IN LOVE WITH A SOLDIER, VOLUME 2 - Season 10 Episode 99

“I am surprised you didn’t get jealous,” Lawrence whispered to Greg in a teasing manner, nudging him by his elbow.

“It’s Austin. He’s Violet’s cousin. I have no choice but to let him hang around her,” Greg said, smiling humorlessly. Did it irk him? Yes, but he couldn’t make a scene.
They enjoyed a beautiful meal together. After lunch, Austin pulled Violet to the study for a chat, leaving Lawrence and Greg to themselves. The two men had nothing to do at home, so they went out on a long drive.

In the evening, Tim arranged a party for Austin to welcome his return.

Lawrence parked his car outside the Southern Club. Greg’s sports car soon followed.

The moment Austin got out of the car, a man in a blue suit standing at the entrance of the club caught his attention. He didn’t seem to be as aloof as Lawrence, so Austin wondered if he would take more of a liking to him. Tim seemed to be more similar to Greg: friendly, but high-handed in character.

“You are Alice’s husband, I am assuming?” Austin approached Tim, surveying him from head to toe.

“Hello, Austin. You look just like what Violet said,” Tim said, offering him his hand.

Austin reached out and shook hands with Tim intently. The former rested his eyes on Violet, who was getting out of the car. “Did you blab all my secrets to him, Violet?” he questioned her severely, lips curving into a frown.

“Oh yeah. Were you so naive to believe that I would safeguard your playboy image between us?” Violet shot back, snorting. She cast Austin a disdainful glance and quickly turned away, ignoring his offended stare. She had her arm in Greg’s and they walked straight to the club lobby.

Paying no heed to Austin, Lawrence too made his way to the club. ‘I’m in no mood to entertain this guy, ‘ he thought as he followed Violet and Greg.

“Let’s get inside. Mike will be here later,” Tim suggested, smiling. He lightly patted Austin on his shoulder.

Realizing that Tim was the only one who was willing to talk to him, Austin stuck around and immediately bombarded him with a ton of questions. He better ask him before he ran away too. “Where is Alice, Tim? Why can’t I see her anywhere? Did you two get into a fight?

Oh my god, are you living apart?” he interrogated him in one breath, hungry for gossip.

“So many questions!” Tim stared at him, startled. A resigned look came over his face. “You should ask Alice. She’ll be here in a moment.”

Without waiting for a reply, Tim quickened his pace, leaving Austin behind.

“Hey, why are you guys ignoring me? I’m terribly lonely. Don’t leave me alone!” Austin raised his voice as he trailed after them. Their silhouettes were already fast fading.

Violet heard his complaints but ignored them. Holding Greg’s arm, she kept walking without taking a look behind her.

Greg glanced at Violet. Puzzled, he asked her in a low voice, “So we’re just going to leave him alone?”

“If we go back to him now, he would just act like a spoiled child. He’s too entitled,” Violet said, giggling.

Inside the VIP room, the five of them took their seats on the couch, immersed in conversation. Occasionally, they took sips of wine from their flute glasses.

“I heard you have many girlfriends. Why didn’t you bring one of them with you?” Violet asked, her gaze settling on Austin. She was nestled comfortably in Greg’s arms.

“Lawrence ordered me not to. He asked me to come here alone,” Austin replied, sighing in disappointment. He looked askance at the offender. It wasn’t a lie.

Austin recalled how Lawrence had asked him to return from abroad within a week, or he would be forced to send his people to bring Austin back.

“You need to get permission from your parents if you want to bring your girlfriends home.” Lawrence turned his stern eyes on Austin, daring him to refute his big brother.

“Never mind!” Austin said, shrugging innocently. “I can’t bring them home. I am afraid my grandparents would get scared when they see them.”

“What do you mean? Are they ugly?” Violet asked, scrunching her nose.

“No, they are not ugly,” Austin replied hesitantly. He didn’t know how to explain what he meant. A glance around made him realize that Violet was the only girl in the room, so he decided to use her as an example. Comparing his girlfriends to Violet, he continued, “If my girlfriends were like you, I would have brought one of them along with me. Look at you! You don’t perm or dye your hair. You don’t even wear a lot of make-up. I doubt you’ve had facelifts and cosmetic surgeries done. You don’t wear skimpy clothes. If I brought my girlfriends here, they would just have ogled other men.”

Austin paused for a bit, and then proceeded, “They are too flirtatious and would not sit beside me! They would hover around Lawrence or Greg. It would have gotten on your nerves, Violet. Once they have a crush on someone, they get very aggressive. Those girls don’t leave the object of their affection alone.”

“Screw you! Greg won’t let those women approach him,” Violet snapped at him. How dared he? She looked around, wanting to throw something at Austin but found nothing.

“Then Lawrence would have been the lucky guy,” Austin responded simply, hinting at his helplessness. He had no control over his girlfriends.

“If you dare introduce those women to us, I won’t hesitate to kick you out of the city,” Lawrence warned him coldly. ‘We both received education abroad. How is he so different from me?’ he wondered, rolling his eyes.

At the same time, the door to the room pushed open. Alice stepped inside, wearing a long black dress with a halter neck.

“Wow!” Austin exclaimed as if on instinct. He sounded astonished, as if he had found new land. Jumping to his feet, he made his way to Alice, looking at her up an down and began volleying compliments at her. “Look at this gorgeous lady! You’re so hot! Are you a Hollywood star?

May I get your signature, madam?”

“Do you want to get your ass kicked, Austin? You are always surrounded by beautiful girls. Don’t mock me!” Alice responded, narrowing her eyes at him, although humor shined in them. She was glad to see Austin, but was surprised at how much he had changed. ‘So many years have passed since we last met. He has become even more handsome and smooth-tongued, ‘ she observed.