Chapter 129: Booking the Night Date

"I gave you my word, so I’ll be there at noon," Jude smiled, keeping one hand on the wheel. "Though... let’s keep the house between us for now. I’d like to eat lunch without a huge scene."

"My lips are sealed!" Chloe promised right away, a little spark of pride warming her chest.

Having a private secret with a guy like Jude felt pretty special.

20 minutes later, Jude dropped her off outside the Ginza Lounge, where she had left her red Porsche 911 the night before, and watched her drive off toward Sutton Place.

By the time Chloe pulled her Porsche into the driveway of the Liu family villa, her grandfather was out in the garden doing his morning breathing exercises.

Hoping to slip past him, Chloe tiptoed toward the side door... only for a booming voice to freeze her in her tracks.

"Hold it right there, young lady! Where did you disappear to all night?!"

Chloe winced, sticking her tongue out playfully before running over to hug his arm. "Our college reunion at the lounge ran late, Grandfather! We ended up singing until sunrise. My eyes are practically glued shut... let me sleep for 1 hour first!"

Harrison tapped her forehead, shaking his head. "Ever since your parents went overseas, you think I can’t keep you in line? Partying until morning at a club... if something happened to you, how would I face your father?!"

"I was with people I trust... I swear it won’t happen again," Chloe said softly.

Loving his granddaughter way too much to stay mad, Harrison’s face softened up. "What about the favor I asked yesterday? Did you get hold of Jude?"

"All taken care of!" Chloe beamed. "I talked to him myself, and he promised he’d be here at noon for lunch."

"Fantastic!" Harrison smiled, his hand tapping his chest where that deadly spasm had hit him 2 days ago. "Fresh out of quiet retirement for 2 days, and I almost got buried on a Manhattan sidewalk. If that young man hadn’t stepped in with CPR to pull me back, I wouldn’t even be breathing right now. Tell the chef to pull out the best ingredients today!"

Across town, Jude had already parked at the Manhattan Conservatory of Music for his morning piano class.

Teach a masterclass in the morning, have lunch with old man Liu at noon... to Jude, a normal day like this had its own charm.

Weirdly enough, his System hadn’t dropped today’s sign-in reward yet...

But after a few delayed drops this past week, Jude wasn’t sweating it; whenever the System took its time, the payout at the end was always massive.

Stopping by the staff offices before class, Jude ran into Dean Victoria Liu, who filled him in on Sophie Reed.

"Since our lunch yesterday got ruined," Victoria smiled, looking at him, "are you free at noon today so I can finally make it up to you?"

"Noon is booked, Victoria... I promised an elder I’d grab lunch with him," Jude said.

"What about tonight?" Victoria asked.

"My evening is wide open," Jude smiled.

"Then it’s a date," Victoria said. "I’ll book a table and text you the spot this afternoon."

After wrapping up his 90-minute piano class to a standing ovation, Jude checked his watch and walked down the tree-lined path toward the main gate to head over to Sutton Place.

As he walked past the old brick recital hall, his senses caught something weird down a quiet stone path 50 yards away.

3 girls had just turned a blind corner behind the building.

More accurately, 2 girls in jackets had grabbed the girl in the middle by the arms and shoved her out of sight behind an ivy wall!

They had waited until the path was empty to make their move, so nobody else noticed.

But Jude caught a split-second look at the girl’s face...

Sophie Reed!

Knowing his student was getting ambushed, Jude stepped off the main path and headed straight for the alley behind the building.

Back in the dead-end alley, the 2 thugs slammed Sophie hard against the wall, crossing their arms and blocking her way with mean grins.

Trapped with nowhere to go, Sophie clutched her sheet music against her chest, her heart pounding as she looked at the 3rd girl standing 10 feet away in big Chanel sunglasses.

Seeing the disgust on the girl’s face, Sophie froze.

Vanessa Thorne!

So Vanessa was the one who paid these 2 bullies to drag her back here...

Given the bad blood between them earlier this week, Sophie knew she was in deep trouble.

"Vanessa... what do you want?" Sophie’s voice shook slightly.

Taking off her sunglasses, Vanessa gave a smirk. "What do I want? Stop playing dumb, Sophie... you know damn well what you did!"

Sophie blinked, confused. "Wait... wasn’t the crash at the gate already settled? You ran the red light in your Maserati, and Lawson made the police check the cameras before you paid for my bike—"

"If Jude Lawson hadn’t stuck his nose into my business, do you think a broke loser like you would’ve seen a single dime from me?!" Vanessa snapped.

"Did you drag me back here to steal the money back?" Sophie asked.

"What do you take me for?" Vanessa laughed nastily. "A few hundred bucks isn’t even what I tip my nail girl... keep the pocket change, beggar."

"Then why did you bring me here?!" Sophie asked, totally lost.

"Because—"

Vanessa choked back the rest of the sentence.

The real reason was eating her alive inside: ever since Jude sat down at that Steinway grand during class, all her hate for him had turned into a obsessive crush.

She walked through the courtyard and saw Jude smiling and talking warmly with a broke scholarship girl like Sophie Reed!

Of course, a spoiled billionaire brat like Vanessa would rather die than admit she was jealous of Sophie...

"Since when do I need an excuse to deal with a nobody like you?!" Vanessa snarled.

She stepped forward, raising her hand to slap Sophie hard across the face. "Your ugly face pisses me off, and I feel like teaching you your place... isn’t that reason enough?!"