The Day I Kissed An Older Man

Annie could not bring herself to defend Jeremy anymore.
“Tommy, you should stop defending Uncle Jeremy. The more you try to explain, the more it sounds like you’re trying to help him
cover up something. Plus, what could he possibly be so busy with that he didn’t even come to visit Corinne once in the past few
days? Even I have to side with Corinne on this! Hmph!”
Tommy was speechless. ‘Poor Mister Jeremy... He does have his reason...’
Annie did not want to talk to him or the other two guys in the room anymore, so she went to Corinne’s room. Xante was still
inside talking to her.
“Corinne, have you decided whether you’re going to the party?” asked Annie as she sat in front of them.
Corinne looked up lazily and asked, “What party?”
Annie frowned. “Sophia’s birthday party, of course!”
“Oh, I forgot all about it. Why should I go to some stranger’s birthday party?”
“But she gave you the invitation, so how can you not go?” asked Annie frustratedly.
“There’s no law saying I must go to a party just because I’ve been invited,” said Corinne nonchalantly.
Annie turned to Xante. “Xante, would you go if you were in Corinne’s situation?”
Xante pushed up her gold-rimmed glasses. “I would go if I’m available.”
“Why?” asked Annie curiously.
“I mean, it’s not like I have anything better to do and... Who knows? I might meet a hot guy and have a fling with him.”
“Uh... Okay...”
Xante’s reasoning, though somewhat offbeat, was still a reasoning after all.
“What’s this talk about having a fling?” asked Sunny with a frown as he walked into the room.

Xante immediately got a headache when she saw Sunny. She instinctively massaged her temples as she said, “You can’t come
into a girl’s room without permission!”
“Xante, were you talking about having a fling? Why would you want to have a fling when you already have me?” he asked
stubbornly.
Xante looked at him. “I was just talking nonsense.”
Sunny widened his eyes in anger, making him look imposing yet childish at the same time. “Don’t ever talk nonsense like that
again! Having a fling is no joking matter!”
The pain in Xante’s head became even more pronounced. “Go wait in my room first. I’ll explain everything to you later.”
Sunny was pleasantly surprised that Xante would ask him to wait in her room. His mood instantly lightened as he lifted his chin
proudly and said, “Don’t keep me waiting, you hear?”
Xante sighed as she watched Sunny strode out of the hurry. After that, she turned back to Corinne and said seriously, “By the
way, Boss, there’s something I’ve forgotten to tell you.”
Corinne raised an eyebrow. “What?”
“The owner of Heartland Hotel is an art collector, and he has collected many world-renowned paintings over the years. Among
them is a self-portrait of Nellie Nymphaea which has never been made public before. That’s about to change because it’ll be
displayed in an upcoming exhibition.”
Corinne’s expression immediately became focused. “How trustworthy is this piece of information?”
“A hundred percent trustworthy! All the paintings are from his private collection. Not many outsiders had seen it. But, lately, the
hotel he owns has run into some operational problems and isn’t making money as it used to. To attract more high-end
customers, he recently released the news that he’ll display his private collection in the banquet room for any guest that holds a
party there to make it more interesting.”
It had been a long time since Corinne saw any of her mother’s paintings on the market. What made it even more attractive this
time was the painting displayed would be a self-portrait of her mother.

‘What would Mom’s self-portrait look like? How old was she when she drew her self-portrait?’ wondered Corinne. She really
wanted to know the answers and see the painting with her own eyes. ‘But why does the name of the hotel sound so familiar? If I
remember correctly, I saw the name somewhere today...’
After thinking it over, Corinne suddenly narrowed her eyes. “Did you just say Heartland Hotel? Isn’t that the place where Sophia
is throwing her birthday party?”
Xante pushed up her gold-rimmed glasses. “Yes, exactly.”