Love At The Wrong Table

Emmanuel was driving an electric scooter, so there was no way he could

have caught up to Quintus‘ car.

When he arrived at the restaurant, Mackenzie and Quintus were already NôvelDrama.Org is the owner.

seated at the table, loaded with alcohol. The alcohol they ordered was so

costly, with the most expensive glass priced at his entire year’s worth of

salary each.

As expected, Quintus was one of the ultra–rich.

“Haha, Emmanuel! Come, let me introduce you two. This is my idol and best

friend, Miss Mackenzie Quillen.” He then proudly bragged, “You’re lucky, brat.

Ms. Quillen is the goddess of nearly everyone in Yeringham. Most men can

only ever dream of meeting her.”

There was a conflicted twist in Emmanuel’s smile as he silently looked at

Mackenzie. She scoffed and turned away to avoid looking at him.

As Quintus did not know of their relationship, he tried to reassure Emmanuel

and said, “Don’t take it to heart. She’s just that cold. It’s not because she

dislikes you.”

That only intensified Emmanuel’s urge to laugh. After all, Mackenzie actually

disliked him.

However, he did not say a word about his relationship with her to Quintus,

mostly because their relationship was shaky.

Emmanuel chose to sit right across from Mackenzie, making it impossible for

her to avoid looking at him.

Claudette soon arrived. “I’m here!” she cried out as she entered.

“Ah, just in time!” Quintus said with a laugh.

2

”

He was so very happy to see her. Then, he promptly dragged her over to sit

down beside Emmanuel. “Since it’s just going to be the four of us tonight, and

we have equal numbers of men and women, why don’t we have a match to

see who was the best at holding their drink?”

He thought that once they were all drunk, he would stand a chance at

gaining a perfect accident with Mackenzie.

He also knew that Claudette liked Emmanuel. If those two got drunk as well,

she could seal the relationship with one night.

Claudette did mention that Emmanuel was taken, but that did not matter. He

would know just how amazing she was sooner or later. Then, he would dump

that girlfriend to get together with Claudette.

The other three individuals in the room blanched when they heard Quintus

wanted a drinking contest.

Emmanuel’s reaction was the worst. He would have no fear if he teamed up

with Mackenzie.

However, Quintus clearly intended for the men to go up against the women….

“Well? Objections? Anyone up for it?”

As the host of the evening, Quintus did his best to ensure a great start to the

night.

Emmanuel was about to object when he heard Mackenzie coldly bark out,

“I’m up for it.”

+

The fact that she was the first to go along with the suggestion was shocking,

but Emmanuel was not the most surprised person in the room; it was

Quintus.

Is something wrong?

Why did Mackenzie seem like a completely different person this evening?

Just what on earth is going on?

“Well… I’ll go along with it as well.” Claudette tentatively held her hand up to

show her agreement.

“Yes! We have the majority. The game is on!” Quintus hurriedly made the

announcement.

He had two goals for the evening.

One, he wanted to get together with Mackenzie.

Two, he wanted Claudette to get together with Emmanuel.

No matter which aims Quintus was after, Emmanuel had no leeway to say no

to the game.

“Very well. Let’s start.”

+

Emmanuel’s eyes shone with a sharp glint as he stared at Mackenzie.

He knew she was angry, but so was he.

They were not divorced yet, so how could she agree to drink alcohol with

another man? What if he hadn’t tagged along? What was she going to do

with Quintus?

That was why Emmanuel went along with it. “What punishment awaits the

loser?” he asked.

“Ah, good questions!” Quintus‘ glee intensified. “Of course, we won’t just be

competing about our ability to hold our drinks. We will also be guessing which

alcohol we are looking at. The losing team will have to play Truth or Dare, or

they have to drink a whole glass in one go!”

“Fine. I have no problem with that.”

Once more, Mackenzie did not hesitate before agreeing. Her eyes were

ablaze with competitiveness as she stared back into Emmanuel’s eyes.

In fact, she looked like she was glaring at her cheating husband and his

mistress.

“All right!”

Emmanuel was similarly seething. The way he glared at her would have

others thinking he was looking at his wife fooling around with the neighbor.

Claudette was the one person who felt the most uneasy in the room since

she was the only one in the room who knew everyone in the room and their

relationships with each other.

As expected, the more one knew, the more there was to worry about.

“Good! Let’s start then.” Quintus was so very excited. He had not expected the

evening to go so smoothly. However, what happened next had the evening

slowly spiraling out of his control.

In the first round, Emmanuel’s team lost.

“I’ll drink!” Emmanuel did not even think before downing an entire glass of

liquor that burned its way down his throat.

“Nicely done. You’re great at this.” Quintus did not find Emmanuel’s swift

response abnormal. In his mind, it meant Emmanuel was protecting

Claudette.

Fury burned brighter in Mackenzie’s eyes. How dare Emmanuel protect

another woman when his wife was watching!

Just wait!

In the second round, Quintus‘ team lost.

Before Quintus could react, Mackenzie immediately grabbed a glass of liquor

and downed it in one go as well.

“Ah, you’re good at this, but…” he said hesitantly.

“Shut up. Let’s continue,” she barked back.

She did not want to hear his chatter at all. Her enemies were the two

individuals sitting across the table from her.

She would definitely defeat them tonight.

Claudette knew how competitive Mackenzie was, but something about the

tension in the air felt off.

She was on the same team as Emmanuel, so why did it feel like she and

Quintus were just extras in the room? Were they just background characters

there to support the married couple?

In the third round, Emmanuel’s team lost again.

“I choose truth!” Claudette declared before Emmanuel could even make a

move to grab a glass.

“Alright,” Quintus said.

He then hurriedly asked, “Who is the man you like, Claudette?”

Mackenzie’s death glare was promptly turned to Claudette.

It was time to see if Claudette had the guts to stand firm.

Coincidentally, both of the women in the room were the type who refused to

admit defeat.

Claudette appeared soft and sweet, but she packed a punch. She pursed her

lips and said, “I… I like Dr. Lowe.”

What? Emmanuel’s pupils shrank in shock.

He was a very dense man, especially when it came to emotions and love.

Claudette could have confessed his love to her, and he would still have

assumed she was lying.

After all, the only price for lying in Truth or Dare was just one glass of liquor…

“Really?” Quintus deliberately asked that to encourage Claudette to come on

stronger and to beat into Emmanuel’s mind the fact that she truly liked him.

“I…”

Claudette was about to nod, but the sight of Mackenzie’s murderous glare

and Emmanuel’s lost look made her falter. In the end, she grabbed a glass of

liquor and downed it.

Quintus was frankly the most disappointed person in the room. Why did she

falter? She would rather down an entire glass of liquor than muster up the

courage to nod once.

Although Claudette had drunk the glass of liquor, Mackenzie still scowled at

her.

Hostility burned bright in Mackenzie’s eyes.

Emmanuel finally understood what was happening, however. It seemed like

something major had happened to him. The daughter of the Lenoir family

had actually fallen in love with him.

Why else would she insist on getting him to treat her when her family was so

rich?

There was also that time at the laser tag arena. She had been showing so

many obvious signs…

Ah! He realized that Mackenzie was right. He was an absolute fool. Why did it

take him so long to realize this? No wonder she was angry.