306 Awkward breakfast
“Is everything okay?” Desmond asked when he saw her expression.
“I don’t think so.” She passed her phone over to him in disbelief. As expected, he was just as confused as she was. He kept his surprise to himself until they were done eating.
Evan couldn’t help wondering what they had found out that they didn’t want to tell them about. Even then, he knew he was not one of the people they trusted after the stunts he pulled, so he didn’t bother asking.
“Tell me when you get something.” He told her.
Zaria nodded. “Okay.”
He stood to leave, only for his path to be blocked by Rosaly. She looked up at him with bright, pleading eyes. “Evan, do you wanna make friendship bracelets with me?”
“I…uhm…” he thought of an excuse but facing her adorable gaze, he couldn’t bring himself to disappoint her. He took her tiny hand. “Okay, but you have to teach me.”
When they left hand in hand, Ximena was impressed. “Finally there is someone who can tame that wild horse.” Though she had to admit, it made sense that the person who managed to order him around was Rosaly. The little girl had everyone wrapped around her tiny pinky finger.
Desmond was smug. “What do you know? My daughter is a charmer, just like her dad.”
.....
Zaria rolled her eyes at her fiance’s self-absorbed statement and told Ximena the content of the text message. “I’m going to call Natalie.”
“I think the old geezers made their move faster than expected,” Ximena guessed, then she took out her phone. “I’ll call Zeus and have him get to work.”
“Thanks.” Zaria whispered to her and dialed Natalie’s number. As expected, she picked on the first ring as though she was expecting her. However, she didn’t want to talk.
“Hey, Zaria, can we meet up to talk tomorrow? Lunch at your workplace?”
She frowned. “Sure. Are you okay?”
“Totally. Nothing you should be worried about. I’m going to hang up now, Dev came over.”
She knew something was up and Natalie was not just ending the call fast because Devonte was around. Luckily, whatever it was, she would find out the following day.
_______
The following day.
Natalie and Devonte were yet to arrive at the Sparks’ mansion but she was already wishing they could get away from this. Was there any chance they could make up a last-minute excuse and manage to get away every time her parents asked to reschedule?
It didn’t take a genius to know that would never work. Not in a million years even if she tried. She could only face them. She had asked them if she could bring Devonte over this morning and hoped they would say no so she would have an excuse but on the contrary, they sounded thrilled to meet him. This was going to be a long day and it had only begun.
The maids didn’t look surprised to see her. Everyone must have been told she was coming, which explained why they were prepared to see her despite the heated argument she and her parents had before she left.
“Nat, you are here.” Ava stood from her seat and hugged her.
Pigs must be flying outside for her to make that much effort. Owen, on the other hand, was hell set on using his injuries as an excuse to not hug her, even though they all knew he was completely healed now.
She didn’t mind their lukewarm greeting but when Ava invited her to sit beside her, she realized they had not bothered to acknowledge Devonte.
“Mom, dad, this is Devonte. You already know him.” She brought attention to him despite knowing they would be displeased. As expected, they grunted listlessly and didn’t say a word. Not even a fake ‘nice to meet you’.
She sat down next to him and as breakfast was served, she held his hand under the table in reassurance. Well, as much reassurance as she could give when he was being treated with such hostility from her parents. She wished they didn’t come.
“So, Devonte, what do you plan to do for the rest of your life?” Owen asked, breaking the ice. Once again, they all knew he was not intending to break any ice. On the contrary, he was finding a chance to grill Devonte the whole time and make him feel bad about his career choice.
“Acting.” He gave a one word response that infuriated Owen even though he didn’t say it.
“I mean, after that. You do know acting is not a solid career, right?” Ava asked on behalf of her husband.
“If what you mean is that actors don’t earn enough money, you should check your facts.”
Natalie winced. She was relieved Devonte wasn’t taking their crap lying down but this was not going to end well. She cleared her throat and spoke up. “Actually, if you are half as popular as Devonte, you don’t need to worry about money.”
“Until you make one mistake in the industry and you have to pay fines worth much more than your net worth.” Ava snapped.
“That can happen to anyone, including an accomplished business woman like you, mother.” She smiled to ease her blow and immediately regretted her words. It would be best if breakfast ended without a fight.
She was relieved when their breakfast was served but only for a moment.
Owen once again took his place belittling Devonte. “You must know that Natalie is our only child and therefore the only heir to our estate if anything were to happen to us.”
Knowing what he was getting at, Devonte spoke up, enunciating every word clearly. “I do know that, Mr. Sparks. But I have no interest in your wealth. Natalie and I can build your own empire.”
“Everyone says that until they demand…”
“When we get married, I will sign a prenup stating that I will never be entitled to a single cent of your money.” He dropped the bombshell, then looked at them in confusion when they didn’t react. “Will that assure you?”
Ava nodded while Owen sighed. “Let’s just have our breakfast.”
…..
“I fucking love you!” Natalie nearly fistpumped when they finally left the Sparks mansion.
“You do? I ruined the mood at breakfast.” He was puzzled that she was not mad at him.
“To be fair, it could have gone much worse.” She placed a hand on his shoulder. But that was not why she was excited. He had said “when we get married”, not “if we get married”. He had neither proposed to her nor spoken about their marriage but his unconcious words made her realize that marriage was not an option for them. It was a certainty, despite there not being dates set in stone.
She pulled him in for a gentle kiss. What should have been chaste nearly got out of hand when he pulled her against his body and deepened the kiss.
“If you want to thank me, how about coming over tonight?”
“I can’t promise. I’m going to meet up with Zaria later and she might want to…” she realized she was not ready to explain that planning a surprise wedding might be what would have them staying up all night, so she broke it off. “You know what? I’ll be there tonight.”
Wedding planning could start the following day. She only hoped Zaria would be in the right frame of mind once she heard everything about Nathaniel’s plan.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢