Chapter 46
The Vance estate had a separate dining room for entertaining guests, centered around a round table large enough for ten.
Mrs. Vance took the main seat. She had originally tried to give it to Nathan, but he'd declined, so Nathan and Mr. Vance sat on either side of her instead.
Lawrence dropped into the seat beside his father without giving it much thought. One look from his mother made him realize he'd apparently chosen wrong.
He was about to move when Nathan said, "We're family. It doesn't matter where anyone sits."
Lawrence stayed where he was, and Emma took the seat beside him.
Isabelle should probably have left after everything that had happened in the living room, but she didn't. When she noticed the empty chair beside Nathan, she walked over with a smile.
"Mr. Grant, do you mind if I sit here?"
Nathan glanced at her. "Of course not."
That was all he said, but Isabelle's heartbeat still picked up as she sat down.
There was something unnerving about a man who could be perfectly polite without losing any of his authority. Nathan didn't need Lawrence's cold expression or Adrian's arrogance to make people conscious of him. He simply sat there, calm and composed, and somehow that was worse.
For the first time in a long while, Isabelle found herself nervous around a man.
"Let me pour you some tea."
She reached for the pot, trying to look casual despite the slight tremor in her hand.
From across the round table, Emma had an excellent view. She kept her expression neutral, but internally, she was delighted.
Oh, Isabelle was making a move.
And right in front of Lawrence too.
Emma understood immediately. This had to be another round in whatever complicated game Lawrence and Isabelle had been playing for years. Isabelle was obviously trying to get a reaction out of him.
These two really did love making things difficult for themselves.
Mrs. Vance watched Isabelle reach for the teapot and frowned. "Leave that to the house staff."
Isabelle's hand stopped in midair.
For one painful second, she seemed unsure whether putting the pot down would be more embarrassing than continuing.
Nathan spared her the decision. He took it from her with an easy smile. "It's fine. I'll do it myself."
Lawrence was less diplomatic.
"What are you doing?"
Trying that hard to please Nathan was unnecessary. His relative had dealt with enough people like that over the years, which was one reason he rarely bothered with social dinners unless he actually wanted to be there.
Nathan being mild-mannered didn't mean he had no temper. If Isabelle annoyed him enough that he stopped coming to the Vance house for dinner, Lawrence's mother would somehow find a way to make that his problem.
Emma had been happily watching the drama until a platter of garlic-butter shrimp was placed on the table.
Her priorities changed immediately.
When were they eating?
Mrs. Vance's patience finally ran out. "If you're going to keep doing this, you can leave."
Isabelle immediately stopped.
She should have known better than to try anything in front of Mrs. Vance.
Mr. Vance stepped in before the atmosphere could get worse. "The food's here. Let's eat."
Emma decided Mr. Vance was a wonderful man.
Dinner was considerably quieter after that. Mrs. Vance and Nathan talked about family matters while Lawrence and his father occasionally joined in, but no one went into much detail with two guests at the table.
Emma, meanwhile, ate.
Normally, she barely touched her food around Lawrence. The devoted replacement was supposed to be elegant, delicate, and far too busy gazing lovingly at him to demolish dinner.
But Isabelle herself was sitting right there tonight, and Emma's contract with Lawrence had officially ended upstairs.
Why waste perfectly good food?
If anything, eating normally only made Isabelle look more refined by comparison.
Emma considered that a public service.
"Bring another order of the garlic-butter shrimp."
The request came from across the table.
Emma looked up and found Nathan speaking to one of the household staff.
Only then did she notice the platter. At some point during dinner, it had migrated directly in front of her.
It was also empty.
Emma stared at it.
She was reasonably sure she'd eaten most of it.
Everyone else's attention followed Nathan's to the empty plate, then naturally moved to Emma.
She smiled. "The shrimp are really good. I recommend them."
Nobody said anything for a moment.
Lawrence hadn't been paying much attention to how much she was eating, but now that he looked, he seemed genuinely surprised.
"You have a good appetite tonight."
She normally ate almost nothing around him.
She was probably in a good mood.
Understandable. She was his real girlfriend now.
Still, something about tonight felt slightly off. He couldn't quite put his finger on it.
His gaze shifted toward Nathan. His cousin had always been courteous, but tonight, for some reason, Lawrence found himself noticing it.
Across the table, Isabelle tightened her grip on her fork.
She had tried to pour Nathan one cup of tea and been shut down immediately. Emma had done absolutely nothing, yet Nathan had noticed the empty platter in front of her and ordered another one.
What exactly did Emma have that she didn't?
The second plate of garlic-butter shrimp arrived.
Emma, unaware of the various interpretations happening around her, happily kept eating.
After dinner, Mrs. Vance went through the ceremonial birthday-cake routine, which gave Emma another opportunity to eat. Nathan later accompanied Mrs. Vance upstairs to talk privately in the study, while Emma stayed downstairs with Lawrence, Isabelle, and Mr. Vance.
Surprisingly, the rest of the evening was peaceful.
Nathan didn't stay much longer.
When he came downstairs to leave, everyone went out to see him off. Emma naturally followed with the others.
Nathan's executive assistant was waiting in the driver's seat. The moment he spotted Emma among the Vance family's guests, his eyes widened.
He said nothing.
Nathan got into the car, and a few moments later it pulled away.
Isabelle left almost immediately afterward.
Lawrence barely noticed. He turned to Emma. "I'll take you home."
Emma said goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Vance and followed him to the car.
For most of the drive, they were alone in the quiet cabin.
Lawrence found himself strangely tense. There were things he wanted to say, but every opening line sounded wrong in his head.
This had never happened to him before.
He'd already ended the contract. The next part should have been simple.
Somehow, it wasn't.
By the time he'd decided where to begin, they'd already reached Emma's apartment building.
Emma got out and, as usual, stood beside the car to say goodbye.
Lawrence got out too.
He retrieved the shopping bags from earlier and handed them to her, his gaze lingering on her face.
"Aren't you going to invite me up?"
Emma took the bags and blinked. "Huh? Probably not. My place is tiny, and it's really nothing special."
Lawrence reached toward her hand.
Emma lifted hers first and gave him a cheerful wave.
"Bye."
Then she turned around and walked away without the slightest hesitation.
Lawrence's hand stopped in midair.
He slowly lowered it, watching her disappear toward the building. His fingers rubbed together absently.
Was she embarrassed?
She'd specifically mentioned how small her apartment was.
Maybe she didn't want him seeing it because she was hoping to move into his place eventually.
Lawrence considered the idea.
That wouldn't be a problem.
Emma, completely unaware that she'd just acquired an imaginary moving plan, was in an excellent mood.
She hummed quietly as she walked, then pulled out her phone to check whether Client L had sent the hotel address for tonight.
Nothing yet.
She was still looking at the screen when a man stepped into her path.
Emma stopped.
"Miss Carter."
She looked up.
The man gestured toward a car parked nearby.
"Mr. Grant would like you to get in."