Chapter 58 Promise Me a Condition
"James, please don't go!" Paul hurriedly reached out and grabbed him as he turned to leave.
Then, he turned to Evelyn and said, "Evelyn, if you don't want James to come to the bar, then you go alone!"
Evelyn stood there, incredulous. "Paul, what did you just say to me?" she asked, her expression tinged with anger.
"I said if you don't want James to come to the bar, then you go alone. After all, today James invited us for drinks. If he isn’t here, I won't join in either!" Paul repeated in a hushed tone.
"Paul, you're choosing a delivery guy over me." Evelyn widened her eyes, a look of disbelief on her face.
"Evelyn, regardless of whether James is poor or not, he is my best friend. I like you, but that doesn't mean you can disrespect my friends. If you feel we are not worthy of drinking with you, then you can leave!" Paul, who had been quietly accommodating until now, finally erupted, shouting at Evelyn in a low voice.
"Paul, you dare to drive me away! Fine, I hope you don't regret this," Evelyn exclaimed before turning and leaving.
Upon seeing Evelyn leave, James felt a twinge of guilt. Stepping forward, he said to Paul, "Paul, you don't have to do this. I wasn't keen on going to the bar anyway. Even if I did, they might not find me appealing. Why not try to reconcile with Evelyn?"
"She was way out of line today, disrespecting you like that. I cannot always coddle her," Paul whispered back.
James stood there, unsure of what to do. None of them had expected today's events to unfold as they did.
"Alright, you two go ahead. I don't want all of you to be unhappy because of me," James said, his mind preoccupied with Linda being deceived into booking a room elsewhere.
Evelyn's departure unintentionally gave him a reason not to go to the bar. After that, he turned to leave.
"Without Evelyn, the three of us can go to the bar, right? There will be plenty of pretty girls there. I can introduce you to a few." Tyler eagerly grabbed James' arm.
Meanwhile, as Evelyn was about to leave the University of Lumina, her phone suddenly rang. Hesitating for a moment, she answered and said, "Lori, what's up?"
"Evelyn, where are you? Sarah and I are already at the Stellar Lounge near the University of Lumina. You promised to introduce us to a handsome guy. Why aren't you here yet?" the voice on the other end asked with a flirtatious tone.
"There's no handsome guy. It's just a delivery guy. Sarah won't be interested in someone like him," Evelyn muttered under her breath as her roommates urged her on.
"Who are you talking about, a delivery guy?" Lori asked, sounding puzzled.
"Never mind. The gathering is canceled today. Let's just head back to the dorm," Evelyn pouted in anger, still affected by Paul's earlier remarks.
"Why is the gathering canceled?" Lori exclaimed, continuing, "Evelyn, are you kidding me? Sarah and I have already reserved a booth and ordered the drinks. If you cancel now, who's going to foot the bill?"
"Why are the drinks ordered so soon?" Evelyn asked, a hint of annoyance in her tone.
"You asked us to. You said a wealthy guy would be coming later, your potential boyfriend, and told us to spend freely. He would cover the bill," Lori explained in exasperation.
"How much did you order in drinks?" Evelyn inquired.
"Not much, just the minimum spending for the booth. We ordered drinks worth three thousand dollars!" Lori replied.
Evelyn frowned. She had wanted to pay the bill if it wasn't too much, but she had not expected her roommates to be so extravagant, spending three thousand dollars at once. With no money at hand, she couldn't foot the bill.
"Are you playing with us, Evelyn?" Lori suspected as Evelyn remained silent.
"I have no reason to deceive you. I'll bring someone over shortly, please wait," Evelyn replied before hanging up.
After ending the call, Evelyn calmed her agitated heart and turned to where Paul and the others were standing. Despite her conflicted expression, she returned to them.
While she held disdain for James, she begrudgingly accepted the need to take him to the bar.
"Evelyn, why are you back?" Paul appeared pleasantly surprised.
"Since you want to take this poor guy to the bar, let's go!" Evelyn said reluctantly.
Paul was initially surprised but then said to Evelyn, "Evelyn, I always knew you had a kind heart!"
"If it wasn't for him being your friend, I wouldn't agree to bring him to the bar. After all, a delivery guy like him isn't fit to socialize with us!" Evelyn said disdainfully after sizing up James.
Paul, overjoyed by Evelyn's willingness to take James to the bar, said to James and Tyler, "Fantastic! Come on. Let's go to the bar!"
Although Paul wasn't aware of Evelyn's true nature, Tyler and James knew better. They understood that Evelyn's sudden kindness wasn't as simple as it seemed. Thus, Tyler stepped forward, challenging Evelyn, "Why should you decide whether James can come or not?"
"Tyler, what do you mean?" Evelyn glared at Tyler, burning with frustration.
"I'll allow James to come, but I have a condition," Tyler said calmly.
"What condition?" Evelyn furrowed her brows, asking.
