Chapter 191: Chapter 192: Henpecked Husband
Spoken words must shock to make an impact.
This must be describing Ian Preston now.
Out of nowhere, he suddenly... made it official???
To everyone, he and Thea Lynch just had a simple sibling-like relationship.
No one knew when they got together, and the protagonists skipped directly to discussing marriage.
How shocking!
When Thea Lynch returned, she felt the atmosphere was a bit off.
It was slightly more somber compared to before she left, but that wasn’t the main issue.
The crux of the matter was that some people were looking at her strangely.
Not openly, but with cautious sneaky glances, and when she noticed, they’d hurriedly look away, avoiding eye contact.
Very strange...
Thea Lynch didn’t know what happened, but her intuition told her that something significant occurred in the few minutes she was gone.
She wasn’t sure what everyone had discussed, but it seemed the topic was undoubtedly her.
She wasn’t very familiar with the people at this table; besides the teacher Gao and the groom, only one or two men seemed vaguely familiar.
Because they were in the high school basketball team and used to play basketball with Ian Preston and Silas Cheney.
So she had seen them before.
But only just seen them.
And even so, if they had something bad to say about her, they wouldn’t have said it in front of Ian Preston, right? Just sit there discussing her so brazenly?
These people weren’t that rude.
So, if her name was mentioned, it must have been Ian Preston who brought it up first.
Realizing this, Thea Lynch finally pieced the puzzle together and turned to look at the "culprit."
The latter was still drinking.
From her perspective, the man tilted his head slightly, revealing a sexy Adam’s apple that moved gently up and down as he swallowed. Just one glance made her feel a little criminal.
Thea Lynch pressed her lips together.
To speak a bit impolitely, she’d always had a bizarre and somewhat inappropriate desire...
She wanted to touch Ian Preston’s Adam’s apple.
And she still does.
In fact, if possible, she wanted to go further...
However, even just thinking about it made her feel it was somewhat inappropriate, let alone actually doing it.
She has the desire but not the courage.
Before Ian Preston could notice, she averted her gaze and took a sip from the glass in front of her to hide her embarrassment.
One sip in, she realized it was alcohol.
She had finished her juice before leaving, and the glass had been empty. Likely, someone had refilled it with alcohol when people were passing around drinks.
The taste wasn’t bad, so Thea Lynch tried it again.
Unable to resist, she drank it all in one go.
When she was about to have a second glass, a hand from the side pressed down on her hand just in time.
The man’s fingers landed silently on her fair wrist, gently squeezing the topmost sandalwood bead.
It was meant as a reminder.
Thea Lynch’s hand, reaching for the alcohol, froze midway, neither up nor down.
The server, detecting her intent, stepped forward to ask if she needed anything.
Ian Preston raised his chin slightly, "No need."
"Very well, sir." The server nodded lightly and prepared to step aside, not to disturb their meal.
Summoning some unknown courage, Thea Lynch glanced at the server and said, "Pour the wine."
"..." The server stopped his retreating movement.
He instinctively sought Ian Preston’s opinion, raising his head to glance at the man to the side.
"It’s useless to look at him; I’m the one drinking." Thea Lynch smiled, pushing the wineglass forward.
After a moment’s thought, the server nodded, "Alright."
He poured the wine while sneaking peeks at Ian Preston’s reaction. The latter’s expression remained unchanged, seemingly indifferent to the minor incident.
The server exhaled a subtle sigh of relief.
Thea Lynch just found it tasty and wanted to taste some more, not intending to get drunk.
She took her time with the second glass, sipping slowly until it was empty.
This kind of alcohol was nothing to her.
Ian Preston wasn’t stopping her because he feared she’d get drunk but because she had recently hurt her stomach, and drinking could cause discomfort now.
However, Thea Lynch knew her limits; this alcohol wasn’t strong and felt no different from juice to her.
But Ian Preston, who knows how much he had drunk, was already smelling of alcohol.
Seeing his glass nearly empty again, Thea Lynch leaned towards him, giving a reminder, "You should stop drinking."
"You keep lecturing me, yet you don’t pace yourself? Do you understand leading by example?"
She thought she was speaking softly enough that others shouldn’t hear.
But as Ian Preston set down his glass, people noticed and turned to look at her.
Because Ian Preston was drinking just fine, but now he stopped suddenly, and it was abrupt. With Thea Lynch just having spoken to him...
"..." Thea Lynch pressed her lips together, offering a sheepish smile.
"You guys have fun." Ian Preston gestured for them to enjoy their own company.
Everyone wore expressions of "I get it, I get it," laughing non-stop.
For some reason, Thea Lynch seemed to perceive the same meaning from their teasing smiles and winks, their expressions almost saying, "Henpecked husband, we understand."
Wait, understand what? Thea Lynch was startled by her thoughts.
She just went to the restroom, what nonsense had Ian Preston been spouting to them?
When the dinner finally ended.
Following Ian Preston outside to the car, the man held her hands like he was toying with some rare treasure, unwilling to let go. His thumb gently caressed the space between her thumb and index finger, lingering fondly.
It was clear Ian Preston was slightly tipsy.
He really drank a lot tonight; even if she eventually stopped him, he had already had a great time.
Usually, at their private gatherings, she rarely saw Ian Preston drink this happily.
Like at the welcome dinner when his second brother returned to the country, he hadn’t even smiled once.
Who knows what got into him today?
Thea Lynch tried to pull her hand away, but the man tightened his grip, enveloping her fingers in warm palms firmly.
He raised his head, looking at her, his movements slow, his dark eyes fixating on her with a smoldering gaze, as if strands of fire were pulling her in.
His gaze drew her in, blatantly seductive in the night’s cover.
Thea Lynch had a score to settle with him, so she averted her gaze, refusing to meet his eyes.
"When I went to the restroom earlier, what were you talking about with them?"
"Nothing much."
"Liar."
Upon hearing that, Ian Preston chuckled softly.
"The way they looked at me was off; what did you tell them?"
Ian Preston laughed and confessed:
"Teacher Gao got drunk and casually asked when you and I were getting married."
"...And then?" Thea Lynch looked at him.
"I said..." Gazing into her eyes, Ian Preston swallowed his original words and replaced them with: "Soon."
