Chapter 333: Chapter 333 You like her too Dominic smirked, swirling his drink. "They’re not exaggerating. You’ve been the quiet backbone of our entire circle for years, and now you’re here, beautiful, shy, and completely flustered. Kind of unfair, if you ask me."
Scarlett leaned toward Bella and whispered with a smirk, "They’re totally overexcited."
"I can tell..." Bella murmured, her cheeks glowing but her eyes bright.
Jason suddenly clapped his hands. "Okay! Group selfie! I refuse to believe this moment without evidence."
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Leo’s patience was cracking.
He had checked his watch, then the lounge clock, then his phone again. A low frustration crawled beneath his calm exterior. Finally, he called the manager, his tone sharp and cold, and after receiving a vague answer, he stepped out of his private lounge and walked down the corridor, his shoes clicking steadily against the marble floor.
He hung up the phone, sighing deeply but then froze.
From the left hallway, faint voices drifted toward him. Familiar ones. He leaned slightly, his sharp hearing catching each word more clearly with every step.
"I’m telling you she’s cheating on Leo! Otherwise, why does she have so many guy friends?!" Alexa’s voice was shrill, laced with bitterness.
Leo’s eyes narrowed instantly. His hand, still holding the phone, went rigid.
Alan’s voice followed, firm but controlled. "I can’t believe it’s coming from you, Alexa. You have plenty of guy friends too, and you’re saying that about her?"
"You’re not getting it!" Alexa snapped. "Everyone sees her as innocent and sweet, but where does she get all these men around her? It’s all a façade!"
"Alexa, stop it!" Alan’s voice rose, his usual calm slipping. "Don’t you dare talk about her like that. Bella is kind and good-hearted. I thought you were a bold, modern woman, not cruel and narrow-minded."
. Alexa laughed harshly, the sound echoing like a taunt. "Hah! I know why you’re defending her—because you like her too, don’t you?! You think I don’t see how you look at her, Alan? Don’t forget she’s Leo’s wife!"
The corridor seemed to still.
Leo’s jaw clenched so tightly that the veins in his neck stood out. The words you like her too hit him like a knife to the gut. His blood burned hot in his veins; the muscles in his arms tensed, ready to strike.
He took one step forward, ready to end that conversation permanently, when a hand caught his arm.
"Leo," Zion’s voice said quietly from behind him. The calm tone was steadying. "Don’t."
Leo’s glare could have frozen fire. "Let me go."
Zion didn’t. "You walk in there right now, you’ll snap Alan’s neck before you hear the whole story."
Leo’s eyes darkened, a dangerous calm spreading across his face. "She’s my wife. He has no right to even think of her that way."
"I know," Zion said carefully. "And that’s exactly why you need to stay calm. Don’t make Bella the reason for blood on the floor."
Leo turned his gaze back toward the corridor, where Alexa’s voice had lowered but was still hissing faintly. His fists curled so tight his knuckles went white. Every inch of him screamed to confront them...to make Alexa choke on her own poison, to make Alan explain himself.
But he didn’t move.
He just stood there.
When the voices finally faded, Leo exhaled slowly, his chest rising and falling in controlled rhythm. "If Alan really likes her," he said in a voice so low it barely reached Zion’s ears, "he’ll learn where the line is and what happens when he crosses it."
Zion said nothing after that, there was no point arguing with a storm. He could feel Leo’s fury radiating off him like heat from an open furnace. So instead, he changed the subject carefully, voice low but steady. "I found where Scarlett and the others are. They’re in the VIP lounge." He paused, gauging Leo’s expression. "Let’s go."
Leo’s eyes were still sharp and hard, but he gave a curt nod. The movement was precise and cold. Zion exhaled in quiet relief—at least Leo was moving.
They walked through the corridor together, the dim golden lights glinting off Leo’s wristwatch and the silver edge of his cufflink. His silence was terrifying; every step he took sounded deliberate, heavy, like thunder waiting for its cue.
Zion kept glancing at him sideways, tense, ready to intervene if Leo so much as turned in the wrong direction. He had already stopped him three times in the elevator—first when Leo’s fingers had twitched near his gun, second when he muttered Alan’s name under his breath, and third when he glared at a waiter for walking too close.
By the time they reached the VIP floor, Zion was sweating more from nerves than from the warm air. "Please don’t kill anyone," he muttered under his breath.
Leo didn’t answer. His jaw flexed, and his gaze flicked toward the lounge sign ahead—the one that read Private: Lounge A. "That’s where they are," Zion said, keeping his voice casual. "Bella, Scarlett, and maybe their friends—until you storm in."
Leo gave him a sharp look. "Who said anything about storming in?"
"Your face," Zion replied instantly. "It looks like it’s about to declare war."
Leo exhaled through his nose and unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt, but the tension didn’t fade. "Fine. I won’t go inside."
"Good," Zion said quickly before the man could change his mind. "We’ll just get a lounge next to theirs. For... business reasons."
"Business reasons," Leo repeated flatly, though a faint smirk tugged at his lips.
Zion grabbed the opportunity before Leo could think twice and spoke to the manager. Within minutes, they had another private room reserved—Lounge B, right beside Bella’s.
Once the door closed behind them, Zion finally allowed himself to breathe. He loosened his tie and looked at Leo, who was standing by the soundproof wall separating them from Bella’s lounge.
"Don’t you dare," Zion warned.
"I’m not doing anything," Leo said calmly as his fingers brushed against the wall.
Zion rubbed his temples. "You’re going to ’accidentally’ overhear, aren’t you?"
Leo didn’t reply. He simply leaned against the wall, hands in his pockets, testing how much sound passed through.
His jaw tightened again. "Accident," he murmured, his eyes dark. "Right."
Zion sighed in defeat and poured himself a drink, muttering, "God save whoever flirts with your wife tonight." He thought about Alexa’s words—Bella has many male friends—and his stomach twisted. Leo would shoot anyone without thinking.
Leo’s gaze remained fixed on the wall separating them. His voice was soft but dangerous when he spoke next.
"God won’t need to."