Chapter 4 The Despicable Man!

"Hey, I brought an extra box for Lynda... Where did you think I was going? Not everyone gets such attentive care from me, even Vaughn didn't receive such treatment when we dated."

Richard had met Lynda Wang a few times and knew her well. She wasn't just Jasmine's best friend but also the daughter of Phineas Wang, the chairman of the Wang Corporation, a key business partner of the Thompson Corporation. Richard had thought Jasmine was giving the milk to some other guy, but it turned out to be for Lynda. That had really scared him earlier.

Last time Richard was abroad on a business trip for a week, he came back to hear Jasmine had started dating Vaughn, which infuriated him. He was just slightly inattentive, and she already had a boyfriend. That guy was a player, not appreciating her at all. If Richard were her boyfriend, he would cherish her forever, pampering her every day.

As Richard was lost in thought, Jasmine leaned in, adjusted his tie and straightened the collar of his shirt. With no time to spare, she bid him farewell to enter the school.

"Let Lee pick you up this afternoon. If you keep picking me up, he might lose his job. Oh, and focus on your work! You're always following me around. If the Thompson Corporation goes bankrupt because of it, I won't be able to compensate you." Jasmine teased him with a stick-out tongue, then dashed off.

Richard massaged his forehead, completely exasperated by the young woman.

Jasmine sat at the back of the lecture hall. No sooner had she set her backpack down than she was on the phone, urging Lynda to hurry to class.

"Just a sec, I'm already at the campus."

After receiving Lynda's reply, Jasmine nodded and ended the call. No sooner had she placed her phone down than it pinged with a notification. Vaughn had just updated his status on social media.

Curious, she opened it to find a photo of Vaughn with Lizbeth under the canteen, captioned with a cheesy declaration of love.

Jasmine felt her skin crawl at such a public display of affection. She grew even angrier remembering how Vaughn had never posted photos with her online, claiming he preferred keeping their relationship private: "Damn it, he was just leading me on!" she thought, realizing Vaughn must have been flirting with other girls during their time together, eventually moving on to Lizbeth.

"Ugh! What a terrible man, I despise him." Jasmine muttered under her breath. In a fit of anger, she blasted Vaughn and promptly blocked his sleazy account on her phone.

Suddenly feeling foolish, Jasmine wondered why she had even dated such a womanizer, only to burden herself with frustration.

"What are you so deep in thought about?"

"God, you scared me!"

Jasmine clutched her chest, turning to find Lynda standing beside her. After calming down, she pulled her best friend to sit down and leaned on Lynda's shoulder, whining:

"My dear Lynda, that damned Vaughn broke up with me. And to top it off, he left me wearing a huge pair of horns."

Lynda sighed, empathizing with Jasmine's current mood. She had been busy moving into a new place the previous day and hadn't made it to the lecture hall. Last night, after seeing Vaughn's public display of affection with Lizbeth on social media, she had tried calling Jasmine, but kept getting a message that the phone was out of service.

Lynda gently comforted her, thinking Jasmine was shocked:

"Jasmine, Vaughn is a philanderer. Someone like him isn't worth your heartache."

"Ugh, as if he has the capacity to make me feel heartbroken! I just regret not realizing sooner what a playboy he was."

Jasmine looked utterly unfazed, even winking mischievously at Lynda. She just wanted to act a bit needy with her friend, not that she was actually heartbroken by that man at all.

It's odd indeed! Although her boyfriend broke up with her, Jasmine didn't seem sad at all. Could it be because their relationship was so new that the feelings hadn't deepened?

Or was it because she was too indifferent in her relationship with Vaughn? Jasmine began to doubt herself, often feeling happier around Richard.

Thinking of that old uncle, she involuntarily blushed. Lately, for some reason, she found herself idly thinking about him.

"Why couldn't I reach you last night? I thought you were too sad to answer the phone?"

"Not at all! My phone died and I totally forgot to charge it. Sad about what? I was out eating ice cream and had dinner at a restaurant with uncle Thompson yesterday."

After speaking, she took two boxes of milk out of her backpack, handed one to Lynda, and put a straw in the other to drink. Remembering that she had just moved, Jasmine asked:

"Where did you move to? I heard you were renovating the grounds of your villa, so you moved out temporarily, right?"

"Yeah, I moved to an apartment in Lux. Actually... Michael is also living in that building."

At the mention of Michael Jones, Jasmine frowned. Wasn't he the man who had outright rejected Lynda on her nineteenth birthday?

"Lynda, do you still like that uncle? He made himself clear last time; why are you still holding on?"

Jasmine felt helpless about her best friend. With Lynda's current options, there were plenty of good guys willing to chase her; why did she keep pursuing a man twelve years her senior?

"What can I do... I just like him." Lynda said with a forced smile.

Who can predict love? Even knowing it would hurt and bring more harm than good, she still plunged headfirst into it. Lynda used to complain about Jasmine living too carefree, but now she felt that being as carefree and worry-free as her would be so much better!

"I give up on you. Why do you have to like guys much older than yourself? Men over thirty are such a hassle! Where's the appeal?"

As Jasmine vigorously sucked her milk through a straw, she pouted in complaint. If it were up to her, she'd choose handsome, fit guys about two or three years older to date.

"Haizz, keep complaining, who knows, maybe you'll end up falling for some grumpy old man someday."

"Hah, no way! Jasmine here has already sworn not to love anyone more than five years older." She confidently declared to Lynda, patting her chest.