Never Mistake a Queen for a Lapdog novel Chapter 1151

The day after the New Year, Noreen and Rosalind visited the Harcourt family.

Years ago, when Rosalind fell ill and the Gilmore family shut their doors on a desperate Noreen, Rosalind severed all ties with them.

Because of that, they never spent the holidays with their extended family.

Now that Noreen was successful, the Gilmores wanted to reconnect.

But Rosalind had firmly rejected them, leaving their holidays wonderfully peaceful.

Noreen appreciated the peace and quiet.

But she was still more than happy to visit the Harcourts for the New Year.

Knowing Noreen was coming, Evelyn had started preparing early.

She originally planned to have the newly hired chef handle the meal, but Seth volunteered to cook instead.

Sitting in the living room, Wade Harcourt watched his son head into the kitchen and scoffed, "I suppose I'm benefiting from this."

Evelyn laughed. "As long as there's food on the table."

When Noreen and Rosalind arrived, Seth was still busy in the kitchen.

Evelyn welcomed them in.

Terrified her mother would notice something, Noreen didn't dare go look for Seth. Instead, she sat primly in the living room, playing chess with Wade.

Her mind was clearly miles away from the board, and she lost the first game in record time.

It was the first time she had ever lost a match.

Wade didn't call her out on it, simply resetting the board for another round.

Noreen's gaze kept drifting toward the kitchen, as if pulled by an invisible hook.

By the time dinner was ready, she had lost three games in a row.

Even Evelyn was baffled. "Noreen, are you out of practice?"

Noreen wanted the floor to swallow her whole. "Work has been so busy lately. I guess I'm a little rusty."

Thankfully, Evelyn didn't press the issue, or Noreen really would have dug a hole and hidden in it.

By the time they reached the dining room, Seth was bringing out the final soup.

Evelyn told him to stop fussing and sit down to eat.

Once Seth took his seat, Wade told the mother and daughter to make themselves at home and not stand on ceremony.

The atmosphere instantly froze.

Noreen, who had been mid-sentence, abruptly stopped talking.

Rosalind's gaze swept over, landing squarely on the peeled shrimp.

Noreen's back went rigid. She forced a strained smile. "Why did you put Mr. Harcourt's shrimp on my plate? Mr. Harcourt, you should try this..."

Wade remained silent for a moment, his eyes also on the shrimp.

In his thirty-odd years of fatherhood, this was the first time he was about to eat a shrimp peeled by his own son.

Even if... it was a hand-me-down.

Fortunately, Rosalind didn't ask any questions.

As soon as Rosalind looked away, Noreen secretly kicked Seth under the table.

She didn't hold back, sending a clear warning for him to behave and not blow their cover in front of her mother.

He didn't dodge, nor did he even flinch. He just kept peeling.

Under Noreen's panicked gaze, he dropped the second shrimp right onto her plate.