"Whatever."
Lucian snorted, he then pointed at Lena—
"This is Lena. She is like an organiser."
Lena smiled. Evelyn smiled back.
"She is quite thorough too."
Lucian praised. Then finally, he pointed at Naomi.
"And she is Naomi, my childhood friend."
He smiled, purposefully keeping the introduction simple. The other girls did not react, they knew Naomi was Lucian’s childhood friend. Evelyn, however, stared at Naomi slightly longer than the other girls.
"It’s nice to meet you."
Evelyn smiled.
"You too."
Naomi nodded.
Once again, the two women stared at each other in silence, Lucian felt something in the air change, so before it could get any worse—
"Wonderful."
He clapped his hands again.
"Now that everyone knows everyone, we need to decide what we’re ordering before others arrive and destroy my house."
"Wait."
That was when Maya raised her hand.
"We have questions."
"What?"
Lucian sighed.
The girls completely ignored him and turned towards Evelyn instead—
"Are you really staying here?"
Tara questioned.
"Only for a short while."
Evelyn smiled.
"Why?"
Lena asked curiously.
"I wanted to surprise Lucian."
Every girl in the room looked at him, Lucian’s smile twitched.
Maya’s gaze moved between Evelyn and Lucian, her mind was already making the link.
"So you came here just to see him?"
"Yes."
Evelyn nodded without the slightest bit of hesitation.
Now the girls were even more interested, Lucian could practically hear their thoughts moving.
"How did the two of you meet?"
"At work."
Lucian answered first.
"That is one way to describe it."
Evelyn chuckled.
Maya completely ignored Lucian and her focus remained on Evelyn instead—
"So he really protects you?"
"He does."
Evelyn nodded.
"Is he actually good at it?"
"What kind of question is that?"
Lucian looked offended.
But before anyone else could say anything—
"He is very good."
Evelyn praised.
"He doesn’t always follow instructions, he creates problems and he annoys everyone around him."
The girls snickered at those words.
Lucian stared at Evelyn with a flat look on his face. Evelyn looked back at him and then the look in her eyes changed—
"But when it matters, I trust him more than anyone."
The laughter slowly faded.
Maya looked at the two again and—
"So..."
Her smile became mischievous.
"Are the rumours true?"
"Which rumour?"
Evelyn asked curiously.
"That you like him."
And Evelyn—
"I do."
She admitted openly.
"I am going to marry him."
She dropped the bomb and the next instant—
The room froze.
Maya’s mouth opened, Tara’s eyes widened, Lena stared at Evelyn, Naomi stared at Lucian.
As for Evelyn—
She watched the chaos with a calm smile.
Lucian couldn’t believe it.
No, actually, he could.
When he saw Evelyn’s eyes, he knew exactly what she was thinking.
Those dark, possessive eyes told him all he needed to know about what Evelyn was thinking.
She was marking him.
This wasn’t a mistake or a slip-up, she wanted the girls to hear it, she wanted them to spread it, she wanted his University and the entire world to know that Evelyn Starling was claiming him.
She was essentially making sure no other girl made a move on him, even by mistake.
And as Lucian realised it all, it made him... smile even more.
Evelyn truly was the best.
And while he was thinking about how he wanted to devour her right that instant—
"OH. MY. GOD."
The room finally reacted.
"The two of you are together!"
Maya pointed out.
"Guys, food. We need food."
Lucian smiled.
"Fuck food!"
Lena cursed.
"We need to talk about this! We need all the details! How did you manage to charm Evelyn Starling!?"
"What? Are you kidding me? Look at me."
Lucian looked offended.
And for a moment, the girls paused.
They... really couldn’t deny that...
They highly doubted any girl in the world would reject him... but still!
This was Evelyn Starling!
THE Evelyn Starling!
"Alright, people, that’s enough."
Lucian clapped his hands again.
"You got the gossip you wanted, now get to work, we don’t have a lot of time. Others will be here any moment now.
Move! Move!"
Lucian quickly made them all move.
The girls still wanted to ask a lot more questions, but Lucian stopped answering completely, in the end, they had no choice but to start moving.
Lena took out her list.
Food.
Drinks.
Snacks.
Music.
Plates.
Cups.
Decorations.
Ice.
Desserts.
Emergency food.
Lucian frowned.
"What is emergency food?"
"Extra food in case people eat more than expected."
"That is just more food."
"It sounds more organized this way."
Lucian handed the phone back.
"Fine."
Then he looked at Tara.
"You were in charge of food, start ordering, use my card."
"How confidently rich~"
Tara chuckled.
Lucian stared at her for a second, then he just turned around and looked at Maya instead—
"You do your thing with the decoration."
"It’s called making everything aesthetic."
"Yes, that. Now go."
Lucian shooed her away.
Maya snorted and began walking through the living room, looking for places to place decorations. Lena checked the delivery applications. Tara started choosing restaurants.
Naomi quietly moved towards the dining table and began clearing the books, papers, and other things Lucian had left there before disappearing.
"What should I do?"
Evelyn questioned with a curious look on her face.
"Sit."
"You want me to sit while everyone else works?"
"You are injured, Evelyn."
Lucian spoke as he looked at her with a meaningful look on his face.
"I can still move a little."
"Evelyn."
Lucian looked at her, Evelyn did not back down and that made Lucian sigh in defeat.
"Fine, help her."
He pointed towards Maya.
"M-Me?"
Maya couldn’t believe it.
"What? You don’t think Evelyn can help?"
"N-No! That’s not it!"
Maya shook her head so fast that for a moment, it felt like it would fall apart.
Evelyn only smiled.
"Where should we start?"
Maya froze, she looked like she might faint again. Lucian quietly walked past her and—
"Stay conscious."
"I’m trying."
Maya only glared at him.