Love At The Wrong Table

Chapter 96
Ryder had never won an argument against his wife. At last, they came to
an agreement to gift Shawn the supplements to offset eighty thousand
from her poker debt.
Shawn was not even thinking about collecting the debt, so he thought he
had no reason to turn her away when she delivered to him herself.
Out of curiosity, he asked Abellyn quietly, “Are you related to Ms. Quillen,
who was in your uncle’s house the other day?”
Ryder was Emmanuel’s elder cousin, but Emmanuel’s father was older
than Ryder’s. Even more bizarre, Ryder was younger than Benny.
Ryder’s father had fathered him when the former was seventeen. Thus,
the difference in age between the two generations of the Lowe family had
always been a distinct oddity.
“She’s the wife of my cousin–in–law, Emmanuel. What about her? You don’t
have a crush on her, do you? You men are pigs!”
As she chided, Abellyn pinched Shawn on the waist.
Though she feared him, she was also trying to seduce him; she thought it
would be more worth her time to be with Shawn, the son of a rich man,
than to be with a pauper like Ryder.
“I did not! Don’t say that. I would never dare!”

Shawn denied vehemently, deathly afraid that the woman was subjecting
him to some sort of test.
Even a rich man’s son like Shawn did not dare indulge in the fantasy of
being with somebody like Mackenzie.
Abellyn grew curious at the sight of his panic. “You were joking, right? What
women do you not dare court?”
“Watch your mouth, Abellyn! I’m keeping the gifts, and you can consider
your debt written off. You’d better get going!”
Shawn sent Abellyn and her husband away, still reeling from the discovery
that the cold CEO of Terence Group had become a married woman.
What is going on?
Shawn’s father had business with Verkade Group. He had even developed
a long–standing business relationship with them.
Thus, he lost no opportunity to curry favor with Hubert, a playboy like
himself.
He knew very well that Hubert coveted Mackenzie, having heard that
Hubert had been relentlessly pursuing Mackenzie. How could she have
gotten married?
To get to the bottom of the matter, Shawn hurriedly sought an audience
with Hubert under the pretense of delivering a gift.

“I heard a rumor, Mr. Verkade. Ms. Quillen is married, it seems!”
“Who would spread such vile lies?”
With his feet propped on the table, Hubert was savoring his coffee when
he impassively denied the veracity of those words. It was clear that he did
not believe it.
“Uh, a woman I play poker with,” Shawn answered truthfully.
“Do you actually believe the gossip that gets passed around a poker
table? She is known for her misandry. Even I could not approach her.
Besides, I’ve been watching her. Do you think I wouldn’t find out if she got
married?”
“Indeed! You have a point. That woman shares such lousy gossip. I’m just
passing it along as I heard it. Anyway, I’m here today with some gifts.”
Already in denial, Hubert found his conviction further bolstered after
Shawn’s confession.
Then, he placed the boxes before Hubert.
Hubert swept an indifferent gaze over it and did a double take.
What is this? Why do these boxes look so familiar?
Taking a closer look, he was stunned to discover them to be exactly like
the same items he had sent Mackenzie the day before.
“Where did you get this, Shawn?” Hubert demanded, frowning.

Noticing his expression, Shawn assumed he was voicing his disdain for the
gift, and he did not dare mention that it was a gift used to offset debt by
the lowly Ryder. He quickly concocted a lie. “My father bought it when he
was abroad. It’s all branded, with proven efficacy!”
“These are local produce. Your father bought these abroad?”
Hubert gaped, looking increasingly confused.
Shawn was a gambler, and gambling was all he knew. Common sense
was not something he possessed. What he did possess, however, was the
talent of deception. “That’s right! Here’s something you might not know, Mr.
Verkade. Many traditional medicine practitioners were exiled during the
war. These herbs, grown abroad, are the true produce of our motherland!”
“Is that so?”