Chapter 290
I was exhausted and totally wiped out. I felt like I was floating. Other than impatiently shoving Neil away, I had no energy to resist.
I couldn’t get a wink of sleep in this state. I cracked open my eyes only to find that it was the break of dawn outside.
I slept till noon, and Neil didn’t go to work today either. He was catching up on sleep, like me.
“Russel’s engagement party is tomorrow; are you going?” He asked me lazily while he was still half asleep.
“I don’t know.” I replied nonchalantly.
The truth was that I had already decided not to go. Chloe had texted me, so there was no way I was gonna cause her trouble.
Neil was messing with my hair, then gave a slight rub, “You shouldn’t go. What if he runs off when he sees you?”
I opened my eyes fully, staring at the sunlight outside The weather looked nice today.
Neil didn’t get an answer from me and seemed a bit miffed, so he pinched my lips.
This childish act annoyed me, so I swatted him away. “Who are you to control me? Aren’t you going?”
Neil was quiet for a while, then said, “Of course I’m going, but you and I are different.”
Neil and Russel had been friends for years. Although their friendship had gone sour, they still needed to mind their manners on such an occasion. After all, he did attend when Neil and I got married.
I didn’t answer. I was pondering whether I should send them an engagement gift. Even though I was not attending, it was still appropriate to send a gift.
As I was thinking, my phone buzzed. It was from Chloe. “Ms. Finch, I’m very sorry. Please ignore what I said before. Please come to our engagement party tomorrow. I want him to give up completely”
Chloe was really giving me a headache; she was so wishy-washy.
I replied, “If I’m free, I’ll go.”
Chloe didn’t reply.
Neil saw the message I sent, and his face turned sour, “What do you mean ‘if you’re free’? You can’t go!”
“If I don’t attend his engagement party, people will think I’m still in love with him since I’m not willing to face reality. You wouldn’t want people to think that way after we get back together, would you?” I thought my logic was flawless.
Neil stared into my eyes for a few seconds, as if he were considering what I had just said.
He definitely wouldn’t want anyone to associate me with Russel. I was 90% sure he would agree.
Sure enough, after thinking for a while, Neil agreed, “Then you’ll go as my date.”
“Your date?” I hesitated. Although I had told people close to me that we were back together, the public didn’t know yet. If I attended Russel’s engagement party with Neil, everyone would know that we were back together.
“So, you don’t want to make our relationship public?” Neil’s eyes narrowed dangerously, as if he would punish me if I answered wrongly.
I shook
my
head, suppressing my inner resistance, “It’s not that. Kitty will be there too tomorrow. I’m afraid she…”
Neil disagreed, “But she already knows, right? This will be public sooner or later, so there’s no need to hide.”
I stayed silent. If I refused again, Neil might start doubting me.
We stayed in bed a while longer, then got up, got dressed, and went downstairs. As soon as we got down, a whiff of food hit me. It smelled different from the usual meals our housemaid made.
Hannah walked out of the kitchen in an apron, holding a plate of food. After seeing Neil and me, she immediately said, “Ms. Finch, Mr. Whitmore, good morning! I happened to be free today, so I decided to cook instead of the maid. Give it a try!”
I walked over to the dining table; her dishes looked really appetizing.
Hannah had been a housewife for years, so her cooking skills were top-notch.
1 praised her, “Looks delicious! But you’re our guest. How can we let you cook? That’s the maid’s job.”
Hannah shyly shook her head, “I’d feel guilty if I didn’t do anything for you. As long as you don’t mind my mediocre cooking, I can make dinner for you tonight too.”
Neil was still expressionless. Since Hannah was Oscar’s sister, he instinctively disliked her.
The fact that he apologized to me last night was already quite a feat.
“Let’s sit down and eat then. I pulled Hannah to sit down and started eating. Neil followed suit.
I have to say, Hannah’s cooking was really good. Even though I was a bit picky, I found her food absolutely delicious.
As I was praising her, she suddenly said, “When Oscar brought Bonnie to my house, they both loved this…”
Before she could finish, the mood at the table dropped.
“Hannah, look ahead. Oscar would want you to get over the pain this marriage brought you. Neil will find you a job in the next few days…” I stopped mid-sentence.
Hannah only had a high school diploma and no work experience, but she was hard-working, willing to endure hardship, and her cooking was great. Why not let her be the chef here?
“Thank you, guys!” Hannah quickly responded.
“Hannah, would you like to stay here as a chef? | asked outright.
As soon as I asked, I felt a cold gaze from Neil.
Hannah was very good at reading people. She immediately realized that Neil didn’t like this idea, so she quickly replied, “Ms. Finch, these dishes I made are only nice to have once in a while, but if you have them every day, you might get sick of them. I only know how to make these few dishes, so I think it’s better I do other jobs”
“I really like your food. What if I get pregnant and crave for these?” I said on purpose.
Neil’s gaze became even colder. He glanced at me, then continued eating. After a while, he nonchalantly said, “Taste’s not bad. You can cook until we’re tired of it then.”
Hannah quickly nodded, “Alright! Thank you, Mr. Whitmore!”
I was feeling a bit chuffed. Helping Hannah could make up for my guilt over Oscar
After I finished my meal, I had my servants arrange clothes and a room for Hannah. I had initially planned to let her continue staying in the guest room, but she insisted on bunking with the other servants.
“If you have any questions, you can always ask them. I believe you can handle this job.” I told Hannah before leaving.
*Alright!” Hannah walked me to the door, where Bailey was already waiting for me.
Once in the car, I saw Neil come out, but he headed towards his own vehicle, not joining me
With only half a day of work left, I raced to the office and got cracking. My assistant handed me a document, claiming it was from Bonnie
I gave the document a quick once over and then chucked it. It was a proposal for a partnership with them.
If she thought I would accept this collaboration, she must be off her rocker. She was really stubborn, and she was now using this stubbornness not only in her pursuit of Neil but also in her work.
