Brandon Jacobs’s cold tone and mocking words instantly irritated Elsa even more.
"What gives you the right to talk to me like that? What I do is my own business. Do you think you can control me?"
With that, she stopped waiting for him, shook off Brandon Jacobs’s arm, and strode forward on her own. Flustered and exasperated, Brandon Jacobs chased after her.
"If I don’t look after you, who will? That random guy back there? You were ready to go with him without even knowing his name! That’s just foolish! Utterly irresponsible with your own life! Aren’t you afraid he’s a con man, a human trafficker, or..."
He didn’t voice the more serious possibilities.
She was alone in a foreign country, and it was late at night. He didn’t want to scare her.
Elsa completely ignored him, storming ahead with long strides. It was impossible to tell if she had heard a word he said.
The more Brandon Jacobs spoke, the angrier he got.
"You’re so beautiful! So outstanding! So young! Even if you don’t get married, you can have a normal relationship and be perfectly happy. Why must you debase yourself like this? Is changing boyfriends every other day really that much fun for you? You might be careful, but there’s an old oriental saying: if you play with fire, you’re going to get burned. You know some diseases have an incubation period. If you keep this up, you’ll get infected sooner or later!"
"There’s another old oriental saying that applies to you: willingly sinking into depravity, throwing away a winning hand to play it into the ground! You’ll regret this one day!"
As they argued, they reached the corner of the bar street.
Elsa, desperate to get away from him, ran toward the other side of the street without even looking. Just then, a taxi turned the corner without slowing down.
A blinding glare of headlights shone on them. Just as Elsa was about to be hit, Brandon Jacobs lunged forward and grabbed her.
"SCREECH!"
The driver slammed on the brakes, stopping the car in the middle of the road. He rolled down his window and started yelling at them.
"Are you blind?! Don’t you know how to look where you’re going? Fuck! You got a death wish?"
Elsa couldn’t understand what he was yelling, but Brandon Jacobs understood every word.
Already filled with pent-up rage, he rushed forward and kicked the car door.
"What did you say? What the fuck did you just say? Say it again if you’ve got the guts!"
The driver had only cursed out of panic. Coming to his senses, he figured the people who frequented this area were all drunks. Who knew how much they’d had to drink to be stumbling out at this hour? ’Why bother arguing with a drunk?’
He fell silent, started rolling up the window, and prepared to drive on. But Brandon Jacobs lifted his long leg and kicked the door again.
"Turn around! Take us to a hotel!"
The driver wasn’t one to hold a grudge; making money was all that mattered. He immediately turned the car around.
Brandon Jacobs tried to pull Elsa into the car, but she refused. He simply picked her up and shoved her inside, then told the driver to lock the doors.
The driver glanced at the sulking Elsa in the rearview mirror and noticed what a good-looking couple they made.
"What’s wrong, handsome? Having a fight with your girlfriend?"
"Is that any of your business? Just find me the nearest five-star hotel."
"You got it."
The driver dropped them off at the entrance of a magnificent hotel.
She hadn’t wanted to get in the car, and now she didn’t want to get out.
Brandon Jacobs grabbed her around the waist, tucked her under his arm, and carried her into the hotel with her feet dangling off the ground.
At the front desk, he pushed Elsa forward, then stood behind her, trapping her in his arms.
"One room."
"Of course, sir. May I see your ID, please?"
Brandon Jacobs tossed his ID over.
Elsa hated being held like this. She struggled desperately to break free from his embrace, saying to Brandon Jacobs as she fought.
"I want my own room! Let go of me!"
The staff at the five-star hotel were highly professional and understood her English. The clerk immediately chimed in.


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