Chapter 29
Sergio suddenly felt strangely uneasy at the sight of his lone hand.
After a long time, Maeve finally asked, "What are you doing here?""
"You knew that you would get bullied if you came alone. Why did you do it anyway?" Marve paused. "I asked you to come.This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.
Sergio pressed his lips into a line. "It's Clara's birthday today. I still need to stop by."
"Clara's birthday?" Maeve was taken aback. "Then what are you doing here?"
Sergio always placed Clara on a pedestal above everyone else.
He couldn't help but frown at Maeve's tone of disbelief. "This family gathering is important to maintaining the relationship between the Scott family and the Brooks family. I know my priorities."
"Liar," Maeve mumbled.
Sergio didn't hear her clearly. "What did you say?"
Maeve fell silent. She remembered how Sergio knew about the family gathering in her last life too, but he didn't show up then even though he knew she would get pestered and jabbed by Sharon and other unreasonable relatives. He hadn't even bothered to give her an excuse back then.
"I said, is it okay for you not to spend Clara's birthday with her? It's such an important day,"
"I don't need you to remind me about that." Sergio's tone softened when he spoke about Clara. "She's an orphan, so she grew up being reasonable and obedient. Once she heard about the Scott family gathering, she called me and told me to deal with this first. I also told her that I'd go spend her birthday with her once this was over."
Sergio only realized how inappropriate his words were after they left his mouth.
Maeve felt her eyes sting with tears as she scoffed at herself Inwardly.
So Clara was an orphan. What about Marve?
No matter what, Sergio would always have different standards for her and Clara.
"Whatever, I'm going home." She turned around and opened her car door,
Perhaps because he knew he had hurt her feelings, Sergio reached out and held onto Maeve's hand. In a low voice, he said, "Clara overthinks easily. I've been spending her birthdays with her as a family for the past few years. If 1 stop showing up this year after getting married, she's going to overthink."
Sergio seemed to put special emphasis on the word "family".
Maeve swung his hand away. "That has nothing to do with me. Go spend time with her. She's been alone since she was a kid, so she probably misses you even more on an important day like her birthday." Sergio thought Maeve would have been angry, but when he heard her genuinely wanting him to go meet Clara, he couldn't help but feel a heavy feeling in
his chest.
Once Maeve left, Larry could tell that Sergio wasn't in the best mood. He was forced to remind his boss, "Mr. Brooks, Ms. Stewart is still waiting for you at the hotel." "Okay."
In the hotel, Clara was admiring the backdrop she had set up as well as the candlelit dinner laid out on the table. She couldn't help but feel happy.
She purposely turned the lights down just a bit so that the house was lit dimly and romantically. It made the atmosphere much more romantic than usual. She also purposely dressed more sexily and maturely than she usually did.
After seeing Marve in that seductive, long dress that showed off her figure perfectly back then, Clara had realized the difference between them.
Sergio always treated her like a little girl, and he rarely ever saw her as a woman.
She had to grab the opportunity that night to show him her true feelings Suddenly, the room door opened, and Clara felt her heart beating faster.