Chapter 122: Chapter 122: Biological Father’s Family

"Honey, you’re scaring me. Did he actually drive you insane?" Wyatt Shaw cupped Yvonne Sutton’s face, his heart skipping a beat when he saw she was actually laughing.

Yvonne Sutton playfully swatted his hands away, still unable to hold back her laughter.

"That tongue-lashing you just gave him was priceless. I was watching his expression—it went from red to dark, then deathly pale. He was so angry his lips were trembling."

Seeing that Yvonne Sutton was genuinely laughing, Wyatt Shaw finally relaxed.

"That? That was nothing. I wasn’t even using a tenth of my skills."

"So, you’re an expert at telling people off."

"I’m an expert at a lot of things, especially what I can do in the bedroom. How about tonight we...?"

He was deliberately being cheeky to tease her, but Yvonne Sutton was so touched that she stood on her tiptoes and gave him a kiss.

Wyatt Shaw grinned mischievously. "Well, you’re the one who started it."

"I just gave you a little kiss. Don’t go all beast mode on me."

"Too late."

Wyatt Shaw swept her into his arms, ducked into the small woods behind them, and pinned her against a tree. Then he kissed her fervently, his hands already starting to roam.

By the time they returned to the stall, Yvonne’s mother, Mindy Lynch, was already gone.

"You’re really not sad?" Wyatt Shaw was still worried about Yvonne Sutton.

Yvonne Sutton shook her head. "In my heart, he was already dead. He may have played zombie for a moment, but dead is dead. I’m not going to waste any energy on him. I’ll get angry on my mom’s behalf, but honestly, she’s moved on too. Any emotion I show toward him would be a sign of disrespect to my mom."

"We can leave tomorrow," Wyatt Shaw said.

"Why should we change our plans because of them? I actually quite like this town. I’d like to stay a few more days."

Most of Zoe Churchill’s knitted crafts had sold; only a few were left.

"And to think Zoe Churchill said these things wouldn’t sell well. I think they’re selling great," Wyatt Shaw commented.

Yvonne Sutton laughed. "That’s because there’s a bonus service."

"What bonus service?"

"For example, getting to admire a handsome man up close, and even talk to him."

Wyatt Shaw waggled his eyebrows at her. "See how lucky you are? For them, it’s ’look but don’t touch.’ But you? You get the whole meal, and I’m all yours."

Yvonne Sutton gave Wyatt Shaw a push. "Stay away from me. I’m already stuffed."

The two of them joked around while manning the stall. When closing time neared, there were still two items left, so Wyatt Shaw started calling out to the crowd. He shouted about last-chance deals, buy-one-get-one-free offers, and how if you missed it tonight, you’d never get another chance.

Probably because no one had ever seen someone so handsome and distinguished hawking wares, a small crowd gathered, and the last two items sold out in no time.

"Closing up shop! Time to go home!"

When Yvonne Sutton came downstairs the next morning, she saw several girls aiming their phones at the kitchen, periodically covering their mouths to let out excited squeals.

The girls had arrived yesterday; they were high school seniors on their spring holiday break.

Yvonne Sutton walked closer and found Wyatt Shaw in the kitchen, cooking. He was wearing jeans and a black jacket, chopping vegetables while also tending to something simmering on the stove.

"Wow, he even looks cool when he’s cooking."

"Goes to show, good-looking people look good doing anything."

"I wonder if he has a girlfriend. I’d love to see what kind of woman could ever match up to him."

The corner of Yvonne Sutton’s mouth twitched. She purposefully stepped into their line of sight and sat down at the dining table just outside the kitchen.

When Wyatt Shaw saw her, he gave her a playful wink, then brought out two bowls of beef noodle soup.

He set one bowl in front of her, then went back for chopsticks and a spoon. He placed the spoon in her bowl, handed her the chopsticks, then bent down and gently kissed her forehead.

"He has a girlfriend! And his girlfriend is gorgeous, too!"

"This is like a scene straight out of a painting!"

"I want a boyfriend like that too! One who’s handsome, cool, knows how to cook, and gives his girlfriend a good-morning kiss!"

Their chatter started to annoy Wyatt Shaw. "The inn’s dining room serves breakfast. If you don’t hurry, you’ll miss it."

One of the girls worked up her courage and asked, "Can we have some of the beef noodle soup you made?"

Wyatt Shaw was momentarily speechless. "I’m not the chef here. What do you think?" 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"We can pay!"

"This bowl of noodles costs a hundred million."

"That’s an outrageous price."

"That’s my fixed price."

"So, does she pay it?"

"Yep. Every time. One hundred million."

"We don’t believe you!"

Wyatt Shaw decided to tease the students, so he told Yvonne Sutton to call him "Hubby."

Yvonne Sutton decided the beef noodle soup was delicious enough to be worth the price, so she obliged him and called out, "Hubby."

"There you go. One ’Hubby’ for a hundred million."

The young girls went crazy over how sweet they were, snapping picture after picture. CLICK, CLICK, CLICK.

Wyatt Shaw’s expression darkened. "Go on, shoo! Go eat breakfast!"

After breakfast, the two of them went over the inn’s accounts before heading to the market for supplies. Once they returned, Yvonne Sutton wanted to go down to the river, so Wyatt Shaw gave her a ride on his bicycle.

With green mountains rising like a painted screen, they moved as if through a living scroll, savoring the gentle breeze and losing themselves in the beautiful scenery.

The river surged as they walked hand-in-hand along its bank, covering a long distance before crossing a stone bridge to walk back along the opposite side.

It was not yet noon when they returned to the inn. Time itself seemed to slow down here.

Wyatt Shaw went to the second floor to fix a window, and Yvonne Sutton took the trash out. She had just placed the bag in the bin when she heard someone call her name. Turning around, she saw Sandra Sutton.

It wasn’t just Sandra Sutton; her younger brother, Hugh Sutton, and an elderly woman with graying hair were with her. Yvonne Sutton started when she saw the old woman.

"Miss Sutton, I thought you’d already gone back to Aethelgard," Sandra Sutton said, looking delighted to see her.

Yvonne Sutton gave her a slight nod, not particularly wanting to talk to anyone from the Sutton family.

"Oh, by the way, my grandma brought a bunch of green rice dumplings she made. They’re delicious! Here, have some." Sandra Sutton held out a small bag of them to Yvonne Sutton.

’Grandma?’

Yvonne Sutton looked at the old woman, who was watching her in return, having apparently figured something out. ’How ridiculous,’ she thought. ’So my father’s alive, my grandmother’s alive... maybe there are uncles and aunts, too.’

"No, thank you, I..."

Before Yvonne Sutton could finish her refusal, Hugh Sutton snatched the bag from Sandra’s hand.

"A homewrecker doesn’t deserve to eat my grandma’s cooking!"

"Hugh, are you out of your mind? Wendy Winters is the homewrecker! She was all over Miss Sutton’s ex-boyfriend and kept hurting Miss Sutton."

"Whatever! She’s a bad person and a homewrecker! She got our Julia blacklisted! We fans will never forgive her."

Yvonne Sutton’s face hardened. "Hugh, you might not understand what a ’homewrecker’ is, but your parents know perfectly well. Why don’t you go home and ask them?"

With that, Yvonne Sutton turned and walked back toward the inn.

"Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?"

Watching Yvonne Sutton’s angry retreat, Sandra Sutton kicked her brother, Hugh.

In the afternoon, Yvonne Sutton lay on a lounge chair, reading. After a while, she grew drowsy, so she placed the book over her face and dozed off.

She was a light sleeper and woke at the sound of footsteps. She moved the book from her face and looked toward the doorway to see Sandra Sutton’s grandmother storming in, her face livid with rage.

"This is your inn? Of all the places to open an inn, you had to pick this town? How can you and your mother be so vicious? Your mom drove my son out of Aethelgard, and now you, instead of staying put in Aethelgard where you belong, have to come here and ruin his life! Can’t the two of you just leave him alone?"