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Chapter 35 The 'Family' Dinner
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2025-12-04 08:01:13The Thorne family dinner table looked warm, but it felt like a battle was about to start. It was a long, shiny table that made everyone feel separated. Archibald Thorne sat at the head of the table like a king. Glam Choi hung on his right arm, thrilled with her seat. On his left, Sarah sat straight and stiff, looking deeply offended.
Who sat where felt like a special kind of punishment. I was on one side, with a tense Julian to my right. Directly across from me was Chloe Bennett, reflecting my own nervousness. Liam sat beside her. It was painful: I was facing the woman living the life I once wanted, with the man I had wanted it with right next to her. And Julian was facing the brother everyone always compared him to. The brother I always love.
The air smelled like expensive food and things
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The warm, relaxing haze from my bath evaporated the moment the doorbell chimed, its sound jarring in the late-night quiet. I glanced at the clock: 10:35 p.m. Who on earth could that be? Padding to the door, I peered through the peephole, my heart giving a nervous flutter. The hallway was empty. "Who is there?" I called out, my voice sounding small in the stillness. A familiar, deep voice answered from just out of view. "I'm sorry for bothering you this late. Can I come in?" Julian? I unlocked and opened the door slowly. There he stood, the formidable CEO of Aethelburg Cooperation, looking uncharacteristically disheveled. His usually immaculate hair was slightly ruffled, and his tie was loosened. But it was his eyes that struck me—they held a shadow of anxiety, a deep restlessness I'd never seen in them before. "You... you should come in," I said, stepping aside. He walked in, the space of my small apartment seeming to shrin
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The silence in my apartment was a stark contrast to the digital storm brewing on my phone. I stared at the screen, The RFA chatroom was exploding.Victoria:Okay, operatives. Mission debrief. @Julian Thorne @Evelyn Sharpe Report on the Thorne Family Dinner. How many courses of awkward did you have to swallow? Did the Chairman use the good silverware to subtly threaten anyone?I chuckled at the wayVictoriaused the words "operatives" and "mission debrief." It sounded like she was trying to copyCipher's way of speaking, which was so unlike her usual professional serious tone.Oliver ★:Dinner? What dinner?? (´⊙ω⊙`)？Cipher:Ooooh, was it the annual "Let's Make Everyone Miserable" Gala? I heard the main course is always roasted regrets! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧
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