Chapter 379 – Beginning with a Daring Encounter

“Kind of. I was hoping to tell him the truth tonight when I see him. And please don’t ask me what I lied about,” Jade said, and Benne just looked at her without saying a word for a moment.

“Do me a favor. Tell him the truth. And please don’t lie to him next time, and don’t mess with his emotions. Before you rush to point out that I lied to Celsie, I know so already, so do not waste your breath. Just don’t do that to Harry,” Benne advised, and Jade nodded.

“Are you both going to stand there and talk all night, or will you join the party?” Evelyn called to them as she dished the food.

“We are coming,” Benne called back to her as he walked away from Jade.

“I will tell him the truth,” Jade promised as she followed him.

Now all she had to do was figure out a way to tell him the truth without revealing that she was interested in him.

Should she do so over the phone tonight or just stop by his office and tell him the truth before leaving? How would he react?

After they were done with dinner, Jade encouraged their father to unwrap the gifts they had gotten him. Celsie quietly excused herself and went upstairs to get him the gift she had gotten him.

“Dad, you know you can request anything else you want too, right?” Benne asked, and Desmond smiled happily over the rim of his wine glass as he took a sip of his favorite wine.

“I know. Thank you. You kids have done more than enough already,” Desmond said before reaching to unwrap the wristwatch box.

When he was going about it too slowly, Evelyn, who was dying with curiosity to see what they had gotten him, reached over to help him tear off the wrap, but Desmond slapped her hand off, “No touching,” he warned, and the others around the table laughed just as Celsie returned.

Thankful that no one was looking her way, she subtly hid her gift behind her as she sat down beside Benne.

“It’s a Patek Philippe watch,” Desmond announced with an even broader smile as he looked from Benne to Bryan and then back to the wristwatch in awe. He was a lover and collector of wristwatches, but this was going to be the most expensive wristwatch in his collection.

“Thank you, boys,” Desmond said, and Bryan shot Jade a smug smile since she had kept insisting that there was no need to get him such an outrageously expensive wristwatch when he would likely not even recognize its worth whether or not he was a collector.

Jade rolled her eyes at Bryan, “Really, dad? Thank you, boys?” She asked with a scowl, and he chuckled.

“Give your brothers some credit, Jady. I know you don’t have an eye for things like these, but they do, so they deserve some accolades. And thank you too, princess. I’m sure you didn’t leave it all entirely to them,” he added with a grin as he gently lifted the wristwatch from its box and put it on.

“How much did that cost?” Celsie whispered to Benne in awe as she eyed the wristwatch. Working in the fashion line, she knew enough about brands to know that this wasn’t cheap.

“Some thousands of dollars, I would say,” Benne said, and Celsie winced as she threw her gift under the table, making Benne chuckle.

“Don’t do that. I’m sure he will appreciate it,” Benne chided as he reached for the gift, but Celsie held his arm.

“If you embarrass me, I won’t ever forgive you,” she warned, and Benne shook his head as he reached for the bag regardless of her warning and placed it on her lap.

“Dad, unwrap your other gift,” Bryan urged him when he saw that Desmond was wasting so much time checking out the wristwatch.

Desmond carefully returned the wristwatch to its box before picking up the other wrapped box. He carefully unwrapped it while Evelyn watched impatiently.

Once Desmond exposed the content of the second box, he smiled happily once again, while Evelyn glared at her children, “I can’t believe that instead of you encouraging your dad to quit this dangerous habit, you went ahead to buy him this as a gift. You do know that this isn’t good for his health, right?” Evelyn asked with displeasure.

“Give us a break, mom. Every one of us is going to die someday, whether or not we are smokers. Allow the man to enjoy himself,” Bryan said, and Evelyn angrily threw a piece of cake at him.

“Don’t you dare spit out that nonsense to me!”

“Calm down, Eve. You said one cigar a day. I’m not going to smoke all of these in one day,” Desmond reminded her softly since he understood that she was only concerned about his health.

“Still, they should have known better,” Evelyn insisted, but with less anger this time.

“I love the gifts. Thank you,” Desmond said with a happy smile just as a yawn escaped from Evelyn.

She picked up her phone and was surprised to see that it was almost midnight already, “It has been a long day. I need to retire for the night now, especially as we will be leaving in the morning,” she said, and Bryan smiled happily, knowing that they were not going to be doing any silly singing or dancing as Jade had planned.

“Yeah, you should do that. I will stay out here for a while before joining you,” Desmond said with a grin as he held the cigar box to himself.

“You are not smoking tonight!” She reminded him as she stood up and snatched the cigar box from him, “Join me in the bedroom when you are ready,” she said before bidding the others goodnight and going inside.

“We should head in too,” Sonia said, giving Jade a pointed look, reminding her that they were supposed to continue their conversation from where they stopped.

“Yeah, we should,” Jade said with a grin.

“Benne, if you’re not feeling too tired, let’s continue our game from yesterday before we retire for the night,” Bryan suggested, and Benne smirked at him before turning to Celsie.

He kissed the side of her head, “I will be in the bedroom after I’m done with him,” Benne said before standing up to leave with Bryan.

As the others stood up to leave, Celsie remained seated, “Are you not coming with us?” Sonia asked curiously.

“I will join you shortly,” Celsie said, wanting them to leave before she would give the gift to Desmond.

“Alright. I will be in Jade’s bedroom,” Sonia said as she left with Jade.

Now left alone with Desmond, Celsie contemplated the best way to present her gift to him while Desmond watched her curiously. Perceiving that she wanted to speak with him, he decided to talk first.

“How are you feeling, Celsie?” Desmond asked as he looked at her.

Celsie cleared her throat and smiled at him, “I’m okay. I saw this while shopping earlier, and I thought you might like it,” Celsie said in a rush as she placed the bag on the table and pushed it across to him.

“You got me a gift?” Desmond asked in pleasant surprise as he picked up the bag and looked into it.

“It’s a memory foam slippers. It helps to keep your feet warm and comfortable…”

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