Chapter 245 How Could His Brothers Be So Different?
Enrique was hanging by the door, eavesdropping on Brenda's flirty tone, thinking, 'Loren's gotta cave this time, right?'
Loren, with that soft look in his eyes, said, "How's this supposed to help? You'd be better off seeing a shrink for some real advice."
Then he asked, "Want me to find one for you?"
Loren wasn't sure if Brenda was joking about needing some emotional support. But seriously, giving away luck was absolutely out of the question. There was no way he was going to agree to that.
Brenda went quiet, thinking, 'Who needs a shrink anyway?'
She grabbed Loren's hand again, pleading, "Loren, come on, just indulge me a bit. I just wanna see if my friend's right."
Loren chuckled and said, "Then go try it with someone else. I just got off a long flight, and I'm beat. I need to crash."
He gave her a gentle pat on the head. "Be good." Then he got up to leave the living room.
Brenda was fuming inside. They always said they spoiled her, but when it came down to it, they wouldn't even play along with a joke.
Pouting, she put on her best hurt look. "Loren, you don't love me anymore. I hate you," she whined.
Loren laughed, shaking his head. "You hate me already? You're such a kid. If you're really down, we can ask Alfonso or find a good shrink, but enough with the jokes."
Brenda realized Loren wasn't gonna budge. If she kept pushing, he'd get annoyed or figure something was up. Besides Paul, Loren was the sharpest and most level-headed in the family.
So she glared at him and nodded. "Alright, I'll think about it," she said, then added, "Loren, after you rest, can we have dinner together?" She figured if she kept at it, he'd give in eventually.
For such a small request, Loren naturally agreed, "Sure!"
Then he left the living room. At the door, he saw Enrique standing there and was a bit surprised. "Enrique, what are you doing here?" he asked.
Enrique's mind was racing—how could his brothers be so different? Richard, Arnold, and Kevin seemed to know something was up and avoided Brenda's request, yet Loren, who probably knew nothing, shut her down instantly. It made him look kinda clueless.
Snapping back, Enrique forced a smile. "I heard you talking and came to say hi."
Loren noticed the suitcase nearby and asked, "Where are you headed?"
Enrique replied, "I've had some bad luck at home lately, so I'm gonna crash at Arnold's for a few days."
Loren asked, puzzled, "Arnold's place? Is he out of town?"
Enrique nodded. "Yeah, Richard, Arnold, and Kevin all took off."
Then he saw Brenda wheeling herself toward them. For some reason, he felt like dodging her. So he said quickly, "Loren, I'll catch up with you later. Gotta find Arnold."
Loren sensed something was off. But knowing Enrique was a bit of a pushover, he decided not to dig. "Alright, go ahead," he said.
As Loren headed to his room, Brenda's smile vanished, replaced by a cold look. 'My brothers are changing,' she thought bitterly.
She regretted not following Samuel and Ethan's advice to turn everyone against Elizabeth before kicking her out. Now, it seemed everyone was starting to warm up to Elizabeth. Too late now; she could only hope to outshine Elizabeth in the next show.
Loren headed back to his room and took a shower. The more he thought about it, the more it seemed fishy that all three brothers suddenly skipped town. After his shower, he decided to call Richard.
Richard picked up, "Loren, back already?"
Loren said, "Yeah, just got in today. Enrique told me you guys all went out of town. What's up with that?"
Richard didn't hold back. "Brenda's been bugging us for our Generational Blessings. We freaked out and decided to bail."
Loren was shocked. "She asked you guys for Generational Blessings too?"
Richard confirmed, "Yep. She hit up all four of us. Only Enrique was dumb enough to say yes. She asked you too?"
Loren replied, "Yeah, she did. I didn't agree."
Richard knew Loren was the sharpest tool in the shed and wouldn't fall for it like Enrique.
He sighed, "Smart move. Ask the servants about how unlucky Enrique's been this past week. You'll see you made the right call."
Loren frowned. "Enrique agreed, and he's been having bad luck? So this isn't just a joke?"
Richard sneered, "Only Enrique would think it's a joke."
Loren pressed, "What's really going on?"
Richard laughed, "You'll find out soon enough. No point in explaining now; you'll see."
The four of them had already been duped; Loren had to get a taste of it too. They were brothers, after all. They had to suffer together.
Loren was smart enough not to end up as bad as Enrique. And only by getting tricked himself could he truly see Brenda's true colors. Otherwise, no matter how much they said, it wouldn't help, just like with Arnold before and Enrique now.
Loren was speechless. "What's with all the mystery?" he whined.
Richard said, "You'll know soon enough."
After a few more words, he ended the call.
Loren, still puzzled, asked the servants about Enrique's recent streak of bad luck. What he found out was sobering. Brenda's request, whether serious or not, had some weird consequences.
Packing quickly, Loren decided to do what his younger brothers did. He left for his upcoming business trip a few days early. He didn't want to stick around.
At dinner, Brenda, all dolled up and looking pitiful, saw the empty dining room and got a text from Loren apologizing for leaving on a sudden business trip and bailing on dinner.
She couldn't hold back and angrily swept the food off the table.
The servants, seeing Brenda's growing temper, didn't dare to approach.
Just then, the strict etiquette teacher showed up.
She looked at Brenda and scolded, "Nonsense. You're a lady. How can you act so ungracefully? Come back to your room for punishment and to relearn table manners."
Brenda's body stiffened. She had forgotten the teacher was still around. At the mention of punishment, her palms started to hurt. But she didn't dare to resist; otherwise, Betty would have sent her away. She could only resentfully let the servant push her back to her room to suffer.
Richard and his brothers were speechless when they found out Loren had left. They couldn't help but complain. How could Loren be so smart? Did all the Clark family's brains and cunning go to Loren and Elizabeth?
In the following days, Elizabeth and Raymond wrapped up filming their scenes.
Once finished, they headed to the airport together to meet up with Matthew and the others, getting ready to fly to the border.
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