His voice hoarse, he asked, "Are you leaving or not?"

"No..." Melissa whimpered softly.

She sounded like a helpless bunny being bullied by a big bad wolf.

With a sneer, Marcus let go of her and took two steps back.

He looked down at her while pulling a cigarette and a lighter out of his pocket.

He lowered his head, lit the cigarette, took a long drag and slowly blew out a thin cloud of smoke.

"Fine."

After saying that, he turned around and walked back to his seat, ignoring Melissa.

Jessie thoughtfully handed him a glass of whisky. It was James who looked up at Melissa, who was still frozen in place by the door, and asked if she wanted to come over and join them.

Marcus glanced at James, his expression unreadable.

James immediately shut his mouth for the sake of the Figueroa family's business. Looking at Melissa, he shot her a helpless smile before going back to whatever he was doing.

“Let's play cards," Marcus suggested in an indifferent tone.

As soon as he said this, the private room became lively again. It could be seen that, although all the people here were wealthy heirs, he enjoyed an even higher status.

They all played together, but Marcus was different from them.

Marcus was good at this game, but the girl next to him wasn't so lucky. She wrapped her arms around his neck and said coquettishly, “Marcus, take it easy on me, okay?"

She leaned in so closely that her red lips rubbed against his neck.

They seemed very close.

Marcus didn't push her away. On the contrary, he rubbed her shoulder reassuringly.

There was a touch of pampering in his subtle movement.

Standing against the door, Melissa watched this scene unfold before her in silence.