Chapter 0139
Linda took the eggs off the stove too soon. I wondered if they had fully solidified. When she cracked
them on a bowl, however, the whites of the eggs, at least, seemed whole. Yet when she cut them in
half,
to remove the yokes, the yellow yoke was slimy,
She didn’t seem to mind and poured them into a bowl anyway. A bold choice.
Nathan leaned closer, peering into the bowl. “Does that look right?”
Linda nodded. “I cook the eggs shorter than necessary so the yellow bit comes out better. It makes it
easier to mix too.”
To me, Julian said, “I wonder who they are going to get to taste test this, because not it.”
I really hoped it wasn’t me, either.
Nathan leaned back. His face crumpled like he wanted to correct her, but ultimately, he decided to stay
neutral.
Linda then mixed the other ingredients in with the eggs and began to stir. She lifted an egg half to add
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtthe mixture, when the egg slipped down onto the ground.
“Slippery little things, aren’t they?” Linda said, laughing though it sounded nervous.
She reached down, picked up the egg, and returned it to the plate.
Everyone in the room went very quiet
Linda continued adding the mixture to that egg, like nothing had just happened.
Nathan leaned forward again. “Linda. Did you see any problem with adding that specific egg back to
the
plate?”
She blinked at him in obvious confusion. “Accidents happen. I’m sure the floor is regularly cleaned.”
Nathan frowned. “Do you ever spend time in the kitchens at home?”
Her brow furrowed. “Sometimes,” she said, but her eyes shifted as she spoke. She was clearly lying.
Nicholas stepped into the center of the room. “That’s enough. I believe this experiment has proven my
case.
Grumbling, Joseph pushed off from the wall and stormed out of the room. I stepped back just in time to
narrowly avoid being shouldered by him.
Sore loser, Jullan said.
don’t understand,” Linda said. “What did I do wrong?”
Someone should have been supervising the girls when they cooked,” Nicholas said to Nathan, “If we
do another cooking challenge, please see to it.”
Nathan bowed. “A horrible oversight on my part. I beg forgiveness, Your Royal Highness.”
Nicholas nodded.
“Someone explain to me what is going on,” Linda said, voice rising in panic or anger or both.
Julian smirked. “You blew it, Linda. Not only did you undercook the eggs, but you even dropped one on
the ground, then returned it to the table. Admit it, you’ve never even been into a kitchen before in your
life.”
“I’ve been in one!” she announced loudly.
Julian smiled wider. She’d taken his bait and proven that, though she’d been in a kitchen, she had not
been in one to cook. Very likely, she had never cooked in her entire life. Likely, she hadn’t seen anyone
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmelse do so either, or she would know not to pick things up off the floor.
Everyone in the room watched her with pitiful eyes, except those few who were laughing.
Yet Linda sought me out in her ire.
“This is all your fault, Piper! You. You sabotaged me!”
“We know she didn’t,” Nicholas said. “You will convince no one otherwise after what we have just
witnessed.”
“If you had only listened to me,” she said instead.
“I did listen, Linda. Until you stopped speaking to me. We could have helped each other, but you were
too stuck on excluding me.”
“You deserve to be excluded. You have no right to even be here!”
“Stop embarrassing yourself,” Julian said. “You’ve already had a poor showing. Just accept the failure
with grace.”
“Poor showing?!” She was shouting now, her eyes wild. She looked around the room like a woman
crazed. Then her sights landed on a nearby knife.
She snatched it off the counter, then, holding it in both hands, she lunged for me.