CHAPTER 9: CHAPTER 9: SHE’S WHAT HE LEFT BEHIND

"Alright! I won’t touch you!"

As long as you have strong core support.

Leo Lockwood was carefree, raising his brows in arrogance.

Annelise Winter put away the money, asked her companion to play the music, then walked over, and with one hand on the back of the sofa next to Leo, she leapt gracefully and started dancing around him.

The malicious jeering, the ill-intentioned glances, surrounded her.

Leo felt like he was sinking into cotton.

He looked up with infatuated, greedy eyes at Annelise, his breaths filled with the faint fragrance from her body.

It wasn’t the scent of make-up, nor the smell of cheap perfume...

Her occasionally moist red lips, her captivating eyes, her slender waist, her collarbones, her...

So near yet so far.

Always maintained a distance of one foot from him...

Annelise remained composed throughout, treating Leo as if he were a dance pole, her hand always grasping the sofa beneath her.

Leo couldn’t help but lightly toy with a lock of Annelise’s black hair, "Sister Annelise, I’ll give you an extra hundred thousand, how about letting me touch you?"

Annelise’s brows furrowed; almost instantly, she stopped all her movements and took a step back.

She stood straight, her eyes free of any emotion.

"Young Master Lockwood, we agreed on no physical contact."

"You won’t even earn the hundred thousand? A touch is just a touch, what are you pretending for?" Leo scoffed.

Annelise steadied her mind, "No, I won’t earn it."

She was about to leave, but was blocked by a few of Leo’s henchmen. Leo lit a cigarette, exhaling smoke slowly.

"Fine, if you won’t earn it, you won’t earn it. The dance isn’t finished yet, are you going to let my money go to waste?"

Annelise never cries in front of customers, but today, for some reason.

Her nose kept feeling sore.

Her mind kept replaying Elias Warner’s expression when he left, unwilling to even glance at her.

Her breath trembled.

She clenched her fists, raised her head to keep the tears from falling, "Alright!"

She let the abruptly stopped music continue, and she resumed her dance.

But just two moves in.

Leo’s hoarse voice spoke again, he took a drag from his cigarette and puffed it onto Annelise’s face, "I’ll give you ten thousand more, how about it?"

Annelise paused again, her face looking particularly grim.

She was about to retreat, but didn’t expect Leo’s hand to already be pinching her exposed waistline.

Annelise tried to break free, but the other party had malicious intent, and had long set his sights on her, directly holding her tightly, intending to embrace her forcefully.

Her wrist suddenly hurt piercingly, and Annelise accidentally fell in completely, "Young Master Lockwood! Let go of me! What are you doing!"

"You’ve already been played to the ground, still acting here? Do you think you’re still the Annelise of back then? And take a look whether Young Master Warner still remembers you!"

"Offended Elias Warner and was dumped by Chase Perry! You know how many people in the circle want to mess you up?"

Leo clamped her jaw with his tiger mouth that smelled of smoke, forcing her closer, "Believe it or not, I’ll handle you here for free today, neither Young Master Warner nor Young Master Perry will care!"

Annelise’s eyes reddened, she raised her foot to kick him!

She had worked part-time in bars for two years and had learned self-defense for her own protection.

But outnumbered, she was like a delicious little deer falling into a wolf’s den.

The accompanying sisters had long been sent away with a generous tip.

She was lifted out; her legs were pinned tightly, Leo buried his head in her hair, "No wonder you’re what’s left after Young Master Warner and Young Master Perry had their fun! Poppy, why don’t you just follow me from now on, satisfy me nicely, and I’ll give you whatever money you want."

"Young Master Lockwood, I’m not here to sell myself! I warned you!"

Leo, drunk, raised his hand and roughly pulled off Annelise’s shoulder strap.

He directly wanted to press Annelise under him, "Come have a couple of drinks with brother!"

As he spoke, he picked up a wine glass and poured it into Annelise’s mouth.

Red wine ran down her neck, soaking Annelise’s dance dress, so disheveled, yet adding to her alluring sensuality.

But unexpectedly, the next second, there was a sudden sharp pain!

"Ow! Stinky coward!"

Leo fell to the ground clutching his crotch, his face pale from the pain.

Annelise, with a strong force, stepped on his crotch, then flipped him over, giving him a mouthful of dirt, even knocking out his front teeth.

Leo’s heart was bursting with pain, "Bitch! You dare hit me! Do you know who I am!"

Annelise pulled up her shoulder strap and stood up; for self-preservation, she grabbed a beer bottle from the side and smashed it with a clang.

She stood there, reckless like a fearless female warrior, "I’ve said it many times, I’m not here to sell myself!"

"What are you all staring at, stop her!"

But Annelise was neither humble nor pushy, her clear-cut eyes flickering under the lights, "Leo Lockwood, you know I’m Mrs. Lockwood’s private doctor, don’t you?"

"What?!" Leo’s face turned green.

He was used to being a scoundrel.

But Mrs. Lockwood lived a lifetime of dominance, she was swift and decisive, also the mistress of the Lockwood Family, controlling all of the family’s economic lifelines.

In this lifetime, Leo was most afraid of his family’s matriarch.

The matriarch had a favorite private doctor, always cherishing her verbally.

If the matriarch knew he messed with her private doctor... that wouldn’t just be a pain; he’d be absolutely doomed.

Annelise: "You can check by calling her right now if you don’t believe me."

"Screw it! What rotten luck! Let her go!"

Annelise left, no one dared to stop her again.

Outside the bar, the rain poured heavily once more.

The Red Flag National Car, like a noble leopard, lay dormant in the torrential rain of the deep night.

In the closed space.

The atmosphere was oppressive and extremely cold.

Elias Warner’s face dark and abyssal, enshrouded in ice and snow, his discomfort evident in the way he loosened his tie, loosely sitting in the back seat, his handsome sharp features appearing cut in the night.

His long legs seemed to have no place to rest, his brows fell upon the outside window, always gathered in a cold and indifferent way.

After a while, he lightly laughed and spoke, "This is the surprise you mentioned."

Clearly, he wasn’t in a good mood.

Eric Thorne stuck close shamelessly, "Elias, I’m sorry, I really didn’t know Poppy was Annelise, if I had known..."

He wouldn’t have foolishly arranged such a show for Elias in a million years.

Saying this, Eric started to slap himself, "It’s all my fault! I’ll definitely go back and take care of that Leo Lockwood!"

Elias flicked out a cigarette, pinched it between his fingers, the emotion in his dark eyes under his long lashes unreadable, "Enough, don’t mention her name in front of me again!"

Eric quickly closed his mouth, "Understood, Elias!"

Elias lit the cigarette, took a light puff, "You don’t need to involve yourself in my affairs anymore."

Eric became anxious hearing this, "What do you mean I don’t need to get involved!"

Eric, his eyes red, turned around unexpectedly to see Annelise coming out of the bar, all the anger welled up in his chest at once.