She had originally planned to take her time finding a new place, but that didn't seem possible. She started packing, but realized her wallet was missing after a while. She sat at her desk, trying to remember where she might have left it. Then, her phone, which had been charging, buzzed with a new message. It was from Lucian.

“Julie, are you going in circles?”

Confused, Julie quickly picked up her phone and sent a puzzled emoji.

“Shouldn’t it take you less than ten minutes to walk from my car to the dorm?”

It was then that she realized Lucian had asked her to message him once she reached her room. Before she could explain, Lucian called. She hesitated for a moment before answering.

“Did you make it to your room?”

“If I didn’t know better, I would’ve thought you were kidnapped.”

Hearing Lucian’s teasing voice, Julie gave a soft, slightly awkward laugh.

“What are you doing?”

She glanced around at her messy dorm, then replied honestly, “Packing up. I’m getting ready to move.”

“Need any heavy lifting? I can have Blaine help.”

Julie blurted out, “Why aren’t you the one coming to help?”

There was a brief pause before Lucian chuckled softly. Julie felt a wave of embarrassment.

“Julie,” When he said her name, his voice had a slight lift at the end. “Hang up. Get some rest. Don’t stay up too late.”

“Okay.” Her voice was barely a whisper. She didn’t really know what else to say, so the line went quiet. Julie clenched her fist around the phone, feeling a little uneasy. To distract herself, she went back to packing.

After everything was packed, Julie realized she must have left her wallet at Zayn’s place. She sighed heavily. It wasn’t about the wallet but the important documents inside. She picked up her phone and hesitated but eventually decided not to contact Zayn just yet. She really didn’t want to see him now. She decided to wait until he left for work the next day. Then, she’d quietly go over to retrieve it.

Zayn walked out of the auction house, and the driver asked if he should take him to his place or to Peyton Residence.

“My place,” Zayn replied.

There was no one at his home; it was cold and empty. Staring out the window at the falling snow, Zayn sat for a while before finally speaking, “Take me to the bar.” The driver was a little surprised. Lately, he’d noticed that Zayn had been spending almost every night at bars, living recklessly. But as just an employee, he didn’t question it. Whatever his boss decided, he followed.

Zayn sat in a private room, took out his phone, and reached out to people. Soon, the room was filled with people, and women in revealing outfits draped themselves across the men’s laps. It wasn’t long before they were brazenly kissing. In the past, Zayn would have been right in the middle of it all, and then he would call Julie to clean up the mess.

Hans sat in the corner, again refusing a seductive woman lying to feed him wine mouth-to-mouth. He pointed at Zayn. “If you can get this drink into Mr. Peyton’s mouth, I’ll give you ten thousand dollars as a reward.”

Chapter 43

The woman smiled with confidence upon hearing Hans’ words.

“I believe you’re a man of your word, Mr. Yock.”

Everyone knew that Zayn was the most reckless player in their circle. Forget feeding him wine mouth-to-mouth, she was sure she could handle whatever else came her way.