Taken By My Fiancé's Uncle - Chapter 112: Chapter 112

The taxi pulled into Antiquity Lane and stopped in front of Eugene's palatial stone manor. Lorraine composed herself, got out of the taxi, and headed straight inside.
"Hey, you forgot to pay." The driver looked at her helplessly. "Just came back from breaking up with your boyfriend at the airport? You look utterly distraught."
"He's not my boyfriend," Lorraine said as she paid the driver. After a moment's thought, she added earnestly, "And I wasn't going there to break up with anyone, either."
The driver blinked, momentarily at a loss for words.
As soon as Lorraine stepped into the living room, she saw Queenie lounging on the sofa, scrolling through her phone. In front of her sat a plate of mousse and a cup of coffee, the air filled with the faint sweetness of pastries.
'Queenie really has all the time in the world to pamper herself and live in such refined luxury,' Lorraine thought.
Queenie noticed Lorraine the moment she walked in, but simply chose to ignore her.
Lorraine didn't linger in the living room either, slowly making her way towards the bedroom.
Behind her, Queenie picked up her coffee, narrowing her exquisitely lined eyes as she glanced in Lorraine's direction. A faint smirk tugged at the corner of her lips, her gaze flickering with something unreadable.
The first night after Eugene left, Lorraine found herself, to her surprise, lying wide awake. Lying alone on the soft, comfortable bed, she couldn't shake the emptiness in her heart. Reaching out to the cold space beside her, a quiet melancholy washed over her.
Habits could be terrifying. Lorraine'd grown so accustomed to Eugene's presence that now she found herself missing his refreshing sandalwood scent, and longing for the comforting warmth of his body.
Lorraine covered her face with both hands and let out a long sigh. Then she pulled the summer quilt over her head, trying to shut out the world. A few minutes later, she reached out, grabbed her phone, and checked it.
By her calculations, Eugene should have arrived by now. But she didn't receive any calls or messages. Lorraine clutched her phone, waiting for Eugene's call like a lovesick fool. Before she knew it, she'd drifted off to sleep.
Not long after, in the darkness, Lorraine's phone lit up with a faint, flickering glow, casting a soft light over her slightly troubled sleeping face.
Woken by her alarm, Lorraine stumbled into the bathroom, her hair still disheveled. Only after coming out did she feel a bit more awake, and suddenly remembered something important. She hurried to the bedside and grabbed her phone. She wondered if Eugene had called her.
She unlocked her phone but found no missed calls—just a single unread message. Her slender fingers hovered over it, her heart pounding.
The message read, [Arrived safely in Newford. Don't worry about me. Be good.]
Lorraine's gaze lingered on the last two words. She hugged her phone with a silly grin. Only after savoring the moment did she finally start getting ready for work.
Not seeing Queenie when she stepped out of the bedroom, Lorraine breathed a sigh of relief. She grabbed her bag and headed out. Since Eugene wasn't home, she couldn't be bothered to make breakfast and would just grab something quick for breakfast on the way.
The internship at the medical room was pretty easygoing. During downtime, Shirin loved sharing the latest gossip with Lorraine. But today, she noticed Lorraine seemed a little out of it.
Shirin rolled her eyes playfully and tugged at Lorraine's arm. "Lorraine, let's go shopping after work. I know a new place—the food's great, and they have something you love."
Lorraine, resting her chin in her hand and lost in thought, turned to Shirin when she heard her. She was about to agree, but Eugene's words echoed in her mind. After a brief pause, she shook her head and said, "Nah, I think I'll pass."
Since Eugene told her to be a good girl and wait for him at home, she wouldn't go anywhere.
Shirin rolled her eyes. "Seriously? Choosing your man over your bestie again?"
Lorraine was speechless.
"With Eugene away these days, it's not like you can ditch your friends for your boyfriend now, is it?"
Lorraine thought for a moment, then lifted her chin defiantly. "Just because he's not here," she said, "doesn't mean I can't do something for him."
Shirin asked, "Like what?"
"It's a secret," Lorraine replied.
Shirin rolled her eyes dramatically. "You're hopeless."
After work, Lorraine hurriedly squeezed onto a crowded bus. After a bumpy ride, she headed straight to the supermarket and bought a stack of cookbooks, determined to seriously learn how to cook.
Starting now, she'd learn to cook—so that when Eugene returned, she could whip up a delicious feast just for him. Her culinary dreams were ambitious, but reality had other plans.
That evening, back at the palatial stone manor, Lorraine made another clumsy attempt at cooking. After bustling around in the kitchen, she emerged with two plates of her culinary creations.
Queenie was video-chatting with a friend in her bedroom when she abruptly caught a foul reek wafting through the air. Frowning, she followed the offensive odor out to investigate. Her eyes flashed with instant displeasure.
Lorraine stood in the dining room, a loose pink apron hanging awkwardly around her waist. Stray wisps of hair clung messily to her cheeks, which were streaked with oil—she looked so disheveled it made one wince.
Yet her eyes sparkled with excitement, fixed unwaveringly on the two utterly unrecognizable dishes on the table, her lips curling into a beaming smile of pride.
Queenie took a few steps forward, her footsteps startling Lorraine. Looking up to see Queenie approaching, Lorraine instinctively reached out to shield the two plates of food, as if afraid they might be away.
"Don't flatter yourself." Queenie crossed her arms, tilted her haughty chin, and shot Lorraine a mocking smile. "I can't even bear to look at them," she sneered. "Only you know what they're supposed to be. Eugene would never touch such revolting slop."
"You're not Eugene, so how would you know?" Lorraine said as she sat down. "Maybe he'd actually like it."
Queenie arched an eyebrow, her eyes flashing with faint disdain before walking away.
Clutching her fork until her knuckles whitened, Lorraine lifted her gaze to Queenie's retreating figure. The light in her starry eyes faded as she wondered, 'What did I ever do to deserve Queenie's constant belittling? Could it be Queenie and Eugene are actually close?'
Despite Queenie's constant disdain, Lorraine remained as steadfast as ever. She threw herself into learning a new dish each day, practicing them over and over, and obediently stayed in the palatial stone manor—just as she'd promised Eugene—never venturing out.
The rest of her time was spent glued to WhatsApp, eagerly awaiting Eugene's messages. But with him preoccupied with searching for his mother, replies came few and far between.
But every time even a brief message from Eugene came through, Lorraine would clutch her phone with a silly, lovesick grin for ages. Sometimes, when Queenie saw this, she couldn't help but roll her eyes.
Yet there was no trace of Eugene's mother—his search had come up empty, and it seemed his return to Lesvinton would have to be postponed yet again. The days dragged on, and time seemed to stretch endlessly. Each week felt like an eternity to Lorraine.
On weekends, with no work or need to go out, Lorraine had all the time she wanted to hone her cooking skills. After a few days of effort, she could now whip up some basic dishes—nothing gourmet, but at least recognizable as actual food.
From the moment she woke up, Lorraine threw herself into the kitchen, dedicating herself to practicing her cooking. After countless failed attempts all morning, she finally emerged triumphantly, carrying a plate of perfectly cooked fish.
The moment Queenie walked in from outside, she was hit by a pungent fish smell. She couldn't help but frown, raised a hand to cover her nose, and strode into the living room.
Lorraine spotted Queenie the moment she walked in, placed the fish on the dining table, and then went to serve herself some rice.
Unable to stand the overpowering fish odor any longer, Queenie grabbed the plate of fish and, without a second thought, dumped the whole thing straight into the trash can.
Lorraine was speechless. After getting covered in fish smell, wasting a ton of ingredients, and nearly cutting her fingers while scoring the fish—all that effort for the fish she'd finally managed to make and Queenie just dumped it.
Her anger simmered and grew. Clenching her fists, Lorraine glared at Queenie and said coldly, "Ms. Godfrey, what's the big idea throwing away my food? If you didn't want to eat it, you could've just said so. Why dump what I worked on all morning?"
Lorraine was seething. Her small face was streaked with oil and drawn tight with anger, her heart heavy with hurt.
Queenie shot her a cool glance and drawled with disdain, "I've put up with you long enough. You churn out this garbage every day. You don't mind, but it disgusts me. This whole place reeks. Do you expect me to suffer through this with you?"
With that, Queenie turned on her heel and strode out without a backward glance. The whole room reeked of fish—she desperately needed to escape the stench and get some fresh air.
Lorraine had reached her breaking point. She was thoroughly fed up with Queenie's arrogance—one more minute with her and she'd lose her mind.
Lorraine crouched down, staring at the pitiful fish in the trash can. All that hard work this morning was gone just like that. Her shoulders slumped in defeat.
The more Lorraine thought about it, the more upset she became. Clenching her fists, she stood up, pulled out her phone, and texted Eugene, [Eugene, is it okay if I move back to the dorm on campus and wait for your return?]
In the penthouse suite of a luxury hotel in Newford of Lesvinton, fresh out of the shower with his hair still damp, Eugene noticed his phone ringing on the nightstand. He swiped open the screen and couldn't help raising an eyebrow before quickly typing out a reply.
[What's wrong? Is the manor not working out for you?]
After a moment's hesitation, Lorraine finally texted him back, [Well, it's not that it's inconvenient, but it's not exactly convenient either.]
Eugene chuckled to himself. The way she put it made him want to pull her over and give her a playful spanking. That was beating around the bush. He wondered if she was bullied or something. He paused, then texted her back, [Are you upset?]
Lorraine replied with a pouting bunny emoji.
Recalling Queenie's temperament, Eugene smiled. His long fingers swiftly tapped out a message on the screen. [Queenie gave you a hard time?]