North flinched. She thought she had heard him wrong. “T-There’s no way it’s that coincidental, right?”Nicholas shrugged and stepped aside to make way. “Go see for yourself if you don’t believe me. However, I should remind you that if you don’t come up with some excuse, Gerald will be coming in.”North gulped and fell silent.Then, she became visibly anxious. “Has he seen me yet?”Nicholas shook his head. “No, actually.”North suddenly had an idea. “Then pretend I was never here. I’ll leave through the back door!”She was about to take action and leave through the back door with her painting. However, by pure coincidence, Gerald was at the back door too!North could feel her scalp tingle. She sensed there was no escape and was thinking of an excuse when suddenly…“Gerald, I’m done shopping. Mom and Dad are asking if you want to come over and have dinner with us?” a woman asked gently from a spot nearby.North paused. That voice was just like the one she had heard on the phon
Howard immediately looked at North. “Shall we go home, Mrs. Howard?”North said nothing. Was she even allowed to refuse?Connor had just driven the woman back, so Gerald had to drive her himself. Naturally, this meant North had to sit in the passenger seat.As she did so, she kept thinking the entire time.How did Gerald recognize a Reuben painting on sight? Had he seen plenty of famous paintings as the South family heir?But why did Gerald say he had come specifically to look for her? He clearly had a woman with him.Also…North suddenly snapped out of her trance.Her fingers had just brushed something on the passenger seat. It was a tube of lipstick.“You’ve glanced at me almost ten times in the past three minutes, Mrs. Howard,” Gerald said casually without taking his eyes off the road. “If there’s something you want to ask, just shoot.”North felt like she just got busted, so she asked the burning question, “I… I saw that woman…? What’s her relation to you?”Screech!G
He had lied to North about one thing, actually.He had not known that she would be at MacGuffin Gallery before he headed there. He had simply heard that Nicholas knew Starlight, and wanted to find out Starlight’s true identity.He had not expected to bump into North or see that she had easily secured a Reuben painting, either.If a lot of coincidences were happening to the same person, then they were no longer coincidences.So, Gerald called Nicholas and said, “Mr. Sherman, there was something I forgot to ask you about.”“Ask away, Mr. Howard,” Nicholas said lazily.Leaning on his car, Gerald got straight to the point. “I heard you’ve spent some time in North Aurope. Have you heard of someone called Starlight?”Nicholas nearly choked. “... Ahem. Why do you ask?”“Nothing, I just got into a minor conflict with Starlight a few years ago, and I’ve been struggling to track her down since. That’s why I’m asking you.”Nicholas suddenly got the urge to pray for North. “... Then you’r
Sharon balked in response. “What are you talking about, Joe? Please don’t mind him, North. He’s always been a blunt person.”North raised an eyebrow. An outsider may have thought this was a joke, but she knew it was a challenge.She had also confirmed something. That afternoon, Sharon really had spotted her at the gallery, she just did not choose to say anything and leaned closer to Gerald on purpose.From that alone, North could tell that Sharon was no ordinary woman.Besides…Calling herself “one of Gerald’s boys” in front of his wife?… That was a bit weird.Joe jokingly lowered his voice, but it was as if he said this specifically for North to hear, because she could hear everything else he said. “I’m not joking, Sharon. In fact, I think you’re closer to Gerald than even she is.“You have your own room in Royal Sights Residences, and you were the only woman who could come and go as she pleased before he got married. Isn’t that special treatment?”If North still could not
After Joe was done talking, glee flashed in Sharon’s eyes, but she pretended to look worried.“Please don’t be mad, North. There’s nothing going on between Gerald and I. We grew up together so if we had a chance to date, we already would have gotten together. Please don’t think too much of this,” she said.North replied calmly, “Hmm, it’s alright. I’m not thinking too much. I trust Gerald’s taste. If he didn’t like you before, he definitely won’t like you now.”Sharon almost choked. What did she mean by that?! Who did this b*tch think she was?!However, she could only force herself to smile and say, “That’s… That’s good.”Colt could sense that things were going downhill, so he cleared his throat and started playing the mediator. “Please stop talking nonsense, Joe. Oh, right. Didn’t you say you had a gift for me, Sharon?”Sharon smiled. “Yep, everyone has one. I got Gerald to go shopping with me today for this exact reason.”Then, she took out the gifts. Everyone in Royal Sights
North’s expression turned ice-cold. The others may not have noticed, but she clearly saw Sharon let go of the bracelet on purpose!Sharon had destroyed her bracelet on purpose, then made herself look like the victim with only a few words.She was clearly challenging her!The whole mansion was dead silent as everyone looked in their direction.After a moment, Sharon took a deep breath and shook her head, still teary-eyed. “Don’t blame this on North, Joe. Just forget it.”Joe lost his temper immediately. “How can you just forget it?! That was a gift from your late grandmother!”A gift from the late Madam Lane, broken just like that…North would not be able to get out of this mess unless she compensated her.Colt was getting worried. What was North going to do?Sharon bit her lip and teared up. Then, she suddenly bowed. “I’m sorry to have ruined the mood. I’ll be leaving now…”“Sharon!” Joe could not take it anymore and grabbed Sharon’s arm before turning around with gritted tee
“I remember Mrs. Howard said she wanted to check the tapes. The cameras will show us who was right and who was wrong,” he said.Sharon froze.She quickly put on her forgiving act again and said, “Let’s forget about the footage, Gerald. There’s no need to make such a big deal out of this…”“I trust my wife unconditionally.” Gerald looked at North. “There is a need, actually.”Since North wanted to prove her innocence with the security footage, he believed her.Sharon turned pale instantly and her hands balled into fists. Why was he defending North?Wasn’t he supposed to be sympathetic to her? This was her grandmother’s heirloom they were talking about!Joe was furious. “What do you mean by that, Gerald? Don’t you believe me or Sharon? We saw with our own eyes that North—”As if on cue, Steward pulled up the living room’s security footage.Sharon suddenly began to panic. Oh no! What if the cameras really caught the evidence? What then?She needed to stop them!“Mr. Gerald, goo
“Miss Lane,” North began. “I was surprised you’d brought gifts for everyone except me, Mrs. Howard, but I never really asked you to compensate for it. Still, you and Mr. Hampton… Ugh, this is all my fault. I shouldn’t have been so considerate of others.“The next time someone insists on giving me a gift, I shouldn’t worry about the gift being from someone’s dead grandmother and just accept it. That would help me avoid such a huge mistake.”The moment North finished talking, the room became eerily silent.Sharon’s expression soured. What the heck was North talking about?! What did she mean by “everyone except me, Mrs. Howard”?!What did she mean by her words? Since when had North been considerate toward her?!Gerald interrupted them calmly. “North never asked you to give her anything. Since you’re the one who gifted Madam Lane’s heirloom so casually, North isn’t the one who disrespected her. You are.”Joe became furious. “Have some morals, Gerald! Are you going to ruin our friends