Beauty Crisis
**Sure enough, Isabella glanced at Sophia with admiration, not because of the money, but for giving Ethan Brooks a face - saving gesture, which seemed very magnanimous.**
**However, Ethan Brooks understood Sophia better than the two beauties did. Just as he had seen through Leonardo, Ethan Brooks immediately grasped Sophia's psychological intent.**
**Ethan Brooks felt somewhat annoyed. Clearly, Sophia was using him as a stepping - stone, a reference point.**
**Yet he couldn't say anything, or he would appear ungrateful.**
**"Rack the balls!" Sophia shouted, and a waiter from the billiards hall came over to set up the balls.**
**"Let's draw cards to see who plays the second game," Sophia said.**
**This time, it was Alice's turn to break first, followed by Isabella, then Ethan Brooks, and finally Sophia.**
**Alice struck the white ball with considerable force, scattering the balls widely.**
**Isabella took her turn and effortlessly pocketed a ball.**
**Then, in a repeat of the previous scene, Isabella cleared the table with a single shot.**
**Sophia, who hadn't anticipated that Isabella would be so good at billiards, said, "Isabella, you're really good at this."**
**"It's okay. I studied it professionally in high school," Isabella replied with a modest smile.**
**Sophia quickly gathered herself. Losing to this beauty would be somewhat embarrassing, even if the opponent was a beauty!**
**"Rack the balls!" Sophia called out again.**
**The balls were set up once more. This time, Ethan Brooks was first to break, followed by Sophia, then Isabella, and finally Alice.**
**Ethan Brooks, having learned from his experience, didn't use too much force on the first shot, sending the white ball into the cluster of balls.**
**If Sophia wanted to play, she would have to scatter the balls.**
**Although against an ordinary opponent, Sophia could easily set up the balls to make it difficult for the other side to play, she didn't want to use such a nearly difficult - to - deal - with tactic against a beauty.**
**"Bang!" Sophia chose to force - break, scattering the balls.**
**Although a colored ball went into the pocket, it didn't count according to the national standard rules.**
**"Your ball doesn't count, oh~~" Isabella unexpectedly showed a playful side, taking the ball out.**
**That look actually made Sophia dazed for a moment, even questioning whether considering Alice as her primary target was correct.**
**Isabella placed the white ball at the starting point, aimed at a solid ball, and struck it, pocketing it in one shot.**
**Isabella continued to display her skills, clearing the table with a single shot.**
**She flicked her hair and smiled kindly at Ethan Brooks.**
**If she were playing against Sophia, Isabella would definitely give Sophia some face - saving room, but now, since it clearly involved Ethan Brooks's face, Isabella casually helped Ethan Brooks out.**
**Ethan Brooks felt warmth in his heart upon seeing Isabella's smile. She was such a considerate girl. It felt nice to be taken care of by a beauty.**
**Sophia's expression changed slightly, then she acted as if nothing had happened, laughed a few times, and said, "I'll go get the drinks."**
**"I'll go," Alice said.**
**"Let me go," Sophia insisted. It didn't make sense for the guys to spend money when they were with the girls.**
**"I'm completely useless. You guys won because of your skills. I should pay. Don't argue with me. Either we go Dutch or I'll treat," the elf - like girl spoke with quite a bit of authority.**
**Sophia had no choice. After spending a few hours together and getting to know Alice's personality through conversation, she knew Alice was extremely independent. If she insisted on not letting Sophia pay, Sophia might as well give up, or Alice might get angry and leave.**
**So Alice walked towards the bar, while Sophia and Isabella chatted. Isabella occasionally asked Ethan Brooks a few questions, so he wasn't left out.**
**Over there, Leonardo was about to start teaching Fido how to play hand - in - hand and had no energy to pay attention to this side for the moment.**
**"Ethan, your game is really bad. Do you want me to help you cheat?" At this moment, the sprite Tina's voice sounded in Ethan Brooks' ear.**
**"Uh? Can you help me cheat? Does the G1 host have this function?" Ethan Brooks was taken aback.**
**"Of course. The G1 host is known as the all - purpose tool, an omnipotent auxiliary device. It can handle such a small thing," the sprite Tina said proudly. With that, she tapped the table with her angelic wand.**
**Instantly, an image appeared on the table, not only clearly marking the striking points of each ball on the table but also using an infrared device to mark the trajectory of the ball after it was hit. Moreover, a virtual picture of the table after the shot also appeared above the billiards, allowing Ethan Brooks to see all the effects of the shot at a glance.**
**"Just hit according to the striking points I've calculated, and I guarantee every shot will go in. You'll be unbeatable!" The little sprite began to boast about herself.**
**"We'll see when we play," Ethan Brooks said, wondering if his sudden improvement in skills would seem strange to the two beauties.**
**At this moment, Alice came back with the drinks. A waiter behind her was holding several bottles of drinks, while Alice was holding a cup of freshly - made ice cream, eating it as she walked.**
Just as they were about to reach the table where Ethan Brooks was, a woman dressed in a HauteCouture suit, carrying an LV bag, and wearing Daphne high - heels happened to walk up to them. At that very moment, as if on cue, a white cue ball rolled out from somewhere and stopped right beneath the woman's feet.
"Oops~" the woman let out a cry of surprise and fell onto Alice.
"Ah~~ My HauteCouture!" the woman suddenly screamed in a high - pitched voice. Ethan Brooks glanced over and saw that the ice cream Alice was holding had splattered all over the front of the woman's suit.
"Ah~~ I'm so sorry," Alice immediately apologized, at a loss for what else to do.
"Sorry doesn't cut it! You're going to pay for my HauteCouture!" the woman stamped her foot and pushed Alice.
Alice had just been startled and instinctively apologized, but seeing the woman's unreasonable behavior, her temper flared up as well. "Who's being unreasonable here? You were the one who fell onto me! If it weren't for me catching you, you would have hit the floor. How can you be so ungrateful!"
"Who are you calling ungrateful? You dirtied my HauteCouture and now you're insulting me! Pay for my HauteCouture!" the woman also became angry and pushed Alice again.
Alice had never been one to take such a loss. She immediately pushed back at the woman.
Both women were now fuming with anger and got into a scuffle.
Ethan Brooks and the others, noticing the commotion, rushed over to pull Alice away, while the woman's side also sent out several people to separate the two.
Alice, true to her fiery personality, had already grabbed a handful of the woman's hair during the brief tussle and even pulled out a strand.
"Ah~~ You cheap woman, that hurts! I'll fight you to the end!" the woman exclaimed, kicking Alice's shin.
Alice, clearly trained in some form of combat, saw the woman's kick aimed at her shin and without hesitation, kicked her leg up over a meter high, connecting with the woman's face!
The woman screamed like a pig being slaughtered and lunged at Alice, ready to fight.
"Enough!" a man's voice suddenly rang out, stepping between the two women.
At this moment, Ethan Brooks and the others had also managed to pull Alice away. The woman, standing on her tiptoes, still looked eager to continue the fight.
"Stop making a scene! What happened here?" the man's voice demanded. Ethan Brooks looked over and saw a man with a strong, masculine aura and quite an extraordinary appearance, frowning in the middle of the scene. It was he who had separated the two women just now.
"Cris, she dirtied my clothes and hit me!" the woman with the pulled hair, recognizing the man, immediately put on a weak expression and complained to him.
"Don't be unreasonable. You were the one who fell onto me!" Alice, despite being outnumbered, was not intimidated and retorted.
"You cheap woman! You're turning the tables!" the other woman was also furious.
"Both of you, shut up and explain what happened!" the man said. He had an air of authority that made both women quiet down.
Each recounted their version of events, but their stories contradicted each other—one claimed the other had lunged at her, while the other insisted her clothes had been deliberately dirtied.
"The more you talk, the more confused it gets. Stop it," the man waved his hand, silencing the two women who were attacking each other verbally.
"I saw what happened just now. It was your girlfriend who stepped on the billiard ball and fell onto her. Then your girlfriend was the one who started hitting first. It had nothing to do with her," Ethan Brooks stepped forward and said to the man.
Alice and the man both glanced at Ethan Brooks. Alice was surprised that Ethan Brooks had the courage to speak up at this moment, especially since she had also noticed the tattoo on the man's arm, indicating he was either from the underworld or had some considerable influence.
The man frowned and said, "No one else saw what happened except for you. I can't just take your word for it. Setting aside the cause of this incident, everyone saw that this woman hit my woman. So, what do you have to say for yourself?"
"What do you want me to do? Your woman hit Alice too. Are you planning to hit back or something?" Leonardo, lacking any sense of discretion, rolled up his sleeves as if he was about to fight.
Before he could make any move, three guys from behind pinned Leonardo against a pillar in the billiards room. One of them immediately punched Leonardo in the stomach, causing him to curl up like a shrimp.
"Stop!" At this moment, Sophia mustered up her courage and charged out. She despised, or rather, feared such situations, but because she had her eye on Alice, she had no choice but to step in.
"Oh, I thought who it was, it's the son of Deputy Director Wang from the TV station," one of the men behind the woman stepped forward upon seeing Sophia.
Sophia's face turned pale. She recognized the man. He was the son of the director of the B City Administration for Industry and Commerce.
"Oh? An acquaintance!" Another man with a sarcastic tone emerged. Sophia's face turned even paler upon recognizing him. He was the son of the director of the Public Security Bureau.