Chapter 98: Under the Gaze of Zekel
Stephanie’s voice trailed off as she lost her words. At this point, she had completely forgotten what she had originally wanted to say. Her last sentence—what was she about to say again? She had no idea. Not a single one.
He wasn’t even looking at her as he was busy with his meal—but that smirk on his lips was undeniable.
It told her that he was aware of her presence. Her face warmed as she realized he was here because of her brothers, not for any other reason. And for a moment, she had thought...
She quickly shifted her gaze away to avoid raising any suspicion. She needed to stop this. She couldn’t afford to make anything obvious. Lady Emberg, noticing her surprised expression, assumed it was because she had said something too personal in front of a stranger.
"Ah, Lady Stephanie, I failed to inform you that we were having Lord Zekel for breakfast," Lady Emberg said as Stephanie struggled to compose herself. She simply nodded. She didn’t want to make things obvious.
She knew her grandmama well how deeply observant she could be..and the last thing she needed was to hear her say something like, So you had a reason to call off the marriage with him after all.
’Act normal. Act fcking normal,’ she screamed inwardly as she took her seat. Lady Emberg’s eyes remained on her.
She knew exactly why her great-grandmother’s eyes were fixed on hers. Since Lady Emberg had spoken about him to her in his presence, Stephanie understood that she would need to welcome him properly. To acknowledge him respectfully and show that she had heard her grandmother’s words, she needed to speak to him—it was the proper thing to do.
"A pleasure to see you, Lord Z-Zekel," she managed to say without giving anything away.
That was when his gaze finally moved—and it landed right on hers.
As their eyes locked, her breath caught in her throat. She tried to hold his gaze, ignoring the way her heartbeat began to race wildly.
Stephanie did everything she could to maintain eye contact. Her heart hammered in her chest as he spoke calmly,