The business party was held at the luxurious Grand Hyatt hotel at seven o'clock. At the gate, many luxury cars were dropping off their passengers constantly, and the valet attendants were fervidly taking the keys to park the cars.

Angela once again decided to wear a Lenon Classic Fit Solid Wool suit in a sharply fitted silhouette with a nipped-in waist and strong shoulders. She loved the color more than anything. It was a navy blue color – her favorite color being in a man's disguise. The collar was narrow, and she decided to dress it up by not wearing anything underneath, showcasing her ivory hidden chest; she hoped to drive Drake mad. She matched the Lenon Classic Fit Solid Wool with high-waisted trousers that elongated her legs in the same color. On her feet, she was wearing BUWCH men's formal black shoes that matched the light beige foundation she had gone for on her face. She had to admit, she looked yummy – much older than eighteen-year-old Angelo.

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She slowly stepped down from the car, feeling herself to be in her natural environment with all the cameras, glitz, and glamour.

The banquet was for business, so many celebrities and business giants had been invited. Drake too, looked dashing in his sharp black suit though she could not admire him since he was busy talking to others. Angela sneaked out to the dining area when Drake talked to others because she was totally not interested in boring business talk.

Plus, a girl could not wait for dessert, could she?

Most of the celebrities here knew Angelo, an adopted child of the Thorne family, but his innocent looks still attracted many women.

While at the table deciding what to eat, a man came up and stood beside her. Angela paid him no heed.

"Fancy meeting you here." The man spoke in a low voice.

Angela froze when she heard the voice. It was Nathan. She looked up to see he was standing close to her and made it seem like he was making normal conversation. Angela's heart started pounding. What was he doing here! Did Drake not know he was going to be here? Where was Drake!?

She knew what Nathan wanted, but she was unwilling to make trouble and cause a scene, so she turned around and was ready to leave. However, Nathan did the same and stopped her.

"Why are you running away. Are you that scared?" Nathan taunted like a predator playing with his prey.

Nathan's voice made Angela strange and uncomfortable. She looked closer and noticed his pupils were dilated and red. He had been drinking!

"Nathan, you are drunk. Do not do anything you are going to regret. Do you remember what Drake said last time? He is going to kill you if you touch me!"

Though she tried to look brave, her voice was shaking. She cared less about herself and more about the Thorne' family reputation if anything were to happen. She did not want to embarrass the family any further!

Angela's words had no effect on Nathan. "Do you think he scares me? He is just all bark and no bite!"

"Listen, you asshole, don't make a scene and embarrass yourself and us. You are just drunk, so do not do anything you are going to regret!" Angela tried another way to alleviate Nathan. Perhaps her anger would make him open his eyes even though she knew he was too far gone.

Angela's statement had the opposite effect on Nathan, and he got even angrier. Right then, a waiter walked by with a tray of red wine. When the waiter came close to Angela, Nathan pushed him into her.

Losing his balance, the waiter lost control of the plate and directly smashed into Angela. The heavy tray fell on Angela, and the glass broke on her. Red drops of blood started to sprout from her skin. She fell hard on the floor with the waiter on top of her.

The loud noise attracted other people as well. Drake, who was still talking with others, became serious when he learned that Angelo was the one who had an accident.

Angela took deep breaths when she saw she was bleeding. She had always hated the sight of blood and would faint whenever she saw it. The poor waiter clumsily stood up, apologizing profusely. Others around them had grabbed napkins and were carefully helping her up, being careful to avoid the broken pieces of glass around Angela.

Drake ran over and sighed when he saw the scene. He quickly took over Angela from others and carefully walked her to a seat. She was bleeding from all over, but they were small cuts; however, they still needed to be cleaned.

Drake noticed Angelo becoming pale and clammy whenever he looked at the blood on his hands and clothes.

"Drake, I don't like blood," she mumbled out.

"Sir, we have a first aid kit. You can follow me to my office, and we can take care of Mister Thorne," the hotel manager told Drake hurriedly.

Drake nodded and carefully pulled Angelo up. When he noticed he could not walk, he grabbed him into his arms. Onlookers stared in surprise as they saw Drake carrying the young Mister Thorne protectively in his arms out of the room. This was the first time Drake Thorne had shown affection in public.

He carefully placed her on the sofa in the manager's room, fixing the pillows so they were behind her in a comfortable position.

"How did this happen?" Drake asked softly.

"Nathan…it was Nathan."

Drake looked up sharply. "What do you mean it was Nathan?"

"He…he was here, Drake. And he seemed really drunk. He just came up to me and then pushed the waiter into me." Angela then looked over the manager. "Please…it was not the waiter's fault. Don't say anything to him!"

"No…don't worry, Angelo," Drake soothed him when he noticed he was getting stressed out. He then looked over at the manager. "Find Nathan."

A nurse was ushered into the room. He quickly took out a first aid kit and started to tend to Angelo's cuts and scratches. They were minor; however, there was one deep cut on his leg where the tray had fallen which would require a couple of stitches. The blood was being absorbed by his blue pants, leaving a dark red patch.

Angela was leaning against the sofa with her eyes closed. Every cut the nurse tended to stung her, and she tried hard not to flinch. What calmed her down was Drake's protective arms around her. When the nurse started cleaning the deeper cut, Angela whimpered loudly. She knew what was coming. Drake immediately tightened his hold over her. She leaned into his neck, trying to ignore the numb feeling washing over her leg. When she felt the cold needle on her skin, Angela yanked her leg away.

"No! I…I am fine. I…do not need stitches."

"But Mister Thorne! You are bleeding profusely. It will not take even a minute," the nurse said in protest.

"Angelo, the wound must be checked!" said Drake, in a softer tone.

"No," Angela mumbled into Drake's shoulder. "I do not want stitches."

"It will not take even a second," Drake replied while patting her back. He motioned to the nurse to start stitching while he tried to keep Angelo busy. "It will only take two minutes. Why are you so afraid?"

"Because! Because I do not want a needle going inside my skin. And because I know it will hurt," Angela cried. She had always hated needles and blood, and even though she was a twenty-five-year-old woman (technically), she felt like acting like a baby when it came to these things.

"You are that afraid, huh?" Drake snickered.

"Yes, I am that afraid," Angela replied like a petulant child.

Drake did not want to admit it, but he was quite enjoying the feeling of her small body against him. It felt natural to him, and he had never felt this way before. She was pressed into him, holding onto his shirt tightly. Drake did not mind that her blood was getting all over his clothes. He just wanted to protect Angelo at all costs. He had cursed himself when she told him Nathan was here. He should have known! He should have checked the guest list and ensured that the bastard would be nowhere near her, but he had failed, and for that, he would not forgive himself.

He was trying to soothe him by stroking his back. When his hands felt something on Angelo's back, he thought for a while, was it a bra strap? His eyes fell on Angelo's delicate face. If only they were somewhere else, he would have opened it up and checked it immediately. Drake shifted uncomfortably, the last thing he wanted was him to get hard while he was holding his stepbrother. This isn't right! Something weird at all, yet he tried to ignore it. He was a tiny thing; he weighed almost nothing when Drake had lifted him up into his arms.

Within two minutes, the nurse had finished stitching up Angelo's leg.

"Hey!" Angela complained loudly. "You didn't tell me you were going to stitch me up!"

The nurse and Drake both laughed. "Young master, you were not going to let me if I told you!"