The weekend soon arrived and today was the day of the party at Marquess Kiron’s estate.

The end of summer vacation party would be held in their garden and it would begin with tea at 9 AM.

Following which the children were free to socialize or play around until lunchtime.

‘I can already feel that I will be surrounded by stuck up kids who don’t know how to have fun.’ Yvonne shook her head.

Based on the teachings of her etiquette teacher, everything that a normal child would do for fun could be considered as uncouth or vulgar in this society.

‘Well, it’s not like I would go roll in the mud or climb on trees anyway. So that doesn’t matter to me but I would at least like to make some nice acquaintances rather than gossip about each other in a roundabout way.’ She thought as she sat on the couch.

She was already bathed and dressed by Mrs. Jacinth and was right now waiting for that brat she called ‘big brother’ to arrive.

Her main goal for attending today’s party was to increase her social circle, this was so she could start forming some business contacts at a young age.

‘That script gave me a good idea of which businesses would flourish and which were fated to be doomed.’ Yvonne’s eyes sparkled when she thought of different ways to make use of this knowledge.

Unlike others, she would always pay close attention to every detail when she read anything. 

Therefore she was well aware of most of the things that happened in the course of the sickeningly sweet romance.

‘Let us just hope that things don’t change too much because of my lack of interaction with the main characters.’ 

Yvonne understood that her actions would cause a certain butterfly effect and might change certain aspects in the story but she hoped that it would just be for the better.

“Is Vonny ready?” Raylene inquired as she walked into the parlor.

She wore the dress that Yvonne had picked and tied her hair in a loose bun.

‘This woman looks good in this dress. She should dress like this more often.’ Yvonne evaluated her dress and gave her a thumbs up.

“Is something wrong with your thumb?” Raylene quickly stepped forward and held her daughter’s hand to check for injuries.

‘Good Lord, what have I gotten myself into? These people don’t know what a thumbs up is?’ She facepalmed internally.

Raylene was wondering why her baby girl was making such an annoyed expression when the door was pushed open.

Rutherford entered and by his side was Howard dressed like a little lord.

‘He looks so cute!’ Yvonne’s eyes were glued on her brother’s amazing appearance.

‘Without that ever-present scowl on his face, he actually does look good!’ This time she gave him a thumb up in her mind.

She then glanced up at her father and saw him frozen in place.

She subtly followed his line of sight that led up to Raylene’s body.

‘Is he checking her out right in front of his children?’ She shook her head and walked up to Howard.

“We need to talk.” She said with a straight face and pulled him out of the room.

Howard struggled to get out of her grip but failed because she was surprisingly strong for a mere five year old.

“What do you want from me!?” He yelled at her when she finally let go of him after reaching the hallway.

“Nothing you have can interest me. I just wanted to give them a little space.” She shrugged her shoulders in a nonchalant way.

‘You want to take my future heir position and you dare to say that nothing I have interests you?’ Howard’s face had a mocking expression on it.

But when he heard her second statement, he was confused and wondered what she was talking about.

“Stay out of that room if you don’t want to scar yourself mentally.” She politely reminded him and then walked away.

The elder brother watched as his imp of a sister strode towards the main door and was quickly carried in Mrs. Jacinth’s arms.

He turned around towards the room that they had just exited and felt an ominous feeling.

‘Whatever, let’s just wait for mother in the carriage.’ For some unknown reason, he decided to follow his arch-nemesis’ instructions and walked away from the door.

He had made the right decision because right now, Raylene was pinned on the couch with Rutherford hovering over her body.

“When did you buy this dress?” He growled as he placed wet and sloppy kisses on her neck.

Raylene tried to push him aside but this mountain of a man was hard to nudge.

“Vonna picked it out for me. She thought I would look good in it.” Her breathing increased rapidly when she felt his hot breath fan over her ear and neck.

‘Did Vonny make the wrong decision?’ Raylene was worried because she just saw red in her husband’s eyes.

‘Why is my Vonna trying to torture me like this?’ Rutherford on the other hand was trying hard to control his desires.

The moment he had entered the room, his eyes searched for his lovely wife and what he saw gave him the shock of his life.

The cute and bubbly Raylene who always dressed in pink and peach shades was today in a deep maroon dress.

The color complimented her hair and the style of the dress accentuated her curves.

‘Who is this sultry goddess?’ Was the first thing that came to his mind when he saw her.

He had always seen her in flowing gowns that hid her body. Not that he was complaining, his wife’s beauty and body should be for his eyes only.

But today, she was in a dress that stuck to her body and now her curves were for everyone to peruse.

This thought soured his mood which was why Raylene thought that she had upset him in some way.

“Do I look that bad?”

Rutherford’s possessive thoughts were interrupted when he heard the soft and nervous voice coming from under him.

He raised his head and glanced at her worried eyes and sighed before getting up.

“That’s not what I meant, Ray.” He sat on the couch and pulled her to sit on his lap.

His hands roamed over her body and he finally rested them on her hips as he pulled her closer.

Sitting face to face at such a close distance and in the parlor no less made Raylene blush and she hid her face in his chest.

“My wife looks so good today that I don’t want to let her out of the house.” He whispered in her ear and chuckled when he saw her freeze.

‘This man has no shame!’ Raylene gently punched him in the chest.

“I’m glad that this party is only for women and children or else I would never let you leave wearing such a beautiful dress.” He nibbled on her ear and felt her shudder in his arms.

This was a garden tea party, something that the busy men would not spare much time for. So he did not have to worry about some lecherous bastard eyeing his wife.

“Ray…” He called out to her and waited for her to look up.

“Hmm?” She peeked at his face when she heard his voice.

Rutherford held her chin up and pressed his lips to her for a chaste kiss because any more than that would make him lose the last string of his self-control.

However, Raylene was not aware of this fact. So she readily accepted his kiss and even parted her lips to let his tongue enter her mouth.

Rutherford’s hold on her hips tightened when he felt the small tongue slide against his.

He began kissing her passionately as his hand ran across her back, trying to find the hook of her dress.

Raylene’s eyes widened when she felt that he was close to stripping her dress off.

‘The tea party will begin soon and I cannot appear late.’ She rationalized in her mind and swiftly broke their kiss.

Rutherford groaned when he felt her moving away and he tried to lean in to continue but failed.

“Ruthy, we’ll be late if we don’t leave now.” She pecked him on the lips one last time and hopped off his lap.

Rutherford looked at his pants and then at his wife with a sad face.

Understanding what his eyes meant, Raylene wiped his lips and then smiled at him.

“Wait for me to get back.” She whispered in a seductive voice and then ran out of the room.

Her husband had messed her hair up so she had to get Paula to redo it as soon as possible.

Inside the parlor, frustrated and helpless, Rutherford covered his face with his arm and plopped on the couch.

“Just three more hours, you can do it.” He muttered to himself and shut his eyes.

—

Inside the carriage, the two children were staring each other down as though there would soon be a duel in the very next minute.