Chapter 40
The Crown Bistro.
Maeve and Yvette walked arm-in-arm, chatting happily, with Jonathan following right behind them.
Suddenly, Yvette stopped in her tracks.
Maeve was feeling puzzled when she caught sight of a group of people standing opposite them out of the corner of her eye. They looked familiar. She paused for a moment and focused her gaze.
Frederick was holding Charlie, Zoe was standing right beside him, and standing behind them were Lydia and Arthur.
The whole family was neatly assembled, everyone wearing a smile. They looked incredibly warm and perfectly happy.
Maeve stood frozen, her face ghostly pale as she stared blankly at Frederick. She felt as though she had been plunged underwater; her vision blurred, and the sounds around her grew distant and muffled.
Even though she knew perfectly well that when it came to their interests and harmony, the Fairchilds would always act as a single, united entity.
But seeing them exclude her as if she were a total stranger still felt like a sharp blade had ruthlessly carved a piece straight out of her heart.
Just then, a hand suddenly landed on her shoulder, patting her lightly in reassurance.
She looked over and saw it was Jonathan.
Jonathan met her gaze, then withdrew his hand and stepped forward from behind her to stand right by her side. His tall frame shielded her, silently forming a protective barrier.
Maeve felt a slight wave of relief, and the harsh tension in her body eased considerably.
Jonathan looked at Frederick, maintaining a polite, faint smile.
“Mr. Fairchild, what a coincidence p>
Frederick didn’t reply. His gaze, laced with a bone-chilling hostility, swept over them instantly, landing squarely on the shoulder where Jonathan had just touched Maeve. His eyes were as sharp as daggers.
Jonathan’s expression remained entirely unchanged, meeting his glare with absolute calmness.
Yvette narrowed her eyes, surveying the crowd of Fairchilds.
She then locked her gaze onto Zoe, who was pressed tightly against Frederick’s side, and unceremoniously rolled her eyes hard before offering Arthur a blatantly fake smile.
“Mr. Fairchild, is this big group here for a family dinner p>
Arthur answered Yvette’s question dismissively.
“Zoe was discharged from the hospital, so we thought we’d have a meal to celebrate p>
Then he glanced sideways at Maeve, looking at her as if she were someone he barely knew.
Maeve bit her lip in deep humiliation.
Noticing this, Yvette immediately stepped in front of Maeve to block his view.
She mockingly covered her mouth in exaggerated surprise. “You need to celebrate a hospital discharge? Your family really goes all out for ceremonies. It’s just a little strange, though… why didn’t anyone inform our Maeve? If we hadn’t decided to grab dinner here we wouldn’t even know you guys were sneaking around having a celebratory family dinner p>
The moment those words left her mouth, Arthur and Lydia’s expressions noticeably tightened.
Whatever family drama they had, they could settle it privately behind closed doors.
Putting it on display out in the open was just plain ugly.
Lydia quickly stepped in to smooth things over, forcing an awkward smile as she waved at Maeve.
“Mae, I messaged you earlier this morning! Did you get too caught up hanging out with Yvette and forget to check your phone? It’s perfeet that we ran into you here Let s all go inside as a family p>
She hadn’t sent any message at all.
Maeve pushing Zoe and causing her to fall last time had left a significant knot in the family’s heart.
Arthur had explicitly ordered that they shouldn’t bring Maeve to the celebration, fearing her strong jealousy would cause her to start a fight with Zoe again.
Who would have expected Maeve to coincidentally show up to eat with the Giles siblings?
But it didn’t matter. Maeve had always been obedient and sensible, knowing perfectly well how to protect the family’s reputation in public.
She would definitely go along with her lie to defuse the awkwardness.
Maeve heard Lydia’s words and stared at the hypocritical mask she was parading in front of outsiders.