Chapter 91
Just as expected, many men felt disheartened when they saw the intimate gestures between Hilda and Kai. Even Zayne's eyes were filled with jealousy as he looked in Kai's direction.
When Kai introduced Maria to Hilda, he explained, "This is Mr. Saunders' daughter, Maria. Her dad and mine were comrades in the army."
Hilda instantly figured out that Gary must have wanted to approach Maria's father when he told her he would ask a friend about a job for her.
Hence, she walked up to Maria and held her hand. "Maria, you're really pretty. I have heard Kai and Mr. Chance mention you before. I just never had the opportunity to meet you."
Maria smiled in response to Hilda's friendliness. "Hilda, you look stunning yourself."
"This is Troy. We're on the same team," Kai continued while pointing at a bespectacled colleague in the corner.
"Nice to meet you!" Hilda smiled while extending her hand.
"T-The pleasure is mine." Blushing, Troy gently shook Hilda's hand.
Troy's reaction caused everyone to burst into laughter.
Soon, everyone began to make merry, singing and drinking at the same time. Moreover, many of them came over to make a toast to Kai, challenging his capacity to drink.
Realizing what was going on, Hilda shielded Kai from them. "At this rate, Kai will be drunk in no time. I'll drink in his place instead."
With that, Hilda downed a mug of beer.
Since Hilda was standing up for Kai, the guys weren't going to let the opportunity slip. From their perspective, Hilda would be knocked out after just two beers.
Soon, all of them realized they couldn't be more wrong.
Despite taking on the crowd's challenge and downing drink after drink, Hilda didn't look as if she was drunk at all.
When everyone realized there was barely any change to her expression, they were stupefied. Even Kai looked at her in disbelief.
No one had expected such a demure-looking girl to be so good at drinking. At that moment, she had thirty empty beer bottles right beneath her feet.
Meanwhile, everyone else's face was already red from having too much to drink. In fact, some of them could barely maintain their balance.
"All right now, let's start singing instead of drinking non-stop."
Finally, Zayne stepped in to stop the drinking challenge. Otherwise, everyone else would be drunk before Hilda felt anything.
"Hilda, you're an amazing drinker," Maria remarked with her eyes filled with both envy and astonishment.
Hilda smiled, "Unfortunately, that's the only thing I'm good at."
"Hilda, you're awesome! If my alcohol tolerance were as high as yours, no one will dare challenge me to a drinking game again!" Lydia exclaimed in admiration as she sat down beside Hilda.
"Lydia, it's possible to improve one's drinking capacity through practice. I'll teach you how to do it next time. Besides, I like how our surnames are similar to each other too," Hilda replied jovially.
Hilda was undeniably good at socializing. Within a short period of time, the three ladies had become best friends that could talk about anything under the sun.
"Hilda, given how pretty and good-natured you are, how did you end up being interested in Kai? To me, he is just an annoying country bumpkin," Lydia asked candidly after having quite a bit to drink.
Sitting by the side, Kai didn't sing nor drink. All he did was make idle chatter with Troy once in a while. Evidently, he didn't fit in with the rest at all.
"Lydia, Kai is actually a pretty good guy. I know because I grew up with him. Perhaps, you just don't know him well yet," Hilda calmly explained and wasn't upset at all.
Given Hilda's response, Lydia knew it would be inappropriate to disparage Kai further. Hence, she took up the mic and suggested, "Come, why don't we sing a song together?"
Chapter 92
Hilda wasn't just pretty but could sing very well too. Her voice was just as melodious as the actual singer's which further fueled the guys' jealousy toward Kai.
Zayne in particular stared at Hilda with increasing intensity. Nevertheless, he kept his affection in check due to Maria's presence.
Amidst Hilda's singing, the atmosphere in the private room reached a climax. Everyone was tipsy and dancing ecstatically at the same time.
After having a few beers, Troy stood up with his face blushing red and danced together with the others.
Only Kai sat alone by the corner, watching everyone else in silence.
Just when everyone was having a ball of a time, the private room's door was pushed open. A bald man holding a glass of wine walked in, followed by two bodyguards in suits.
When they saw the sudden intruder, everyone was stunned and stopped what they were doing. Even Hilda put down the mic she was holding.
The middle-aged man had a listless look in his eyes while his face was all red. It was clear that he had too much to drink. After barging in, he swept his gaze around the room and smirked, "So, it's nothing but a bunch of kids. Who was singing just now? You sound really good. Come to my private room and sing a few songs with me."
The man's words caused everyone to exchange glances. Nevertheless, no one dared to make a sound, as they could obviously see that he was someone powerful. Considering all of them were just salaried employees, they didn't have the courage to offend him at all.
Since everyone was silent, the middle-aged man shifted his gaze toward Hilda, Lydia, and Maria because they were the only ones holding the mics.
"The three chicks are lookers. Take them to my room."
Just as he spoke, the middle-aged man took out a stack of hundreds and threw it toward the three ladies. After that, the bodyguards behind him walked up to them, causing them to backpedal in fear.
At the same time, Zayne stepped forward to protect them.
After all, he was the most senior among the group, not to mention Maria was his girlfriend too. If he did nothing other than watching his girlfriend being taken away, he would end up becoming a laughing stock.
"Mister, who are you? We're just here to sing and relax. These three ladies are our friends and not hostesses," Zayne explained to the middle-aged man.
"It doesn't matter if they're hostesses or not. Anyway, isn't it embarrassing to be drinking beer in a place like this? Take this money and order a few bottles of Lafite. In the meantime, let the three girls come and sing with me," the middle-aged man replied while patting Zayne on his face.
Even though it didn't hurt, his gesture was an utter humiliation for Zayne. It was as if Zayne was nothing more than a powerless child.
In a fit of rage, Zayne pushed the middle-aged man away and almost caused him to lose his balance.
However, he regretted his actions the very next moment, as he didn't know what the man's background was. Things would obviously get messy if the man was infuriated.
"F*ck, how dare you push me?" the middle-aged man thundered. "Beat him up right now!"
Just as he ordered, the man's bodyguards charged at Zayne, who was trembling.
When they saw the intruders attacking, the rest of the guys gathered their courage. They grabbed beer bottles and stood together with Zayne. Since he was their manager, it was a good time for them to show their loyalty.
Given that the opposing party only had three men, they were confident that they could win in a fight due to their overwhelming numbers.
Stunned by their response, the two bodyguards didn't dare follow through with their attack. After all, they had not expected the bunch of youngsters to be so united.
When he saw the two bodyguards stop in their tracks, Zayne was ecstatic. Instantly, he moved forward and gave one of them a kick. "Get lost now, and I will pretend this never happened!"
