Queen of Wild Cards novel Chapter 147

It was a rare day for anyone to compliment Vernon's cooking, so he eagerly accepted everything Stella handed him.

"You make a great point, Ms. Hawthorne. I dumped a ton of seasoning on earlier, which explains why Rhoda loved it so much. Let me brush on some more sauce."

True to his word, he grabbed the brush and enthusiastically slathered on an obscene amount of sauce. It was almost comical watching the notoriously playboy heir taking his grilling duties so seriously.

Steward, Hammer, and Ian were all too familiar with Vernon's disastrous culinary skills and wouldn't wish his food on their worst enemies.

The three men exchanged meaningful glances, shifting their gaze between Vernon and Stella.

"Is Vernon possessed?"

"Is Stella doing this on purpose?"

"Does she have a vendetta against that girl?"

Only Steward knew exactly why Stella was doing this.

He shot the other two a knowing look before Hammer and Ian dragged him aside to whisper about it. That left Stella at the grill, enthusiastically 'coaching' Vernon on how to make the perfect skewers.

Meanwhile, Una and Rhoda had managed to shoo away the lingering guests nearby and were actively plotting how to humiliate Stella.

Once Vernon finished his masterpiece, he brought the platter over to his sister and Rhoda.

"I made a ton, definitely enough for both of you. Eat up! Don't ever say I don't take care of you. Even my buddies over there don't get this VIP treatment. Have as much as you want."

"Here, Rhoda, this corn is for you. And Una, here's a massive chicken leg for you."

"Thanks, Vernon." Una hadn't eaten any of his food earlier; she had only heard Rhoda's glowing review, so she accepted the chicken leg happily.

"Thank you, Vernon," Rhoda forced out miserably as she took the corn. Only she knew just how insincere those words were.

Vernon couldn't believe it was genuinely terrible, so he grabbed a beef skewer and took a bite himself.

He immediately spat it out and chucked the skewer onto the table in disgust.

Grabbing a bottle of water, he unscrewed the cap, took a frantic gulp, and then turned to Rhoda. "Ms. Ford, you have incredibly unique taste.

Since you love it so much, you can finish the rest of this plate. Please don't let all my hard work go to waste, or I'll be really hurt."

Rhoda was internally screaming. She didn't have the luxury of putting down her corn like Una had, and there was an entire plate of Vernon's toxic waste sitting right in front of her.

If she was forced to eat that entire platter, her stomach would genuinely be ruined.

To make matters worse, Stella chimed in innocently, "Go on, Ms. Ford, eat up. Vernon made this exclusively for you. You really shouldn't let his efforts go to waste."

Rhoda couldn't say a single word in her defense. It was her own fault for trying to suck up to Vernon by praising his god-awful cooking in the first place.