Chapter 18

This was Sebastian's first time at an employee farewell party. Isabella sat in the corner eating cake, listening to a few girls next to her who were gossiping.

"I never realized Mr. Landon cared so much about Vanessa. In the past, some colleagues invited us to dinner when they left, and Mr. Landon always refused. But he accepted Vanessa's invitation."

"Yeah, I thought it was weird too. Vanessa isn't usually highly regarded."

"Did you guys notice that Vanessa's gaze keeps flickering toward Mr. Landon? I feel like they have a secret relationship."

"Really? Vanessa is decent-looking, but not particularly beautiful. She and Mr. Landon are completely mismatched."

"I agree. Mr. Landon is so outstanding that he can have any type of woman he wants. He couldn't possibly be interested in Vanessa."

"What do you think, Isabella?"

Isabella was listening quietly as they gossiped, but they suddenly threw the topic at her. Several girls looked at her, hoping she would speculate as well.

Isabella looked at them awkwardly, thinking about how to respond.

Before she could answer, Vanessa suddenly called her name. "Isabella!"

Vanessa came over and pulled Isabella up from her seat. "Isabella, we're playing Truth or Dare and we need a few more people. Come play with us."

Although Vanessa seemed to be asking her, she didn't give her a chance to refuse and dragged her to the table.

"I don't want to..." Isabella wanted to run away.

Vanessa pushed her back down. "It's precisely because you don't want to play that you should. You shouldn't always be shrinking in the corner, Isabella. You need to learn to be united and get along with everyone."

Isabella remained silent.

Last time during the camping trip, Vanessa had persuaded her to drink, and as a result, she had drunk too much, stumbled into the wrong tent, and slept with the wrong person...

Isabella had learned her lesson and didn't want to make that mistake again. But at this moment, someone pulled her chair away and Sebastian sat down.

Everyone was shocked.

Even Vanessa was slightly surprised, then smiled and said, "Look, Isabella, Mr. Landon is joining us too. Just play with us."

Isabella couldn't refuse anymore.

Vanessa knew her weaknesses and knew that she didn't dare offend the boss.

"Alright, let's take our seats." Vanessa pulled out the chair on the other side of Isabella. Sebastian and Vanessa sandwiched her in the middle.

Isabella felt even more awkward.

She felt like she was the third wheel.

Besides them, the other people participating in Truth or Dare were Laura and Leo, two female colleagues, and two male colleagues. Originally, the male and female ratios had been balanced, but with the addition of Isabella, the balance was instantly broken.

After playing two rounds, Isabella had a basic understanding of the rules of the game. The person who was chosen had to choose between Truth or Dare. If they chose Truth, they had to answer other people's questions, and if they didn't want to answer, they had to drink. If they chose Dare, they had to perform a task as directed by someone else, and if they didn't want to do it, they also had to drink.

In short, they played this game for fun.

In the first two rounds, a male colleague and a female colleague were chosen respectively.

The female colleague chose Truth, and the male colleague chose Dare.

The question the female colleague had to answer was, "How many times have you been in a relationship?"

She blushed and replied, "Once."

The male colleague was asked to sing a song on the spot, and he confidently sang a song, although slightly off key, but with great enthusiasm.

After he finished singing, everyone applauded. Isabella joined in the applause.

"You guys are playing a boring game," a discordant voice rang out, mixed with a hint of mockery.

Everyone turned their heads and looked at Laura's boyfriend, Leo.

Leo looked bored. "This is the first time I've seen someone play Truth or Dare like this. It's even more boring than chess."

Everyone was stunned for a moment.

Laura nudged him lightly with her elbow, "These are my colleagues, of course they're different from your friends."

Leo smirked and didn't say anything.

The game continued, and no one paid much attention to his words.

This time, Leo drew a Trump card, which meant he could give instructions and ask questions to others.

The person who drew "Truth" happened to be Laura.

Laura looked at him sweetly. "I choose Truth, ask me anything."

Leo chuckled, lightly tapped his fingers on the table, and asked, "How many times have you done it?"

Laura's smile immediately disappeared.

There was a dead silence.

No one could believe that Leo would ask such a question in public!

Isabella silently bowed her head, recalling Leo kissing another woman when she opened the car door... It might have been because she had seen more thrilling things, but Isabella's reaction was relatively calm.

Sebastian frowned. "Why would you ask such a question?"

Leo raised an eyebrow, looked around, and put his arm around Laura's waist, speaking in a casual tone. "Laura, if you don't dare answer, you have to drink."

Laura looked at him, she had almost bitten through her red lips. "Of course I dare! I'll answer! Three times."

"Oh." Leo shrugged nonchalantly and continued, "I mean, how many times have you had an abortion?"

Laura was taken aback, her face immediately turned pale. It was a terrible situation.

Laura was used to being arrogant when she was at the department, so she should have slapped Leo angrily since he was humiliating her. But strangely, although Laura was angry, she didn't hit him, but sternly asked with a cold face, "What do you mean, Leo?"

Leo smiled slightly, "I don't mean anything. We're just playing this game for fun, right?"

Laura couldn't say anything. Isabella and the others also fell into an awkward silence.

This was no longer just for fun, it was too much. It was even more exciting than watching a horror movie!

When Leo saw Laura's silence, he handed her a drink. "Have a drink."

This time, Laura chose to drink.

Isabella felt that if Sebastian hadn't been present, maybe Laura would have walked out on the spot. But after drinking, she still sat down and said, "Continue!"

A new round of the game began. Isabella drew "Truth", and she couldn't help but panic. Her first reaction was to look at Leo, hoping that he wouldn't have the trump card this time.

Leo made eye contact with Isabella as if he could see through her thoughts and flipped over the card in his hand.

Isabella's heart instantly sank.

She was really unlucky. Leo had the trump card again.

Isabella saw him smile at her. It was a smile tinged with malice. "Show your cards."

Everyone displayed their cards one by one.

The person who had drawn "Dare" was Vanessa.

Leo said to Vanessa, "Find a man in the room and kiss him."

Once again, everyone was shocked.

Sure enough, none of the tasks Leo proposed were normal.

Vanessa looked at Sebastian then picked up her drink, "I'll drink."

Vanessa downed a full glass of alcohol, her eyes turning red. Isabella was a little afraid, and her hand under the table involuntarily clenched the playing cards.

Suddenly, Sebastian lightly touched her hand, and Isabella lowered her gaze, surprised to see him handing his own card over to her.