Faux Vows, True Desires

Upon meeting tonight, they both felt an instant connection.

"Mr. Moore, Mrs. Lucinda, Darlene and I seem to have arrived late. We shall go in and apologize to Jason." Belinda said in a deep voice. Her statement ended the mutual complimentary comments made between Lucinda and Darlene.

Ike knew that the Bishop family and the Barlow family were old acquaintances. It wouldn't be appropriate to have Belinda chat with him first upon arrival. "President Bishop, why don't you and Ms. Darlene go in first? Lucy and I will stay out here a bit longer. We'll see you inside soon."

"See you soon."

Belinda nodded at Lucinda, then took her sister inside.

Once they had gone, Lucinda nudged her brother and chuckled, "Ike, after all this time you still call her 'President Bishop'? Can't you just call her 'Belinda'?" Ike replied, "Well. She doesn't like people call her that."

"She might not like others calling her 'Belinda', but maybe she'd like it if you called her that. You could try it. If she doesn't mind, it might bring you two closer." Considering his sister's advice, Ike thought it made sense. "I'll give it a try. If she reacts negatively, I'll just go back to calling her 'President Bishop'."

"She won't react negatively."

Lucinda confidently said, "From my observations, she has a liking for you. She mentioned you to her sister, and when she introduced Darlene to us, I noticed the way Darlene looked at you. She appraised you for quite a while. If Belinda hadn't mentioned you at home, Darlene wouldn't have taken an interest in you. She wouldn't have observed you that closely."

Lucinda tilted her head to look at her brother, uttering, "For Darlene, who's seen plenty of handsome men, you're not someone she'd fall for at first sight. So, it must be that Belinda often talks about you, which made Darlene take a longer look."

Ike laughed, "Is that true? Lucy, are you sure you didn't misread?"

He hadn't noticed the way Darlene looked at him. As soon as Belinda arrived, his attention was entirely on her.

the evening. She wore a sharp suit and had her hair short as always.

usually right. You can slowly make your move. I'm sure President Bishop has feelings

was secretly testing

look down on her brother for being temporarily less successful

Belinda was unlikely to judge people. Plus, her

had enough fresh air for now. Let's go inside. You should go back to Stefan. Don't think marriage means you're safe. There

seduced easily, then he's not worth it.

his sister on her

then headed back inside the

her friend Cecilia

told, Cecilia was quite taken aback to see her brother. She had never

forehead lightly, then said

you here? I didn't

this, Hudson gave her another flick

so long? You don't care about your only sister at all. Unlike Ike, who is always warm and attentive to Lucy. He

her, anyone would feel

so much, why don't you swap Lucy over? Let her

"I wish."

could finish her sentence, Cecilia quickly hopped away, avoiding another flick from her

decided not to tease his sister anymore and took a seat in front of