A Trip to the Limelight VIP Club

Limelight VIP Club, Pier Downtown

Just one minute before their agreed meeting time, Dong Xu entered the VIP club clad in a classy grey designer shirt paired with dark pants. To add to the elegance, he wore a shiny 'bling' jacket.

Dong Xu wasn't dressing to impress. The VIP bar had few guests, all from prominent families. What the average person didn't know was that the annual membership fee cost a million RMB (equivalent to almost 157,000 USD). And this was after throwing in an 80% discount for the two CEOs.

Lin Xiao favoured the place because of how serene it was - since not everyone could afford the membership or adhere to its stringent rules. Dong Xu was the same. He detested being seen in public, making the VIP club and the posh restaurants he attended; his usual hideouts. Currently, the club held not even twenty people, few of whom would recognise him at all. Once inside the private room, Dong Xu dropped his sunglasses and smiled deeply.

"I would have known that you wouldn't keep silent about that matter," a low-pitched male voice sounded from a corner of the room.

Lin Xiao emerged, looking radiant in his new club attire. While Dong Xu dressed more smartly, Lin Xiao looked like a rock singer in his shiny vest worn over a white shirt and striped pants. Something like a singer would bring to the stage. He even had a matching hat.

Dong Xu wasn't worried about Lin Xiao having read the contract. It was Lin Xiao's tendency of saying too much that he was concerned about. If he had indeed passed the contract to the girl, then had he revealed much about Dong Xu's secrets that would give the girl a weird impression on him. That wouldn't go well in the long term!

Up to now, he didn't know how Lin Xiao had met with the girl and his way of conveying the contract to her. He could only shake his head and hope that Xiao wouldn't have caused him much trouble.

Lin Xiao moved closer and leaned against his best friend, staring at him in the eye with a malicious look on his face.

"So, who's the girl to you? Even if you don't say it, I know you are concerned. Otherwise, you wouldn't have called for such an urgent meeting. When was the last time I saw you, CEO Dong? Like a month ago? Two months?"

Dong Xu smirked. This Lin Xiao really had a tongue on him. Small wonder why he was called the Playboy CEO. He was just too smooth with his words.

"Let's cut to the chase," Dong Xu stated, still wearing his smile from earlier. A server came shortly with a tray of drinks. Dong Xu waved him off before continuing with their discussion.

"Feng Yiren, twenty years old, only daughter of Feng Yuntian and Shi Qian, second-year student at Aquinas University. Majoring in marketing and business management. Never had a boyfriend before. Best friend is- Cheng Xiaoyu," Lin Xiao announced in a purposeful robotic voice. "Would you like me to go on to the next sentence, or is it clear enough for you now?"

Dong Xu folded his arms in front of his chest charismatically. Batting his eyelids, he smiled genuinely. Lin Xiao would never change in this life.

"I just need to know if you have sent Feng Yiren the contract, when and how."

"If you have so much time on your hands, why not sit down for a talk about this girl and how she has changed you?"

"Changed me?" Dong Xu uttered coldly. "I've not changed."

"What has sparked our Ice Xu's sudden interest?" Lin Xiao inched forward, grinning like a Cheshire cat. "Have you forgotten how back in university, the entire batch of female first year business students were after you, but you ignored them all? And how Maureen in our elective class tried to catch your eye by bringing you lunch every day?"

Dong Xu glared at Lin Xiao, miffed by how he randomly had brought up the past. While Maureen was pretty and had an enticing figure, like a seductress, her actions irked him to the core. To think she was like a leech, following him everywhere. It was agonising.

Lin Xiao had the audacity to bring up the matter! But soon, he would regret his very words.

"CEO Lin, don't forget how you were turned down by the prom queen yourself. And how you fell down the stairs and broke your legs running away from Fatty Meena."

Instantaneously, Lin Xiao shut up. Everyone had an Achilles heel, and he was no exception. He didn't think Dong Xu would bite him in the back over bringing up Maureen's name and the past. This Feng Yiren was no ordinary girl.

Just less than a week ago, Lin Xiao had come to the same club where he made acquaintance with Cheng Xiaoyu's brother, Cheng Xiaoyan in his attempt to help Xiaoyu. Xiaoyan triggered his suspicion, since he didn't seem to be the type who could afford the cheapest item on the menu at Limelight. So why was he there?

Cheng Xiaoyan would hold the key to finding out more about Feng Yiren. He was being nosy, but he believed Dong Xu would thank him in the future.

"So, what do you want, Dong Xu? Are you interested in the girl for real?"

"Don't ask questions that you already know the answer to," Dong Xu said coolly.

"What about the contract?" He questioned after a few minutes, still maintaining an icy tone. Lin Xiao snickered.

"She has received the contract, all right."

Lin Xiao acknowledged that Dong Xu would never fathom how she received the contract. Indeed, who would believe his words on how she saw Dong Xu in a dreamscape and then she woke up with a contract next to her? He had played some dirty tricks to make it all so realistic for Feng Yiren, but the dream part was not something Dong Xu would come to understand immediately.

"So, how did she receive it?"

Lin Xiao stood up and walked around the room. Silence followed. Dong Xu waited enduringly. With Lin Xiao, one required great patience to get something out of him. Fortunately, Dong Xu had all the patience in the world. While Lin Xiao was more of the impetuous kind. The two best friends were almost opposites of each other, with few differences which allowed them to maintain a grand bond.

"I disguised as you to give it to her."

This was the easiest way for Dong Xu to apprehend what was going on. He left out the details of the dream and just allowed him to maintain that it was just a matter of impersonation. In simple words, Lin Xiao led him to believe he had approached Feng Yiren while masquerading as Dong Xu.

Lin Xiao had all the tools he needed to charade, as anyone he wished. Even if it was a matter of height, he had shoes and boots of all kinds that would allow him to appear as tall as Dong Xu. Not that it mattered. In dark situations, the other person would barely notice. He was also a master of disguise. Such abilities were not learned. They were passed down from generation to generation, and Lin Xiao as the fourth generation of a disguise master, had such skills imparted to him by his grandfather.

In fact, there was much more to Lin Xiao than Dong Xu knew. But he couldn't let his friend know everything about him and left most of it as secrets, lest the truth would frighten him.

"So, how did she react?"

Dong Xu looked so inquisitive while asking Lin Xiao, which cleared Lin Xiao's doubts about his affection for the girl.

"Hmmm, let me think for a moment," he replied furtively.