CHAPTER 70: NEW ROLE

Braelyn’s POV

Lunch with Joey and Genny was almost a disaster. They didn’t seem to like each other’s guts in the slightest bit

After the meal, Genny had insisted on taking an Uber instead of riding with Joey. The rest of the day wasn’t particularly eventful although I secretly enjoyed Genny and Joey constantly getting on each other’s nerves.

"Thanks for the ride." I chimed before stepping out of the Uber. The wind hit my face, it looked like it might rain soon. It was early autumn but the weather had gotten considerably cold.

I walked towards the main entrance where I was welcomed by Viktor. "Welcome back home ma’am." He chimed, accepting my bag and coat.

"Dinner is already ready," Viktor informed me. It was already pretty late. I was swamped at work and ended up working overtime to cover up.

"Okay," I muttered, continuing towards my bedroom. Viktor walked up to me, and I understood the look on his face. He still had something to say.

I stopped then sighed. "What is it, Viktor?" My gaze was studying the butler. He was a few inches taller than me. He always had that smile I could never get used to how fake it was.

"Mr Volkov instructed me to inform you to join him for dinner. He said he has some information to relay to you over dinner." My eyelids twitched; this was going to be a long meal.

I was hungry but I doubt that I would have a good appetite in the presence of those two. In all, I was still interested in what he had to say. This might be fun.

"Please take this to my room," I instructed and then made my way towards the dining room. As expected I could hear Amelia’s pitchy voice from the entrance.

I walked into the dining room, and Amelia was seated next to Raphael, helping pick out meals. It was hilarious to watch how far she would go.

"How about this?" She asked, pointing to another dish. Raphael didn’t verbally reply and let her do what she felt like doing.

I gracefully took my seat and didn’t bother to hide my laugh. "I had no idea the Sinclairs’ family daughter preferred working like a maid." I couldn’t help myself.

Amelia stopped a moment then glanced in my direction. I was instructing the maids on which dishes to place on my plate. Thankfully, the meals on today’s menu were edible...

"Braelyn, I didn’t see you coming in." She forced a smile on her face. One that made her stomach churn. My lips twitched trying to hold back a sarcastic comment.

"Sure I understand. Go ahead with whatever that was just pretend I am not here." I reply, making a mental note of starting the habit of having dinner out before returning home. Her smile faltered

.

My gaze was focused on my plate, diligently rolling up my pasta and paying no mind to her.

"You are indeed a funny person." She managed to say after a long silence.

The soft clicking sounds of cutlery filled the room. I ate more than I had expected with them around, my nonchalance was bothering someone more than it should.

She couldn’t just ignore me, her gaze didn’t leave me. Although she tried to pretend I wasn’t there but I could tell

Some minutes passed by, and none of them bothered to strike up a conversation. I could hear snippets of Amelia’s hushed conversations. It was something related to her project, she seemed to be putting her all into it

A part of me secretly prayed it would fail. A knowing smile tugged my lips at the thoughts. Unfortunately, I had to avoid her project; if something happened, their fingers would immediately point to me, and the hassle wasn’t worth it.

The cold water slid down my throat before I dabbed my lips with a napkin. My gaze finally trailed in their direction and unexpected our gaze met

Raphael was staring at me. Amelia was trying to eat, but I could sense the tension in her movements. My brows arched, confused and puzzled, if I was too drawn into my meal that I noticed it.

"You are done with your meal," Raphael mentioned and I nodded at him.

"I am..." my voice trailed, finding his gaze uncomfortable. Raphael dropped his cutlery and then reached out for a glass of wine, which he took a leisurely sip of.

"Viktor informed me you had something to say to me " I finally mentioned. He nodded at me then placed his glass back on the table.

" A company gala is coming up soon, I thought I should inform you," Raphael informed me. I was a bit surprised not because the gala was coming up earlier than expected.

My surprise lay with the fact that he was telling me this directly. I took one last sip of my wine. The glass softly touched the table.

"I thought the gala was scheduled for the next few months. Why am I being informed directly earlier?" I asked him to keep the conversation civil.

Raphael sighed. "There will still be another gala at the original time, but Father and I decided to host one earlier as a fundraiser event in honour of Gregor’s death. Donations will be given to research centres and orphanages..." he explained

There was something he wasn’t talking to me about yet. "That is a good idea either way I still see no reason why I am being told. I can understand that this information hasn’t been circulated yet...but you know I don’t pay attention to such social gatherings."

There were only a handful of gatherings I attended. If it could be avoided, I would rather not attend, especially in the last year when rumours of my infertility started to pass around as common whispers in such events ..

He leaned forward on the table, his elbows supporting his weight with his fingers intertwined together. ..

"I know of your habits.." he mentioned, his gaze was hard to read through. "It will be to your best interest if you become more active socially because all gala events will be under your supervision. Father and I had agreed on this.."

My eyes went wide. I closed my mouth, lacking the words to reply. Still processing the development he added. "Also, there will be some project launches, including the Amelia project. I hope you handle this with care." He explained.

My lips curled into a smile despite my gaze remaining blank. Galas and other events normally fell under Natalia’s supervision. I couldn’t understand why the role was suddenly moved to me.