It'll Come Naturally

"I don't like sour flavors. You can eat all of them if you like them, Kevin," said Claire grudgingly. To be honest, even Claire found this whole thing weird. She saw the vinegar on the dining table in the morning and believed what Leena had said. If that was so, then who could be making this trouble and causing this farce? She could bet her bottom dollar that it wasn't Kevin as his brother would never do such to any of his family. Now didn't that just isolate Louisa as the suspect? She had every reason to embarrass Leena in front of people. However, Louisa had been with her all the time since she came to the house. It was very unlikely that Louisa did this to set Leena up. Was there anybody else in this house? The thought made Claire shudder. There couldn't be a ghost that was lingering and strolling in the house while they were in the kitchen! "Stop! Your brother has stomach problems. He will surely have a terrible stomach ache if he eats them all." Leena hadn't forgotten what Lee told her about Kevin's health. Thus, she stood up again and took those awful dishes away even before Kevin could react. "Louisa, take your time. We have got enough food in the kitchen. Look at you, the sauce has spoiled your clothes," said Kevin. It was then that Kevin looked at Louisa with a wicked grin on his face. Although his sister was self-willed and was more than eager to confront Leena in front of guests, she wouldn't have the nerve to spoil their dinner. It made the perpetrator behind this case so obvious.

"Heh! Louisa, why are you so careless? Your dress is white. White clothes get stained easily and are hard to clean. You know that, right?" Hearing his brother's address to Louisa, Claire also turned to look at her and saw the black stains on the lady's cuff.

"I know. It's fine. I can take it to a dry-cleaning shop. Don't worry." Now that made Louisa silently panic on her seat as it was only then that she noticed the stain too. It was clear that the stain was more like soy sauce and it just gave away what she did. Her eyes widened upon realizing what Kevin's word meant. He had been suspecting her! The thought made her sweat a bit. She couldn't believe that her plans back-fired on her face. Instead of playing on Leena, she had made a fool out of herself! Worse, Kevin was now looking at her as if her integrity had just melted away.

Kevin smiled inwardly. He had been tolerating Louisa's attitude all the time as she was the Commander's spoiled daughter. However, he had never expected her to be so ungrateful and to even go further. Who would have thought that she would be willing to spoil their dinner just to upset Leena? It wouldn't be a surprise anymore if she dared to poison them someday. Anyway, he had enough. He wouldn't be indulgent towards Louisa's attitude anymore.

"Should I cook more? I promise I won't make mistakes again." It was Leena's apologetic voice that broke through Kevin's thoughts. As kind-hearted as she was, she didn't even think that it was Louisa who framed her up.

"No need to do that. Sweetie. You have done enough tonight. Sit down and eat," said Kevin reassuringly as he prevented Leena from going back to the kitchen. He couldn't bear to see his wife as tired as this. He had seen her cleaning their house alone even before dinner. He knew that all the chores were done by Leena on her own and she never complained. He felt sorry for his wife.

"Yeah! We're not hungry. The food on the table is quite enough for the four of us." It was rare for Claire to stand up for Leena. She might have said that grudgingly, nonetheless, she was actually saving Leena's face before Louisa.

The dinner mishap was the last trouble Louisa had the chance to make for that night. She was uncomfortable the whole time as she caught Kevin shooting her contemptuous and angry glances from time to time. It was evident that he had already guessed that she had done it and it made the food she was eating taste like guilt.

As usual, Kevin volunteered to clear the table after dinner. It was a shock to everyone when he suddenly volunteered to walk Louisa out of their house later on. It made Leena and Claire puzzle out of their wits as Kevin had remained cold and indifferent to Louisa the rest of the night.

On the other hand, Louisa was panic-stricken. She felt that Kevin surely would do something to her on the way out. There was no other reason for him to be so friendly all of a sudden. Nonetheless, she was left with no choice, thus, she ended up walking behind him. "Don't you want to say anything to me?" The atmosphere suddenly turned tensed as soon as they stepped out of the house. Kevin was instantly glowering at Louisa as if he was a cat cornering a rat. It was his choice not to expose this woman's trick back there as she was one of his sister's best friends. Claire would feel hurt and embarrassed if he chose to burst in there. It was the reason why Kevin had to have a private conversation with this unbelievingly wicked woman outside his house.

"Kevin, what are you referring to? I'm getting confused," asked Louisa guiltily. Her face darkened, although she still pretended to be innocent of what Kevin was talking about.

"Louisa, I know you're smart and you know exactly what I mean. To be honest, I'm disappointed at you and I feel sorry for your father. He deserves having a better daughter since he's a man of integrity and honesty." Kevin sighed. He had always been respecting the Commander. In the past years, the Commander was more like a father to Kevin than a leader of military force. Even Daisy felt the same way to the Commander. After all, both of them had won numerous glories under his leadership.☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐