Encore of the Avenging Muse (Sylvia and Rupert)

Chapter 148

Watching the figure standing beside the flowerbed, Bailey raised an eyebrow, her understanding clear.

Just as she was about to speak, Bridget walked straight up to Bailey and extended her hand.

"Bailey, pleasure to meet you. I'm Rupert's fiancée, Bridget."

Bailey glanced at Bridget, then at her outstretched hand, offering a light, breezy smile. "I'm sorry, Ms. Simpson, I've just been pruning the flowers, and my hands are quite dirty." Bridget's hand stiffened for a moment before she awkwardly lowered it.

No sooner had she dropped her hand than Bailey took a towel from a servant, cleaned her hands, and made her way directly to Rupert, effectively treating his fiancée as if she were invisible.

Bailey sat down next to Rupert, poured him a cup of coffee, and addressed the others, "Please, take a seat. Eloise has already shared your details with me, so there's no need for any painstaking introductions. I prefer to keep things casual." The underlying message was clear.

Bridget clenched her purse, a fleeting look of malice flashing in her eyes.

This old lady, putting on airs?

If not for her remaining usefulness, when would she ever get the chance to strut around like this?

But outwardly, Bridget maintained her image of gentle grace flawlessly.

her seat, she leaned slightly towards Rupert, pushing the

afraid Rupert doesn't fancy this type of

Doesn't fancy?

coffee, her confidence growing as the rich, aromatic flavor confirmed it was, in fact,

surpassed even her own favored coffee, rare and costly. It was the same kind Edwin always included as a thoughtful addition to her annual

knew this. Yet Bridget, Rupert's deeply cherished old

sniffed it delicately, and chuckled. "Doesn't fancy it? Then where does all that expensive coffee that Rupert competes with me

before?"

face paled as her eyes darted to the pushed-away cup, wishing she could disappear. Her expression

of his coffee, stating flatly, "Fed

toward Sylvia, brief but enough to make her heart skip a beat. The cup in her hand suddenly felt too

What was he implying?

could ponder further, she felt Bailey's gaze on

she raised her

"What do you think?"

her finger were

stone around thirty carats, surrounded by colorless pink diamonds. In

was

a fifteen-carat blue sapphire at its heart.

intricately layered -