Jean's sister was wearing an apron decorated with pink lace. The cute apron made Claire more feminine than her usual elegant and confident look.
Claire wiped her hands with her apron while smiling broadly, "Ah, you have arrived! Are you tired from the long journey? Sorry, I sent you all the way here. I'm cooking something, so will you guys wait a bit?" She said kindly.
It took them a long time to reach Claire's house since Lilia's hotel wasn't near the city's centre. In addition, they had already reached the Irwan family's house when Jean got the news that the dinner was canceled. The two of them were tired and hungry after spending a long time on the road.
Lilia immediately approached Claire, "Sister, please don't bother! After all, it's not that far from the Irwan Family's house." She said with a big smile
The model stopped in front of Claire and looked over at the kitchen over the woman's shoulder. She didn't know what Claire was cooking, but it smelled really tempting.
"Do you mind if I help you cook?" Lilia offered.
Claire looked at Lilia in surprise, "You can cook?"
A second later, Claire realized how rude the question was. She coughed with an embarrassed expression.
"I mean, I didn't know you could cook, Lilia." Claire corrected her sentence.
Lilia laughed and nodded, "I don't really know how to cook, but I can make all of Jean's favorite food!" She said proudly.
Claire was stunned for a moment, then she laughed out loud at that. Satisfied with laughter, she wagged her finger at Jean with her eyes glistening mischievously, "Tsk tsk, I don't know what kind of kindness my brother did so that he deserves a woman like you!" She teased.
Lilia's cheeks flushed at Claire's jokes. She took the older woman's hand and pulled her toward the kitchen, "S-Sis Claire, let's start cooking! What can I do for you in the kitchen?" Lilia asked, impatient to get out of this room.
Jean watched Lilia and Claire's closeness with a gentle gaze. The corner of his mouth lifted into a faint smile. The man was relieved that Lilia had finally returned to her normal self.
Claire caught Jean's gentle gaze and frowned. The presence of her brother here interfered with her time with Lilia! Claire waved her hand at Jean as she said, "Jean, your brother-in-law is in the second floor's study. How about you just go up and keep him company? I will call you as soon as dinner is ready."
Jean knew that his sister wanted to spend quality time with her sister-in-law. The man felt a little jealous, but he could never go against his sister. So he just nodded and said, "...Alright."
The man went upstairs while Lilia followed Claire into the kitchen. Mike was left alone in the living room, but the young man was too immersed in his game to care.
*****
Lilia was chopping various kinds of vegetables while stealing glances at Claire. The older woman was seasoning the grilled fish while humming happily.
"Sister Claire, what happened to Leila? Is her illness life-threatening?" Lilia asked curiously.
As far as she could tell, Leila wasn't the weak type to get sick easily. When they met at what time of day, the young woman looked healthy and in good shape. Maybe the Irwan family meant to say that there was a sudden urgent situation in their family.
Hearing that, Claire turned the surface of her fish and glanced at Lilia, "The butler of the Irwan family told me that Leila's asthma suddenly relapsed." Claire explained, "He didn't explain in more detail, but it sounds like Leila's condition is quite serious. They even called an ambulance to take her to the hospital."
Lilia nodded. Sudden asthma attacks were dangerous and can lead to death. No wonder the Irwan family called an ambulance.
Claire put the fish she had seasoned into a plate, "I used to like Leila very much. Even though she is young, she is a smart and responsible kid."
While telling the story, Claire finished arranging her fish beautifully. Then she moved to the sink to wash her hands.
"But after the incident in Surabaya yesterday, my view of Leila changed quite drastically." Claire continued, "How could a grown woman like her only cry by the side of the road when she got lost? I don't know if Leila is overprotected by her family or doesn't have any common sense!"
Lilia was silent and listened to Claire's long story. In fact, she also had complex feelings for Leila. Lilia had a feeling that the Leila figure she had met so far was not her real 'face'.
"Ah, forget it. It's not good to talk about other people like this." Claire said as if reprimanding herself.
But the woman still looked like she was thinking about something. Claire took a deep breath and shook her head.
"Come to think of it, I think Mike's attitude by staying away from Leila has a point. If the two of them really get married later and Mike continues to be as cold towards Leila as they are today, the Irwan family won't stay silent!" Claire said seriously.
"Sister Claire, maybe you are overthinking this." Lilia tried to calm her down, "The Irwan family and the Austin family have been friends for a long time. I'm sure they won't fight over something silly."
Claire shook her head, "Lilia, you can say that because you don't know how much Grandpa Simon loves his granddaughter! He won't let anyone hurt Leila's heart!"
Lilia suddenly fell silent. Every time she heard about how much Leila was loved by everyone, the feelings of inferiority in her heart grew even more. She began to doubt herself and wonder if there was something wrong with her. If there was no Jean by her side, Lilia might get blinded by her jealousy and do something she'd regret later to Leila.
"Anyway, I'm going to talk about their engagement with Andrew." Claire continued without noticing Lilia's mood swings, "I'm sure he too ..."
"Sister Claire, wait a moment."
The two women turned to the source of the voice. Nobody knew since when Mike had been standing in the doorway playing with his cell phone.
"Please don't carelessly decide my future without asking my opinion. I'll have to marry that woman later, so you can't ignore my wishes." Mike protested.
Claire sighed once again, "Fine, fine, I understand. Now that you're here, why don't you help out with the cooking in the kitchen?" She replied with a wicked smile.
*****
An hour later, the dining table at the house was filled with delicious, mouth-watering dishes.
But Lilia stared at the food with a frown. She wanted to help cook, but Claire wouldn't let her go near the stove. Jean's sister was worried that the splash of oil could damage Lilia's white skin. In the end, she only helped wash and chop the vegetables.
While in the kitchen earlier, Claire casted an apologetic gaze at Lilia, "I know you want to fry Jean's favorite dish, but I'll do it. I don't want you to risk your career for my little brother!"
Hearing that, Lilia could only give in to Claire's wish.
Meanwhile, Mike went upstairs to call Jean and Andrew down. The two of them were still busy discussing while walking into the dining room, but as soon as they entered the room, they immediately went over to their respective wives.
The five of them sat around a dining table and started having dinner.
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