The four of them sat face to face as dinner was brought out by the servers.
Chloe eyed Jessica across the table, her eyes carrying a smug glint. "Jessica, your maid asked me earlier what you liked to eat, so I told them! I made sure they served your favorite-crab legs! Eat up!"
Everyone at the table knew Jessica loved crab, but unless Alan cracked the shells and pulled out the meat for her, she wouldn't even bother. That used to be his thing-pampering her like a queen. But now? No one was stepping up for her.
This was Chloe's moment. She wanted to stab at Jessica's pride, poke right where it hurt. After all, Alan had confessed his feelings to her. She was the one he'd marry. With that in mind, she no longer had to hold back.
Suddenly, it all clicked-why Jessica had always been so spoiled and arrogant growing up. Being adored like that by a man? It felt amazing.
Jessica instantly caught on to Chloe's petty mind games, but her lashes dropped slightly in indifference. She'd already made peace with her past. Chloe's words? Couldn't even ruffle her mood.
She calmly reached out to pick up another dish, when-surprise-a chunk of warm, glistening crab meat landed on her plate, perfectly pulled from the shell and drizzled with garlic butter.
"Jessica, this one's for you. I cracked it," Paul said with a warm smile, gentle like a spring breeze.
"Thanks," Jessica replied with a soft curve in her brows, lips tugging up in a lovely arc. Without hesitation, she picked up the tender crab meat and popped it into her mouth.
Her smile was beautiful-gone was the immaturity of youth. Now she had this subtle, delicate charm, like a half-ripe apple: just the right mix of sweet and tangy.
Paul couldn't take his eyes off her. Only now did he really get why Alan had spent so many years doing this for her. Watching her eat like that, so satisfied, smiling... it was enough to warm anyone's heart.
Alan, on the other hand, was seething with jealousy. His hand clenched around his fork so hard, veins popped on his knuckles.
Chloe's anger flared too. She never thought Paul-who avoided shellfish like the plague-would crack crab legs for Jessica.
She sneaked a glance at Alan, silently hoping he'd treat her the way he used to with Jessica. But judging by the stormy look on his face, she knew that hope was dead.
Squashing her disappointment and irritation, she reminded herself-she'd fought for four years to get close to this man. She'd won his heart step by step, doing what she believed worked: acting gentle and sweet, everything Jessica wasn't.
So she leaned over, picked up a crab claw, and carefully cracked it open with the nutcracker, placing the intact meat into Alan's small plate, her smile soft and graceful.
"Alan, let me get this for you! Here, try it," Chloe's voice was soft enough to melt, practically dripping with sweetness.
Jessica shot her a glance-seriously, the perfect domestic goddess vibe. No wonder Alan had a thing for her. Guess serving someone feels pretty different from being on the receiving end.
"Ow!" Paul winced. Honestly, he had no clue how to crack crab legs properly. That's why he never bothered eating them-way too much work.
"Oh no, you're bleeding!" Jessica immediately grabbed Paul's hand. A tiny bead of blood was forming, and without thinking, she brought his finger to her lips and gently sucked the blood off.
Paul's face turned beet red. He wasn't used to girls treating him like this.
Alan slammed his fork down. "Paul, seriously? She's not a kid anymore. You doing all that for her?"
"In my eyes, she'll always be one," Paul replied coolly, ignoring the flash of cold warning in Alan's eyes.
Jessica held Paul's hand carefully. "Does it still hurt?"
She remembered getting pinched by a crab claw as a kid-it stung like hell. She cried her eyes out in someone's arms that time. From then on, she swore off cracking crab herself.
Paul slowly pulled his hand back and ruffled her hair with a warm smile. "Nah, it's fine. Just a tiny pinch. Look at you, fussing over it. I'll keep cracking, don't worry!"
"No, you don't have to-I'm done with crab," Jessica quickly stopped him.
"That won't do. It's your first night home for dinner, no way I'm letting you miss out on your favorite dish. Just a small poke, nothing serious. I'm a guy, not made of glass! And hey, didn't you used to love rearranging the empty shells into whole crabs? Just wait-I'll get them ready."
Paul grabbed another crab leg.
"Hold on!" Jessica grabbed his hand and turned to Grace. "Take a few crab legs downstairs and ask someone to pull the meat out. Oh, and if anyone can reassemble the shells to look like a perfect crab, give 'em a hundred bucks!"
Grace quickly carried the tray off to the kitchen.
Not long after, she returned carrying two plates-one stacked with crab meat, the other with a few neatly reassembled empty shells.
Jessica smiled. "Paul, see? When the help can do it, why should we? Tsk, tsk... so rebuilding a crab shell only costs a hundred bucks! They even did more than one! With money, you really can make anything happen. Man, if I'd said fifty, someone probably would've still done it!"
Paul kept nodding along, chuckling with Jessica as the two of them dug in and shared laughs.
Across the table, Alan looked stormy, while Chloe's face had gone ghost-white.
