Chapter 57
Because of their unexpected meeting, ina had isted Serene from them. The two talked about art.
From listening to their conversation, Justin gathered the reason Serene sat in her mother’s ss was
that she looked up to ina as an artist. So when she learned from a friend that his mother will teach
the following semester, she had arranged her ss schedule around ina’s ss.
The two women were so engrossed discussing painting and the global art scene, they hardly noticed
Bryan and Chester’s arrival. His brows arched when he saw ina animatedly talk to Serene.
“Mom’s uncharacteristically chatty today,” Chester expressed his observation.
“Uh-huh. Turns out, Serene attended her ss when she was in college,” Justin filled him in.
“Huh? But Serene majored in Economics and your Mom taught art, right?” Bryan chimed.
“That’s right. She said she sat in Mom’s ss with zero credits.”
ina felt that there were eyes looking at them, so she turned and saw Chester and Bryan had already
arrived.
“Chester, darling,” she said, spreading her arms to wee her son. Chester embraced his mother
and gave Serene a nod.
“Well, since we’replete, let’s have a quick family dinner before people trickle in,” ina said,
motioning them to go to the dining hall.
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She took Serene’s arm and tugged her forward, making Justin and Nick frown but just followed suit.
At the dinner table, ina asked Serene to sit beside her, which she promptly obeyed, taking the chair
on ina’s left. Justin, who normally sat across ina, took the empty seat beside Serene.
When everyone had their seats, the helpers served the food. In contrast to the usually quiet Rains
during mealtimes, ina continued to speak enthusiastically to Serene.
“I just remembered, Serene…” she said, speaking a little loudly. “There was a boy who was always with
you. He also missed the same exam you missed, was he not an art major too?”
“That was my friend’s brother, Al. He’s not from the university, but there was a girl from your ss that
he’s trying to pursue. So, he would alwayse with me when I attend your ss,” Serene exined.
“I see. He’s quite good too. Did he pursue art?”
“He didn’t. He established his business in IT. He’s my boss now.”
“Oh, I see. So did he and the girl end up together?”
“They didn’t. He’s still single.”
Everyone listened to their conversation. After a while, Nick asked, “If you were interested in art, then
why economics?”
Serene’s face flushed at the Chairman’s question. She cleared her throat before answering.
“I wanted to go to the UK to study art, but my boyfriend at the time said he’d be taking Economics in
Ga University. So, I took the test and passed. When I learned he did not make the cut, it was
already toote for me to try for Royal College of Art.”
“Oh, I thought you studied Economics because of Mary,” Bryan said.
“No, I actually convinced Mary to go to Ga University. Her Dad did not agree to let her study fashion
abroad. So Mary just wanted to be anywhere but Coast City, I asked her to go with me instead.”
“Did you want to pursue painting again?” Chairman Rain asked again.
“Professionally, not at the moment. But definitely in the future, I’d like to pursue art professionally.”
After answering all their questions, the Rains talked about business, making Serene focus on her food.
As she quietly watched the family interact, she noticed Bryan and Chester felt odd. Chester did not
touch the food Bryan put on his te and also spoke to him sparingly. There were several instances
where Bryan would hold on to Chester’s hand, but thetter would either pick up a ss to drink or put
food on his te and let go of Bryan’s hand.
She averted her gaze from the couple and focused on Chairman Rain. It’s hard to imagine that this
formidable leader was just a regr father at home. He spoke with warmth to his wife and children, and
would guffaw.
After the meal, they went back to the garden and greeted their visitors. Serene who avoided parties
and engagements as much as possible had used up all her energy in greeting and having a small talk
with the guests.
She excused herself and found a quiet ce, away from the crowd, to sit in and recover. She looked at
Justin from a distance. He felt sofortable around people. Heughed with them and talked to them
effortlessly. She wished she had a portion of his social skill.
“I told you countless times, we’re over.” Bryan’s voice startled her. He sounded distressed.
“Don’t you fucking tell me you’re over her when you’re obviously not,” Chester’s voice hitched. “You
can’t even pretend, even for a day, that you’re not into her anymore.”
She heard Bryan curse. The two obviously had an argument, and it’s impolite to eavesdrop. She got up
and had just taken a step when he heard Chester say, “I want a divorce.”
The gravity of Chester’s deration stopped Serene from her tracks. Divorce?!? That’s something
heavy.
She wanted tofort Bryan but if she did, he would know that she heard their conversation and would
just add to their already awkward treatment of each other. So she decided against it and walked back in
the crowd''s direction.
Justin scanned the venue and could not see Serene. He excused himself from the circle of people who
wanted to talk to him and looked for Serene. He knew she did not like crowds and recalled that when
she walked the runway for theunch of Mary’s swimwear line; she was in a dark, isted corner of the
venue. So he walked towards the farther end of the garden to look for her.
He almost lost his footing when Chester stormed out of the darkness. His jaws rigid, and his brows
furrowed. He’s definitely upset. Not a minute passed, he saw Serenee out from the same direction
Chester came from a minute earlier.
Now, it’s his turn to knit his brows and clench his jaws because after Serene came Bryan who walked
with his head bowed and his shoulders slightly hunched. He looked like he lost from a huge bet.
What were those three doing?