Chapter 0327
The luncheon we have a weekter is...awkward, to say the least. | say a little prayer of thanks about every ten seconds that
Daniel hasn’t left my side for a moment, charmingly fending off questions and making small talk with both the Biancis and the
Aldens while | stay quiet, smiling prettily.
| look up at my handsome fiancé and | shake my head a little at theugh that bubbles out of his throat at something my father
just said — something decidedly unfunny. But the way Daniel reacts? You''d think my father was a damnedian.
Daniel nces down at me and sends me a little wink that makes me burst into a smile.
See? | think. He’s got me charmed too. These damn Lippert men.
| look around the room, taking it all in. Janeen, of course, stayed home with dad — no one here wants to acknowledge my
adoptive family as anything but a footnote in my life — but everyone else of note is here. Even Jerome stands by the door ina
ck suit and sunsses, ying the role of our personal body guard.
My eyes flick to Natalia and Alessi, who did indeed fly in from Italy the moment Daniel called them and asked them toe
back. Alessi was characteristically thrilled when we told him about my pregnancy. He kissed me four times — twice on both
cheeks — and told me | was a wonder and a Madonna. Natalia, also characteristically, had been more reserved, offering her
congrattions with narrowed eyes.
As | watch them now, delicately selecting their lunch from the buffet table my father generously provided, | can see in the stern
set of her features that this is not a celebration lunch for her. No, she’s got something up her sleeve. And I, particrly, would like
to know what it is.
“Isn''t that right, Fay?” Daniel asks, and | turn my face up to him. And then | do my best to blush and pretend to be embarrassed
for being distracted.
“What?” | ask, turning to one of his Bianci cousins and smiling even though | honestly don’t care what he said.
“Anthony was just asking if we have ns to honeymoon,” Daniel says smoothly. “But | told him...probably not until the baby
comes. Right?”
“Yeah,” | say, grimacing and leaning into Daniel''s side as if I’m the most infatuated girl on earth. “As much as I''d love to run away
to Paris with this guy tomorrow, | think it’s probably better to go when | can enjoy the wine and the unpasteurized cheese, right?”
Daniel and his cousinugh politely, but they’re cut a little short as Natalia’s voice cuts smoothly in, a barb on her tongue as
usual.
“That’s our Fay,” she says, smiling around at us as she joins the conversation. “Always worried about where the next drink is
coming from.” She gives me a simpering little wink and | work hard — really hard — to keep the smile on my face. “There is more
to life than that, girl! But,” she shrugs, “you will see.”
“Yes,” | sigh, cing my hand low on my stomach. “I’m sure motherhood will open many doors for me. Do you ever regret it,
Natalia? Not having children?”
Daniel subtly elbows me but | don’t feel any guilt as | see the smile fall from her face.
Screw her, | think, hoping she reads it in my eyes.
She’s going down anyway. It’s just a matter of time.
| turn and look up at Daniel, ignoring her. “Can we get something to eat?”
“Of course,” he murmurs, gently running his knuckles down the length of my cheek and smiling at me fondly. Then, together, we
move off to the buffet. Luckily, no one else is filling their te just now, so we’re alone.
“What the hell was that,” he murmurs. “We''re supposed to be courting their friendship, Fay.”
“We''re supposed to be courting
Alessi’s friendship,” | reply, putting my
head on his TN rie
re for he! ying the
ever-considerate fiancé and
dad-to-be. “Natalia can kick rocks for
all | care.” Please read the original
content at NovelDrama.Org.
Daniel sighs and shakes his head, but he doesn’t fight me on it. He’s falling into the old patterns his dad established: trusting the
one in charge, not asking any questions.N?velDrama.Org holds this content.
We both turn towards the center of
the room as we hear my father
tapping a fork against-tiis wice( ss
te-getgvensine’>attention, | lean
harder against Daniel as my father
starts talking, sighing and nibbling on
a strawberry as we settle in for a long
speech. Please read the original
content at NovelDrama.Org.
My father drones on and on about
the new ties between the Bianci and
the Alden family, about which he is,
predictably, thrilled, Ashe, sped |!
novieetirat ao Che nota single
person — mentions Daniel''s actual
last name, and that none of the
Lippert rtives have been invited to
the party. Instead, it’s as if Kent has
been wiped from the books entirely
and Daniel has been swept up into
the Bianci family. Please read the
original content at NovelDrama.Org.
Which, frankly, is precisely what | wanted.
But still. lt makes me clench my jaw to see how easily Kent is dismissed. Kent made of these people he made filthy rich, and
now they’re picking at the corpse of his empire and raising their sses to me.