Chapter 466
Chapter 466:
Luna seemed disappointed that Kristine showed no reaction, but she pressed on. “Oh, and I remember you love spicy food! These chili peppers are wonderful. You simply must have them all.” She began picking the peppers out of the main dish and piling them onto Kristine’s plate — not one or two, but dozens, enough to make anyone ill.
“Yes,” Bryanna agreed. “Finish everything on your plate. We do not waste food in this family p>
The others around the table, emboldened now, looked over at Kristine with thinly veiled amusement.
But Kristine simply kept smiling.
Did they truly think she was still the same compliant girl from four years ago — the one who had only wanted to earn a place beside Colton?
𝖡𝗲 𝗽𝖺r𝘁 𝗼𝘧 𝗼𝘶𝘳 𝗰𝗈mm𝘶ոi𝗍у 𝗼𝘯
She leaned back in her chair and regarded the mound of peppers with a serene expression. “We certainly shouldn’t waste food,” she said pleasantly. “But whoever put them on the plate ought to be the one to eat them. That seems fair, doesn’t it p>
Luna scoffed. “They’re on your plate, so you have to eat them!” She turned toward Colton with a coy look, angling for his support. “Isn’t that right, Colton p>
Kristine looked at him too.
She was curious what he would do.
Colton met her calm, steady gaze and felt something shift uncomfortably in his chest. He turned to Luna, and his expression cooled. “It’s just food,” he said flatly. “If it’s wasted, it’s wasted. Is this really what we’re discussing at dinner p>
Every face in the room shifted at once — surprise curdling into irritation.
It was plain to everyone that Colton had taken Kristine’s side.
The family had assumed, when he first brought her, that his purpose was to let Bryanna punish her for all the recent trouble she had caused. That assumption had just been dismantled entirely. Colton had brought Kristine here to make a single, unmistakable declaration to the whole family: she was the most important woman in his life.
The atmosphere in the dining room grew heavier by the minute. No one relaxed until Bryanna pushed back her chair, finished at last, and led Colton away to her study. Only then did the rest of the family begin to breathe and move.
Inside the study, Bryanna settled behind her desk beneath the large portrait of her late husband that had always hung on that wall.
“Colton,” she said, steadying herself, “what is the point of this? Did you bring her here so that we would all be forced to accept her as your fiancée p>
“Not yet,” Colton answered simply.
The answer offered Bryanna a moment’s relief — but only a moment. She recognized immediately that he was holding something back.
Her brows drew together. “Not yet? Does that mean you intend to p>
“Grandmother.” He cut her off quietly. “I know you all dislike her. That’s fine. But I am going to marry her one day.” He held her gaze without flinching, making it absolutely clear he meant every word.
Bryanna studied him for a long moment. Then she let out a thin, cold laugh. “A great deal can change between now and then, but I must tell you p>