Chapter 66: Chapter 66: Fireside Seats to the Drama

’How childish,’ Yvonne Sutton thought as she read the message from Lazy Cat.

Yvonne Sutton: How old are you?

Lazy Cat: Twenty. Pretty young, right? Definitely younger than you, sis.

Yvonne Sutton: You’re still in college at twenty, aren’t you?

Lazy Cat: I’m a sophomore.

Yvonne Sutton: Let me offer you a piece of advice as an older woman: don’t give up your education and your future for a man. More often than not, you won’t find a man who is worth giving up everything for.

Lazy Cat: Wow, so preachy.

Yvonne Sutton: You’d do well to listen to what an adult is telling you and think it over carefully.

Lazy Cat: You think you’re so great, sis? That you can’t make mistakes?

Yvonne Sutton: I don’t think I’m great, nor do I think I’ll never make another mistake. But no matter what mistake I make, I can afford the consequences.

Lazy Cat: Since you can afford the consequences, then you should come to Mercy Hospital tomorrow. You can see how your husband dotes on his little mistress during her prenatal checkup. Tsk tsk, Wyatt is just so gentle.

Yvonne ignored Lazy Cat and instead replied to Wyatt Shaw: Okay, I understand.

That evening, Yvonne invited Claire Lawrence and Mina Adler over for a barbecue. She had prepared the ingredients early, but the two busy bees didn’t show up until it was dark.

Mina Adler let out a long sigh. "Good thing I ran fast, or the head nurse would’ve caught me and made me work overtime."

Claire Lawrence sighed as well. "My agent wanted me to go to a networking dinner. The thing is, the dinner was to help another newcomer at the company get connections. I was just supposed to go and get hammered on their behalf. I put my foot down for once and bailed on her."

Yvonne handed each of them a can of beer. "Tonight is for relaxing. No shop talk."

Mina took a sip and practically jumped for joy. "Right, no shop talk. But I’m starving."

"My lamb skewers are almost ready. Come on, sit down."

The three of them sat around the grill, chatting about recent events, both happy and sad.

The evening wasn’t cold, and it was even cozier by the grill. The night sky was full of twinkling stars, with a bright moon hanging high above. The sound of their laughter, mingled with the smoky aroma, drifted into the air. They didn’t have to worry about disturbing the neighbors, as each villa was set far apart—except for the one directly across.

Just as their conversation was getting lively, a loud CLANG came from across the way. All three of them turned to look. They saw Wendy Winters storming out with a suitcase, her face livid as she marched toward the gate.

Vincent Reed chased after her, trying to grab her arm.

"I already gave you the money. What are you still so angry about?"

Wendy Winters yelled, "Do you think I care about your pathetic money? It’s your attitude!"

Vincent Reed ran a hand through his hair. "What about my attitude?"

"You had such a dark look on your face when you gave me the money, like I was forcing you! It’s only ten million! If you, Vincent Reed, had any real talent, you wouldn’t be fussing over such a small amount!"

"That’s enough! I gave you the money, you took it. The matter is closed!" Vincent Reed said, his anger rising.

"So you were reluctant!"

"You’re paying off Stanley Lynch’s debt, for fuck’s sake! How could I be happy about it?"

That one sentence left Wendy Winters momentarily stunned into silence.

Across the way, Yvonne and her friends exchanged a glance, then silently lowered their heads and started eating their skewers.

Claire Lawrence tried to hold it in, but a laugh escaped. Mina Adler also tried and failed to stifle a chuckle.

"Damn, this is explosive," Claire said excitedly.

"I want to livestream this for them," Mina added, just as excited.

"Let’s get them trending!"

"Let the whole country watch the drama!"

Yvonne handed them each a grilled cob of corn, silently urging them to calm down.

Over there, after her initial shock, Wendy Winters’s expression immediately shifted to that of someone hurt and wrongly accused. "Vincent Reed, you’ve gone too far! I was ready to try and make things work with you, but you suspect me! Fine, let’s get a divorce, but this is your fault, not mine!"

After saying her piece, Wendy furiously dragged her suitcase and walked away.

Once outside the courtyard gate, she glanced in their direction, saw Yvonne and the others watching her, shot them a glare, and then left.

Vincent Reed didn’t chase after her. Instead, he kicked the steps in frustration, then he too looked their way.

Claire Lawrence raised her beer. "Mr. Reed, care to join us for a drink?"

Vincent Reed’s brow furrowed. He ignored her and turned to go back inside.

"Wow, the drama between those two just keeps getting better and better," Claire tsked. "Is there a screenwriter in the house? Someone should write a script just for them. It’d be a guaranteed hit."

Mina shook her head. "The two of them are only fit to be villainous side characters."

Claire wrapped an arm around Mina. "You’re so right. Well said."

Mina clinked her beer bottle against Claire’s. "Hey, by the way, that new show you said you wanted to audition for—who’s the male lead?"

"Felix Yates."

"Wow, really? He’s my idol!"

"If my audition is successful and I get on set, I’ll get you his autograph."

"Claire, you’re the best!" Mina exclaimed, hugging Claire.

Yvonne thought of Jean Bell and felt a strange sense of worry. "Do you know when the audition is?"

"The day after tomorrow."

"Let me know how it goes."

Claire nodded. "Don’t worry, I’m definitely going to pass the audition."

The two of them slept over at her place that night and rushed off to their respective jobs early the next morning.

Yvonne also got up early and went to the Rhodes family’s old residence, catching Mr. Rhodes just as he was trying to escape to the office.

"Dad, you’re not scared, are you?" Yvonne asked with a raised eyebrow.

Mr. Rhodes gave a dry cough, puffed out his chest, and adopted an air of elderly authority. "Nonsense! Why would I be scared!"

"Well, if you’re not scared, let’s get going." 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

"I was just..."

"So you are scared?"

"Of course not! Let’s go for that checkup right now!" With that, Mr. Rhodes strode to the car and got in first.

Yvonne waved to Daisy Shaw. "You can wait for us at home, then."

Daisy Shaw covered her mouth with her hand as she laughed. "You’re the only one who knows how to handle him."

The checkup was done at a specialized health center. Since they had an appointment, it was finished quickly. The results that were available on the spot were all good. His blood pressure was a bit high, and his weight was putting some strain on his body, so it would be best for him to lose some.

All in all, the results were good. As they walked out of the health center, Mr. Rhodes let out a huge sigh of relief.

"I feel like I’ve been born again."

Yvonne found it amusing. "You’ve just been scaring yourself this whole time, haven’t you?"

Mr. Rhodes nodded. "They all say that at our age, you learn to be indifferent to life and death, but I can’t. I’m just a coward who cherishes his life and is afraid of dying. I just want to see Wyatt securely established at The Rhodes Group, to see him handle everything with ease. Then, you two can give me a little grandson or granddaughter, and your mother and I can spend our days doting on them."

"Since you’ve thought so much about the future, let’s start that diet," Yvonne said, striking while the iron was hot.

At those words, Mr. Rhodes’s face immediately fell.

"Can we start tomorrow?"

Yvonne smiled. "Of course."

"So, should we eat out tonight? How about barbecue?"

"Hey, why don’t I take you and Mom somewhere?"

That evening, Yvonne took Mr. Rhodes and Daisy Shaw to The Lucky Spoon.

The couple surveyed the bustling little restaurant. Daisy Shaw discreetly took out a handkerchief to wipe her stool, while Mr. Rhodes stared at the meat on the grill, silently swallowing his saliva.

When Mrs. Miller saw the two of them, she jumped in surprise. "Oh my, what brings you two here? Quick, quick, please come upstairs. It’s cleaner up there..."

Yvonne patted Mrs. Miller’s arm to calm her down. "We’ll just sit down here."