Chapter 98
Chapter 98
Against her better judgment, Catherine came downstairs along with Rome, and the instant they entered
the dining room, the laughing and the chatting ceased.
Ignoring the hateful stares, Rome walked up to the table and pulled out a chair for Catherine.
After she sat down, he took his seat, and at that moment, his gaze swayed to the right, and he saw
Estelle gazing at him.
Then she winked at him, and Rome felt like leaving the table at that exact moment.
But the fact that Catherine was trying to obey her father, he didn't want to ruin that for her, so he turned
his attention to his plate.
“So, Estelle, that's your name, right?” Jeff rudely uttered with a carefree attitude.
“Jeff!” Anthony coldly said as he glared at his son.
Although he wasn't happy about the entire dinner and the sudden attention Charles was getting, he
didn't want to belittle himself by showing any sign of jealousy.
“It's fine.” Estelle gently said, “Yes, that's my name.”
“What do you see in Charles?” Jeff blurted out.
Without any hesitation, Estelle boldly said, “He's good-looking.”
Chuckling softly, Jeff looked at Charles, and then he said, “If you do like him for his good looks, does
that mean that any handsome man has a chance with you?”
“Jeff!” Mr. Barlow called out, striving to keep his tone calm, even though his anger was off the charts.
“What? It's just a harmless question.” Jeff said with a half-smile.
“You can excuse yourself from the table!”
“Whatever,”
Frowning, Jeff stood from his seat, picked up his plate of pasta, and walked away.
“I swear, since I removed him from the inheritance list, he's becoming bolder than ever.” Mr. Barlow
mumbled beneath his breath.
Then he smiled at Estelle and said, “I'm sorry, dear.”
With calmness in her eyes, Estelle smiled and mumbled, “It's okay.”
A few minutes went by, and everyone seemed to have let go of what Jeff had said, but not Catherine.
Her woman instincts were telling her that Estelle meant trouble, and seeing how she had been staring
at Rome, Catherine believed that Jeff might have been rude, but his words carried truth in it.
After ten minutes had gone by, Rome’s phone buzzed, and he pulled it out of his pocket.
Seeing that it was his father, he stood from his seat, gazed down at Catherine, and said, “I need to take
this.”
After she slightly nodded, he walked out of the dining room, heading out of the mansion.
For a moment, Estelle gazed at Charles and frowned. Afterward, she looked down at her phone,
strolled to her ringtone setting, clicked on a sound, and allowed it to play for a while.
Then she looked at Charles, staring at her, and said, “Excuse me.”
Standing from her seat, Estelle accidentally gazed at Catherine. But she ignored Catherine's icy stare
and left the dining room.
“Dad, seriously. I don't need to do a suit fitting together with you since Jerry already knows both of our
measurements.” Rome said with his back turned to the front door.
“Well, if you weren't so headstrong on keeping your identity a secret and not getting seen with me, I
wouldn't be looking for excuses to hang out with you.” Mr. Ford said from the other end of the line.
“The party is a few days from now.”
“Yes, but I'm going to be lonely until then. You see, life is a downer without your mother.”
“You are not manipulating me again.”
“Okay, fine! That was worth the try. But how do you feel about attending a conf...”
“Bye, Fath…”
A smile surfaced on Rome's lip when he felt a soft feminine hand grabbed onto his arm.
Then he turned around, and that smile instantly shifted to a scowled.
“Get your hand off me!” Rome coldly said as he gave Estelle an icy stare.
“Did you drink something strong? How can I touch you if we are miles apart? Wait! Are you speaking in
metaphor!” Mr. Ford's harsh voice echoed into Rome's ear.
Pulling his hand from Estelle's grip, Rome sneered and said, “Let me call you back.”
After canceling the call, Rome gazed at Estelle and asked, “What's your name?”
Toying with her hair, she simpered, looking him in the eyes, and said, “Este…”
“I don't care!”
“Rude.”
Losing the cute appearance, Estelle's expression hardened as she stared at Rome and said, “Do you
know how many men will die for my attention. You are just a no-good son-in-law and you are acting
up.”
“If you have so many people dying for your attention, then give it to them, and stay the hell away from
me,” Rome said, walking past her.
But Estelle grabbed his hand and said, “A man like yourself with such an amazing physique is a trophy
to treasure. Be mine and I will make the Barlows family envy the sand that your shoe touch.”
Yanking his hand from her grip, Rome snickered and said, “A woman like you is not worthy to be mine!”
In anger, Estelle raised a hand to slap him, but he grabbed her wrist, and said, “Count yourself lucky
that the man that raised me will kill me if he finds out I hit a woman.”
The moment Rome let go of her wrist and turned around, his gaze rested on Catherine, and he froze.
Without uttering a word to Rome, Catherine walked past him and approached Estelle.
Seeing the anger in her eyes, Estelle gave a conceited smile.
But before she could get the chance to react, Catherine smacked her hard in the cheek, and as she
was about to utter a word, Catherine landed another slap in her ear.
“Don't you know how to keep your hands off someone else's man!” Catherine coldly said.
“What is wrong with you!” Estelle shouted, feeling too stunned to do a thing.
“What do you think you are doing hitting my girlfriend!” Charles shouted as he stormed towards them.
When he reached his cousin, he shouted, “Am I not speaking to a human! Did you become deaf a
second ago! Or have you lost your damn mind!”
Not thinking for a second, Rome rushed over to Charles and knocked him to the ground.
Then Rome pressed his knee on Charles’s back while pushing his head against the filthy grass as he
violently pulling his hand behind his back.
“Didn't you get my warning, or do you really want to be humiliated!” Rome coldly said with anger
glowing in his eyes. Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.
Feeling his lips touching the dirt, Charles struggled to break loose, but his effort was meaningless.
“Rome,” Catherine mumbled when she heard Charles moan in pain.
Although Rome was hesitant, he let go of Charles’s arm. Then he stopped pressing his left knee on
Charles's back and stood up.
Afterward, Rome took Catherine's hand and led her back inside, carrying her straight to their room.
When they got into their bedroom, Rome took a moment to calm his fast beating heart.
Then he gazed at Catherine and asked, “Are you okay?”
“I'm worried about what my grandfather will do if he finds out what happened. We are screwed.”
Catherine mumbled, covering her mouth with her shaking hand.