?Chapter 515:


    So, Gerard made up his mind. “Fine. Tonight, I’ll drink with you till we drop!”


    Melvin clinked his ss. “Okay.”


    A few roundster, Gerard still held strong.


    He’d been drinking with Kristian for years—his tolerance was sky-high. The nightclub pulsed with lights and loud music, drowning out the world.


    Gerard raised his ss again. Noticing Melvin looking tipsy, he leaned in. “Tell me about her. Talking helps, you know.” He’d been waiting for this moment. Some real info.


    He couldn’t believe Melvin had a girl before he did. That was unfair.


    “I don’t want to say.”


    Melvin frowned, ying drunk.


    Gerard had no clue he was being set up. Melvin’s act was wless, and with his usual quietness, everything felt real.


    “If you don’t feel like talking, then don’t.” Gerard, ever the naive optimist, still believed he could charm secrets out of Melvin with a bit of persistence. “Let’s just keep drinking.”


    Gerard prided himself on his impressive alcohol tolerance.


    But there was one critical truth Gerard hadpletely overlooked. The sharpest minds often wore the mask of weakness to bait their prey.


    From the very start, Melvin hadid out a careful trap, dangling just the right topic to spark Gerard’s curiosity—his entire setup was designed to lure him in.


    And regrettably, Gerard—usually sharp and perceptive as Kristian’s right-hand man—didn’t see any of iting.


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    As he watched Melvin seem to slide deeper into drunkenness, Gerard thought maybe just one more drink, and Melvin would spill. One more ss.


    Then another.


    And another still…


    They knocked back drink after drink in relentless session.


    Eventually, the alcohol began to take a toll on Gerard too. When he saw Melvin’s cheeks flush and his eyes ze over, he figured the moment had arrived.


    He slung an arm around Melvin’s shoulder and leaned in, trying for a heart-to-heart. “Sometimes it’s better to let it out than drown in booze. Come on—what happened between you two?”


    “She’s got feelings for someone else,” Melvin mumbled, his voice low and muffled. His tone had shifted subtly, and he still clutched his ss in hand.


    Even if Freya were sitting right there, she’d never have guessed he was putting on an act.


    His expression, his pauses, even his bodynguage—every movement was executed with such precision it looked entirely genuine.


    Gerard blinked, his mind slightly fogged.


    Seizing the sliver of rity he still had, he pressed further, “So how long were you two actually together?”


    Melvin hesitated, then gave a small shake of his head.


    Even pretending to be drunk, Melvin wasn’t one for talking much. But Gerard misread the silence entirely, assuming it came from heartbreak so deep it left Melvin speechless.


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