Chapter 89

Before the party kicked off, Lucy was already making her rounds in the yard,chatting up every good-looking guy she could find. After asking for their names, she left without a second thought.

Austin had already pegged Lucy as the same girl who'd rudely crashed into him earlier. He watched her flit among different men like a butterfly,his expression icy.

"Hey, can I get to know you?" Lucy called out to a guy in a white suit.

Austin recognized her voice immediately. He didn't bother turning around or responding; he just kept walking.

Lucy figured he hadn't heard her, so she chased after him and cut him off.When she finally saw his face, she blurted out, "It's you?"

Austin knew she was Mchael's cousin and wanted nothing to do with her,so he turned and walked away.

Feeling snubbed, Lucy darted in front of him, arms spread wide to block his path. "You can't go."

Austin's face was stone-cold. "Move," he said through gritted teeth.

Lucy stood her ground. "What if I don't?"

Without even looking at her, Austin replied, "I don't deal with unreasonable people."

"Unreasonable?" Lucy shot back. "Do you know it's illegal to skateboard on the road? You didn't even apologize to me, and you call me unreasonable."

"You almost ran me over with your car. Why would I apologize?" Austin countered.

"If you weren't skateboarding in the street, I wouldn't have almost hit you,"Lucy argued, hands on her hips. "You were wrong first,so you owe me an apology."

"But that doesn't change the fact that you were driving without a license,"Austin said, not holding back.

"Then call the cops and have me arrested!" Lucy snapped,feeling a bit embarrassed. "Why didn't you call them? Or are you trying to attract my attention?"

"Ridiculous!" Austin was at a loss for words. Lucy was not only unreasonable but also shameless.

"Austin, what are you doing here? I've been looking for you all night."A boy around Austin's age came over to greet him.

"Let's go," Austin said, patting the boy's shoulder. He walked around Lucy and left without a backward glance.

Lucy stood there, stunned. 'Wait, did I hear that right? Did that guy just call him Austin? Could he actually be my childhood friend? If I'd known,I wouldn't have argued with him.'

Lucy stood there, stomping her feet and scratching her head,feeling super annoyed.

"Lucy, what are you doing here? We've been looking all over for you." A group of girls came over to find her.

"What's going on?" Lucy asked, sulking, her toe tracing circles on the ground.

"Oh, nothing. We heard from the Foster family elders that Michael left,and we wanted to ask why he took off so suddenly."

"He was taken away by a woman," Lucy replied. She thought of the message Isabella had sent her, secretly relieved that Isabella had kept her promise and didn't rat her out.

"What? Michael has a woman?" someone exclaimed.

Realizing she was too excited, she quickly composed herself and glanced at Lucy. Seeing that Lucy wasn't paying attention to her, she breathed a sigh of relief. Among the girls, Autumn was the most bummed out. She had this whole plan where, when Chase called Michael up as a special guest,she'd be right there next to him. And when the banquet kicked off,she was gonna ask him for the first dance. She'd practiced it a million times just for tonight.

But the higher the hopes, the harder the fall. These girls had come to the Foster family's banquet just to see Michael. When they heard Lucy say Michael was taken away by another woman, they lost all interest and started leaving one by one before the party even began.

Lucy, on the other hand, had her eyes glued to Austin.

Before, she found Austin super annoying. But knowing he was her long-lost childhood friend, she saw him in a completely new light, thinking he was drop-dead gorgeous, way more handsome than her brothers.

She didn't dare approach Austin, worried he'd blow her off again. With so many people around, she felt too embarrassed, so she just trailed behind him, staring at the back of his head, watching who he talked to and if any girls were hanging around him.

Suddenly, Austin turned around and caught Lucy staring.

"Why are you always staring at me?" he asked.

"Who's staring at you?" Lucy blushed and shot back, "You can't see behind you; how do you know I'm watching you?"

Austin was at a loss for words. Although he was indifferent to a lot of things, he wasn't clueless and he could definitely feel her eyes burning holes in his back.

"Terrible acting," Austin sneered, clearly unimpressed.

Lucy felt a bit embarrassed. She twisted the corner of her clothes and finally mustered the courage to say, "Don't you remember me? Not even a little? My name is Lucy."

"I'll never forget you," Austin said coldly, "After all, you're the only one who threatened to run me over."

Lucy quickly said, "No. If I had known it was you, I wouldn't have said that. Think again, besides that time, do you remember my name? We met when we were little."

"Ms. Kim, whether we met as kids or not doesn't matter," Austin said angrily, "What matters is, you said if you had known it was me,you wouldn't have run me over. So, if it wasn't me, you could run them over?I don't want that kind of honor."

"No, that's not what I meant. I meant I wouldn't have said I'd run you over, not that I really wanted to run you over," Lucy stammered,trying to explain.

Austin mocked, "Ms. Kim, you really broaden my horizons. I've never seen someone as vicious and stupid as you."

"No, I'm not." Lucy didn't know how to explain that she was beautiful,kind-hearted, and smart, just a bit willful. She felt she had a lot to say but couldn't express it, feeling extremely upset.

Austin cut her off, "I have eyes to see and ears to hear. I already have a judgment about what kind of person you are. You don't need to explain anything to me; I'm not interested. Also, stay away from me. I don't want to see you again."

With that, he turned and walked away, leaving Lucy standing there alone.

Being spoken to like that by Austin, whom she had missed for over a decade, made Lucy feel really sad. She didn't want to stay at the party any longer and left early.

She didn't want to go home or to Wesley's place. They wouldn't understand her, so she couldn't talk to them about Austin. It seemed the only person who could listen to her was Isabella.

Thinking of this, she cried all the way to Michael's villa.

Meanwhile, over at Michael's villa...

Michael had Isabella pinned to the bed, his arms wrapping around her slim waist. He was thrusting hard, nibbling on her earlobe, and whispered in a deep, seductive voice, "Isabella, tell me, who do you belong to?"

WJ