Chapter 14 Playing games means following the rules

Annie's face stiffened.
Benjamin was wearing a suit, and after taking off his jacket, he still had a white shirt on. If Annie took off her dress, she would be left with nothing on.
She looked at everyone in the room. It seemed like they were all waiting for her to undress, and no one was going to help her out of this situation.
Even Carl had an expectant look on his face as he stared at her body.
Right now, she felt like an animal being watched by these powerful and wealthy young men.
If she obeyed them, they might let her go. But if she resisted, it wouldn't be easy for her to leave this private room.
After thinking it through, Annie relaxed the fists that were clenched tightly in front of her chest.
Since they were all going to die anyway, why bother about saving face?
She raised her hand behind herself and tried to unzip the back of her dress when Benjamin suddenly spoke up,
"I don't know how to play this game properly. I've caused trouble for Miss Hart. Let me help take off hers instead."
With that said, Benjamin took off his own white shirt revealing his strong abs.
Sophia saw how far Benjamin went just to protect Annie and admired him even more while glaring at Annie with anger in her eyes.
Annie avoided Sophia's gaze but gave Benjamin a grateful look saying, "Thank you".
Brandon, who sat coldly against the sofa, suddenly spoke up before anyone could move on from what happened earlier: "Playing games means following the rules."
This meant that Brandon wasn't happy with Benjamin helping Annie undress instead of doing it herself.
Benjamin glanced over at Brandon feeling strange tonight since he knew very well that if Annie removed only one piece of clothing, then there would be nothing else left covering any part of herself; so why did Brandon insist on making her undress?
But regardless, since he had already helped Annie, he would see it through to the end.
"Brandon, I've helped her take off her clothes. Let's not punish her any further and find another way."
Carl took this opportunity to hand over a bottle of wine, saying, "Why don't we let my Annie pour Mr. Ross a glass?"
Although Carl also wanted to see Annie undress in front of everyone, he realized that she was his partner for tonight, and if she were exposed like that, then where would his face go?
Benjamin quickly followed up with Carl's suggestion: "Yes, let her pour you some wine as punishment."
With that said Benjamin gestured towards Annie, telling her to go pour Brandon some wine.
Annie looked at Brandon, who didn't object or agree, which made it hard for her to read him.
But still gathering courage, she picked up the expensive red wine from the table and walked over to him while bending down slightly.
As soon as she tried pouring the wine into his cup, though, he suddenly covered it with his bony hand, saying coldly without any emotion,
"It's dirty."
Annie felt pain in her chest so intense that it became difficult for her to breathe. Her hands holding onto the bottle shook uncontrollably as she stood there frozen, staring back at him, unable to detect even an ounce of their past friendship in those eyes now filled only with disdain.
Did he think less of himself because he was associated with Carl? Did this make Annie dirty too?
It was ridiculous! After sleeping together for five years, how could they be considered clean or dirty?!
Suddenly feeling angry about everything happening around them right now, Annie straightened herself up defiantly before handing over the bottle of wine instead saying softly,
"Mr. MacDonald thinks I'm dirty, so why don't you help me by pouring Mr.Ross' drink instead?"
The two words "Mr MacDonald" were spoken so softly that it almost made Carl's bones go numb.
He hugged her waist tightly and whispered in her ear, "Alright, let me do it."
Carl took the bottle of wine from Annie and poured a glass for Brandon while explaining,
"Mr. Ross, please don't misunderstand. She's not an escort girl."
Brandon sneered at this statement as if he was completely denying Annie's existence.
Carl looked at him suspiciously, wondering why Brandon seemed to be targeting Annie on purpose.
Afraid that Brandon might misunderstand something about Annie, which could affect his chances of getting the project, Carl quickly explained again with a smile,
"I've verified it myself."
The hand holding onto the cup suddenly stiffened as Brandon raised his cold eyes towards Carl, asking in a low voice,
"How did you verify it?"
Completely unaware of what was happening around them right now, Carl proudly replied:
"We slept together; she is pure."