25 Lucy

'So that was what she wanted!' Lina facepalmed internally. 

'Good job Uncle Pat, don't give her a positive answer!' She cheered him on. 

The rest of the dinner was spent in complete silence. 

After an uneventful dinner which Lina was disappointed in, they all got up from the dinner table.

'Where's the angry tantrums? The accusations ?  The drama that my novels promised me? Oh novel gods, are you seeing this injustice being done to me?' She looked up at the ceiling trying to find the novel gods.

'I thought that Lucille would surely make a scene or at least scold Mandy, but that did not happen.' She turned to find Lucille and saw her walking with her brows scrunched up.

She was so deep in her thoughts that she did not see the couch right in front of her. 

"Aunt, stop!"  Lina tried calling out to her.

Hearing Lina's voice everyone turned to Lucille and saw that she was about to fall face first, onto the couch.

Right at that moment, Patrick, who was closest to her, pulled her into his arms.

*Swoosh*

Lucille who was waiting to feel the pain was surrounded by strong and muscular arms.

Looking up, she saw Patrick's face at a close distance.

Patrick released her after making sure that she could stand properly. He then continued walking forward like nothing had happened.

'Did he just save me?' Lucille's heartbeat quickened.

'Though that fall wouldn't hurt me physically, it would surely hurt my dignity and he saved me from my humiliating fall.' She recalled what had just happened and smiled facing his back.

'And those muscles were so yum!' She blushed.

After Patrick had helped Lucille, no one paid attention to her and continued walking. Therefore, no one noticed her beet red face.  

--

Patrick, who had taken a seat on the couch, was approached by Wade. He sat next to Patrick and tried to form his sentence in a proper way.

Wade was about to speak but he stopped, looking at everyone staring at him. Only then did he remember that the two outsiders were there as well.

He turned to Patrick and said in a low voice.

"Uncle Pat, I would like to discuss something with you. Please let me know when you are free." He blurted out, looking at his neon green fuzzy slippers the entire time.

Both Lina and Patrick let out a laugh looking at his cute behaviour, while Mandy was confused and Lucille was lost in her dreams.

"Hmm.. You can come up to my study after we have tea." He spoke after controlling his laughter.

Right on cue, Mrs. Ping brought out a cup of tea for Patrick that he had after dinner every night.

"Master, tea."  She passed the cup to him and then turned to Lucille.

"Mrs. Rong, would you also like to have some tea?" She questioned.

Waking up from her sweet thoughts, her mood soured when she heard Mrs. Ping calling her 'Mrs. Rong' rather than Madam.

"No, I would not. I don't have tea when I have wine." She spoke, reminding Mrs. Ping of the expensive wine they had with dinner that she had ordered the Butler to get.

'I will make you call me Madam, you old hag!' Though her thoughts were filled with anger, her smile never showed it.

'Ohhh!! Drama!!' Lina's white lotus spidey senses tingled.

"As you wish, Mrs. Rong." Mrs. Ping replied.

'Good one, Mrs. Ping.' Lina was praising her, when she turned to Wade.

"Young master, I did not serve you tea because I thought you would like to have some cocoa that I just prepared." She gave him a 'I know you want it.' look.

Like a puppy being shown his favorite toy, Wade's imaginary tail started wagging.

"Really!? I missed those Mrs. Ping. Thank you so much!!" He got up and hugged her tight.

She patted his back just like a grandmother would and turned to Lina with a loving smile.

"I did not forget about you, Miss." 

Immediately, Lina too smiled thinking of that thick chocolate drink that would reach straight to her soul. She nodded thankfully.

Mandy felt that she was being excluded once again and looked at her mother to speak up for her, but she just turned her  head away from Mandy.

Frustrated, Mandy just bit her lip and sat quietly.

Observing all her movements, Patrick spoke to Mrs. Ping.

"Mrs. Ping, send one glass to Mandy's room as well. She would like to try some as well, right ?" He asked Mandy.

She looked up at her father in surprise and gave a wide smile, nodding her head in agreement.

Mrs. Ping was once again stunned at Patrick's strange behaviour and looked at Lina with a question mark on her face. 

She nodded her head and walked to the kitchen when she saw Lina signalling her to just follow the orders.

When she walked away, Wade spoke to Mandy.

"You will fall in love with Mrs. Ping's cocoa. I won't describe it to you now, you can try it for yourself and let me know about it at breakfast tomorrow." He smiled.

"Totally! But be careful, I once saw her preparing them. She puts a slab of butter into the drink. I put on so much weight one summer thanks to her cocoa!" Lina spoke, showing how much her tummy size had increased when she was a kid.

All three children laughed looking at Lina's animated gestures about her flab.

Mandy felt a tiny warmth in her heart when she saw that these two cousins of hers were trying to include her in something  that they did.

'Mom told me that Lina was a bad person who will take away my position in the family. But they are being so nice to me now. Is this real or just an act?' Though she was happy and laughing, the seed of doubt that Lucille had sowed in her heart had sprouted.

By the time that they stopped laughing, Patrick had finished his tea.

"Ok, let's go." He said to Wade and stood up.

"Don't stay up too late." He spoke to Mandy this time and finally offering his hand to Lina, the three walked up the stairs.

When they reached the second floor, Lina went towards her room as she did not want to disturb them when they spoke heart-to-heart.

The two men went up to Patrick's study on the next floor after wishing Lina goodnight.

----

Back in her bedroom in the Exterior block, Lucille thought of Patrick's behavioural  changes.

'I don't know what has happened today, but Patrick sure seems to be in a good mood. First he  spoke to me then even invited me to dinner and made me sit next to him. He even saved me from falling and stood up for Mandy when that old hag excluded her.' She recalled his actions and thought deeply.

'He never even looked at me for more than a few seconds all these days. Why the sudden change?' She paced around the room.

She was woken from her daze when she heard a phone ringing. 

She looked at her phone on the dresser which was not lighting up. 

'Where is the ringing coming from?' She looked around and ran to the bathroom when she realized that the noise was coming from there.

She skillfully removed a tile from the corner of the bathroom and the ringing phone was visible.

She shivered looking at the private number that wasn't shown on the screen and after wiping her sweaty palms, she picked it up.

Just as she was about to answer it, the screen went blank.

The call was cut off. Lucille heaved a sigh of relief and bent to put the phone back in  its place but it rang once again.

Lucille, who was startled, fell on her butt and looked at the blinking screen.

Taking a deep breath, she answered.

"He-Hello?" Her voice was shaky.

"If you don't answer my call the next time.. Well, there will be no next time. Right Lucy?" Spoke a menacingly cold voice.

Lucille nodded her head like a chicken. 

"Y-Yes, I-I Understand-d, Mr.." But before she could stutter the complete sentence out, she was interrupted.

"Are you worthy to call me by my name?" He asked with a sickeningly sweet voice which was opposite to the mean words that he spoke.

'What a bipolar man!'

By now, Lucille had regained her composure. 

"No, Sir." She answered him.

"How's the work that you were supposed to do?" He asked.

"He seems to be accepting us, Sir." She answered hesitantly.

"Hmm.. Do well and you will be rewarded." 

The screen went blank once again.

Lucille sat on the cold tiled floor, clutching the phone in her hand till her knuckles turned white.