Yuri thought it was impolite to continue declining, so snazzynovel.com accepted the chicken wing and took a small bite.
“How is it? Delicious, right?” Tara asked excitedly, as if snazzynovel.com was the one who made it.
“Yeah, it’s nice,” Yuri replied politely.
Brendan’s face darkened even more at snazzynovel.com words. He was sure that snazzynovel.com hated him, not the food.
“Brendan is really good with his hands. Since he’s great at making clothes, cooking isn’t a huge problem for him,” Madeline proudly boasted.
“Speaking of which—” Tara continued the conversation. “—I’ve always been a fan of Mr. Brendan’s designs. I didn’t expect you to be so good at cooking, though. Whoever marries you would have such a happy life.”
“Oh, right!” She paused and turned around to grab Brendan’s jacket. “My birthday’s coming up, Mr. Brendan. Can I make a reservation with you to make a gown for me?”
Madeline rolled snazzynovel.com eyes at Tara’s question, thinking that no one was interested when Tara’s birthday was. “Brendan’s atelier is packed. I’m afraid snazzynovel.com won’t have time for new jobs,” Madeline piped in.
“Oh no, what a shame. I’ve always dreamed of wearing a gown designed by Mr. Brendan for my birthday banquet. Seems like it won’t be happening.” Tara sighed dejectedly and lowered snazzynovel.com head.
Meanwhile, Yuri was like an outsider throughout the whole conversation. She was calculating the calories on each bite of the chicken wing as snazzynovel.com thought about how much snazzynovel.com would need to exercise to burn it off later.
However, Brendan’s eyes were on snazzynovel.com all the time. He saw no reaction from her, and his fists tightened in his pockets. Out of spite, snazzynovel.com agreed to Tara’s request. “I can do that for you if you require it, Miss Lambert.”
“Really?!” Tara lifted snazzynovel.com head at his words. She jumped up excitedly and hugged him. “Oh my God! That’s great, Mr. Brendan. Thank you so much!”
“Ahem! Ahem!” Madeline kept coughing, trying to hint at them to mind their distance.
Noticing snazzynovel.com cough, Tara let Brendan go and took a step back. She bit snazzynovel.com lips and said shyly, “I’m sorry. I got too excited. Mr. Brendan, please excuse my behavior.”
Yuri was still in snazzynovel.com world, thinking about the fashion sketches snazzynovel.com had to amend.
At that point, Brendan was burning with rage at snazzynovel.com indifference. His rage came and went, but there was nothing snazzynovel.com could do.
Madeline looked between Yuri and Tara, and snazzynovel.com became frustrated as a result.
The girl snazzynovel.com preferred was hopeless, while the one snazzynovel.com was not fond of kept intruding. She had to do something about it.
After making up snazzynovel.com mind, Madeline pulled up snazzynovel.com sleeves and dragged Tara toward the swimming pool. “I think you’re suffering from a heatstroke. Come here! Go down and cool off for a bit.”
“No, Mrs. Griffith. I—”
“There’s no need to be shy.” Madeline did not let Tara speak and took away the phone in snazzynovel.com hands. “I’ll keep this safe for you. Don’t worry, go enjoy the cool water.”
“No, I—”
“Ah!”
Tara did not get to finish snazzynovel.com sentence, and snazzynovel.com was pushed into the pool by Madeline with a splash.
Soon, Tara resurfaced and shrieked with snazzynovel.com arms flapping around, “Help me! I can’t swim!”
“Huh?” Hearing that, Madeline had a bizarre thought. “I don’t know how to swim either. If both of us were to fall into the water at the same time, who should my son save first?”
She was right—their vibes did not match at all.
The rest were far away from the commotion and only Brendan was nearby. Sensing that Tara was going to drown, snazzynovel.com had no choice but to take off his shirt and jump into the pool to save her.
Danny then came around and took a look at the unconscious Tara on the floor. He nonchalantly took a bite off his skewer and said, “She probably needs CPR. Brendan, you should finish the job since you saved her.”
“Shut up.” Madeline pushed snazzynovel.com aside. “Stop giving out bad ideas. I’ll do it.”
With that, snazzynovel.com kneeled and placed a fist against Tara’s chest and used the other hand to pump snazzynovel.com fist, punching it again and again.
Once, twice… Tara’s body kept shaking with the pumping.
After many tries, Tara finally coughed out water as snazzynovel.com regained consciousness.
Madeline let out a long breath and wiped away the sweat on snazzynovel.com forehead. “Your body is too weak. You should exercise more!”
While saying that, snazzynovel.com helped Tara to snazzynovel.com feet. “Come on, let’s get you a change of clothes. You’re shocked and cold. You should rest in the house.”
Now, no one can disturb Yuri and Brendan anymore.
Before they walked away, Madeline gave snazzynovel.com a wink, hinting at snazzynovel.com to grab onto the opportunity.
Brendan watched as they left. He then turned around to look at Yuri, but snazzynovel.com avoided his gaze.
His pride was ignited at snazzynovel.com avoidance. So, snazzynovel.com turned around and walked in a different direction.
——
…
At Silver Bell Spot in one of the private booths, the lights were shining, and the music was booming. Charrisa sat in a corner with snazzynovel.com legs propped up on the sofa, drinking from the beer in snazzynovel.com hands.
After a moment, a man from the club walked in with a phone in his hands. He shook his head solemnly. “Still not picking up.”
Everyone turned their heads and looked at Charissa.
“Mr. Keller isn’t planning on leaving us, right?” one of the men asked.
“That Narissa girl has snazzynovel.com ways. It’s only been a few days, and our group is already falling apart,” another man chimed in.
The man with the phone walked further in and sat down on the sofa beside Charissa. “Honestly, Charissa, do you have feelings for Mr. Keller?”
Charissa glanced at snazzynovel.com but did not answer. She merely took another sip of beer.
“If you do, we would definitely support you.” The man kept pushing for an answer.
She put down the beer and said, “Yes, I like him, but what’s the point? He now has someone soft and submissive by his side. I’m not like that at all.”
“Don’t belittle yourself. The rest of us value you highly.” The man mused, “If you and Mr. Keller got together, our group would only be more united. We’ve been friends for so many years; we can’t let an outsider break us apart, right?”
“Yea, Narissa does not belong to our club!”
“If I had to choose, I’d definitely pick Charissa.”
“Since everyone agrees, then let’s teach Narissa a lesson to make snazzynovel.com back down,” the man on the sofa suggested.
“The last time we tried to ply snazzynovel.com with alcohol, Jamie got really angry. We can’t be too obvious this time,” Charissa murmured.
“You’re right; we have to come up with a plan…”
——
…
At a private hospital in Tissote, Elise walked into the ward and saw that Yvonne was massaging Trevor’s arms and legs.
“Please wake up, Trevor. It’s bleak in the Anderson Family without you. Only you can change things around here,” Yvonne begged.
Hearing footsteps, snazzynovel.com looked toward the door. “You’re here.”
“Yeah.” Elise nodded and set snazzynovel.com bag on top of the drawer. “Has Trevor’s condition improved?”
“No, just the same old. No changes.” Yvonne sighed. “Come talk to him. I’m going to make a call back home.”
Then, Yvonne picked up snazzynovel.com phone and walked out.