Chapter 318: Women Are Like Clothes
"Didn’t King Alistair say it best? ’Brothers are like your own flesh and blood, but women are just clothes.’ And you’re fighting with your brother over a piece of clothing you haven’t even gotten your hands on yet. How stupid is that? Zeke Walton won’t hold it against you, but you need to show you’re sorry. Come on, apologize to the man."
After calming down a little, Brandon Jacobs realized he’d been too impulsive.
’Good thing Zeke Walton dodged so fast. Otherwise, I would’ve cracked his head open...’
He clinked his glass against the other, his neck stiff with reluctance.
"This drink says it all. You know what I mean."
They were all grown men. Who didn’t lose their temper now and then?
Zeke Walton understood, so he drained his glass.
"Do we really need all this formality between us? Come on, tell us what’s going on. Who is this woman, anyway?"
Brandon Jacobs really wanted to tell them. But he just couldn’t.
That was the source of his anguish. It was suffocating!
"I don’t know how to explain it. You guys are right—it’s just a woman, right? I’ll get over it. With my reputation and status here in Veridia, what kind of woman can’t I have? The matter’s closed. Let’s drop it."
Seeing that he didn’t want to talk, Wyatt Wynn tactfully played along.
"Well said. That’s how a real man should act. By the way, how come I haven’t seen Hailey today? Want to call her over to keep us company for a bit?"
"Get Hailey, Wendy, and Jessie over here!"
These three were Club DL’s most beautiful and emotionally intelligent "beverage saleswomen." Countless customers came just for them.
To maintain their mystique, Brandon Jacobs only had them work three days a week. Today just happened to be their day off.
As he was about to call them, Zeke Walton shook his head.
"Just call two of them. I don’t need anyone."
Zeke Walton used to go on and on about how he liked men and wasn’t interested in women. But every time he came here, he never refused the company he was assigned, and he was well-acquainted with Wendy, Hailey, and Jessie. So why was he acting so reserved today?
"What do you mean you don’t want anyone? Shit, who have you fallen for this time?"
Zeke Walton was completely unbothered by their sharp tongues.
"I won’t lie to you guys. I met a girl, and she’s... different. I really have feelings for her, and I don’t want to be with anyone else. It just feels pointless now."
Wyatt Wynn felt like he was seeing things.
’He’d just been a little busy lately. How had they all started catching feelings behind his back?’
"A girl? Are you sure you have feelings for a *girl*?"
Zeke Walton didn’t want to elaborate.
"Let’s not talk about me. She’s not from our world; you guys wouldn’t get it. Anyway, you two have fun. It’s getting late, I should head back before she starts to worry."
As Zeke Walton started to leave, Wyatt Wynn’s eyes nearly popped out of his head.
"What do you mean, Zeke? You’re living with someone? Holy shit, not only did your tastes change overnight, but you’re living with a woman?"
Zeke Walton replied, "I’m not a degenerate like you guys. We’re just roommates, that’s all. Don’t worry, you’ll be the first to know when there’s good news."
With that, he walked over to Brandon Jacobs and patted his shoulder.
"I’m in the honeymoon phase of a new relationship, so I can’t relate to what you’re feeling at all. There’s no point in me staying here. Just take your time and work through it. Listen to Wynn’s advice; he’s the most level-headed one among us. Hang in there."
He left with a cheerful laugh, dealing another blow to Brandon Jacobs’ fragile heart.
’Even Zeke Walton has a girlfriend now, while my love life is a total disaster. What is this bullshit!’
The boss had called, and Wendy and Jessie rushed over.
With a beautiful woman in his arms and Wyatt Wynn’s golden advice in his ears, Brandon Jacobs should have forgotten all about Elsa. But he was miserable. Utterly miserable.
It felt like someone was squeezing his lungs. He couldn’t breathe, and a profound discomfort settled over his entire body.
Wendy, a woman he was usually proud of and fond of, now seemed repulsive. Today, her makeup looked gaudy and fake.
Her clothes were always the same—low-cut and backless. Her nails were always long and glittery, sharp and seductive like a fox’s claws. Her voice and body moved with a cloying, cat-like coyness... He couldn’t stand it anymore.
Wendy was currently doing her best to charm him, sitting on his lap with one arm draped around his neck while her other hand, soft and delicate, brought a drink to his lips.
Suddenly, Brandon Jacobs shoved her off his lap.
Even though he was shirtless, he tugged irritably at his collarbone.
"I don’t feel well. I’m not in the mood tonight. I’m done. You can go."
Wendy stammered, "...President Jacobs, how can you do this? You made me come all the way here in the middle of the night..."
"Then go hang out with Wynn. I don’t feel well. I’m leaving."
With that, he pushed Wendy into Wyatt Wynn’s arms, snatched his clothes and shoes from the floor, and stormed out of the private room.
Just as Zeke Walton had said, everything suddenly felt pointless. Utterly and completely pointless.
The club that was his livelihood, the empire he was so proud of, the place where he was usually in his element—for the first time, he found it all so repulsive, so gratingly loud.
’I just want some peace and quiet!’
He threw on his clothes, stormed out of the club, and got into his car.
The cold, pre-dawn wind rushed through the open car window. His mind was painfully clear, and his body shivered from the chill, but he still couldn’t breathe properly. The discomfort was overwhelming.
’So this is what heartbreak feels like.’
It was like falling from heaven into hell.
Compared to this, the relationships he’d had back in school seemed like child’s play.
Reason told Brandon Jacobs he just needed to sleep. When he woke up, he could find someone else to kill time with, and this awful feeling would quickly fade.
But his mind wouldn’t obey.
The image of Elsa—her cold, sharp eyes and her crisp, efficient movements—was seared into his brain, replaying frame by frame on an endless loop.
He felt like he was going insane. If he didn’t see her, right now, and talk to her, he wouldn’t make it through the night.
VROOOM—
In the end, he couldn’t fight the impulse. After sitting in his car for about ten minutes, he started the engine and sped toward the villa.
Damien Vaughn had a key to the garage and could get into the villa directly. He didn’t.
He pulled up to the villa. Staring at the dark, hulking building that looked like a haunted house, he was filled with a desperate courage.
HONK—HONK—
His bright headlights illuminated the main gate as he laid on the horn twice.
Soon, a light flicked on in a second-floor room, and a silhouette appeared behind the curtains.
Brandon Jacobs knew it was Elsa, and his heart began to pound.
HONK—HONK— He pressed it twice more.
The silhouette vanished from behind the curtains.
Brandon Jacobs knew. Elsa was coming down to see him.
He killed the engine, slammed the car door, and ran to the front door to wait.
Sure enough, less than ten seconds later, Elsa appeared before him in her pajamas, her face a mask of cold indifference.
"What’s wrong with you?"
She was obviously furious.
Yet her voice was perfectly calm. On her exquisitely sculpted face, only her eyes betrayed her anger; every other feature remained unchanged.
This composed, commanding presence, so reminiscent of Damien Vaughn, drove Brandon Jacobs wild with infatuation.
"I’m sorry. I think we need to talk."
"Talk about what? You don’t follow the rules. You’ve repeatedly made the exact mistakes I despise most. I never want to see you again for the rest of my life. There’s nothing to talk about."
Brandon Jacobs, usually as cunning as they come, was now acting like a clueless kid.
"I don’t follow the rules? I’m making one mistake after another? Christ, since when? How did I not know?"
"Have you never been in a relationship before?"
When she first met him, Elsa had pegged him as a smart man, a seasoned player—a sleazy, dangerous man she needed to be on her guard against.
But his behavior tonight was truly taking her by surprise.