Chapter 153 It's a Small World After All
One evening, Zachary Bailey got a call from Samuel Anderson to hit up The Velvet Lounge. He pushed open the private room door, surprised to find Matthew Watson there as well, nursing an injury. Dressed down in a casual sweater and trousers, Matthew nursed a drink in his hand.
Zachary frowned and made his way over.
With Samuel sitting between them, neither of the men made eye contact. Tension hung thick in the air, so palpable it straightened the spine of the bartender pouring drinks, casting a shadow over him.
Samuel reclined against the backrest with his legs crossed. He squinted at the two men, who were ignoring each other over their drinks, and broke the chilly silence. "You guys are a real pain, you know that? Brothers for all these years, and a little fight's got you acting like you're dead to each other?"
He had arranged this meetup to smooth things over.
Zachary barely lifted his eyelids, his voice low and cold, simmering with restrained anger, "Nothing to talk about with him."
"Shut it, Zachary," Samuel chastised. "A fight's no reason to act like sworn enemies."
Zachary locked eyes with him, visibly irked. Dismissive, he waved a hand, "Fine, I'll let it go—for today. Given your foul mood from the divorce, I won't hold a grudge."
At the mention of divorce, Matthew, overhearing the news, paused his drinking. A few seconds passed before he tipped back his head and emptied his glass.
Rubbing his temples, Samuel understood the kind of patience his old teachers must have had, trying to get him to play nice with classmates – the urge to smack some sense into them was palpable. "Matthew, Zachary's just miffed about the way you've treated Winona Sullivan. Just tell him you'll treat her like a sister from now on, and we can put this to bed."
With a rough voice from the liquor, Matthew retorted, "No way. Ask him what happened back in the day."
Zachary's face darkened, his eyes flashing dangerously as he glared, "Even if I hadn't done a thing, you had no chance with her."
Matthew raised an eyebrow, a slight taunt in his steady tone, "Hypotheticals don't count for much, do they?"
"That's why you'll never have her because you couldn't even get her before she was married, let alone now."
Each of the women the Watson family had introduced to Matthew in the past was unmarried, wealthy, and highly competent.
"I might have ignored everyone's advice and married her back then ," Matthew Watson said, his gaze locking on Zachary Bailey's face, "but now, my love life is my own business. Since you two are divorced, and we're both single, pursuing her is totally within my rights."
The tension was palpable, a clear challenge hanging in the air.
Samuel Anderson watched the standoff, the back-and-forth between the two men unwilling to yield. Finally, he stood up. "I need a smoke."
He didn't go far before he bowing his head to light a cigarette. The smoke obscured his face. Just then, someone emerged from the adjacent private room, and Samuel's eyes casually swept over the interior.
The dimly lit space was filled with a mix of men and women, their faces barely discernible.
His gaze stopped on one of the figures, his eyebrows raising slightly. After a moment, he clicked his tongue in recognition.
When he finished his cigarette, Samuel asked a passing waiter, "Who booked that room?"
The waiter, recognizing Samuel, replied, "I'm not sure. They're new faces, said they were part of the Davis family."
Samuel returned to his own private room where the two men were still giving each other the silent treatment. Without much care for their silence, he walked straight up to Zachary Bailey and said, "Winona Sullivan is in the room next door, surrounded by a bunch of guys."
Zachary, in the process of lighting a cigarette, shifted the unlit end away from the flame momentarily, before returning to light it.
"I'm divorced from her. Whatever she does is none of my business," Zachary remarked, his voice deep and steady, betraying no emotion.
Samuel just scoffed and said nothing more.
The silence filled the room again, each man occupied with his own drink.
As Zachary Bailey was about to get up and leave, the door swung open and Fiona walked in. Recognizing the figures on the couch, her eyes lit up, "Zachary, I thought I misheard the server saying you were here..."
She paused and then greeted the other two with a smile, "Samuel, Matthew."
Back when Fiona was Zachary's girlfriend, they often hung out together. Their relationship wasn't particularly close but was comfortably familiar.
Samuel nodded and chuckled lowly, "Miss Clark."
Matthew remained silent.
Fiona intended to bump into Zachary that night, evident by her carefully chosen outfit: flawless makeup, curled flowing hair, a light-colored long dress, and high heels sparkling with rhinestones...
Her features didn't scream Hollywood glamor, but rather the understated beauty of the girl-next-door, with an air of purity. Bright colors just weren't her thing, so she favored pastels. "Did you clear things up with Winona about last night?"
Zachary Bailey furrowed his brow and said nothing.
Fiona, trying to read his mood, tentatively asked, "What's wrong? Does she not believe you? If you need, I can help you explain things to her."
Zachary Bailey: "No need."
Samuel Anderson couldn't hold back. "Miss Clark, it's probably best to stay out of other people's love affairs. Couples have a way of making up right after a fight, and a third wheel can easily get burned."
Fiona's face flushed as she understood Samuel Anderson's implication: "I was just... I'm sorry, I didn't think it through."
Her pitiful look failed to arouse any sympathy from the three men present. Matthew Watson looked at the stoic Zachary Bailey, "So, did you divorce Winona for her?"
Zachary Bailey did not offer an explanation.
Matthew Watson scoffed, "Man, you've really tainted her."
Zachary Bailey remained unresponsive to his almost cruel remarks. He stood up, and said to Samuel Anderson, "I've got to go."
In the VIP section of the club, Winona Sullivan hadn't expected that Rebecca Davis' idea of unwinding meant drinking at a nightclub. She wasn't a fan of the place, mainly because it was easy to bump into people she knew.
Zachary Bailey and his crew were regulars here.
Instead of ordering a drink, she opted for a glass of fresh juice with no alcohol. She thought she'd seen Samuel Anderson's figure through the crack of the door when the server left, but she wasn't sure as they weren't close.
If it really was him, Zachary Bailey would likely be around too. The thought alone soured her mood. The last thing she wanted on the first evening of her divorce was a run-in with her ex-husband!
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