Barbara finally could not help it as she seemed to have a picture of how Ryleigh looked now in her mind and laughed out loud.Helios and the others just happened to look in this direction when they heard the peal of laughter. Some of the wealthy socialites who had never seen Barbara asked, “Who’s that woman standing next to Mrs. Goldmann? Haven’t you seen her before?”Tanner cleared his throat. “She’s the daughter of the Chases.”“Ah, so that’s the daughter of the Chases?”“Didn’t someone break the news before that, saying that she’s a murder—” Before that person could even finish speaking, Tanner had already bumped him with his elbow, motioning him to shut up.That man looked at Helios as the latter lowered his head and lightly shook his glass of wine. Although his attitude did not change much, that man noticed the slight and almost imperceptible split-second change in Helios’ expression when the word “murderer” was mentioned.Larissa came over to have a drink with Maisie, and t
“Really? That’s a shame.” Yael finished the rest of his drink. Tristan patted his shoulder and leaned close, “If that weren’t the case, Mrs. Boucher would probably be my wife instead.”Yael didn’t say anything but frowned. Maisie and Nolan were enjoying the drama. She got close to his ears. “Did you invite Tristan?”She had informed Madam Nera about it since it was Nolan’s birthday party. She probably wouldn't have brought Tristan along, right?“No.”Maisie was curious. “Party crasher?”Nolan’s lip twitched. “He’s an old, shameless man. I wouldn’t be surprised.”'He actually just brought his great-grandnephew over.' Upon recalling something, Nolan put down his glass, leaned in, and said, “I need to tell you something.”She paused. “What?”He played with her hair behind her neck. “That old man plans to send the eldest grandson of the Knowles to stay at the Goldmann mansion for a while. What do you think?”Maisie was surprised. ‘Let that child stay at the Goldmann mansio
Maisie put out her right hand, crying tears of joy. “Yes, I do!”Nolan hugged her, cupped her face with his hands, and kissed her. Helios and Barbara covered the children’s eyes.The two rugrats were rendered speechless.Madam Nera and Larissa smiled broadly while Yael and the others were clapping. The ship started to sail across the sea. In contrast with the rowdy deck, two people stood at the stairs of the second floor.Tristan lit a cigarette and looked to the port that was far away. “I guess you’ve decided to stay with Yael and have a good life.”Christina had a silk shawl over her shoulders, standing in the dark. The light from the sea only illuminated half of her body. “Yes, Yael knows about our relationship. We’ve accepted it.”Tristan breathed out a puff of smoke and chuckled. “Really? That’s nice.”“You approached me not because you loved me.” Christina turned around with her back facing him. “I admit that I fell for you once. Your sweet nothings were a comfort to m
Ryleigh didn’t know what to say. ‘Hold on!’ Ryleigh finally understood. “Me getting a cousin-in-law… are you talking about Helios?”“Who else?”Ryleigh was shocked, but her eyes started sparkling. “My cousin and Barbara?”The two of them stuck their heads out, their gossipy hearts burning. Barbara and Helios stood at the end of the corridor, watching the night view far ahead.“Why aren’t you with them? It should be quite lively downstairs.”Barbara turned to look at Helios. His white suit was whiter than the moon in the night, still as clean and unblemished.Helios looked back, put his arm on the railings, and then leaned in. He looked up, and the wind blew over his smooth hair. “I’ll be asked to drink if I go down.”He was just there to avoid drinking!Barbara’s lips curled. “You should have quite a good alcohol tolerance.”Helios looked at her. “Who told you that?”She crossed her arms and smiled. “I’ve never seen you drunk.”Helios loosened his tie and smiled back. “W
Ryleigh looked at Maisie and took a deep breath before nodding. “Okay.”She strongly believed that Helios would make the first move if they kissed that night!Maybe because the night was too beautiful or because the wine was too sweet, their lips got closer and closer, and Helios stopped because his conscience took over.When he was going to move backward, Barbara tugged on his tie and pulled him forward, then pressed her lips against his.Helios looked at her. It lasted just a moment, and before he could respond, Barbara looked as though she had gotten what she wanted. “You seduced me after getting drunk, and I didn’t manage to fight the urge and kissed you. You started this.”She smiled, turned around, and hurriedly walked away. Ryleigh was stunned. Helios didn’t make a move and was instead played by Barbara!That was too much!Maisie tapped her shoulder. “You’ve known Barbara for so long, yet you haven’t noticed that she isn’t what she looks like? She’s not a passive girl.
“What are you trying to say?”“I thought you couldn’t sleep because you were too excited.”Barbara’s hand that was holding the spoon froze, and she looked at Maisie curiously. “What would I be excited about?”Maisie smiled knowingly. “I made a bet with Ryleigh last night, and she transferred $100 to me.”Barbara was still confused. “What did you bet on?”Colton took a drink of his milk. “Mommy and Godmother betted on you and Godfather to see who would make the first move on kissing. Mommy betted on you while Godmother betted on Godfather.”The air froze, and it finally struck Barbara, who then started to blush. “You…”Maisie was surprised and looked at Colton. “How did you find out?”Colton took a big bite of his croissant. “Godmother was complaining to us last night.”It was impossible for Ryleigh to keep her mouth shut!Barbara was so embarrassed all she wanted was to hide in a hole. She had been seen!She hadn’t thought about how she was going to face Helios yet—she had l
Barbara looked sideways before casting her gaze outside of the window. “What were you going to tell me back then?”It was only then Helios remembered the question he had wanted to ask before she interrupted him.“About that… What I wanted to ask is why… Why would you do that last night?”He did not know how to word his question. He was not disgusted by the kiss last night. It was just that there was a strange feeling that he could not understand.Barbara pressed her lips and fell silent for a long while. She grabbed the cup tightly and asked, “Do you want to hear the truth?”He looked at her.Barbara took a deep breath and tried to hide her embarrassment by smiling. “I… My emotions got the best of me last night, and I just lost it. Of course, if it caused you any trouble, we could pretend it didn't happen.”When Maisie heard what Barbara had said, she frowned.‘She was so bold last night, but she chickened out today?’Nolan popped a piece of meat into Maisie’s mouth and said,
How could Barbara really expect that Helios was also interested in her?After a long while, Helios placed the cup near his lips and lifted his head to look at her. “I indeed had an urge to kiss you last night.”Barbara was stunned. After that, she forced a smile onto her face and said, “You must be drunk…”“Not really…” Helios replied after a long while, “I was wide awake at that time.”Barbara froze in her spot. She was wondering if her brain or her ears were playing a trick on her. He had not been drunk. Instead, he had been wide awake.‘Does this not mean that he knew I was teasing him with those words last night?’The more she thought about it, the more she wanted to find a hole and bury herself in it.The ship returned to the Bass Wave Port in the afternoon. Ryleigh and her group came down from the ship. Her allergies had mostly subsided, but her eyes' puffiness was still visible with the mask on.Louis took off his hat and put it on her head, stunning her. When she turned