After receiving the invitation, Jiang Hai opened it in front of her. It was a pink envelope with a golden embossed design. The front had some hot-stamped lettering, along with a string of English words: Victora'secret.
"Victoria's secret…" Jiang Hai read it slowly, frowning at the odd English.
Hearing his pronunciation, Selena Gomez rolled her eyes and tapped the envelope.
"It's Victoria's Secret," she corrected, her voice full of amused exasperation.
"Oh, that underwear brand. No wonder you're dressed like that…" Jiang Hai muttered as he slipped the invitation back into the envelope. He had heard of the brand—just heard of it. After all, what normal man would go out of his way to learn about women's lingerie? He wasn't a pervert.
"Even though you're technically right, why does it sound so low-class when you say it?" Selena laughed, shaking her head proudly. "But I like it, hehe."
"I was invited by them," she continued, more seriously. "I don't have to walk the runway as a main guest this year, but I still have to wear something a bit... cooler. You know, nobody's here to see down jackets. Anyway—what do you want to drink? I'll go get it."
Jiang Hai shrugged. "Beer. I'm not into anything else."
This was her career. He had no right to question it. Besides, Selena's relationship with him was vague at best—more like the situation with Pra Walton. Something had happened between them, sure, but he wasn't in a position to control her choices.
If she were the main girl in his life and dared to dress like this, he might scold her to death—well, unless she was dressing like this just for him. But that wasn't the case. If anything, Jiang Hai had the bigger problem here.
As she walked away, still smiling, he watched her disappear into the crowd to get the drinks. But she had barely been gone ten seconds before a tall, striking white woman walked over to him. She had an ethereal beauty and was dressed... well, rather boldly. Without hesitation, she sat down in Selena's seat.
"Hi, hello," she greeted casually before Jiang Hai could react.
"Uh… hi," Jiang Hai replied, clearly uncomfortable. He glanced around, searching for Selena in the crowd.
"I'm Ellie Goulding. A good friend of Selena's—and one of the resident performers tonight. She's mentioned you. Nice to meet you," she said warmly, offering her hand.
Jiang Hai shook it but stared blankly. He had no idea who she was.
"Oh, nice to meet you too! I've… heard your songs," he added awkwardly, clearly bluffing.
"Oh really? Which one? Sing it for me," Ellie raised an eyebrow, clearly amused.
Jiang Hai froze. Total panic.
"Uh…"
He was dying inside from secondhand embarrassment—his own.
"Okay, Ellie, stop teasing. I told you—my boyfriend doesn't listen to our music," Selena said with a laugh as she returned, carrying a small tray with beers. The bottles were just 330ml each, so six of them didn't look like much.
She handed one to Jiang Hai, another to Ellie, and kept one for herself, opening them with ease.
"I know," Ellie said, grinning as she took the bottle. "But he just said he had, and I got curious."
"Yeah, well, that's an Eastern courtesy," Selena rolled her eyes playfully. "He's just being polite."
"Hi, sisters! We're here!" A loud, cheerful voice rang out as the door to the box opened again. A beautiful woman walked in, her lips painted so fiercely it looked like she had just eaten someone. She was flanked by two young and equally attractive girls.
Selena's smile faded as she saw them.
"Did you invite them?" she asked Ellie coldly.
"Come on, that's just gossip. You can't let one jerk ruin your friendships…" Ellie replied, sighing.
Selena fell silent.
The newcomers greeted everyone, spotting Ellie and Selena immediately—but not even glancing at Jiang Hai.
"Hi, Ellie, Selena… it's been a while since we've gone out together!" the woman said brightly, wrapping an arm around each of them. Her tone toward Selena was slightly apologetic, as if trying to mend something.
Selena didn't respond.
"Hi, Taylor. You're late," Ellie said, then turned to Jiang Hai. "Let me introduce you. This is Jiang Hai, Selena's boyfriend. Jiang, this is Taylor Swift—a good friend of ours."
Jiang Hai stood and nodded politely. He remembered Selena saying she and Taylor weren't on good terms, so he kept it low-key. He didn't recognize her, not being interested in American celebrity culture. If it had been an NBA player, sure—but a Grammy winner? Not a clue.
"Jiang… Jiang Hai? From Tamron Manor?" Taylor's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Uh, yeah, that's me," Jiang Hai replied, surprised that she knew who he was.
"Excuse us, Selena. I think we need to talk. Ellie, you too…" Taylor said, flashing a tight smile at Jiang Hai before pulling the two women aside.
As soon as they reached the corner, Taylor's expression darkened.
"Selena, are you insane? That guy is your boyfriend? He was with Pra Walton just days ago!"
Ellie looked stunned. "Wait, Pra Walton? Walmart's heiress? What does she have to do with him?"
"It's been all over the upper circles," Taylor said, then quickly filled Ellie in on the Hilton Hotel incident.
"I know," Selena shrugged. "Honestly, I'm not really his girlfriend. We're just… you know."
Both women stared at her in shock.
"Selena, are you serious?" Ellie said. "You're just one of his lovers? He looked so honest—I didn't think he was that type. You need to break up with him."
"Selena, I know Justin was a jerk. I never meant to hurt you with that mess. But this guy? Come on. You really have the worst luck with men," Taylor said seriously.
Despite the past rift between them—largely due to Justin Bieber—they still cared about each other, especially Taylor, who was three years older and saw Selena as a little sister.
"You don't understand us," Selena said, glancing at Jiang Hai who was now distractedly studying a beer label. She smiled. "Jiang Hai is a good guy. He won't hurt me. In fact, I have the upper hand. He's like a poppy—addictive and dangerous, but impossible to resist."
"Oh my God… he's cast some kind of Eastern spell on you," Taylor groaned, exchanging a worried glance with Ellie.
Just then, one of the girls who had entered with Taylor walked up to Jiang Hai.
Taylor and Ellie smirked.
They knew that girl well—if anyone could reveal Jiang Hai's true colors, it was her.
"If you trust him so much, let's see how he handles this 'test,'" Taylor whispered in Selena's ear, her eyes locked on Jiang Hai.
"Hi, you're Jiang Hai, right? I'm Kendall Jenner. I heard you own a manor?" The woman smiled sweetly and sat down opposite Jiang Hai without waiting for permission.
"Uh… yeah, I have a manor," Jiang Hai replied, caught off guard. He glanced at her: tall, model-like, at least 1.85m in heels, probably around 1.78m barefoot. She wore something incredibly revealing, despite the near-freezing temperatures outside.
Her cheekbones were sharp, stunning really—but her chest was, well, modest.
She had a mix of fox-like allure and innocent charm, but none of it fazed Jiang Hai. After all, he'd just been squeezed dry by Pra Walton. He was in "saint mode" now, utterly uninterested in temptations.
If he really thought about it, he might've recognized her. Kendall Jenner—half-sister to Kim Kardashian.
Kim was notorious in the U.S. for a certain kind of fame, and well-known in China because her sister married Lamar Odom, a former Lakers star. In China, Kim was called "sister-in-law," and Kendall was either "Kim's little sister" or "the next sister-in-law." Though recently, her more media-savvy sister had stolen the spotlight.
Still, Kendall was no slouch—at just 20, she was already a top-tier supermodel and one of this year's stars at the Victoria's Secret show.
"So, what do you raise at your manor?" Kendall asked, eyes gleaming with curiosity.
Her family wasn't among America's ultra-elite, but they were well-connected. And any young billionaire under 30 earning over $10 billion a year was definitely on their radar.
(To be continued.)