Chapter 71 No Amount of Food Can Shut You Up
Charles was driving when he received the message. He glanced at the notification, and his eyes darkened as he sped up towards the suburban villa.
Upon his arrival, Austin and Samuel seemed to be playing mobile games, and Rex was bustling around. Only Daphne and Evan were sitting together, chatting.
It was a perfectly ordinary distance, a perfectly ordinary conversation, but it bothered him immensely, and he wanted to separate them, finding their interaction extremely irritating.
"You finally made it," Rex said mockingly as he set a bottle of wine on the table and pulled Charles to sit down. "We've been waiting for you for over half an hour."
Charles had a cold aura about him.
Once all six were present, Austin glanced at Evan and asked Rex, "It's not any special day today, why did you call us all here?"
And Evan was invited too.
"Who told you it's not a special day?" Rex blurted out.
Everyone looked at him, their faces full of confusion.
Rex filled the glasses with wine and casually remarked, "Charles and Daphne are getting divorced in four days. This is a pre-celebration of their return to singlehood."
Samuel pursed his lips and averted his gaze.
Austin coughed lightly.
Rex really had no fear!
"It's indeed something to celebrate," Evan chimed in, eager to see what would unfold, as he picked up his glass.
With his goal achieved, Rex also picked up his glass, smiling slyly, "Daphne, let's toast."
Daphne didn't hesitate and picked up her glass.
"Charles, what about you?" Rex prodded, nudging his arm. "You've wanted a divorce for a long time, haven't you? Or do you actually not want to divorce Daphne?"
Charles looked at him sharply.
Rex was unfazed, accustomed to such looks from Charles since childhood.
Charles's chill seemed almost tangible as he watched Daphne's and Evan's glasses nearly touch. Angrily, he clinked his glass against theirs with a resounding "clang!"
The sound echoed clearly in the spacious villa.
Austin and Samuel exchanged glances, realizing something: Rex was done for!
"Austin, Samuel, why are you still standing?" Rex wanted everyone to participate, otherwise the game wouldn't be fun. "This is a significant day for Charles."
"Cough, cough."
They coughed awkwardly, raising their glasses with mixed feelings.
All six began to drink. Austin sipped lightly and put down his hardly diminished glass. Rex and Samuel did about the same.
Only Charles, Daphne, and Evan drained their glasses completely.
When Charles put down his glass, he noticed that neither Evan's nor Daphne's had a drop left, as if they were looking forward to cleanly severing the marriage.
The atmosphere became weirdly tense.
Austin was already regretting his decision. If he had known Rex's idea of a fun drinking game was this, he wouldn't have come. This wasn't fun; it was sharing the burden of a chilly atmosphere!
"Mr. Winston, I've heard you've been single all this time, never had a girlfriend?" Rex, oblivious to the low pressure, stirred the pot.
Evan, with his scholarly charm, confirmed, "Yes."
"And what do you think of Daphne?" Rex continued, ignoring the murderous look from Charles. "You two are good friends, and Daphne is about to be divorced. Any thoughts on pursuing her?"
"That depends on Daphne," Evan summed up.
Rex saw his chance: "Daphne, what do you think of Mr. Winston?"
"Very good," Daphne replied.
Rex smiled slyly, asking playfully, "And Charles?"
"Jerk," Daphne answered bluntly.
She wasn't worried about tarnishing Charles's image; everyone there knew what Charles had done and about his intention to divorce her for his crush.
"Ahem!" Austin couldn't hold back any longer.
"All this food and still can't shut you up, huh?" Charles said with displeasure, his gaze landing on Rex.
"Food is meant to be savored," Rex retorted with a smirk, "not used to shut someone up. Considering your intelligence, I wonder how Daphne ever fell for you."
Charles was speechless.
"Let's play a game," Rex suggested, starting the next round. He had put in a lot of effort for Charles's sake. "We're all friends here, let's play Truth or Dare, shall we?"
"Sure," Austin agreed.
Samuel simply said,"Okay."
Charles shot them a scrutinizing look. What was going on with these two?
Austin didn't lift his head; as long as he didn't look up, he wouldn't see Charles's stare.
Rex had tempted him with an offer he couldn't refuse. If he had known Truth or Dare would be played under these circumstances, he would never have agreed.
"Charles, are you playing?" Samuel asked boldly, his calm voice belying the gravity of his question.
Charles thought about getting up and leaving. But considering Rex's unreliability, he could only agree with a cold edge to his voice:"I'll play."
Daphne didn't want to play; she had no interest in such things. But Rex's nagging was too much, forcing her to reluctantly agree.
And so, the game among the six began. There were no cards or board games, just six porcelain tokens Rex had prepared, the size of chess pieces.
"There are six white tokens, two of them have words written on them, one 'big' and one 'small', the rest are blank," Rex explained, clearly well-prepared for the evening. "Whoever gets the 'big' token can ask a question or make a request of the person who gets the 'small' token."
"Let's start!"
He distributed the tokens decisively.
Daphne felt something was off but couldn't quite put her finger on it.
In the first round, Charles got 'small', and Evan got 'big'. Seeing it wasn't her, Daphne's doubts disappeared, and she played along absentmindedly.
"Charles, Truth or Dare?"
Charles replied coldly,"Dare."
"Mr. Winston, you can make a request," Rex urged, acting as the commentator.
Everything tonight was in preparation for the situation between Daphne and Charles. The initial rounds were just a warm-up.
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
