Stuck in The Marriage Pact
Chapter 36: Dinner invitation

Chapter 36: Dinner invitation

"Sorry," Kate whispered, glancing at Joe, who looked tense.

"Sorry for what?" Joe asked.

"Because... my honesty will hurt you," Kate replied anxiously. "I don’t mean to make you sad, I just... I just feel uneasy. I can’t let them deceive you... But I’m also afraid that if you get angry with them and tell them what you know, they’ll accuse me of telling you, and I might get into trouble," she continued.

Joe gave a slight smile, looking down.

"It’s okay... I deserve this, and you don’t need to worry... I won’t tell them," he said.

"No one deserves betrayal," Kate replied, placing her hand on Joe’s thigh. "The person who should know this best is you if Isabella is serious about this marriage being just a contract. You’re her lover, the one closest to her, but why didn’t she tell you? Isn’t that strange?" she wondered angrily.

Joe stayed silent, recalling his last meeting with Isabella.

"Honestly, I suspect this has something to do with Loraine’s plan," Kate said again.

Joe turned to her. "What plan?"

"He plans to separate you from Isabella, so Isabella can focus on Hunter because he knows Hunter isn’t handicapped and can provide everything they need. Maybe he’s influencing Isabella. he even left his job here to always be near Isabella, to monitor her every move, especially to keep her from seeing you again," Kate explained, then stared ahead at the metallic wall dominating the color of the building. "And maybe Isabella agreed because she’s captivated by Hunter... so she hid this from you," she added.

"If she likes Hunter, she should have just been honest... I would let her go peacefully... I don’t mind," Joe responded, his face twisting, remembering how Isabella wanted to end their relationship even though they could have continued dating, even with her marrying Hunter. It made him think that Isabella had turned away from him after seeing Hunter’s perfection.

"It’s completely normal for her to be more attracted to him than to me... I’ve never truly been of any use to her," he continued, nervously fiddling with his sweaty fingers as his heart raced.

"I’m sure she didn’t tell you immediately because she’s also unsure about Hunter. Maybe she still has feelings for you, or... or she doesn’t want to hurt you," Kate speculated, but Joe didn’t respond and instead headed back to the gym.

The girl stood up, watching Joe from afar, and smiled.

’Isabella Quinn... I know you’ll never be lucky. When Hunter gets tired of you and throws you away, you won’t be able to return to Joe... He won’t accept a liar like you!’ she thought slyly.

...

Brooklyn, New York.

In his office, in a building dominated by white and brownish tones with wide glass walls on every floor, Hunter was busy reviewing files. But moments later, his attention was diverted by Davin’s arrival.

"What is he here for?" He immediately stopped what he was doing and placed the pen on the desk.

"Grandfather invited us for dinner," Davin said, smiling as he looked at Hunter, who appeared formal in a white shirt and gray pants. He leaned against the edge of the desk and glanced around the quiet, orderly office filled with shelves, sofas, and various furniture dominated by silver and white tones. "This dinner is only for the grandchildren," he continued.

"I wouldn’t come unless Grandfather himself told me," Hunter replied curtly.

"He already announced the family WhatsApp group, but you wouldn’t know since you’re not in that group." Davin pulled his phone from the pocket of his blue jacket. "Should I show it to you?"

"No," Hunter replied dismissively.

"Then come. Don’t disappoint Grandfather. You’re his favorite and the most unfortunate grandson," Davin said with a sarcastic smile.

Hunter remained silent, seemingly unbothered by Davin’s words. Yeah, maybe because he wasn’t paralyzed or weak.

"Wow..." Davin’s attention was drawn to the door, where Isabella appeared carrying a black fabric bag and a small branded white handbag slung over her shoulder. "It seems my beautiful wife has brought lunch." He moved away from the desk and looked at Isabella with a smile.

Isabella glared at Davin with hatred, remembering his audacity in following her and taking pictures of her with Joe. She couldn’t forget how he had mocked her when she fell.

"Do you do things like this with that man too?" Davin asked, blocking Isabella.

Isabella remained silent.

"Please don’t bother my wife, leave!" Hunter snapped with a cold stare.

Davin gave a thin smile, continuing to gaze at Isabella’s beautiful face, so close that he almost kissed her forehead.

"Davin!" Hunter shouted again.

"You can hear your husband barking, but he can’t do anything to me even if I kiss you right in front of him," Davin whispered with a smirk before walking out of the room.

Isabella just stood still, allowing Davin to leave until he was completely gone. She then approached Hunter, who scowled at her with a cold stare.

"Why did you just stand there when he got so close to your face?" Hunter asked angrily.

"Do you think he was going to kiss me?" Isabella retorted, then sat in the chair across from Hunter, placing the fabric bag on the glass-topped white desk. "You shouldn’t take him too seriously... He’s just mocking you without knowing that you’re not as weak as he thinks."

"This is different... I don’t like him being near you!"

"Why?" Isabella smiled, blushing. "Are you jealous?"

Hunter frowned and looked back at the pile of files in front of him. He quickly picked up the pen again and started reading while Isabella took out various lunch items from the fabric bag.

"What was he doing here?" Isabella asked.

"Just giving an invitation for dinner from Grandfather," Hunter replied, pausing his reading to look at Isabella. "The dinner is just for the grandchildren... You might need to prepare yourself because some of them don’t know you... And my mother probably hasn’t told you about them," he continued.

Isabella frowned as she arranged the food in the middle of the table after pushing other items to the side.

"How many grandchildren does your Grandfather have?" she asked.

"Six in total," Hunter replied, helping Isabella organize the food. "Me, Davin, Cassandra—my younger sister, Estella—Davin’s older sister, and Giorgina and Jimmy, who are Uncle Juan’s children," he explained.

"Of all of them, I’m the only one married... And the one closest to me is Estella," Hunter added.

"Estella, Davin’s sister... How can you be so close to her but not to Davin? Even your mothers aren’t close," Isabella wondered.

"That’s because we’ve come to understand the situation," Hunter replied, munching on a vegetable salad. "Let’s not talk about this... I want to finish this lunch, and then I’ll explain more about them so you won’t be confused when you meet them," he continued.

Isabella stayed silent, opting to take out a black Tupperware cup and place it in front of Hunter. In silence, she watched her husband enjoy his lunch, her thoughts drifting to Loraine, who hadn’t contacted her since leaving her husband’s apartment.

’Where is he? Did he go back to Seattle with Kate?’