Chapter 24: Trying to Steal My Man?

I looked up and met Ian's affectionate gaze. What was he doing here? Ian took me in his arms and danced. I was taken a few steps in a daze, and when I came to my senses, I looked over at Elias, who was not far away. He was standing in the middle of the dance floor, watching me quietly. I subconsciously broke away from Ian, but he had a strong hand and didn't let go of me. I got angry, "Ian, what do you want?" Ian was as gentle as ever, even a little aggrieved, "Jacqueline, I just want to dance with you." Just a dance? There were a lot of beautiful girls on the dance floor and he had to catch me in front of Elias? Wouldn't that be too deliberate? "Ian, I'm going to count to three and if you don't let go of me, don't blame me for being rude." "Jacqueline," he looked into the distance over me and suddenly laughed mockingly, "This is just a very ordinary dance... what are you so nervous about? Besides, your husband is dancing with someone else too." Who was he dancing with? I gritted my teeth and turned around to see Elias dancing with Nellie with his hand around her waist, their eyes locked. They were even dancing in perfect harmony. I was so angry and jealous. Did Nellie think I'm dead? She actually seduced my man right under my nose. I let go of Ian and was about to walk towards them when Ian pulled me back and stopped me from doing so. I turned back and looked at him angrily, "Let go of me." "Jacqueline, don't you get it?" "What?" "Elias isn't one of us but Steven still invited him to his wedding anniversary, can't you see that?" I pulled Ian's tie, forcing him to look down at me, "Ian, I'm not a fool. Even though I'm cooperating with Steven now, I'm not so far gone as to give up my man. You better not be gloating." "I'm not." He retorted. I shrugged him off fiercely. I stumbled and fell forward. Ian reached out to help me in a hurry. But someone else moved faster than him and held my hands firmly with his long arms. Then he took me by the waist and carried me around the dance floor in a few circles before we stood still. "Why did you dance with Nellie?" I asked. He smiled coolly, "You danced with your ex-boyfriend too." He emphasized the word "ex-boyfriend". Was he jealous? The thought of him being jealous of me made me happy so I forgot to think about him dancing with Nellie. "He made me dance." I blamed it on Ian, "He was pestering me." A cold grunt came from overhead, then Elias muttered, "Next time, I won't just let you go." We stayed the night at the cruise ship. Although everyone had gone to their own rooms to rest, Nellie still kept us playing games. Steven didn't stop her, but told her to get some rest before too late. Nellie suggested, "Jacqueline, Elias, Ian, let's play Truth or Dare." I raised an eyebrow. Nellie smiled with an innocent look on her face, "Even though Ian and I broke up, we're still good friends. Ian, don't you think so?" Ian nodded. Elias and I didn't care if they could still be friends after they had broken up. What I cared about was what the hell was Nellie scheming? "Okay," I said, "I haven't played Truth or Dare in a while." "Well, if you don't want to answer, you can drink, is that okay?" "It's okay." I nodded my head. In the first round, the arrow pointed off to me and it was Nellie who asked the question, seemingly innocently but pinpointing, "Who was Jacqueline's first love?" Elias glanced at me lightly, not trying to help. I looked at Nellie's smug smile and sighed in my mind that she was a little too young to try to mess with me. "In fact, I shouldn't have hidden it from you last time, but I'm afraid you'll misunderstand. But since you've already broken up, let me be honest, my first love was Ian." The words "my first love" touched Elias's sensitive nerves. He looked up and stared straight at me, his thin lips compressed into a straight line. He was obviously very upset about this statement. He deserved it! And Ian froze when he heard my words and then turned sad. Maybe he was thinking of something. He might be moved by what I had said. But to me, it was just a simple answer. In the next round, I led. The pointer turned to Elias. With a smile, I slowly said, "Elias, will you cheat on me?" Nellie immediately frowned when I asked this question, "Jacqueline, we're just playing a game. Won't Elias overthink it if you ask such an awkward question?" "Oh, will you overthink it?" I stared at Elias. Elias, who knew me well, looked at me, "No." I laughed, "What if a girl even more beautiful and younger than me was haunting you? What if she could give you everything?" Elias said lightly, "The odds are that a man who cheats on his partner will get his comeuppance, and I don't want that." When Ian heard the word "comeuppance," he looked pale. Well, well, well. I found that Elias was really good at playing dumb. He seemed to be harmless, but he was actually very aggressive. A few rounds later, Nellie seemed a little anxious when she found that Elias and I dared to say anything and had no chance to drink at all. On the other hand, Ian, who was already 70% drunk. I waited and saw what would happen, wondering what other tricks Nellie had up her sleeve. "Ian is already drunk, but Jacqueline and I don't have the strength to help him up. Elias, can you help Ian back to his room? His room number is 1601." Elias nodded and got up to pull Ian. After the two men left, only Nellie and I were left in the room. I smiled and looked at her. Nellie clapped her hands, "Jacqueline, let's have a drink and talk. My dad just got a bottle of good wine. I'll go get it." "Sure." While she was off getting the wine, I texted Elias, "Change rooms with Ian, don't ask why." I deleted the text message before Nellie came back. Nellie and I were drinking and talking. Soon I was deeply intoxicated when Nellie said, "Jacqueline, you're drunk. Let me take you to your room." I opened my eyes and forced myself to sober up a bit, "It's okay, I'll go back by myself." "Why don't we ask Elias to pick you up?" "No need, I can walk by myself. Besides, he's tired and probably already asleep." "All right then." Nellie looked at me and said tentatively, "Jacqueline, you know which room you're staying in, right?" I sneered. Of course I knew which room I was staying in. But Nellie, your plan was going to fail.