Roxanne chuckled as she saw Den being motionless in front of his best friend. "Now I know where you got that shamelessness from. You seem to have learned a lot from your friend."


    Axrd and Den are both shameless men.


    "Ouch! That hurts my feelings. Den was more shameless than me. Believe me." denied Axrd in a convincing tone.


    Roxanne sat on the sofa across Axrd casually, then nced at her lover. "Yeah, I think he is more shameless than you."


    Axrd grinned widely at this.


    "The saying that a disciple is much better than his mentor is true," added Roxanne made Axel''s wide grin disappear as soon as it came.


    "I''m not his mentor."


    "You''re my mentor, alright." continued Den while sitting next to his wife, embracing the girl''s waist.


    Roxanne takes a corkscrew to open a bottle of wine, but Den took it. "Let me do it."


    After that, Den poured it into each wine sses and handed it to Roxanne and his friend.


    "Cheers!"


    "Cheers!" Den and Axrd said in unison as they clinked their three wine sses before taking a sip.


    "Hmm… it tastes terrific," stated Roxanne with satisfaction. "By the way, how did you guys be friends? I can understand you guys being close friends. You guys are both shameless and stubborn. But what about her?"


    Roxanne couldn''t believe Den wants to be friends with a girl who always hides her true feelings behind her facade.


    Den and Axel nced at Louisa, who was still sleepingfortably on Axel''sp.


    "In that case, you should ask him. He''s the one who introduced me to Louisa."


    "Why? She''s sweet." Axel replied with an amused smile.


    Sweet, my ass! "Why do you think so?"


    "No reason. I just thought she''s sweet. Besides, if Den didn''t like her either, he wouldn''t have invited her here."


    Hearing the word ''like'' from Axrd, Roxanne nced at Den with using eyes.


    "As a friend." that''s the answer Den gave.


    "So you hate me liking a boy as my friend, but you have a female friend that you like. You''re so unfair." Roxanne folded her arms across her chest.


    "It''s not that kind of like. If it weren''t for Axel loved her so much, I wouldn''t think of her as my sister either."


    Sister? Instantly Roxanne thought of Leticia, who was Den''s younger sister.


    So… Den only thinks of Louisa as a sister?


    "You have no reason to be jealous of her."


    Roxanne snorted lightly and took another sip of her wine while ncing at Axel. "You like her?"


    Axrd chuckled at the surprised tone in Roxanne''s voice and casually gulped down his drink.


    Roxanne noticed that it was not the first ss that Axrd drank, but the third ss! She looked at Axel''s face with a probing look for signs of drunkenness, but she couldn''t find it.


    How high is this person''s alcohol tolerance?


    Roxanne nced at her ss and Den''s. Their drinks were still half because they were both sipping slowly to enjoy the bitter-sweet taste. But Axrd… the man promptly gulped it down and refilled it with the same amount.


    "You really can drink." blurted Roxanne unconsciously.


    "He''s a monster," added Den made Axel frowned in disagreeing.


    "Are you really my friend?"


    Ignoring his best friend''s sulking, Den spoke to his wife. "Now you know why I worry about my wine collection."


    Roxanne giggled lightly while teasing him, "How about you? Do you have a high enough tolerance?"


    "Do you want to know?"


    "Of course. I want to see if I can trick you or not."


    Den smirked at that and instantly gulped down his red wine, making Axel almost choke on his drink.


    "And for your information, I have a very low tolerance for alcohol. So tonight, it looks like you''ll be sleeping here."


    Ha? What kind of conclusion is that? "Why?"


    "Because I can''t take you home."


    "What?" Roxanne immediately grabbed Den''s ss and pushed the wine bottle away from the man as if she forbade Den to drink more than this.


    "Toote, darling. My head feels tipsy now." Den shook his head like he was drunk and leaned his head on Roxy''s shoulder. "I can''t see clearly."


    Roxanne was about to dodge, but her arms were tightly hugged by Den''s strong hands, making her unable to escape.


    "You… You tricked me!"


    Den smiled triumphantly and closed his eyes as if he was pretending to be asleep. Then he plopped down on his wife''s thighs and imitated Louisa sleeping on someone''sp.


    The cunning shameless many sideways, facing Roxanne''s slender belly and hugging the girl''s waist.


    Roxanne wanted to scream because the man shamelessly acted like a spoiled child in front of their guest.


    Roxanne didn''t know what she could do, and when she noticed the amused smile on Axrd''s handsome face, she wanted so badly to dig a grave to bury Den deep down to the earth.


    "Told you. He''s more shameless than me." Axel said as he drank back the wine that… who knows for how many times.


    Roxanne tried to shake Den''s shoulders and wake him up, but apparently, Den has fallen asleep!!


    "Unbelievable. How could he get drunk just because of one ss of wine? How low is his tolerance?"


    Axel chuckled at Roxanne''s fearless scolding of Den as if Den was a child in front of her.


    "How about you, miss?"


    "How about me what?" she failed to hide her irritation when she answered Axel''s question. Nevertheless, she didn''t regret it.


    "When you take a sip of your wine, you do it without hesitation as if you''re not afraid of getting drunk. It seems that you know your limits very well."


    "I do know my limit, but I won''t get drunk even if I finish a bottle of wine with a twenty percent alcohol content like this."


    "You weren''t drunk after you finished it? That means your tolerance is quite high."


    "No. I''m just exaggerating. Of course, I''ll be drunk, but at least I won''t faint."


    Axrd chuckled at that. "You arepletely different than what I imagined."


    "..." Roxanne fell silent hearing that. She felt very displeased to hear such a sentence.


    If one day this sentencees from Den''s mouth… will her heart be strong enough to ept it?


    "Looks like it''s time for us to go home. It''ste after all." Axrd raised Louisa''s head carefully, making Roxanne feel surprised.


    The man even carried Louisa attentively as if the girl was his most beloved lover.


    "When Den said you loved her so much, I didn''t believe it. But it seems that you do love her… but that''s not a man''s affection for his lover."


    Axrd nced at Roxanne with an interesting look and wore a faint smile.


    "She is a close friend."


    "But your affectionate for her is more than a friend; neither is a lover. What is she to you?"


    "Why do you feel curious?"


    "Because I don''t understand why there is someone who still loves her even though she has an ugly heart. Did you know she''s two-faced? She is sweet in front of you, but she acts like someone who is too obsessive about something that doesn''t belong to her when you are not around."


    Isn''t it just like her? Would Den like her when he knew her evil side?


    "Did she say that Den was hers?"


    "Hmph! Of course not. I was the one who said Den was mine."


    No one knew a satisfied smile graced Den''s face who was pretending to be asleep.


    "As long as Den wants me by his side, I won''t go."


    "Why do I get the impression you feel sure Den wouldn''t like you anymore?"


    "..." Roxanne couldn''t answer.


    "Miss Zouch. I don''t know what you''re struggling with right now, but no one is perfect in this world. If Den can''t love youpletely, then he''s not the one for you."


    "But... Sometimes, you can''t overlook something ugly."


    "Let me tell you a secret. Before he met you, he and I protect and dote on Louisa. Their bond is as strong as mine, but just now, he overlooked their friendship to defend you. He loves you, Miss Zouch. I bet he can''t live without you now."


    "..." She wanted to believe it, but it''s too scary to face the future.


    "Believe in him because I''ve never wanted to have a jerk as friends. I''m very picky in choosing friends. Besides, you can tell me if he hurts you. I will throw him in the ocean for you."


    Roxanne looked at Axel with a look of admiration. "That''s… the nicest thing I''ve heard since…" since the ne crash.


    It kind of brought light into her endless sorrowful memory. It was as if she could believe that Den would never leave her even if he knows the truth.


    "Thank you for the kind words. But, what about her?" If Axrd is picky about making friends, why would he be willing to be friends with a two-faced girl like Louisa?


    The man even had time to warn her about Louisa''s arrival. Doesn''t that mean that Axel already knows what Louisa''s true character is like?


    "Would you believe if I say she''s a distant family?"


    "I admit, it''s hard to believe."


    "Then, let''s just say she''s my cousin."


    "You can''t possibly love all your distant cousins ??in this world."


    "You got the point. But she meets me in this lifetime. I can''t simply ignore a family member."


    "You''re a weird guy."


    "I take that as apliment."


    "…" No, it''s not.


    "Well, good night, miss, and enjoy your stay with him."


    Roxanne tried to let go of Den''s arms around her waist. "Wait. Let me help you open the door."


    Once managed to escape from Den''s arms, Roxanne immediately walked towards the exit. Strangely… she couldn''t find anyone there.


    How did Axrd open the door while carrying Louisa? Plus, she didn''t hear the sound of the door opening or closing.


    Still curious, Roxanne opened the door to make sure Axrd had walked out, but… she saw no one.


    So weird…