Chapter 115: A Different Person

The casually dressed employee came back, looking more leisurely than when he left. He leaned down and spoke directly to Aurelia.

“Madam, the act will start shortly.”

Rania chuckled. “Is this the power of being the owner?” she teased. “You even get preference in choosing men to look at.”

Aurelia rolled her eyes and wondered what these people had been told to treat her so politely. “Don’t they look like they are scared of me?” she asked in the passing.

Rania shook her head. “They look like they are fawning over the new boss.”

Aurelia thought the situation perplexing. After being under the tyrannical rule of the Russos, how could they be scared of a little girl like Aurelia? Maybe they thought Casper would be the real boss but remained hidden and only saw her as a figurehead?

She shook the thought away and enjoyed the last part of the performance. The girls disappeared off the stage, money tucked into their underwear. Aurelia clapped enthusiastically, the slight buzz from the alcohol she consumed earlier finally taking a toll on her. The dim lights and loud music hastened its effect, as well.

There was a brief moment of confusion amongst the crowd when a group of men came out. The few women who were in the club cheered, while the men (some of them) became muted.

Rania crawled over Aurelia, who was sitting on the edge of the booth to get a better look at the stage. After ensuring the men dancing on stage were hot enough for her attention, Rania dragged Aurelia by her arm to the front.

She trudged along, looking reluctant but indulgent. Rania let her hands go and focused on the stage where the dancers lavished their attention on her. She was generous with the cash she had.

All in foreign currency.

Aurelia threw her head back and retrieved her phone. Rania even reached up to touch a willing stripper and asked her to join on the stage. Aurelia retreated a few steps, making sure she got the full scene on video for future reference.

What was friendship if there was no blackmail material between them?

Rania beckoned her forward, unperturbed by the rolling camera.

Aurelia shook her head. She could imagine news traveling back to the Becketts and spreading amongst high society if she got any closer to the stage.

She threw her head back and laughed at Rania’s antics, sporadically sending images to Anthony, who was probably still sleeping.

In a moment of mischief, she sent a particularly blurry but scandalous enough picture to her cousin Larson. From Aurelia’s perspective, these two were in the ambiguous stage, with Larson acting like he had no interest in her.

In such a normal relationship, a push from Aurelia could take it to the next level.

A few minutes later, Rania hopped off the stage and sauntered to Aurelia before dragging her back to the booth. Aurelia scrunched her nose as the sweat slick hand fell on her.

“Dance with me!” Rania slurred out, now completely drunk.

.

Mathew accompanied Casper on the top floor, just having gotten out of a meeting with the runners. He noticed Aurelia enter the club with her friend in tow and turned to Casper calmly. “Miss Cromwell has come.”

Casper looked up from his drink and peered to the side. He sat on the balcony overlooking the stage and main floor. From there, he could see everyone in the club. The one way glass prevented them from seeing him.

“Mm,” he hummed under his breath.

Without a prompt, Mathew went to the door and instructed the guards to spread the word that the new boss had arrived. She was not to be trifled with.

Word had clearly spread across the club, but Mathew didn’t expect the otherwise reserved and sometimes scary Aurelia Cromwell to let loose and ask for male strippers.

She didn’t touch them or look at them closely, but one could tell she had a cheerful personality under the mask of morose she put on for the rest of the world to see.

“Miss Cromwell looks like a different person with her friends,” Mathew stated, his eyes lingering on Aurelia, who was currently shimmying around.

The bouncers had surrounded the section she was seated at, not allowing others to approach or take videos.

Casper glanced at his second-in-command before looking in Aurelia’s direction. “You like her?”

Mathew stiffened and then whipped towards his boss in the next second. “Boss, I have no intentions towards Miss Cromwell. I simply think she has several personalities to show the world.”

He shuddered at the image of her stabbing Kevin multiple times. She had looked like a woman possessed, much more haunting than the coldness with which Casper dealt with his enemies.

Casper’s eyes were rooted to Aurelia’s figure. He could see Rania getting handsy with her. They seemed to have no sense of personal space of propriety as they danced. His fists clenched and he downed his drink in one go before he stood up.

“It’s time for Miss Cromwell to head home,” he announced.

Mathew stared in shock before nodding in understanding. He glided out of the room, leaving Casper standing at the edge of the balcony, his palms buried inside his pocket.

‘She allows just about everyone to touch her,’ he thought.

Right then, Rania was hugging Aurelia by the shoulder, whispering something into her ear. From the way they swayed, they didn’t look sober enough to remember what they had done by the time day broke.

The clock struck one and Casper made his way down the stairs and to their booth.

Rania was the first to notice him. She squinted, making sure she wasn’t hallucinating. “Did you call someone to pick you up?” she asked.

Aurelia bobbed her head, feeling dizzy. “Why?”

“Your ride is here,” Rania whispered.

Aurelia smiled broadly and turned to look. She expected Larson to be standing there, frowning. Instead, she found Casper with the same expression.