Rising From Betrayal Reborn As The Family Outcast novel Chapter 47

Chapter 47

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Jason had reserved a corner table by the floor-to-ceiling windows. The two of them sat down and started ordering.

Near the restaurant entrance, Maxwell noticed Nicolas’ foul mood. He reached out and patted his friend’s shoulder. “Are we still eating, or what?”

He’d completely lost his appetite, and his best friend had been pissed off even worse by Alicia.

Nicolas took a deep breath and let out a cold laugh. “Of course we’re eating. If they can eat here, why can’t we?”

Then he stormed toward their reserved table inside.

Maxwell looked at Nicole with a headache coming on. “We should go too.”

Nicole showed no unusual reaction and nodded thoughtfully. “Okay.”

She never caused scenes with them or argued back. Even when she cried and played the victim, she knew precisely what setting was appropriate.

Part of why she hated Alicia so much was that she envied how Alicia could throw tantrums whenever she wanted.

Alicia could flip tables without caring about the setting and live so boldly and freely.

By sheer coincidence, Nicolas had reserved a table diagonally across from where Alicia and her companion were sitting.

After they sat down, they were far enough away that they couldn’t hear the conversation, but they could see everything clearly.

Nicolas sat down and stared at the two of them expressionlessly.

Maxwell and Nicole joined him and asked him to order. He kept staring in that direction without moving. “You guys order. I’m fine with anything.”

Maxwell let Nicole order, then looked in that direction too.

Meanwhile, Alicia and Jason each ordered their favorite dishes.

Jason noticed her smiling expression and asked with a grin, “You’re in a good mood?”

Alicia took a sip of water. “Yeah, I am.”

She was completely open with Jason. “I just realized that after switching roles with them, being even more hypocritical than they are feels amazing.”

In her past life, she hadn’t found the right approach with Nicolas and Maxwell.

All she’d done was argue repeatedly, give them the silent treatment, and make huge scenes. She’d only ended up furious herself.

Now she only had to piss them off while she enjoyed herself.

Alicia thought to herself, “Turns out when you stop caring what people think, no one can hurt you anymore.

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Chapter 47

Jason nodded and said, “I can tell.” He hadn’t expected her to pull a stunt like that out of nowhere.

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Watching Nicolas’ face turn ashen because she’d defended Jason and praised him actually gave Jason a rare sense of satisfaction.

Alicia leaned in and told him, “You don’t have to hold back anymore either. If someone needs to be called out, call them out. If you need to go off, go off. If they’re going to be hypocrites, beat them at their own game.”

She grinned and added, “Just make sure you piss them off and enjoy yourself. That’s what matters.”

Jason couldn’t help but laugh softly. “Looks like you’ve had an epiphany.”

He could see she’d genuinely let go and stopped caring, and she seemed so much brighter and more alive because of it.

“Damn right I have,” Alicia said, winking at him. “Once you get the hang of it, you’ll destroy them every time.”

Jason’s situation at home was even worse than hers. He had a father who played favorites, a mother who was blinded by love, and a vicious half-brother on top of it all.

Just surviving in the Farrell family felt like a daily battle.

Jason nodded with mock seriousness and said, “Alright, I’ll make sure to learn from the master.”

Honestly, after watching that whole scene play out, he’d picked up quite a few pointers.

He’d always dealt with things by staying silent, but maybe next time he could switch up his approach.

Alicia smiled knowingly and raised her water glass. “That’s my student. Let’s drink to that.”

Jason picked up his own glass and clinked it against hers. “Cheers.”

Maxwell watched them from across the room and said, “What the hell are they doing? Toasting with water?”

He had to admit, seeing the two of them laughing and enjoying each other’s company made him incredibly uncomfortable.

It felt like someone was stealing his sister away from him.

Nicolas’ face darkened, and he said, “That bastard Jason is using her to piss me off on purpose.”

He had to admit it, though. Jason had succeeded. The jealousy was eating him alive right now.

It had been so long since he and Alicia had sat together like that, laughing and talking over a meal.

It had been forever since he’d seen her smile like that, so bright and carefree, without any weight on her shoulders.

Nicolas and Maxwell sat there, sour and seething, but Alicia and Jason just kept chatting and laughing like they didn’t have a care in the world.

Jason and Alicia both knew the two men were staring at them from across the room, but neither of them acknowledged it. They didn’t bring it up either, refusing to let it ruin the mood.

Nicolas ordered drink after drink and knocked them back one by one.

Watching Alicia and Jason look so comfortable together, talking like they’d known each other forever, made his chest tighten painfully. But he couldn’t stop torturing himself by watching them.

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Chapter 47

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Maxwell was getting more agitated by the second, and he couldn’t help but complain. “I’ve never seen Jason smile like that before. He looks like some kind of male seductress or something.”

Jason always had that cold, aloof look on his face, which was annoying enough. But now that he was actually smiling, it was even more irritating.

Nicolas shot him an unhappy glance. “If he’s a male seductress, then what does that make Alicia?”

Maxwell paused, caught off guard, then asked, “A rich girl who got charmed by a male seductress?”

Nicolas’ face went dark. “Don’t talk nonsense. Alicia would never fall for him.”

He gripped his glass hard and said through gritted teeth, “But that bastard is really playing dirty. Using the pretty boy routine? That’s shameless as hell.”

Maxwell jumped in, chiming right along with Nicolas. “Exactly! That shameless man is trying to steal what’s ours. Who the hell does he think he is?”

He continued, his voice picking up momentum. “You know what? I need to talk to Kevin and the others. They need to keep Alicia on a tighter leash before this snake charms her into doing something stupid.”

Alicia treated him like he didn’t exist, and nothing he said mattered to her.

He thought Alicia actually listened when Kevin talked to her.

Nicolas nodded and said, “Yeah, you need to talk to the Hammond family and make sure they keep an eye on things. Don’t let Alicia get played by that bastard because he’s definitely up to no good.”

Then Nicolas and Maxwell spent the next few minutes trash-talking Jason together.

Nicole watched Maxwell and Nicolas go on and on, and she wanted to tell them to knock it off.

They said they came here specifically to have dinner with her, but they spent the whole time watching other people eat instead. It was infuriating.

She had to admit, though, if Alicia was playing hard to get, it was working.

Nicole knew she needed to change this situation somehow and find more opportunities to get close to Jason.

When he dropped that mask earlier and actually smiled, her heart raced.

She wanted that for herself. ‘If I can get him on my side, let’s see how Alicia recovers from that,’ she thought.

Meanwhile, after they finished eating, Alicia pushed Jason’s wheelchair out of the restaurant. She didn’t even glance at Nicolas and the others before leaving.

Once they were gone, Nicolas stood up and said, “Let’s head back too.”

The three of them left together, abandoning a table full of untouched food.

Nicolas and Maxwell walked Nicole back to her room first. She invited them in to hang out for a bit, but Nicolas and Maxwell both turned her down without hesitation.

Since Nicolas and Maxwell were close friends, they’d specifically requested a suite so they could stay together. They’d

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Chapter 47

originally planned to spend the evening gaming together.

But now that they were back in their room, neither of them felt like playing anymore.

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The more Nicolas thought about it, the more agitated he became, and he nudged Maxwell with a suggestion. “Why don’t you call Kevin right now?”

Maxwell felt the same way. They couldn’t just let Alicia keep spending time with Jason like this.

She might not listen to them, but she’d have to listen to Kevin.

So he pulled out his phone and dialed Kevin’s number.

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