Hector gasped, his eyes wide with shock. “So Phoenix, wait, I mean Aubree, actually bought the sports team and started a club? Even with a friendship discount from the captain, their market value as champions wasn’t cheap.”
Hector choked out, “Phoenix, did you sink all your prize money into this?”
Moon smacked Hector on the head. “Are you dense? Didn’t Phoenix just say she bought the slot and got investors?”
Combined, their market value was probably still less than that of the league slot.
Hector let out a yelp, clutching his head as he glared resentfully at his bot lane partner. “I’m just shocked, okay? Never saw this coming.” He thought to himself, “Sure, the captain’s a trust fund baby, ultra-rich and all, but nobody ever told me Aubree had this kind of clout.”
“Don’t worry, there’s plenty of money. The contracts are being drafted and you’ll have them by tomorrow at the latest. Once you’ve reviewed and signed, the payment will hit your accounts right away,” Aubree stated everything in a businesslike manner, covering all the necessary points.
They’d been through it all together, training, competing, and winning the championship, which built a solid trust among the teammates.
Hector said, “Guess we’re all set to live the high life under Boss Aubree now!”
The cheerful atmosphere was infectious as Aubree smiled genuinely. “That’s not up to me, it all depends on your performance out there,” she said.
Laughter and banter filled the table, yet Matilda remained unusually quiet.
As the dinner wrapped up, Matilda was the first to decline Hector’s suggestion to continue the party. “Count me out, I’ve got something to take care of,” she said abruptly.
With that, Matilda flagged down a passing cab at the curb and hurriedly took off without looking back.
Aubree narrowed her eyes, watching the direction Matilda had gone. “She lives in the urban, this isn’t the right way,” she thought, suspicion flickering in her gaze.
“I’m not going either,” Aubree said. She quickly hailed a cab and instructed the driver, “Follow that car.”
Bryan had barely stepped through the door before a glass came hurtling toward his face. He dodged just in time, and the cup shattered at his feet.
Rubbing his temples, Bryan sighed helplessly. “Mom, what are you doing?”
Alice’s face was livid, her eyes blazing with fury as she glared at Bryan. “You want to know what I’m doing? I should be asking what you’re doing! How dare you pick on Carmen the moment we’re not around!”
Bryan choked up, his eyes full of confusion. He thought, “Me? Bully Carmen? When did I ever do that? Since when does not helping her count as bullying?”
‘Did she really have to make me come back for such a trivial matter? Couldn’t this have waited? Mom’s interference…
The planned collaboration between our company and Turner Group had already fallen through after that night when Dad and I stormed into Ellis Heights with our men. Lately, Turner Group’s been applying subtle pressure, and just as our new venture was finally making progress, it now likely means that’s going down the drain too!
‘Mom… Could you just listen to reason?”
Alice’s face was flushed with anger, refusing to hear a single word from Bryan, “I don’t care what you’re up to, clean up that mess online, right now!” she snapped.
Alice just wouldn’t listen to a word he said, and it was driving him crazy. But no matter how pissed off Bryan was, he couldn’t let it show. He just had to swallow it all and keep it bottled up inside.
He thought, ‘This suffocating, irritating feeling of being tongue-tied is suffocating. No one cares what I say anyway. Mom only wants to do things her own way.’
As the thought crossed his mind, a sudden realization flickered in Bryan’s eyes. He thought, “Was this what Aubree went through in the Wilson family? No matter how she tried to explain herself, no one cared. They only wanted to see the version of events they preferred.”
“No, what she went through was far worse than what I’m dealing with now. At least Mom just sold me out a bit, but back then, Aubree had to face the whole family’s scorn and accusations, sometimes even got beaten.”
Bryan’s chest tightened with frustration as Alice’s voice kept drilling into his ears. “Did you hear what I said or not?” she snapped.
Bryan, barely hiding his irritation, snapped, “Yeah, I got it, handle the online mess.” With that, he turned on his heel and stormed out of the Wilson family residence without a backward glance.
Alice’s face twisted with fury. “One after another, are you all trying to defy me now?”
Aubree stopped at the entrance, looking up at the neon sign, ‘Nightworld? A nightclub?’ she thought, her brows furrowing, “What would Matilda be doing here?!”
She knew this place. Nightworld was one of Rithol City’s most infamous nightclubs. Rumor had it that a bored scion of a wealthy family opened it just for fun. With its exclusive members-only policy, ordinary people didn’t stand a chance of getting in.
She had come here once before with Trevor, when he’d had a major falling-out with his family. She tried to talk him into going home, but instead, he dragged her to this place.
She ended up in the hospital that night from all the forced drinking, but even that paled in comparison to how effortlessly Carmen could make Trevor leave. She just said softly, “Trevor, let’s go home.” Then, he’d drop everything for her.
To make matters worse, the paparazzi snapped photos of her at the hospital, which caused trouble for Trevor. He actually came to her hospital room and berated her, blaming her for “damaging his image.”
Pulling herself together, Aubree sent a message to Alvin and successfully gained entry using his credentials.
It wasn’t even evening yet, but Nightworld was already packed with people. For the rich, there was no such thing as office hours. They’d show up to parties whenever they felt like it.
Aubree trailed after Matilda, watching as she weaved left and right through the crowd and quickly vanished from sight. Worried she might get into trouble, Aubree hurried in the direction where Matilda had disappeared, asking around for any trace of her.
Unbeknownst to her, just after she slipped into the crowd, two more people entered, one with a devil-may-care swagger, the other exuding an aloof, aristocratic air.
Bowen’s gaze swept across the room, then suddenly halted as his brow furrowed. “What is she doing here?” he muttered, eyes fixed on her.
With his arm slung over Bowen’s shoulder, Ollie followed his gaze and asked casually, “Who’s that?”
“Bree,” Bowen muttered.
Ollie raised his eyebrows in disbelief, “Whoa, what’s a kid like her doing in a place like this? You must be seeing things.”
Bowen’s frown deepened. “No way I’m wrong,” he said firmly, shaking off Ollie’s arm and striding off to find her.
“Hold up, you won’t find her like this. Let me call in a favor to check the surveillance. Let’s head to the VIP room first, Mark is still waiting, if we get any news, we’ll go check on your girl, alright?” Ollie quickly grabbed him, thinking to himself, ‘This guy’s so lovesick he’s seeing things. How could a girl like her even get in here?”
Bowen was caught between his friend’s pride and Aubree…
He paused in his tracks. For now, he had no choice but to follow Ollie’s suggestion.
Aubree asked around until she finally managed to flag down a waiter. “Oh yeah, I remember her, she went to VIP room 1005.”
She said, “Thank you!”
The waiter, a young guy in uniform, looked Aubree up and down, noticing how young she seemed, and kindly warned, “Hold on, you look like you’re still in school, aren’t you? If I were you, I really wouldn’t go near that VIP room. The people in there are into some shady dealings, once you go in, getting out won’t be easy.”
Aubree replied, “I appreciate the warning, but my friend’s still in there.”
Aubree thanked him sincerely, but her mind was made up, she was going in anyway.
Matilda seemed really distracted during dinner. If something really happened and she didn’t say a word to any of them, that must mean it was serious.
“That just made me have to go! I was terrified something bad might happen to her,” Aubree thought.
Anxiety surging inside her, Aubree quickened her pace. It wasn’t until she saw “Cosmos,” Matilda’s gamer tag, on the team’s final roster that everything clicked.
In her previous life, when Aubree competed for Emery’s esports team, the most memorable opponent they faced was a squad coached by someone using the ID “Cosmos.”
Aubree thought, ‘No wonder I didn’t recognize her. Back then, Matilda was completely disguised as a man and even went by a different name, Drake Diaz. In that previous life, I never really looked into who “Cosmos” was. I just knew she was an incredible coach who really gave me a hard time during that period.’
“Even if I put our friendship aside, from a purely practical standpoint, I absolutely can’t let anything happen to a top tier coach like Matilda. She’s way too valuable to lose!”
Aubree flung open the VIP room door. The moment she saw what was inside, her eyes flashed with fire. “Matilda!”