The petite figure stumbled by accident. As Nora did not see the familiar man, she initially thought she had entered the wrong room.

It was inevitable that the others diverted their eyes on the woman as she showed up out of nowhere.

When Nora realized that these eyes were, more or less, tinged with a hue that made her feel uncomfortable, she tamped down the complex emotions rolling in her heart.

"Here you are." Alex greeted Nora with satisfaction and hooked his hand at her somewhat drunkenly. The man's voice sounded particularly mellow in the dim room.

Upon hearing Alex's words, Nora walked over to him obediently.

Before she reached the edge of the sofa, the man reached out to take her in his arms. As Nora cried out in surprise, Alex's hoarse voice sounded, "You are three minutes late, according to the agreed time. How should I punish you?"

The delicate fragrance of wine drifted into Nora's nostrils. Under the rayless light, Nora noticed the two strange men sitting across from Alex.

With her lips curled up, Nora picked up a glass of wine and drained it as her fair throat waved attractively. "That's up to you." Like him, her voice was too low to be heard by anyone else but the two of them.

Alex's grip on Nora's waist tightened, and he then said in a meaningful tone of voice, "Okay, then. I'll take my time to punish you at night."

The man's ambiguous movement stunned Nora slightly. As she looked up at Alex, he was smiling at his friends sitting opposite him. "This is Nora, my woman."

"Nora?"

Ian pushed aside the women beside him, and an obscure expression appeared on his usually playful face. He and Nate exchanged glances with each other.

"The name sounds familiar. I feel like I've heard it somewhere before."

Nate leaned back on the sofa, looking with interest at Nora, who was being held by Alex. Suddenly, he thought of something. "I remember that the daughter of the former richest person in Ann City is also called Nora. Are they the same person?"

While drinking, Nora glanced at the two men who were staring at her and guessing her identity, and her heartbeat quickened uncontrollably.

Presumably, the two men were friends of Alex's.

During the three years when Alex and Nora were lovers, the man never introduced the woman to any of his friends. Actually, Nora could understand the man's dislike of her, especially given her own annoying performance.

What genuinely grieved Nora was that even after they got married, Alex was still unwilling to spare any room in his heart for the woman.

Still, he was unwilling to introduce her to his friends.

"Sorry, Miss Stock. I only know what happened between Alex and Hilda, and he never mentioned you in front of us."

It seemed that Ian explained why he had no impression of Nora. But his words playfully diverted all the blame upon Alex.

Nora witnessed Ian and Nate exchange eye signals with each other.

After draining the liquid in her glass, Nora let out a bitter smile inwardly, wondering how much she used to love Alex to accept his negligence like this.

She was simply shameless.

No wonder Alex, who condescendingly looked down upon everything else, never took her seriously.

"Ian, no one takes you for a mute if you don't speak."