest, Erina stopped talking about this topic. Both of them temporarily forgot everything, relaxed their minds, and immersed themselves in the bustling atmosphere around them.
When Kelvin called the waiter to pay, Erina took the opportunity to ask the waitress where the restroom was and quickly left. He smiled lightly, stood up, took out his wallet to pay, and sat down to wait. To please her, he also paid for the fake bottle of wine so she could take it home as study material.
While tapping his hands on the table to the beat of the music, he suddenly saw the phone on the opposite side light up. The name Clement appeared clearly on the screen, causing Kelvin's eyebrows to furrow and then relax immediately.
When the two of them left FS, it was already ten o'clock at night. The momentary joy was left behind at the dance hall and sadness continued to invade their minds. The flashy appearance on the outside could not fill the emptiness and coldness in their hearts every night.
When they arrived, Kelvin leaned over to the back seat, took out the box and the bottle of wine, and handed them to Erina. She was surprised, so she quickly opened the lid of the box and what she saw inside was a high-quality skipping rope.
“Make it up to you. Girls who learn martial arts are very attractive.”
“Master said that jumping rope will help me move flexibly, and increase my speed and agility, so I caught the end of the rope you threw to me accurately. Thank you, Kelvin, good night.”
After saying that, Erina bowed her head and hurriedly got out of the car. Kelvin waited for her to enter the house and lock the gate carefully before driving away.
She reached into her bag, took out her phone, and searched for Clement's name, calling him back. Just now, Kelvin was beside her, so it was a bit inconvenient to answer the phone, so she ignored it even though it vibrated continuously.
As soon as the bell stopped ringing, she heard Clement's worried voice.
“Erina, are you still ok? Why didn't you pick up when I called you?”
“I... I went out to dinner and went for a walk. I put it... on vibrate and put it in my bag.” She answered while hiccupping.
“Erina, have you been drinking? Your voice…”
“You guessed right. I drank almost half a bottle of red wine.”
Then, without giving Clement a chance to say anything more, Erina rambled on about the FS nightclub and the irresistible street food, and she also bragged to him that she had learned how to hold a glass of wine, pour it, and drink it.
“Darling, who did you go with? A man?” He continuously asked.
“Yes, a very handsome and rich man, but... not as good as you. Honey... I miss you, I miss you so much.” She collapsed on the bed, crying bitterly.
Knowing that Erina was drunk and asking too many questions would only make her more tired, Clement immediately comforted her in a gentle voice, advising her to go to bed early. He also did not hesitate to express his love for her.
After a while of saying “Uh, huh”, Erina closed her eyes and fell asleep. The phone slowly fell from her thin hand, leaving only the sound of steady breathing reaching the man's ears.