Ready to Rule The Real Heiress Strikes Back (Lydia and Connor) novel Chapter 1196

Lincoln stared, completely transfixed. Yet another gorgeous girl had walked in.

“Not at all, not at all,” he said with a goofy smile, springing up to pull out a chair for Nina.

Juna rolled her eyes so dramatically it looked like they might get stuck up there. Seriously, look at this guy, tripping over himself to play the gentleman. It was almost embarrassing.

Lydia glanced at Nina beside her, then turned to Lincoln with a hint of authority. “Could you bring another set of silverware for Miss Powell?”

Lincoln nodded right away. “Of course.”

Nina let out a small laugh. “I’m good, really. I just wanted a quick word with Miss Norwood.”

Lydia could tell from Nina’s tone that this was about something specific. “Go ahead, Miss Powell. What’s on your mind?”

Nina got straight to the point. “Do you have some kind of feud with Lucinda?”

She shot a quick look at Nathaniel, since everyone knew he and Lucinda were cousins.

Lydia raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, you could say there’s a bit of history. Did she do something?”

Nina smiled, almost ruefully. “Not exactly. She just came up to me and said a bunch of things, trying to turn me against you. I’m not a fan of drama and I didn’t want to get caught up in anything, so I wanted you to know I haven’t been working with her or anything like that.”

Lydia understood right away. So Lucinda had tried to drag Nina into her games, probably hoping Nina would help her cause trouble.

“She just can’t help herself, can she?” Lydia’s voice was suddenly cool.

Juna let out a snort. “She’s such a clown.”

Nathaniel looked disgusted. “She’s always sticking her nose in where it doesn’t belong.”

Nina noticed Nathaniel’s reaction and looked a bit surprised, but she realized he was sitting with Lydia’s group and hadn’t paid Lucinda any attention all night. She decided to leave it at that.

Lincoln looked personally offended. “What does Carter have that I don’t? Is he really that much better looking? Honestly, everyone’s obsessed with him.”

Even Rosie, who was usually impossible to impress, seemed to have a thing for Carter. Lincoln just couldn’t wrap his head around it.

Across the room, Lucinda was soaking up the attention, feeling absolutely fabulous. She was just about to look for Lydia when a young man accidentally bumped into her, almost making her spill her wine.

She scowled. “Don’t you have—”

She caught herself just in time. Telling someone off in public wasn’t a good look for the city’s most eligible heiress. She bit back her irritation and forced a polite tone. “What exactly are you doing?”

The young man apologized quickly. “I’m sorry, miss. That was careless of me.”

As he spoke, he slipped something into her hand without anyone noticing—a small folded note. Then he turned and disappeared into the crowd.

Lucinda blinked in confusion, nearly calling out after him, but thought better of it. She tightened her grip on the note, forced a stiff smile at the people who’d witnessed the scene, and slipped off to a quiet corner to see what it was all about.