“Ms. Bethan, “
Lily greeted with a smile when she noticed Bethan entering. “Fried chicken is so oily and unhealthy. I don’t understand why children like it so much.”
Bethan frowned and glanced at the food. Lily was right; it did look quite oily.
Bethan recalled that there were some leftover ingredients in the fridge from when she made mushroom soup last time. She took a deep breath, put on an apron, and started preparing mushroom soup.
“Ms. Bethan.”
It was rare that the both of them could talk in private like this, so Lily heaved a deep sigh and began, “Actually, Mr. Quinn…”
“Shh.”
Bethan frowned and stopped her from continuing. “You’re the new maid here at Blue Bay Villa, and if someone discovers the relationship between you and Malcolm, they’ll think that you’re spying for him, ” muttered Bethan under her breath as she prepared the ingredients skill fully.
Lily froze at her response. Her face turned pale.
“Do you… not want to talk about him? “
Lily asked. She had worked as a maid for the Quinns in the past, so she had witnessed firsthand the devotion that Malcolm displayed toward Bethan. When Bethan was still abroad, she was not too close with Malcolm, but they still maintained a friendly relationship.
However, ever since Bethan returned to Banyan City, she did not keep in touch with him that often anymore. Whenever Lily recalled the way Malco lm stared longingly at the phone, she could not help but feel sympathetic toward him. This man was so faithful and committed toward Bethan, yet she refused to even bring him up in conversation.
“It’s not that I don’ t want to talk about him, “
Bethan explained with a frown. She lowered her voice and continued, “I just don’t think this is the right place to be talking about him.”
Bethan changed the topic immediately after she finished her sentence. “How much fried chicken did you make? Don’t cook too much. It’s high in fat and calories, so we should let them have enough for only one meal.”
Lily paused and turned away from Bethan. “Alright , noted.”
The two women continued working in silence for a while. Bethan tried to move past Lily, but all of a sudden, a drop of sizzling oil splashed out from the pot that Lily held and onto the back of Bethan’s hand.
“Ouch ! “
Bethan cried out in pain. She lowered her head immediately and discovered that a blister had developed on the back of her right hand.
“Ms. Bethan! “
Lily quickly turned off the stove and grabbed hold of Bethan’s hand. She held Bethan’s hand under running tap water, all the while apologizing profusely. “How could you be so clumsy?”
Bethan frowned and shot Lily a glance. “Let this be a one-time occurrence.”
Lily froze at her words. “What do you mean?”
“You’re upset at me because I didn’t want to talk about Malcolm with you, but this is it. I won’t allow you to take out your anger on me a second time.”
Lily’s face turned white immediately. “Ms. Bethan, I don’t… I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I’m not stupid. I know my way around a kitchen, and I’m sure you do, too. This is a rookie mistake. The only plausible explanation is that you did it on purpose.”
Lily’s hand stiffened. After a split second, she lifted her hand to look at Bethan. “Mr. Quinn has sacrificed so much for you. He truly is in love with you.”
“So this is the reason you hurt me?”
Bethan sneered and turned off the tap. “How do you think Malcolm will feel if he finds out you did this for him? Do you think he’d be touched?”
“Delicious fried chicken! “
The fried chicken was served ten minutes later, and Nellie hopped around in glee. Neil was just as elated, but he still snuck an apprehensive glance at Bethan. “
Mommy…”
“You can eat, ” said Bethan with a small smile. She was already seated at the dining table.
“Here you go, Sirs. Have a taste of this mushroom soup,” said Lily enthusiastically as she set down bowls of soup in front of everyone at the table. “Ms. Bethan was afraid that fried chicken alone would be too heavy, so she made this mushroom soup herself! “
Adrian picked up a spoonful of soup and took a sip. “
Not bad.”
Brettley, however, sat in silence. He caught a glimpse of Bethan, who had been trying to keep her right hand under the table and out of sight. “What’s wrong with your hand?”
Bethan shot him an impassive glance. “Nothing. I ‘m just not hungry.”
“Not hungry, or did you injure yourself?”
Brettley’s dark eyes seemed to see right through her. “Lift your hand.”
Bethan frowned. She did not want to do as he said, but everyone was staring at her at this point. She let out a sigh and reluctantly lifted her hand from under the table.
Her right hand was wrapped in a bandage.
Nellie was so shocked that she dropped her chicken drumstick. “What happened, Aunty?”
Neil immediately leaped off his seat, rushed to Bethan’s side, and grabbed hold of her wrist. “Are you hurt?”
Seeing her children’s reactions, Bethan felt a tingle of warmth in her heart. She shook her head in response. “I’m fine. A drop of hot oil accidentally splashed onto me, that’s all.”
“Accidentally? “
Brettley gave her a steely glance, then turned to glance at Lily. “It’s not the first time the both of you entered a kitchen. How can two handy cooks make a rookie mistake like this?”
His gaze made Lily uneasy. She lowered her head and tried to avoid looking at him.
A smirk played on the corner of Brettley’s mouth. He demanded immediately, “Tell me what happened! “
Lily was so startled by his booming voice that she almost got onto her knees. “I… I…” she stammered.
“It was my fault,” answered Bethan. She gently set her injured hand down on the table and raised her bowl with the other one to take a sip. “I got some water on my hand when I was making the soup, but I forgot about it. I saw that Lily was having some trouble, so I tried to help, but the water on my hand dripped into the pot, and the hot oil splattered onto me.”
Bethan glanced at Lily. “She’s a timid girl, and she felt guilty about my injury, thinking it wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t try to help her. Don’t be so harsh on her.”
Upon hearing these words, Lily immediately lifted her head to stare at Bethan with a bewildered look on her face.
Adrian believed Bethan’s response. “Alright, just be careful next time. Ms. Bethan, you’re no longer a maid here at Blue Bay Villa, so you don’t have to take part i n chores like this anymore.”
Bethan nodded and gave him a smile. “I won’t.”
After hearing Bethan’s explanation, Brettley said nothing to indicate whether he believed her or not. He just gave Lily a cold glance and continued eating his meal.
Since Bethan had injured her right hand, all throughout the meal, she could only use her left hand clumsily. Fortunately, Neil soon finished his meal and moved to sit next to her, so that he could feed her.
“Mommy, you used to feed me in the past, so now it’s my turn to feed you instead.”
Bethan chuckled. “How does it feel to be feeding your own mother?”
Neil gave a small laugh. “It feels nice.”
“Hey, I want to do this, too! “
Nellie exclaimed and wanted to join in, but she bit her lip soon after she realized that it was not appropriate for her to do so. Bethan was just her Aunty to everyone else, after all. Therefore, she turned around and looked at Brettley expectantly. “Daddy, will you let me feed you?”
Brettley frowned upon hearing this and sternly replied, “We’ll see in the future.”
“Okay…”
Nellie lowered her head in disappointment.
Adrian could not take the sight of that, though. “
Come, Nellie, I’111et you feed me instead! “
Nellie’s face lit up. She picked up her bowl and sat in front of Adrian. “Open your mouth, Granddad! “
Adrian grinned at her and opened his mouth obediently.
A moment later, Bethan had finished eating, so Neil joined Nellie in feeding their grandfather together. Adrian initially wanted to object to this, but he could not resist denying Nellie and seeing her crestfallen expression, so he let them do whatever they wanted.
Bethan had finished her meal, so she left the table and sat down on the couch. She whipped out her phone and was about to check the news when she suddenly felt the cushion next to her sink. Brettley had lowered his tall and slender body onto the seat next to her.
“Give me your hand, ” he ordered in a low voice.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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