As Lila drove, her mind kept circling back to William.
At first, she hadn't taken him seriously. But now? Even Bella and Alice were looking for him.
That meant something.
And it wasn't just coincidence—clearly, like her, they'd been sent by their families to find William.
The Bell family, the Turner family… both were top-tier names in New York. Add in her own Carter family, and that made three major houses all trying to get close to the same man.
Which could only mean one thing—
William wasn't just unusual.
He was important.
Very important.
"Lila," William said with a smile, "just drop me off at the bar. You guys can head out after that. And unless it's something urgent, try not to come looking for me again."
"What?" Lila nearly slammed the brakes. Did he just say not to come looking for him anymore?
Was this guy for real?
"Are you seriously cutting ties the second we're done?" she asked, barely keeping her voice steady. "Fine. Since you said it, I won't bother you again."
She'd spent the whole day with him—dutifully, even. That should be enough to report back to her grandfather. And now that William himself had said not to come back, she could wash her hands of this whole thing.
William thought for a moment, then added, "You can call it cutting ties if you want. Just let your grandfather know—I don't want anyone else coming to bother me. Once I get paid next month, I'll pay you back for everything you spent today."
Lila rolled her eyes. "I'll pass the message along."
Seriously, what is with this guy?
He acted like he was some high-ranking official who couldn't be disturbed.
By the time they pulled up to Moonlit Harbor Pub, it was just past 5 p.m.—the place wasn't even open yet.
"The bar's still closed. Want me to take you somewhere else to kill time?" Lila glanced at the building.
It was one of the bigger bars on the street. And the bigger the bar, the messier it usually got. Too many drunk people packed together—fights were practically guaranteed.
"Just drop me here," William said, eyes flicking toward the sidewalk. His brows lifted slightly, and a smile tugged at his lips.
Lila followed his gaze and spotted a girl standing near the entrance.
She looked about twenty, with delicate features and a soft, quiet presence. Her clothes were simple, her makeup light—almost none at all.
"Friend of yours?" Lila asked.
"Something like that," William replied.
"You pull the handle yourself. Door opens that way," Lila said dryly. With how sharp William was, he'd figure it out fast enough. No way she was opening the door for him every time.
"Oh! You should've said so earlier." William casually popped the door open.
Lila ground her teeth. This guy… I swear, one day I'm gonna bite him.
William stepped out and strolled toward the girl. When he was about three meters away, she glanced up at him—then quickly looked down again, clearly not recognizing him.
He walked right up beside her. Only then did she tilt her head and glance over.
"Hey, are you working here too?" she asked.
William nodded, flashing a bright smile. "Yeah. I'm William."
She smiled back and gave a polite nod. "Nice to meet you. I'm Evelyn."
"You work here too?"
"Yep. Had my interview yesterday. I'm a server," Evelyn said. "You got out of that car just now… you must be pretty well-off, huh?"
Even without knowing the model, the license plate alone screamed money.
William shook his head. "Not at all. That car belongs to a friend."
"Oh." Evelyn's tone cooled a bit, and she didn't say anything else. Clearly, she'd lost interest.
William didn't push it either. The two of them just stood there quietly, waiting outside the bar.
As dusk settled in, the neon lights along the street flickered on one by one. It wasn't long before a curvy, attractive middle-aged woman walked up and unlocked the bar's front door.
"You two here for the job?" she asked, giving William and Evelyn a quick once-over. "Come on in."
"I'm Maria Perry. You can just call me Maria," she said as she led them to the front counter. "Give me your résumés, and write down your names and phone numbers."
"Hi, Maria. I'm Evelyn," the girl said politely.
"I'm William," he added.
Maria gave Evelyn a long, thoughtful look, then smiled. "Evelyn, you're applying for a server position, right? Just so you know, the pay's not great."
Evelyn caught the subtext immediately and quickly replied, "That's fine, Maria. I just want to be a server. I don't care if the pay's low. But… this place isn't shady, right? If it is, I'm out."
Maria nodded. "If you're just here to serve, then I'll make sure nothing happens to you. If anything ever comes up, talk to me directly. I'll have your back."
William listened to their exchange, sensing there was more going on beneath the surface.
"Maria," he asked, "besides being a server, what other jobs are there?"
He was still curious about this new world. Yesterday, he'd seen the bar's hiring poster—positions like floor manager, sales manager, and so on. The pay for those was definitely better.
"You?" Maria looked him up and down. The guy was good-looking, and at his age, probably full of energy.
"How's your alcohol tolerance?" she asked.
William thought for a moment, then answered seriously, "I don't get drunk. No matter how much I drink."
Maria let out a short laugh. "You wouldn't believe how many guys say that in a bar."
"Alright then," she said, "how about this—you drink with the ladies, chat them up, keep them company. Base pay's three grand, plus commission on drinks."
Maria had been running bars for years. She knew better than anyone—sometimes, women had stronger appetites than men.
William frowned. "Just drinking and chatting? That's it?"
Maria's tone turned casual. "If one of the ladies wants more, you'll need to sleep with her too."
"Nope." William shut that down immediately. Sleep with random women?
What kind of joke was that?
Plenty of women had tried to get into his bed and failed. Now he was supposed to do it for three grand? With who knows how many strangers?
Not a chance.
Maria chuckled. "Alright, alright. If you're not into that, it's fine. As long as you can keep the ladies entertained—make them laugh, make them want to come back—that's good enough."
"Just chatting?" William nodded. "That I can do."
He'd asked around yesterday—being a server mostly meant hauling bottles, opening drinks, fetching whatever the customers wanted. Tedious, simple stuff.
But if all he had to do was drink and talk and still get paid?
That didn't sound bad at all.