Chapter 44: Invitation

As soon as the car stopped in front of the gate, a strong and confident voice sounded, "Has my Chocolate come back? Auntie misses you so much!"
Monica opened the car door and saw a figure rushing towards her, which startled her, "Lily? Weren't you supposed to arrive at six? Why are you here so early?"
Lily opened the back door, rushed in and hugged Chocolate, rubbing her vigorously a few times, then sighed in satisfaction.
"Long time no see Chocolate, I made an appointment with Mary, and so I came early. I didn't expect you to not be at home."
She leaned against the backseat.
Upon looking up, they suddenly noticed a person in the driver's seat and were taken aback for a moment. Steven nodded politely to her through the rearview mirror.
"Oh my...Monica, you've really outdone yourself," Lily exclaimed in surprise.
"When did you get yourself such a handsome guy?!"
Lily was always outspoken and had no filter in her words.
Monica felt extremely embarrassed and quickly interjected, "What are you saying? He's my brother's friend."
She then turned to Steven and said, "This is my friend. We invited them over to have dinner at my place tonight."
At that moment, Bella came out of the house and spotted Steven.
"Mr. Wright is here too? Come on in and have a seat," she said keenly.
"No need," Steven greeted Bella as he got out of the car. "Since there are already guests at your place, I won't disturb. I'll call Eric and borrow one of his cars to leave."
Lily had already retreated to the side and was whispering something to Lisa.
When she saw Steven turning to leave, she quickly spoke up, "Hey handsome, why not join us for dinner?"
"Why suddenly invite him to dinner?" Monica asked.
"Lisa just told me," Lily lowered her voice.
"You two have a bad relationship, and he's your nemesis, right? Don't worry, let's have him for dinner tonight. Your friends will help you take him down a peg."
Without waiting for Monica's reply, she approached Steven and smiled, "What's your name, handsome?"
"No need to be formal, my last name is Wright," he replied.
"Mr. Wright, I hope you don't mind having dinner with us girls," Lily said.
Steven glanced at Monica and replied, "Of course, I don't mind. It's a rare gathering of ladies, I won't spoil the fun."
Lily pulled Monica aside and whispered to her.
Unable to resist, Monica could only say, "Just don't take an extra pair of chopsticks."
Chocolate also approached and spun around his legs. And so, despite his resistance, Steven was pulled into this "Trial dinner ".
At the dinner table, several pairs of eyes stared at him intently, probing him as if in judgment. Yet, Steven remained composed and showed no signs of panic.
Lily had been grounded at home for a month due to causing trouble last month. Now that she was released, she couldn't wait to meet up with friends and decided to have the gathering at Monica's house because she missed Chocolate.
She had a carefree and straightforward personality, sometimes even Monica and Lisa found it difficult to handle her bluntness.
She looked at Lisa and pouted, "You're still tangled up with that little celebrity boyfriend of yours?"
"We broke up, but he keeps coming back to beg me," Lisa replied, visibly annoyed. "He's been camping outside my house every day and not doing any work."
"Lovers' quarrels," Lily commented sharply, then turned to Steven. "Do you have a girlfriend, handsome?"
Steven was casually refilling Monica's glass with juice and replied, "No."
"Well, isn't that convenient? Let me introduce you to some single, beautiful ladies around me," Lily said.
"Thank you for your concern, Lily," Steven responded, interrupting her. "But there is no need for that."
Lily's eyes turned, "Then what do you think of me?"
He answered without leaking any information, "You are outstanding and deserves better."
"What does the handsome guy do for a living?"
"Venture capital."
"Do you earn a lot?"
"It's okay."
With each question and answer, as if checking a household register, Steven's calm and unperturbed answers gradually made Lily feel bored.
She lowered her voice and quietly asked Monica, "Does he really always oppose you? Why doesn't his personality seem like that to me?"
Monica was somewhat speechless: "I've said it before, he's very good at pretending, and you just can't see it."
Lily had doubts but glanced at Steven again: "Forget it, let's have a drink first."
Neither Lily nor Lisa were heavy drinkers, so after a few rounds of games, they collapsed weakly.
Steven looked at the drunk people on the table and shook his cup at Monica, "Do you want to keep drinking?"
"No, I'm done," Monica got up, "We're out of juice, I'll go pour some."
As she walked into the kitchen, she was about to reach on her toes to get the bottle on top of the cabinet when she heard footsteps behind her.
The cool breath enveloped her from behind, and the warm chest brushed against her back.
Taking advantage of the height difference, he easily took the bottle from above and handed it to her, "Is this it?"
"Yes," Monica took it, but he didn't move, always maintaining this extremely close distance, as if holding her from behind.
She turned around and pushed him away: "It's getting late, you should go back."
"No rush." He supported himself on the counter, enclosing her in his arms, and lowered his head to look into her eyes.
Monica turned her head to avoid him, "What exactly do you want to do? Don't block my way."
"I've taken a vacation in June."
The abrupt sentence made her stunned: "What does that mean?"
"To accompany you on a graduation trip."
"When did I ask you to accompany me...? I'm definitely going with my classmates and friends, right?"
"Let's play a game, Monica." Steven's voice was deep.
"Give me a month, and after one month, I will ask you a question. You have to answer me very honestly. If both of us are satisfied with the answer, then we will go on the trip together. If one of us is unsatisfied with the answer, I will obediently admit defeat and never appear in front of you if you don't want me to."
Whether he didn't get the answer he wanted or she didn't want to face her own feelings, both would be considered his failure.
Monica's thoughts were chaotic.
What a strange game. As long as she insisted that she wasn't satisfied, then he would definitely lose, right?
And going on a trip together doesn't sound like a punishment for her either.
She asked, "...What question?"
He didn't answer, just focused on looking at her: "Do you want to play?"
Since starting his business, Steven has simulated countless venture capital scenarios and has implemented many projects. There have been successes and failures, but he has never been afraid of them.
Having both boldness and courage are necessary to survive in this industry.
In his opinion, where there's risk, there's also a probability of failure. Success often comes after they put in every effort and try to avoid any mistakes.
The result after the risk. His profession destined him to seek victory countless times in this unpredictable and ever-changing "gamble". And now, he has made the most important gamble of his life, and he must win.
For this, he is willing to devote himself completely, at the cost of never being able to have her as a punishment for his failure. He gambles with her heart.