Bait for a Gentleman novel Chapter 107

They had gone through quite a bit of wine. Audrina leaned back against her chair, a soft flush painting her cheeks, her eyes half-closed. Willow wasn't faring much better; she was slumped sideways in her seat, holding up her glass and demanding they open another bottle.

Both of them were dizzy and thoroughly buzzed, their conversation turning disjointed and random.

Just a moment ago, Audrina had been laughing, her shoulders shaking as she leaned over the table at one of Willow's jokes. Willow laughed along with her, then suddenly dug out her phone, declaring she was going to record this to show Audrina how ridiculous she looked when she sobered up tomorrow.

Suddenly, a phone vibrated against the table.

Audrina fumbled for it and opened Sebastian's chat window.

The smile froze on her face. Her eyes locked onto those three words, completely motionless.

Willow was still rambling beside her, but Audrina couldn't hear a single syllable.

For three years, no one had asked her that.

Are you okay?

She always had enough money. The Suttons never shortchanged her on that front. Tuition, living expenses, credit card limits—they were always generous.

But in a foreign country, thousands of miles from home, she had to endure fevers alone and swallow her grievances while staring blankly at the ceiling.

Her grandfather was getting old, and the time difference made calls infrequent.

Whenever she tried to talk to Zachary, he was always impatient.

Over time, she just stopped talking. Because even if she spoke, no one was listening, and the people who heard didn't care.

Audrina didn't even realize when she started crying. The tears hit the screen first, blurring those three words into a smeared mess. Then her shoulders began to tremble, a broken sound escaping her throat, and soon, she couldn't stop.

She collapsed over the table, burying her face in her arms, her shoulders heaving as she sobbed like a lost child.

Through her tears, she choked out, "No, I'm not! I'm not okay at all!"

For all these years, she hadn't been okay at all.

Willow was completely stunned.

Since they were kids, the number of times she had seen Audrina cry could be counted on one hand.

She honestly thought Audrina was just the kind of person who didn't cry.

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