“We heard about the explosion at your audition, and it scared us half to death! How could we even think of doing anything else? Let me see if you got hurt anywhere.”
Susanna chimed in, “Yeah, Xan, are you feeling alright?”
“Oh, I’m fine!” Xanthea spread her arms and spun around a few times. “Look, my arms, legs, head—all accounted for, not a single scratch!”
“Don’t joke about this!”
Ethan tapped her on the head lightly, and Xanthea pretended to yelp in pain. Just then, they heard a gasp from the door.
Curious, Xanthea looked over to see Matthew bending over, clutching his shaky left leg, a pained expression on his face.
“Matt, what happened to you?”
“Miss, Mr. Martinez heard about the danger you faced on set and rushed over here in a panic. While running upstairs, he accidentally bumped into the banister and broke a solid oak spindle. Must’ve hurt a lot!”
The housekeeper supported Matthew, who was ashen as he managed to force a smile. “I’m fine, seeing you safe is all that matters to me.”
Xanthea met his worried gaze, and for a moment she couldn’t tell if his emotions were genuine or feigned.
His acting had certainly improved since his past life.
“I’m okay, but maybe Matt should get that leg looked at in the hospital?”
Matthew shook his head, “No need, I’ll be fine in some time.”
“Thank goodness it was just a scare.” Christopher sighed in relief. “Dinner’s ready, let’s not gather here any longer. Let’s go downstairs to eat.”
As they were going downstairs, they happened to meet Miranda coming back.
Miranda dropped her bag, ready to excitedly share her successful audition, only to notice everyone focused on Xanthea, surrounding her with words of warmth and concern, completely oblivious to her presence.
How could she forget? In the Nightshade family, there’s only one beloved daughter. Even if she hadn’t scraped even a bit, that was a million times more important than her affairs.
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