As expected, Sylvia Ran's words instantly made everyone around Ethan Yin's expression turn subtly awkward.
Plenty of people here knew Ethan Yin.
Even if they looked down on the Yin family's second young master, he was still a Yin—someone you really couldn't afford to cross.
So even if Sylvia Ran disliked Ethan Yin, she wouldn't dare take him head-on.
Who didn't know the current Yin CEO was fiercely protective of his family?
Joe Qi grinned and sidled up to Cecilia Gu, "Hey, hey, hey, your second brother just got punched. As his sister-in-law, you seriously not gonna do anything?"
"Whether I'm really his sister-in-law isn't the point. You're the host tonight. As the host, are you just gonna watch this circus and do nothing?" Cecilia shot back at Joe Qi.
Joe Qi pinched his chin, eyes twinkling with mischief. After all, he was the one who popped Sylvia Ran's cherry...
Just as Joe Qi was hesitating about whether to help, a commotion broke out at the door.
Cecilia Gu followed the crowd's gaze toward the door.
At the villa's door, a Rolls-Royce did a gorgeous drift and stopped perfectly right in front.
A squad of bodyguards stood in two crisp lines. The car door swung open, and a sharply dressed figure stepped out slowly.
When Cecilia Gu saw who it was, she was completely speechless.
She'd brought a girl as her date, while Charles Yin showed up with a guy.
She brought Rona Muir, Charles brought Sean Kerr.
When Rona Muir saw Sean Kerr show up as Charles's plus-one, she nearly spit out her wine!
Tonight, Charles Yin was stupidly handsome—deep purple, tailored suit hugging his frame, those devilishly good looks making people wonder if he was some kind of vampire count.
Cecilia Gu gaped for a long moment before finally muttering, "Is he here to stir things up tonight?"
Joe Qi looked at Charles Yin, all mournful, and answered Cecilia, "Of course he's here to stir things up! He looks so good—who else can even compete?"
Cecilia nodded, totally agreeing.
At that moment, everyone in the room—men and women alike—had their eyes glued to Charles Yin.
He was irresistible to all.
The moment Charles walked in, he spotted Cecilia Gu among the crowd.
Charles made his way in slowly, and the crowd fell completely silent, staring at him in awe.
Everyone already knew Charles was drop-dead gorgeous, but he’d never gone out of his way to look this... tempting before.
He even hated it when people drooled over his looks.
If any woman lost her composure in front of him, or any man stared at him with obvious envy, that person was doomed.
So Charles got into the habit of keeping things simple, never going overboard with his appearance.
But tonight, he did the exact opposite.
Not only did he look stunning, he was practically radiating masculine charm.
The moment he turned it on, everyone in the room—even the family dog—was knocked out by his charm.
Compared to the dazzling Charles, Sean Kerr was basically invisible.
Sean was actually pretty handsome—tall, elegant, a total heartthrob wherever he went.
Anywhere else, women would be screaming for him.
Too bad he was standing next to Charles.
With Charles around, all the spotlight was stolen.
When they walked in together, everyone subconsciously ignored Sean.
Cecilia struggled to tear her gaze away and glanced around. Everyone else was doing the same thing—staring at Charles, totally spaced out.
Handsome men are dangerous.
Even Sylvia Ran, who’d just been slapped by Ethan Yin, couldn’t take her eyes off Charles.
Cecilia tilted her head and wondered—if Sylvia had known Charles would look this good someday, would she still have left him without a word back then?
Uh... Yeah, she definitely would.
Cecilia didn’t know about this theory, but Charles was crystal clear.
He’d gone all out tonight just to deliver a fatal blow to Sylvia Ran!
He would never let anyone covet the Yin family fortune.
Except Cecilia.
The more Sylvia feared something, the more Charles wanted to make sure she’d never forget it.
With everyone watching, Charles walked right up to Cecilia, leaned down, and looked at her, his eyes full of pride. "Miss Gu, I didn’t bring a date tonight. Would you do me the honor?"
Cecilia nearly dropped her jaw to the floor.
Did Charles lose his mind?
Joe Qi blinked, seemed to get it, shrugged, and stepped back to give Charles and Cecilia space.
"Why?" Cecilia shot back, not hiding her annoyance. Okay, fine, she couldn’t deny that being asked in front of everyone made her secretly happy.
"Because our outfits are from the same designer. Because Sean Kerr’s taking Rona Muir as his date, and you’re left without one. So, how about being mine?" Charles was totally shameless, pouring on the charm for Cecilia.
Everyone knew Cecilia was Charles’s wife, but seeing him invite her so seriously made them all crazy with envy.
Cecilia still didn’t get what Charles was up to, but she was loving it.
Charles gently took Cecilia’s hand and kissed it.
The whole room gasped.
Some women were probably thinking: if he kissed me like that, I could die happy.
Cecilia couldn’t hold back anymore and whispered, "Hey, what are you doing?"
"I’m officially asking you to be my date," Charles replied, looking serious but with a twinkle in his eye.
Cecilia tried to pull her hand away, but Charles just held on tighter. She snuck a look around—the whole room was watching. Her cheeks flushed pink.
"Alright, alright, I’ll do it! Everyone’s staring! You’re so overdressed, you’re stealing the show!" Cecilia blurted out.
"Good." Charles was thrilled, murmuring back, but he still didn’t let go of her hand, playing with her fingers.
Sylvia Ran, who’d just been slapped by Ethan Yin, was about to lose it.
Sure, Ethan’s slap was part of her plan, but this scene was too much for her nerves.
No wonder Sylvia thought Cecilia’s dress looked familiar. No wonder Charles was ridiculously handsome tonight.
She finally remembered!
This was the same designer Charles wore when he confessed to her years ago.
What did this mean?
What was he trying to say?
Was he really confessing to another woman right in front of her?
Sylvia felt her blood rush to her head. All she could hear was their teasing laughter.
Charles, how could you...
Especially those words—every single one was something Charles had said to her eight years ago!
Sylvia felt like her whole body was on fire.
She glared at Cecilia, her eyes full of pure hatred.
Why? Why are you doing this to me?
Charles, you know I’m here—why would you go out of your way to provoke me?
Is it because you still have feelings for me?
Are you just using Cecilia as my stand-in?
Is that it?
As Sylvia agonized, Charles glanced her way—just once, but it sent chills down her spine.
That single look made Sylvia tremble from head to toe.
She slipped away while no one was watching.
Only two people in the room weren’t stunned by Charles’s looks: Rona Muir and Helen Jiang.
Rona didn’t have time to be dazzled—Sean Kerr’s intense gaze was glued to her face.
Helen wasn’t stunned because she already knew how handsome Charles was.
And, well, there was another reason—she was obsessed with her brother...
So when Sylvia left, Helen’s eyes locked onto her retreating figure.
Helen slipped out while everyone else was still in a daze.
Sylvia stumbled outside, ignoring the cold. She flung open a window and let the icy wind hit her face.
But the cold only made her head feel hotter.
Sylvia felt something was off with her body, but before she could figure it out, Helen’s voice broke her train of thought.
"Miss Ran? What a coincidence! Last time I saw you, you were Ethan Yin’s date. Now you’re with some old man." Helen sneered.
Helen might’ve been a fake heiress, but she still looked down on the fallen Sylvia.
Sylvia, already stung by Charles’s words, snapped back, "I don’t care whose date I am—at least I’m not breaking any taboos! Unlike you, Miss Jiang, who fell in love with her own brother! Even if you’re not really a Jiang, you still carry the name and play the part of the family’s princess while secretly crushing on your brother! Tell me, if word got out, who’d be more embarrassed—me, or you?"
Helen’s face drained of color.
She’d kept that secret buried deep—no one was supposed to know.
How did Sylvia find out?
Helen’s voice trembled with regret—she wished she hadn’t come to mock Sylvia.
"You’re lying!" Helen was shaking. "I’ll tear your mouth apart!"