Faux Vows, True Desires

Chapter 281

Nathan was staring at Stefan.

Janice and Lucinda were also staring directly at him.

The air conditioning in the café was already on, but Stefan was still feeling hot like he was about to break a sweat.

He sought help with his eyes from Lucinda, not knowing which side to take.

Lucinda subtly pointed at her mother.

"Janice, how much money do you need? I'll go get it right now."

Stefan instantly chose a side.

His wife hinted for him to side with her mother, and he remembered what Nathan had once told him which was to always listen to his wife.

So, that was what he did.

Nathan's eyes bulged upon hearing Stefan's decision, glaring at him.

Stefan and Nathan locked eyes, Stefan with an innocent look on his face.

Nathan was so frustrated by his innocent look that he was almost spitting blood.

"Get as much as you can, as long as it's more than him."

"Alright."

Stefan was about to turn and leave, but after thinking for a moment, he turned back to his wife and said, "Honey, I'm a bit scared to withdraw so much money all by myself, afraid that I might get robbed. Can you please come with me?"

Lucinda quickly replied, "I'm also not comfortable with you withdrawing so much money alone. I'll go with you. I'm strong, I can help you carry a whole box of money."

The couple swiftly left that place.

Only Nathan and his wife were left, staring at each other.

Once out of the café, Stefan asked his wife to clear out the confusion, "Are we really going to withdraw the money?"

"You promised to loan my mom some money, right? Are you having second thoughts now?"

"She's your mom."

"I'm siding with my mom right now. Although my dad hasn't been good to my mom, now that she's wised up, he wants to turn back. That's not happening. Even if he doesn't want to divorce my mom, we can't let him have his way. Does he think my mom will forgive him that easily?"

Stefan was silent momentarily, then wrapped his arm around her shoulder and said gently, "Anyway, I'll do as you wish. Your dad also told me to listen to you. I will keep my word, so he can't blame me later."

Lucinda looked worried and said with concern, "It's not a solution for my parents to be in such a standoff. Darling, you're the smartest, think of a way to separate them, otherwise, they'll be stuck in this deadlock all day."

Stefan laughed and said, "That's easy, I'll call my parents and ask them to take your mom for a tour, just to let her get used to the environment faster."

"Then you should call them right now."

He gazed at her lovingly. All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

They had been married for a while at that point, so Lucinda knew what he intended to do. She blushed and said angrily, "We're in the middle of the street."

"What's wrong with the street?"

Stefan teased her again, asking, "What's wrong with the street?"

Lucinda gave him a playful pinch, "It's the perfect place to pinch you."

Stefan laughed out loud, then quickly kissed her, saying contentedly, "Being pinched by you is a kind of happiness. Owen wishes his wife would pinch him."

Owen must be thinking right now, “Why do you have to mention me when you two are flirting?”

So, heartbreaking.

Stefan then made a call to his mother.

Ten minutes later.

Stefan, holding a box of cash, approached Janice.

"Janice, here's the money you asked for. I've withdrawn it all."

Janice simply responded with a grunt, took the cash box from him, and placed it on the table, making a crisp sound.

Janice, unfazed by Nathan's disgruntled look, opened the cash box, messing up the neatly stacked piles of cash, making the already full box look even fuller.

"Lucy, come here."

Upon hearing her mother's call, Lucinda immediately walked over and sweetly called out, "Mom."

Janice patted the full box of cash and told her daughter, "Lucy, I can make you count money until your hands hurt. Some money that we don't need, even if we make it, I will still feel uncomfortable."

Hearing that, Lucinda immediately nodded in agreement and said to herself, “My mom is so cool!”

Nathan was speechless. He looked at Lucinda and Stefan with a bitter face. None of them was standing on his side.

Stefan lovingly looked at Lucinda.

Lucinda just looked up at the ceiling, not looking at her father.

Nathan was speechless. Were not daughters supposed to be considerate of their fathers?

Lucinda: “Dad, I'm kind of drifting away from you now.”

"Nathan, there you are. I was wondering where you went this morning."

The voice of Frederick Anderson suddenly rang out. Then he and Jeannie Coleman walked in through the door.

"Fiona."

Upon seeing Fiona, they warmly called out her name. Fiona returned the smile, sensing that they were there to ease the tension, and gestured to them.

Jeannie gave Fiona a reassuring look. Then she and her husband approached the deadlocked couple.

"What's going on? Why is there so much cash?"

Jeannie asked Janice with a puzzled look, then linked arms with her, "Janice, I want to go shopping, will you come with me? Bring this box of cash, we can shop to our heart's content."

Janice, who highly respected Jeannie, gently replied, "I happen to be free, so let's go shopping. Let's ask Fiona to join us."

Jeannie nodded. She locked the cash box for Janice and said with a smile, "Janice, do you prefer using cash?"

"Yes."

"I'll have someone help you with the cash box. Let's go. I saw a few outfits last time and I'm going to buy them today."

Jeannie, holding the cash box in one hand and Janice's arm in the other, was ready to leave that place.

She also called Fiona to join them.

Stefan had a job to do. He stepped forward and helped his mother carry the cash box. He saw the three women out.

The Blue family's bodyguard automatically followed them, and the Anderson family also had a bodyguard to help carry the cash box.

In just a matter of few minutes, Nathan was the only one left in the shop.

He looked at the cash on the table, feeling a bit at a loss, and said to his daughter, "Lucy, help me put away this cash."

Lucinda nodded and immediately started hustling to gather up the cash.

Frederick sat across from Nathan, grinning and saying, "Hey Nathan, how about we go for a stroll? It’s your first time at Pinehurst, right? Let me show you around, and get you acquainted with the place."

Nathan eyed Frederick for a moment and wanted to tease him by asking, "Frederick, you're pretty whipped by your wife, aren't you?"

"You know, it's a thing in our family. The guys really respect their wives. Don't worry, Nathan, Stefan's got that gene in him too. He'll definitely be all about Lucy, doing whatever she says."

Nathan was speechless. His conversation had been railroaded by Frederick.

But for the sake of his daughter's happiness, he had to swallow his irritation towards Frederick.

"Come on, Nathan, let's get going. I'll find us something fun to do. The ladies will probably be shopping all day, it's going to be a boring time if we tag along. Let's go find something interesting instead."

Frederick stood up, urging Nathan to join him.

With his wife gone, Nathan couldn't stay there all by himself for long. After a moment of silence, he finally got up and followed Frederick out.

The tense atmosphere that had engulfed the café finally lifted, and tranquility was restored.