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"Laura, I didn't do anything wrong so why did you have to shout at me...,"

"You bring nothing but disaster to wherever you set foot. It would be best if you leave our table now," Eva ordered sternly.

"Laura, I will take my leave now since you don't want me around. But feel free to call my attention if you need me to get you food or wine," Joanna offered in a meek tone. 

She walked away when Laura won't utter a word to her.

Although she sounded and looked harmless only, Laura and her Grandma Cora who was watching the fuss from a distance understood the underlying meaning behind Joanna's statement.

"We planned to make the party unpleasant for her as we have always done so how did she manage to get away unscathed?" Eva complained, her fist tightly clenched.

If only they knew that this particular Joanna wasn't as easy as the one in the past, maybe they wouldn't have been unhappy about losing to her.

"We can leave dealing with her for some other day. It's not worth ruining my party just to make her look bad," Laura grumbled. 

She couldn't bring herself to admit that she was afraid of what her Stepsister would do if she and her friends dared to provoke her.

The moment Joanna reached where her friend and brother sat, the fuming Audrey reached out her hand and pulled Joanna onto the seat beside her.

"Why did you let them walk all over you without doing anything?" Audrey scolded, her fierce glares centred on Joanna's neutral expression.

"If you knew you couldn't handle them why didn't you signal for me to come closer...,"

"You call that walking over me?" Joanna chuckled.

"Girl, you are well aware of how they treated me all these years and I am sure you would agree with me that this was nothing compared to those years of torment so why did you say that?" Joanna frowned and leaned back against the chair.

"I am just angry that you went easy on them when you could have easily shut them up at the wave of the hand...,"

"You call that going easy on them despite seeing the way Laura reacted?" Joanna grinned. She tilted her head and gazed at where Laura and her friends sat.

She wasn't surprised to see Laura so quiet while her friends blabbed on.

"You sounded so tamed and polite... wait don't tell me there was an underlying meaning behind those polite words of yours?" Audrey's eyes sparkled at the realisation that her assumptions were wrong from the beginning.

"You are...," Joanna paused the instant her eyes locked with her little brother's curious eyeballs.

"What on Earth are you talking about," Joanna decided to feign ignorance because of Anthony who was listening to their conversation.

"You...,"

"Let's eat because things are gonna get super interesting in a few minutes," Joanna grinned evilly, her gaze centred on the guy hiding in a corner whose gaze she had noticed hadn't moved from Laura's body for a second.

"Did Laura plan a surprise for everyone?" Audrey asked, oblivious to what her best friend had in store for the birthday girl.

"That you will find out soon," Joanna's smile broadened as she stood up from the chair.

"Come let's get food for myself and my little rice ball," She said, dragging Audrey up to her feet almost immediately.

"He can do that much for himself, you and I know that so why are you pampering him...,"

"Because I still see him as a child," Joanna cut in. She smiled at the boy whose gaze was on her.

"There will come a time when he will no longer need me or my pampering so let me do all I can for him now that I have the time...,"

"Whatever!" Audrey shrugged her shoulders.

"Anyways, I am not against the way you chose to raise him but as someone who loves you, I will ask that you are careful. I am afraid his Grandma will succeed in stabbing you to death one day with her murderous glares," Audrey added in a carefree tone.

Her comments made Joanna follow her line of sight.

She understood what Audrey's statement meant when she saw Madam Cora's deadly glances which happened to be focused on her.

"If taking good care of my brother has now become a crime then there is nothing I can do other than admit my guilt," Joanna muttered, her eyeballs locked with Madam Cora's.

It was after they had returned to their table and were about to eat their meals that Mr Anderson and Adhara returned to the hall.

Audrey was about to take a sip from the glass of wine dangling in between her fingers but had to pause when Mr Anderson arrived at their table.

"I specifically told you to come to the party so what kept you all this time?" He demanded in a fierce tone.

"And here I am, right?" Joanna retorted, not avoiding his eyeballs.

"You...,"

"Also, you never mentioned the exact time you wanted me to arrive at the party so I don't see the reason why you should get mad at me," Joanna added.

Her nonchalance as she spoke further infuriated the already angry Mr Anderson.

Audrey has always wanted her friend to stand up for herself but she was a little taken aback by her action.

And this was because she knew from Mr Anderson's fuming expression that this was not the perfect time for this.

"How dare you...,"

"Sir, Anna and I were busy working on our group project for the upcoming carnival at Twilight's University and completely lost track of time," Audrey cut in at the moment she saw Mr Anderson's raised hand.

The last thing she wanted was for the furious man to lose his cool and slap her best friend.

Audrey was certain she wouldn't be able to keep her cool and remain so respectful if that were to happen.

"You should have seen how terrified she was when she realised what the time was," Audrey's serious expression as she spoke such lies almost made Joanna burst out lying.

...

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

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