Loving The Temperamental Adonis
Chapter 301 - 39

Chapter 301: Chapter 39

Unlike other events, the grand opening banquet for the new Skyline Shopping Center was an elite ceremony with an invitation list containing only 450 names, each chosen based on their class, investment in the mall, or relationship to the investors.

Not everyone was invited to the ceremony. After the formal ribbon-cutting at the entrance, attended by all the investors, an elaborate dinner was served, and a silent auction took place featuring expensive items, including fabulous artwork and museum-quality jewelry.

The banquet took place inside the shopping center’s event hall, which occupied the top two floors of the new Skyline Shopping Center, a spectacular eighty-story skyscraper made of stone and glass located in downtown Zen.

The building was a breathtaking sight for the guests, who started entering after the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The mall’s interior was designed to impress, with no expense spared.

The private elevator lobby on the building’s second floor featured a sleek octagonal rotunda with a modern, stylish glass railing. This railing guided new arrivals to a sweeping staircase that gracefully descended to the first floor.

A grand contemporary chandelier, one story in height, was suspended from the center of the second-floor ceiling, its many-tiered gold frame dripping with dazzling crystals.

At the front of the room, standing near their table, Neil watched his wife walking slowly through the crowd on the first floor. He excused himself from the people around him.

"Looking for someone, my love?" he asked, walking up behind her as she scanned the crowd.

She jumped at the sudden sound of his voice behind her and swirled around with a small pout on her lips. "You still enjoy creeping up on me from behind, don’t you?" She shot him a small glare and resumed scanning the faces of the guests.

Neil smiled and casually slipped his arm around her waist as he stood beside her, chuckling. "Who are you looking for, by the way? Your husband is over here and our children are in the kids’ section. Who else is missing?"

"Rayne," she replied without taking her eyes away from the arriving guests. "I met her, Lauren, and Max at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, but I couldn’t stay long to chat because I needed to take the kids to the children’s section. Now everyone is arriving, but I don’t see her anywhere."

Neil, who knew about Rayne and Liam, didn’t comment because his friend had told him how he’d been played by a woman for the first time in his life. Though he considered Rayne a friend, he didn’t like what she did to Liam and would appreciate it if she didn’t show up today, as Liam wouldn’t take her appearance lightly.

Not wanting to get caught up in Liam and Rayne’s affairs, he pulled his wife’s arm and led her away from the arriving guests.

"I want to introduce you to someone," he said when she glared up at him and tried to pull her hand away, but relaxed when she heard his words. "Rayne will be fine. You said she’s with Lauren, and from what I know, Dr. Lauren and Rayne are adults. They will come in when they are ready."

---

"Rayne," Lauren said sympathetically, "we can’t spend the night in the ladies’ room. Drink this and let’s go." As she spoke, Lauren removed Rayne’s empty champagne glass from her trembling hand and substituted it with her own glass of lemon juice. "Bottoms up," she coaxed.

"Liam is down there," Rayne said, her voice shaking with nerves. "I saw him outside when the investors were cutting the ribbon." She told Lauren, who had been her and Mia’s friend since she began dating James, who introduced her to them two years ago.

Ever since they’d become friends, the three of them hung out together whenever they had the chance, forming a strong bond. Just like Mia, Rayne had told Lauren, who from the beginning didn’t like Liam Thompson, about what happened between them.

Lauren had agreed with Max that Rayne should make Liam believe he had been used as her last fling before marriage to get back at him.

"I know that. Now, let’s make sure he sees you," Lauren said, patting her shoulders. She had never liked Liam since the day she first met him and James at the hospital years ago when Mia was sick, and she hated him even more now for what he did to her poor friend.

"I’m not ready to go out there." Rayne shook her head.

"Yes, you are."

Mindlessly, Rayne sipped the glass of lemon juice, the second one in ten minutes. "How do I look?"

Lauren strolled around her for a final inspection. Rayne’s, elegant trumpet gown was a sleek, maroon satin dress with a fitted bodice and a stylish off-the-shoulder neckline.

The gown hugged her curves perfectly, giving her a confident and sophisticated look. To complement the gown’s style, her hair had been styled into smooth waves and swept back on one side, held in place with a diamond comb given to her by Max.

"You look wonderful," Lauren decreed. "That diamond comb matches perfectly with your earrings," she added, admiring the diamond earrings dangling from Rayne’s ears partway to her shoulders.

Rayne was about to speak when suddenly two female voices from the adjoining bathroom made her stop.

"I have never seen a man that good-looking in my entire life," remarked one of the females in excitement.

"I almost melted when his gaze swept past me in the hall. Did you see the look of male admiration in his eyes? I think he likes me and wants to ask me out. Denise told me last night that he asked her out to dinner, perhaps he’s changed his mind and wants me instead."

"Liam Thompson asked Denise out?" asked the other female. "I’d be careful if I were her, didn’t you hear about his reputation for breaking women’s hearts?"

"Who cares, as long as one could get to share a bed with him. It will feel wonderful to be in his arms for one night."

Rayne’s fists automatically clenched at those words, and she had to fight with her inner demons to stop herself from breaking down yet again at the realization that she wasn’t the only woman who had fantasized about being held in his arms and who he’d given attention to.

The two giggling women who’d been using the adjoining bathroom soon walked through the mirrored area and were taken aback to see Rayne and Lauren.

The women quickly smiled and nodded as they strolled past, then they opened the door to leave and a blast of laughter and music filled the ladies’ room.

Lauren waited until the door closed again; then she removed the empty lemon juice glass from Rayne’s fingers and took Rayne’s hands in hers.

"Don’t let their words get to you. I promised you that I’d coach you and tell you how to get through this," Lauren said, looking solemnly into Rayne’s wide, overbright green eyes.

Turning Rayne toward the mirror, she said, "Look at yourself. You are absolutely stunning. This is your night, Rayne. It’s your debut as Max’s future wife, and tonight you’re going to find that even the biggest snobs here will welcome you as one of their own.

"They already know you’re not a trashy gold digger; you’re the daughter of one of the wealthiest men in the world. Despite falling from grace, that doesn’t make you any less than any of them. You’re the Wallace successor. You also have a natural elegance and poise that people notice, and you have a kind heart that makes you infinitely appealing. Do you understand what I’m trying to say?"

Embarrassed by all the flattery, Rayne smiled and said, "I understand that, tonight you want me to think I’m wonderful."

"You are wonderful. Now, this brings us to Liam Thompson. Sometime in the next couple of hours, you’re going to come face-to-face with him—" Three women, laughing and talking, walked into the ladies’ room to check their makeup, and Lauren and Rayne both turned to the mirror, pretending they were doing the same thing.

Rayne reached into her purse for her lipstick, but her entire body was in flight mode at the thought of looking into Liam’s dark eyes and seeing that charming, handsome face again.

He’d made her laugh, he’d made her moan with pleasure, and then he’d held her in his arms as if he never wanted to let her go. Worse, much worse, he’d made her care so much that she thought she was in love with him. And then he’d sent her back to break up with Max, never intending to be there when she would return.

Viewed with the clarity of clear mind, she realized now that everything Liam did from the moment she met him on the island—even sending for an ambulance and doctor to help Eric—was done to ensure the accomplishment of his ultimate goal.

There was no doubt in her mind now that he had sent her that Michelada himself and then sauntered into the restaurant to bump into her.

In fact, just thinking about the way he’d made a date with her after she spilled the drink on him made her grind her teeth.

’If I were you, I’d offer to take me to dinner instead.’

He must have been amazed and very pleased with himself when she agreed to take him for dinner like a fool she was. Her little teenage crush on him made it so much easier for him, and so much more fun, as he seduced Maximum Everett’s witless girlfriend in his absence.

"Stop replaying everything he did in your mind!" Lauren urged the moment the other women left.

"Just for tonight, you have to forget all the terrible details and stay objective, or you won’t be able to pull this off! The reality is that Liam Thompson’s ego is so fragile he needed to seduce you to get even with Max and Jason."

"If you had slept with him that night at the villa, it would have been over quickly, and you wouldn’t have gotten emotionally involved. But you wanted to know more about him first, so he had to come back and tell you about his stepbrother."

"Are you saying it’s my fault?"

"Of course not! I’m trying to show you that hurting you wasn’t his real goal; he wanted to drag your brother and Max down by having a fling with Max’s girlfriend."

Rayne shivered at the coldness and ruthlessness of his actions.

"I’ll tell you something I haven’t before," Lauren continued. "I think at some point, Liam enjoyed your company more than he expected. Otherwise, he would have patted you on the butt after having sex and sent you back to your hotel."

"Why would he do that when I was such an eager, cooperative bed partner?" Rayne asked bitterly.

"Good point, but why take you to a casino and, most revealing of all, sit up in bed and watch the sunrise with you? Guys who only want sex don’t do that."

To Rayne’s shame, she clung to that consolation, not because she believed it, but because she needed something to lessen her humiliation.

"But," Lauren continued brightly, "he’s still a cold, calculating bastard with a huge ego, and you’re entitled to get some revenge tonight."

"How?" Rayne asked, leaning back against the vanity table.

"Treat him like he was just a forgettable flirtation."

"He’s not going to buy that. He knew how I felt. I left to break up with Max and promised to hurry back."

"Yes, but he can’t be completely sure you did it! Furthermore, he can’t be completely sure that you weren’t just using him as a temporary fling while Max was away."

"As if he would believe that!" Rayne scoffed.

"Trust me, he would. Max instinctively knows how to play this game; that’s why he wanted you to be here tonight. He’ll make sure Liam sees you with him, laughing, talking, and holding your head up high. By doing that, Max will show Liam that he’s so insignificant that nothing he does could possibly matter to either of you."

Rayne wasn’t entirely convinced, but if it would help her save face and feel less humiliated in his presence, she was ready to do her best to play her part tonight.

"You get it now, right?" Lauren asked.

"Right."

"So, here’s the only emotion you’re allowed to show when you see Liam tonight. The only emotion that will give you some revenge—"

"Is..." Rayne raised a questioning brow at Lauren’s dramatic pause. "What?"

"Amusement! You’re going to treat him with amusement—as if you know an amusing little secret that he doesn’t."

"What kind of secret could I possibly have?" Rayne asked, frustrated.

"That’s exactly the question he’ll start asking himself. That’s the question that will trouble him for a long time."