"Yes, we're on the fourth floor. How did you know?"
The fourth floor housed The Moonlight Terrace.
Claire didn't answer the question. She let Owen know she was stepping out and headed downstairs.
"Hello, may I ask who you are?"
The security guard could tell Claire wasn't just an average girl off the street.
But he couldn't let anyone in without an invitation.
"She's my friend."
Zara rushed over to grab her.
The guard immediately recognized Zara.
Ms. Zeller was a regular at Ridgeview Pass.
With a polite smile, he stepped aside and let Claire through.
"Claire, why didn't you mention you were coming to Ridgeview Pass? If I hadn't
seen Luminate's official livestream, I would have had no clue."
"I just came to grab dinner. How was I supposed to know this place was a
playground for you rich kids?"
And it really was a playground for the wealthy elite.
People came here either for lavish banquets or purely to party.
It was the ultimate destination for high-end dining and entertainment.
"What do you mean, 'you rich kids'? How many people in our social circle are like you-barely twenty and already worth billions?"
Ever since Zara found out Claire was Melissa's daughter, the publicly acknowledged granddaughter of Padgett, and the heir to her mother's massive shares, she looked at Claire in a completely different light.
Zara herself was a wealthy heiress, but her personal liquid assets didn't even amount to a million dollars.
Meanwhile, Claire was already sitting on a multi-billion dollar empire.
"I just inherited my shares from my mom. I guess I just got lucky in the genetic lottery."
Claire brushed the topic aside and asked Zara why she needed to be rescued.
"I told people you were my roommate, and some of them didn't believe me."
"A few of my friends want to get their hands on the Experimental Scar Gel, but they don't have any reliable connections."
"I promised them I could get some through you, so I needed you to come down and back me up."
"But honestly, I was just bored out of my mind and wanted you to hang out with me."
"Oh, and I made a bet with Zoe earlier about a shooting game."
"She's pretty good at it—she even competed in the university sports games." "But I'm terrible."
"I remembered you showing off your skills during military training, right?"
"Do me a favor and crush her!"
"Zoe Zeller?" Claire frowned. "Your cousin?"
"She knows you suck at shooting, yet she challenged you to a shooting match?"
"Are you an idiot? Why didn't you challenge her to something you're actually good at?"
Zara gave Claire a pathetic look. "Because no matter what I try to learn, she copies me..."
"And then she ends up being better
Claire
than you at everything? C
isely obnoxious."
"Well, that cousin of yours
Learning quickly wasn't a crime.
But the fact that Zoe shadowed Zara's every move crossed the line.
Her desperate need to outshine her cousin was so glaringly obvious that anyone could see it.
When someone was that transparent, no one genuinely respected them, even if they were more skilled.
The high society crowd was just accustomed to this kind of toxic
out.
as win or to ever bother pointing
"It's not like I don't have anything over her."
Zara pointed out that she had gotten into The Cabinda University, while Zoe hadn't.
It was one of her few concrete victories over Zoe.
And, of course, there was her face.
Zoe was nowhere near as stunning as she was.
"Let's go. That girl staring daggers at us is your cousin, right?"
Claire had already spotted her.
Thewas locking onto Zarat
with a vicious glare before dragging her over to dgmentale Gontent
It wasn't hard to guess her identity.
"Zara, is this the friend you were talking about?"