Were they bullying Jasmine again?
Her disheveled hair and disarrayed clothes said it all: these people had inflicted some sick harm.
"Is this your idea of fun?" Tom's anger flared, and with a swift kick, he landed a blow on one of the men sitting nearby.
The man flared up. "What's your problem, Tom?"
As the two seemed ready to throw punches, the others interjected, "We're all friends here; don’t wreck the peace."
"My ass! He kicks me over some girl!" Complained the offended entitled rich kid with an air of frustration.
Tom glanced at Daniel who sat in a corner with a stormy expression, silent.
Frowning, Tom shrugged off his jacket and draped it over Jasmine. "I'll take her out of here."
A group of trust fund babies started to tease, "Tom, you're quite the ladies' man, huh?"
"You were at the hotel that night too, Tom. Don't tell me Jasmine's bastard is yours?" One of the rowdier guys jeered, barely dodging a punch from Tom.
Tom had a short fuse, and he was ready to swing.
Jasmine followed Tom numbly, trailing him out of the private room.
The corridor outside the bar was deafening; young people danced wildly in the club, the music booming.
Jasmine felt a ringing in her ears and staggered slightly.
Tom walked ahead without looking back at Jasmine even once.
Stopping at the restroom door, Tom pulled out a wet paper towel and passed it to Jasmine. "Wipe the blood off your face."
Jasmine paused, then instinctively touched her face, feeling the warm blood. The cut on her forehead had somehow reopened.
Taking the towel from Tom's hand, she dabbed at her face and asked in a quiet voice, "Was it you?"
Tom frowned, impatient and straining to hear. "What?"
"Six years ago, at the Bellagio Hotel—was that you?" Jasmine looked up; her eyes swollen yet clear.
Tom froze for a second, his chest tightening without warning.
Jasmine was his first love, his once-in-a-lifetime.
In high school, he was the sports jock, and Jasmine was the homecoming queen.
During the recital before the track meet, she danced the Swan Lake solo, shining like a star. Now, she seemed to have fallen from grace, her light extinguished.
"What's the matter? Slept with so many men you can't keep them straight?" Tom looked away, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
Jasmine fell silent as she stared at the bloody towel.
"Can you get home okay?" Tom asked, his brow furrowed, regretting leaving her alone at this late hour.
Jasmine stepped back tentatively. She was about to leave but then stopped and gathered the courage to look back at Tom. "Justin... is he your son?"
She had to find her son's biological father.
Her fingers clenched tightly, knuckles whitening with the effort. She loathed these people, all of them.
But for Justin's sake, she had to endure the disgust and muster the courage to sift through the memories of that night six years ago.
Tom was taken aback, thinking Jasmine had lost it.
Going around trying to pin her kid on someone? "Have you gone mad for money or are you just desperate for a man?" He spat out.
Jasmine had her answer, and it wasn't Tom.
It wasn't...
The bathroom door swung open, and Ethan emerged with a stony expression, a cold aura enveloping him.
He despised bars, yet tonight's engagement was inescapable.
In the restroom, he had overheard a woman grilling a man about whether he was her child's father – and he certainly didn't expect to bump into her again.
Jasmine, again.
Catching a glimpse of Jasmine in the mirror, Ethan couldn't help but feel the irony. Too many men in the picture – how could she not know who the father of her son was?
"Ethan?" Tom was startled; he hadn't anticipated encountering Ethan by the restroom!
Tom and Ethan were relatives.
Ethan's biological mother and Tom's were first cousins.
During her life, Ethan's mother had taken great care of Tom's family, which led to the two families becoming quite close.
Ethan’s face was impassive as he glanced at Tom and warned in a low voice, "Don't mess this up."
Creating scandals with illegitimate children was trouble and playing with lives, even more so.
The day Jasmine had fainted into his arms, Tom had been in a hotel suite – a fact Ethan only learned later.
Despite Ethan being distant with the rest of the Douglas family, he still looked after his mother's side of the family.
He didn't want to receive a tearful phone call from Tom's mother begging him to intervene.
"Ethan, you've got it all wrong..." Tom fidgeted, attempting to explain. "Her type? Not my taste at all."
Ethan frowned, sparing Jasmine a glance.
Jasmine instinctively lowered her head and stepped back, as if afraid of tainting Ethan's view.
That day, Ethan had instructed his assistant to send her a small cake...
In their world, that was a rare kind of kindness.
"Make sure she gets home safely and don't forget the medical fees," Ethan told Tom, insinuating he better not avoid responsibility after the fun was over.
Tom opened his mouth to protest. "I didn't—"
"Why should I cover her medical bills for a wound I didn't inflict?" Tom muttered under his breath. "She's probably just broke and trying to hustle me."
"Did your dad go bankrupt?" Ethan queried.
Tom looked shocked. "Did he?"
"Pay her," Ethan insisted. Extortion or not, Tom had it coming.
"I don't want it..." Jasmine's eyes reddened, and with a trembling breath, she turned on her heel and left.
She had thought Ethan was different from the rest, but they were all the same.