Maxwell Peary felt lines of exasperation forming on his forehead. Honestly, the way she’d offered that... it just sounded so awkward to him.
Evelyn Peary snorted with laughter. Has Brother actually been bested? Sis-in-law is amazing!
Nia Mitchell’s outstretched chopsticks froze in mid-air, and she silently rolled her eyes. "So ungracious," she muttered. If you don’t want it, fine! But at least let me put this piece of chicken down. It’s just hovering here. Am I supposed to put it back, or force it into your mouth?
Nia gritted her teeth and finally came up with the best solution: she popped the piece of chicken directly into her own mouth.
"If you don’t want it, fine. I’ll eat it myself."
She sat awkwardly to one side, focusing on her chicken and ignoring everything else.
Evelyn, too, was amused by her young sister-in-law’s actions and burst out laughing openly.
"Brother, I really want to move in and stay with you guys. Living with Sis-in-law is so much fun."
Maxwell Peary refused outright, ungraciously.
"I’m going to move in anyway. Are you going to physically drag me out?"
Once Evelyn Peary made a decision, not even nine bulls could pull her back. At worst, if he tried to drive her out, she’d resort to crying, making a scene, and threatening to end it all.
"Drag you out? That’s too much trouble. I’ll just call Mom and discuss your marriage prospects with her."
Evelyn felt like collapsing. Her own decisions were usually unshakeable, like something nine bulls couldn’t pull back, but their mom was comparable to nine hundred bulls! "If you threaten me again, I’ll tell Sis-in-law every single embarrassing thing you did as a kid!"
Nia, who was trying her best to be invisible while focusing on her chicken, paused mid-motion. Miss, can you please stop dragging me into this?
Maxwell also turned to look at Nia. Under the warm, dim lighting, she was eating with relish, her little cheeks puffing in and out adorably. The source of thɪs content is 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡~𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚~𝙣𝙚𝙩
Being mentioned so suddenly, Nia glanced up, her large eyes wide with a flash of panic as she saw them both looking at her.
After a long moment, Nia mumbled indistinctly, "Don’t tell me, I..."
"Finish what’s in your mouth before you speak," Maxwell said, his brow furrowed and his expression stern.
Nia obediently sped up her chewing, trying to swallow, but the more hurried she became, the harder it was to get the food down.
Seeing her rush to swallow, her eyes even turning a little red, Maxwell’s heart ached with concern.
"Don’t rush, eat slowly."
Saying this, he picked up a cup of tea from the table and brought it to her lips. Nia took a large gulp, guided by Maxwell’s hand.
It felt like there was still some food in her mouth, so she craned her neck forward and took a few more sips of tea, finally managing to swallow everything down.
"I said, don’t tell me. I don’t want to hear it," Nia declared, letting out a breath of relief. She’d said what she needed to and washed her hands of the matter. That felt good.
Evelyn, who was sitting next to Maxwell, was now completely petrified.
What had she just witnessed? So much for ’seeing is believing’; she couldn’t trust her own eyes right now. Her brother, usually as cold as a thousand-year-old iceberg and as unmovable as a ten-thousand-year-old stone, was actually serving a woman tea, waiting on her hand and foot! She had to call the Empress Dowager immediately—this world had truly gone fantastical!
Nia looked at Evelyn in confusion. Seeing her frozen in place, Nia turned her gaze to Maxwell, silently questioning him.
Maxwell smiled at her and reached out to pinch her cute, chubby little face.
"It’s nothing, she’s just a bit startled. You continue eating."
Nia was still puzzled. Startled? How bizarre. What on earth could have startled her so much?
Even though she wanted to ask, Maxwell’s expression clearly stated he wouldn’t offer any further explanation, so she swallowed her questions.