Chapter 542 Get Out of My Face
Oliver saw through Natalie's feigned calm and inward guilt, a smug smile curling on his lips, as he casually ordered his meal: "Natalie, make it spicy."
Oliver's stomach used to be weak, so Natalie often prepared bland, stomach-friendly dishes, although he truly had a thing for spicy cuisine.
Natalie scoffed, "You're lucky you're even getting a meal, and now you're asking for it to be spicy?"
A quick glint of amusement flickered in Oliver's eyes.
He once told Natalie that being too kind-hearted, too soft, and too self-reflective was not necessarily a good thing; otherwise, she wouldn't be compromising with him now out of guilt for misspeaking.
But lucky for him, his gentle heart turned out to be her target.
Oliver stood off to the side, watching Natalie intently as she chopped vegetables. Although they'd been married for a year, it was rare for him to just quietly observe her cooking. Before, they were both too busy to enjoy such leisure, but now, these moments were a treasured rarity.
"Are you that bored?" Natalie asked with a huff.
"Hmm?" Oliver hummed, indeed looking utterly unoccupied.
"Don't just stand there!" She found his large frame in the way as she reached for a spatula, firing a question at him, "Doesn't the big CEO have work to do?"
Previously, Oliver would have been on his laptop dealing with emails even while in the car. Unlike now, he seemed as idle as if his company had gone out of business—a notion she found absurd because, she knew full well, RK Enterprises was far from collapse.
"The company has Jamie and Charles," he replied.
Oliver put back the portion of veggies Natalie had set aside for him.
"Being your subordinate must be rough," Natalie expressed sincere sympathy for Jamie and Charles, who were no doubt under pressure they shouldn't have been, while their boss seemed to be loafing around.
Rough? Oliver didn't see it that way.
If Charles and Jamie didn't do the work, then he'd have to. What was the point of being the boss if he had to work as diligently as his employees all the time?
Wasn't one of the joys of being the boss the freedom to skip out when he wanted to or take a vacation on a whim?
"Natalie, why are these two cut differently?" Oliver pointed at the food ingredients.
"You wouldn't understand," she scoffed. She wasn't going to waste her breath or energy explaining the difference between cutting techniques to the CEO who couldn't even name the vegetables.
Oliver narrowed his eyes, "Natalie, are you doubting my intelligence?"
"Mr. Windsor, if you want to eat tonight, I'd suggest leaving the kitchen—now. Otherwise, you'll go hungry," Natalie pointed firmly towards the door. This man was clueless and far too chatty!
"Natalie! Oliver!"
The front door burst open, and Lucas and Lilian rushed in excitedly with their ingredients.
Lucas called out to Natalie and shot Oliver an icy glare.
Even when Oliver was his brother-in-law, he never showed much warmth. Now that they were no longer related by marriage, courtesy was even less of a concern.
Besides, as a husband, he hadn't even managed to protect his own sister. After the divorce, he stirred up trouble that led to others kicking her while she was down!
"Natalie, we’re eating at your place tonight!" Lilian announced as she set groceries on the counter.
"Who said you could come?" Oliver did not want any interruptions during his time with Natalie, even though she was giving him the cold shoulder.
Lilian snorted, knowing just how to handle Oliver. She turned to Natalie and coaxed, "Can we, Natalie? It's been so long since I've had your cooking!"
With an unintentional pout that melted hearts, Natalie smiled and nodded. "Alright, then go have fun outside for a while."
Lucas shot Oliver a challenging look, then washed his hands and rolled up his sleeves. "Sis, let me help."
Lucas assisted Natalie, their sibling teamwork making quick work of the food prep.
Lilian stood next to Oliver, curiously watching the pair cook. After a while, she pulled Oliver aside into the living room and whispered, "Oliver, why aren't you helping Natalie?"
Oliver furrowed his brows, confused.
"Good heavens, you still don't know how to sweet-talk Natalie?" Lilian was incredulous.
"You think you can win her back with that attitude? "
"Helping her with dinner equals sweet-talk?" Oliver disagreed, "She'd kick me out," he said, with a look of disdain.
Lilian painstakingly educated Oliver.
"Where are you picking up all this nonsense?"
"TV shows and Instagram! Instagram is fantastic, too bad an old fashioned like you wouldn't know how to use it," Lilian said with feigned regret.
Oliver was speechless.
The aroma of the meal wafted out of the kitchen and into the yard.
"Holy smokes, that smells amazing!"
"That's delicious! Who is cooking steak?"
The yard was buzzing as everyone followed their noses, searching for the source with the hope of mooching a meal, quickly zeroing in on Natalie and Oliver’s place.
The crowd was speechless.
Mr. Windsor's turf...not exactly the place to mooch a meal.
Most wouldn't dare, but some do.
"Come on, let's go see what Lilian's up to in there!" Mia, after an afternoon's effort, had cozied up to Lilian and was now dragging Ethan to shamelessly freeload a meal.
Barrett, not to be outdone, grabbed Cadence and headed inside.
"No way, I'm not going!" Cadence resisted with clenched fists. "I've had a spat with Natalie before."
It would be too embarrassing for her to just show up uninvited.
"That's perfect! I've had a run-in with Natalie too," Barrett cheered up. "With you there, I don't feel as awkward."
As Cadence's temper flared, Barrett quickly added, "Natalie's cooking is out of this world. Issac and Wyatt both say it's better than a five-star chef's!"
"Really?" Cadence hesitated, her pride wavering at the thought of a great meal.
"If you don't come, don't say I didn't warn you. You've messed up our meal, and now you're out of luck."
"Wait! Okay... I'll go!"
And so, Mia, Ethan, Barrett, and Cadence made their collective entrance into Oliver's place.
Oliver glared at the uninvited foursome.
Lucas and Lilian were one thing, since they were his and Natalie's siblings, after all. But who were these other people, just freeloading riffraff?
"Dude, we can't cook. You can't just watch us go hungry, can you?" Barrett implored.
Oliver answered coldly, "Your hunger is not my problem."
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