Doomsday Revenge: Payback Time (Josie) novel Chapter 73

Chapter 73

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Mena

Aubrey fell silent.

Sierra’s unease intensified with every thought. “Is he so unwilling to let it go,” she speculated, “that he’s living with you, just waiting for a chance to secretly murder you?“.

“Stop watching so many true–crime documentaries about passion killings,” Aubrey sighed softly, lying down and pulling the covers up to her shoulders.“You should watch more fluffy romance dramas, like ‘My Bossy CEO,‘ instead. Much better for your mental health.”

Sierra chuckled, then sighed, a poignant note in her voice.“Bree,” she said, “until your father’s name is cleared, you and he can never be together. Don’t let yourself fall back into it, okay? It’ll only bring you more pain.”

“I know.”

“Oh, by the way, your mom called me. She asked me to tell you that your brother’s girlfriend is pregnant.”

Aubrey placed her phone on the pillow beside her and closed her eyes, feigning sleep. Beneath her outwardly tranquil surface, her heart was already shrouded in a thick, oppressive fog.

Whenever her family came up, her peace of mind evaporated.

If she hadn’t blocked her mother, her brother, and his girlfriend back then, she’d probably be clinically depressed by now.

Sierra continued, “Your mom wants you to come home when you have a moment, to discuss your brother’s wedding. She said you can’t have two major celebrations in the family within one year, so she wants your brother to get married before New Year, and your wedding will be scheduled for after New Year.”

Aubrey remained silent.

Sierra, looking at the screen, saw her with her eyes closed, completely still, her sleeping face sweet and lovely.

“Bree, are you asleep? Are you listening?”

Aubrey’s lips barely moved.“I’m listening.”

“I thought you’d fallen asleep.”

Aubrey scoffed softly. Sleep? After everything he’d just said, she’d be lucky if she wasn’t already wide awake with insomnia.

“What are you going to do about your brother’s wedding?”

Aubrey replied nonchalantly, “What can I do? As his older sister, when he gets married, I’ll give a reasonably decent monetary gift, within my means. As for anything else, I can’t help, and I don’t want to.”

Sierra smiled knowingly.

That was the Aubrey she knew, alright.

She had a heart, but it was a small one.

A brother–enabler? Not even close.

“Good. As my best friend’s brother, if he invites me to his wedding, I’ll also give him a respectable monetary gift.”

Aubrey didn’t want to talk about family matters, so she changed the subject.“Sierra, can I ask you something?”

“What is it?”

“Noodles. How do you make them taste good?”

“You don’t like to cook. Why are you suddenly asking?”

“I’m craving noodles. I’m going to cook them tomorrow morning.”

Just get delivery! It’s fast and convenient.”

He wouldn’t even eat cafeteria food, so takeout was definitely out.

Picky eater.

“Come on, just tell me how to make a good bowl of noodles?”

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Sierra didn’t press for an explanation; instead patiently detailed to Aubrey how to cook noodles for the perfect chewy texture and flavor, specifying what ingredients to use, when to add them, and for how long they should cook.

Once they finished talking about the noodles, they hung up.

In her dreams, Aubrey was cooking noodles.

The next morning,

Aubrey woke up to her alarm.

After she had freshened up and slipped into her fuzzy pajamas, Aubrey dragged her weary feet into the kitchen. She pulled out her phone, opened a recipe app, and began kneading dough.

Damor, being from the North, considered serving him dried noodles for breakfast akin to giving him instant ramen.

Aubrey was a Southern girl, and she wasn’t particularly fond of cooking.

She could still manage simple dishes like scrambled eggs with tomatoes or blanched greens.

For her kneading the dough, rolling it out, pulling the noodles, and then turning them into soup with sliced meat, egg, and bok choy was an epic challenge.

As she kneaded the dough, she cursed Damon’s picky palate in her mind.

Why couldn’t he just eat packaged noodles?

They were so convenient!

Once the water boiled, you just dropped a handful in, added eggs, veggies, meat–everything! One pot, cooked through, and done.

After an hour of frantic work, she finally had the noodles cut.

Aubrey put a pot on the stove to boil water. Combining secrets she’d gleaned from the Look and Sierra, she blanched the noodles, scooped them out to rinse in cold water, then set them aside in a bowl..

Then, she separately fried the eggs, cooked the sliced meat in broth, and added the greens.