A Stand-in Bride

Chapter 57

Yibo

I'm reluctant as I walk over to Jackson’s house. If the boys hadn’t warned me that they’d throw me out of our poker club if I didn’t show, I’d have stayed home with my wife.

We usually meet once a month to play poker and catch up but I’ve been skipping it ever since I got married to Xiao Zhan. It’s odd how hard I find it to leave her for even just a single night. I want to be around her every second of every day and even then, it isn’t enough.

I bite down on my lip, wondering if I should just lose tonight so I can go back home to my wife as soon as possible. I suspect they’d see straight through me and I’d never hear the end of it.

I pause halfway toward Jackson’s front door and frown at the figure darting through the trees. “The fuck are you doing Yang Yang?”

I watch him as he glances around before jogging my way. “Can’t be too careful,” he says, smiling. “I’m fucking dead if your cousin catches me here. She’s been extra strange lately. Best not to provoke her.”

I shake my head as we walk to Jackson’s door. He presses his finger to the scanner and the door opens. Dilraba would lose her shit if she knew Yang Yang is close enough to us for his biometrics to be in our system. “At some point, Dilraba is going to find out that all of her cousins are friends with you and there’ll be hell to pay for all of us.”

Yang Yang looks horrified at the mere thought of it and I can’t help but chuckle. “Yang Yang. Billionaire. Real estate magnate. Pussy.”

He shoots me a glance. “Your cousin is fucking psychotic mate. I don’t doubt that she’d try to fucking gut me if she caught me here. Did I tell you she sent me a fucking fish bomb last week?”

We walk into Jackson’s living room, where the rest of the boys are all set up. The only one we’re missing is Luca. “What the fuck is a fish bomb?”

“She sent me smoke bombs that smelled like dead fish. My entire goddamn office reeked for a full week.”

I raise my brow. “The hell did you do to her?”

He runs his hand through his hair and shakes his head. “Fuck if I know. It arrived shortly after that charity gala I threw.”

I smile then. “The one you took a date to? You created a PR nightmare for me with that bullshit. Why the fuck did you bring that girl if you didn’t want it blasted all over the gossip papers? You never bring a date so you should’ve known that the first time you do would attract attention.”

He hesitates and looks away, piquing my curiosity. “She’s special to you, huh?” My smile drops at the thought of it. My cousins and I have always been certain that the hatred between Yang Yang and Dilraba was really just thinly veiled love. Looks like we were wrong. I clear my throat and look away.

Haoxuan walks up to us, a concerned look on his face. “Does Dilraba know about this girl?” he asks.

Yang Yang frowns. “She saw me with her at the gala but I don’t see how that matters.”

It’s no wonder Dilraba sent him a stink bomb.

Jackson looks at me and I shake my head. I don’t know who she is either. She showed up on Yang Yang’s arm two weeks ago and none of us had ever heard of her before.

“So who is she?” Jackson asks. “I remember seeing her. She’s beautiful, that’s for sure.”

Yang Yang turns around to face Jackson, a chilling smile on his face. “Stay away from her,” he warns. “Don’t fuck with me Jack. I don’t want any of you anywhere near her.”