Chapter 1310 Other Men’s Jealousy As A Measurement For My Chad-ness

There was no doubt that all eyes were on Roxanne tonight. Her movements were regaled with rapt attention from all of the guests. Working under Roxanne for years had fostered a deep-seated deference in Kaiser’s bones. As soon as he saw the young woman approaching them, he leaped out of his comfortable, lazy recline and stood tall before bidding her a greeting. Roxanne scanned Zayn nonchalantly before flashing him a smile. “Zayn Larson! It’s been a while.” The bystanders were noticeably behooved by her apparent act of courtesy. Words about her arrogance preceded her, and there were tales of her conceit magnified as her business became booming. And yet, here she was, the infamous diva greeting Zayn by her own accord. It was out of her character to do so, unless—her old flames for Zayn had not been put off after all. How lucky of him. How very, very lucky of him to have attracted the attention of someone so above. They would have done anything for fortune like that! She was a rising, rich CEO and a gorgeous sight to behold; any lucky bastard who marries her would never live their life drowning in woes again. The men, unsurprisingly, began to regard Zayn with jealousy. They were, mutatis mutandis, rather infatuated with the young lady, so seeing her gracing Zayn a chance to casually interact with her was sore to their eyes. They would have been more accepting of this if Zayn was still a trust-fund kid the way he used to be back in school, but even that moment of glory was gone. Now, Zayn was a pauper and no prince. So why the heck was he the one gaining her attention? Shepherd was probably the one who looked the most ticked. He was so pissed he balled his hands into fists. He had had the most long-lasting crush on Roxanne for years and had even tried to ask her out many times, but she never so much as to view him as her equal. It stung. Zayn rose to greet her. “You took the words out of my mouth. It’s been quite a while.” The men usually had only two ways of interacting with Roxanne: either fumble their words in both nervousness and excitement, or turn into a showboat like a peacock flaunting its feathers. But Zayn was different from most men, as always. His reaction was tepid. He did not look like he was holding back excitement or enraptured by her approach, which made Roxanne frown a little. From her perspective, Zayn should be treating the fact that she was even talking to him as a windfall and an honor, and react with an appropriate amount of surprise, zeal, and anxiety. He should have been shaking in his boots, not calm and collected! She reasoned it away as some sort of mind game he was playing, however—an affectation of even-keeled casualness just to bait her. Roxanne had seen it all before. “I’ve heard you’ve started quite a few companies of your own,” she started, “So I got curious: what industry are you working in? Maybe we can collab or cooperate some time.” She was smiling but it did not reach her eyes, which were brimming with arrogance and mocking. It was clear that she did not believe Zayn to possess the ability to start any business at all. Zayn, being awesomely perceptive as he always was, could tell that. He replied with a faint smile, “I’m afraid not. There’s a big disparity between you and I, and I don’t think we’ll ever be able to collaborate anytime soon.” Zayn was, of course, giving her the hard truth. He owned a business empire where contracts were all measured in units of billions of dollars! That was nothing a small-scale merchant like Roxanne could ever provide! What Roxanne understood was different, though. To her, it sounded like a big bluff to cover up his inadequacy—a thought that brought even more glee to her widening grin. “Oh, I don’t mind. I was just thinking about expanding my business in Waltz City,” she replied. “Admittedly, there is a pretty big gap between you and me, but I’m your old classmate first and foremost, right? I’ll be delighted to support you a little.”