However, June seemed to have also realized what was going on; she seemed to have finally understood why Stanley would be here. Still, she was a little puzzled because she knew he was supposed to be preparing for his engagement with Cherry.As these thoughts raced through her mind, she could not help but shift her gaze to Nicole, who saw the frown of disapproval on her face. This gave Nicole a hunch that June was probably thinking that Stanley was cheating on Cherry.Upon realizing that, Nicole shook her head, signaling June not to worry and that they should let Stanley deal with his personal issues himself.Both June and Lulu approached Nicole after sensing that there was more hot gossip around the corner. "What's going on? Do you know something that we don't?""I can only tell you that Stanley and Cherry's engagement is all just smoke and mirror. Still, I must ask that you keep it a secret for now. Nobody should know about this, not even Samuel and Spencer," Nicole said to them.
"Tia?" Stanley frowned, feeling somewhat uneasy."Let's go inside. There's going to be a lot of misunderstandings if we linger," Tia said, and returned to the room.Stanley's arm froze mid-air as he reached out to grab her. All he could do was sigh and watch as Tia's figure disappeared into the room.He felt completely defeated and helpless, and had no choice but to return to the private room. However, his gaze darkened when he saw that Don had already pulled him a chair to get her to sit next to him."You're back. Come, have a seat right here." Samuel waved to Stanley, beckoning him to the seat beside."Stanley, why did you go outside just now?" Samuel asked, curious."It's nothing," Stanley coldly replied before lowering his head to eat what was left of the dishes.Having seen how Stanley had reacted to Samuel's question, Lulu and June lifted their brows at Nicole, and darted their eyes toward Stanley for a brief second as if to say, "Hey, it seems as if it's working."Nicole
He felt as if everyone was trying to bring Tia and Stanley together. However, he was puzzled as to why, as Stanley was already in a relationship with Cherry.June held Samuel's hand and beamed. "It's not a problem at all. Oh, I'm getting tired. I'm going home to get some sleep.""Oh, alright. Let's go home," Samuel replied once June had caught his attention.Smirking, Lulu turned to Nicole. "We'll get going first.""Okay, I'm going home too," Nicole echoed, and looked at Patricia. "Let's go.""Sure thing," Patricia said, and headed to the car.As for Ellar, he remained silent as he tailed her to the parking lot.However, his act had invited nothing but scorn from Patricia, who then stopped to roll her eyes and ask. "Aren't you going home?""Em," Ellar fumbled. "Are you mad at me?""Why would I be mad at you?" Patricia said, driven to the point of speechlessness.Ellar scratched his head and mumbled, "But you haven't talked to me the entire night."He did not dare to say anyt
Nicole felt that both Patricia and Ellar's personalities complimented each other well. However, the question of whether they could leverage that fact to build a connection was ultimately for them to answer.With this in mind, Nicole looked at Ellar, feeling that his future would be full of uncertainties.Meanwhile, Stanley was still driving Tia home. She was riding shotgun with her head bowed as she struggled with the awkwardness within her. She had indeed planned to head home without joining the karaoke session, but she did not want to go home with Stanley. With the two of them being the only ones present in the car, Tia could not help but endure the crippling anxiety she was feeling at the moment."What did Cherry say to you?" Stanley abruptly asked.He noticed that the way Tia treated him had significantly changed after her conversation with Cherry. It was as if Tia was purposely avoiding him, leading him to suspect that Cherry had said something controversial enough for Tia to
Tia blanked out and froze when she felt a warm sensation on her.Once Stanley had checked Tia's temperature and confirmed that she was not sick, he frowned and asked, "Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere else?"Tia's temperature was normal, but she did not look comfortable at all in Stanley's eyes."Tia?" Stanley called out to her again when he did not get a response the first time."Em, huh?" Tia snapped out of it and looked at him.What the both of them failed to realize was that their faces were inches away from one another, and as expected, Tia's lips accidentally grazed Stanley's cheeks.Shocked by what she just did, Tia backed off and shivered as her mind erupted into chaos. Stanley, who did not see this coming at all, was also left in a daze.The atmosphere in the car became even more awkward than ever, but then, there was also a sexual tension that was not there before."Ugh." Stanley coughed, being the first to snap out of his stupor.He then repositioned himself a
"Everyone was present. I had Patricia with me, so it was all good," Nicole explained before flashing him a smile."I missed you," he softly said as he rested his head on her shoulder.Jared was not able to sleep or focus on work in Nicole's absence.Flustered, Nicole's heart skipped a beat, and her cheeks reddened. "It's just been a day since we last saw each other."In response, he kissed her on the cheek and said, "I want to see you twenty-four seven.""What's with you today?" Nicole wrapped her arms around his neck and looked at him, her eyes brimming with curiosity.Nicole felt Jared was especially affectionate and clingy with her today."I'm fine, I just missed you," Jared answered, and lowered his head to kiss Nicole on the lip.The gentle kiss progressed into a passionate smooch, making Nicole irresistible to him. In reciprocation, she surrendered to Jared and succumbed to the pleasure which they then shared.Concurrently, Patricia had just arrived at Ellar's house."W
Patricia had never approached Ellar for personal reasons; it was Ellar who had done so. Still, Charlie's words just so happened to resonate with Patricia's wish. She, too, wanted to stay away from and never meet Ellar ever again.After he saw that Patricia had entered her apartment, Charlie returned to his.The sun shone brightly the next morning, and the Riddle family manor was merrier than ever.Nolan and Lana woke up, took their showers, and knocked on Nicole's bedroom door, trying to get their parents to wake up. After waiting for Nicole and Jared to get themselves cleaned up and dressed, the family went downstairs to the living room."Mommy, was your team-building event fun yesterday?" Lana asked out of curiosity."Yep, and everyone had fun," Nicole answered, ruffling Lana's hair.Lana then continued with a mischievous grin and asked, "Can you bring us along next time?"Chuckling, Nicole reached out to pinch Lana's nose affectionately. "Kids are not encouraged to join these
'Tia doesn't look right either. It seems that she hasn't gotten any sleep last night. Did something happen after the both of them left yesterday? Something must have, or else the both of them wouldn't have been acting weird and all. But if something did happen, why aren't they talking to each other?' Nicole pondered.Stanley stole a quick glance at Tia as she was leaving with the kids, and as expected, his subtle movements did not escape Nicole, whose eyebrows were raised. It was at this point that Nicole confirmed that something had indeed happened to them when no one was around. Otherwise, the both of them would not have exhibited such unusual behavior.Meanwhile, Tia had just gotten into the car with Nolan and Lana."Tia, what's going on with you and Uncle Stanley?" Nolan asked, his head tilted in curiosity.Caught off guard, Tia panicked and defended herself. "No-no-nothing happened.""Are you sure? It seemed that the both of you were avoiding each other," Lana described.Lan