Reborn, Reawakened, Rekindled novel Chapter 37

We had a quiet night. Ever since I wished Neil well, he hadn't spoken a word to me.

I was woken up by the alarm clock. As I got out of bed in a daze, I saw Neil was already up and about, dressed in a suit and tying his tie.

Neil was a man of action, very disciplined. I'd barely ever seen him oversleep. If there's something to be done, he never procrastinated.

I watched him. He's quite tall, with a bigger frame than most men. His muscles were firm and strong, he looked slim in clothes, but once he took them off, his muscular physique was revealed.

"What are you looking at? Go get dressed," Neil said after he tied his tie, glancing at me.

"Okay." I stepped into the dressing room and picked out a white cocktail dress. The dress had a fishtail design, a bit tight but very elegant and understated, so it wouldn't steal the show.

I put on a pair of nude pink heels from Valentino and went to the dressing table to do my makeup. Neil was no longer in the bedroom.

Barbara was the star of the day, so I went for a light makeup look.

By the time I came downstairs, Ada had prepared breakfast. Neil was sitting at the dining table, sipping his coffee and eating avocado toast.

"Good morning, ma'am," Ada nodded at me.

"Ada, we're going to a friend's engagement party today, so we won't be home for lunch. You don't need to prepare for us," I told Ada as I sat down.

"Understood," Ada responded.

By the time I was halfway through my meal, Neil had already finished his. After wiping his mouth, he stood up and said, "I'll wait for you in the car."

"Okay," I replied, slightly puzzled. He even wanted me to ride in the same car with him?

Five minutes later, I hurriedly got into Neil's car and we rushed to the Orchid Hotel.

The engagement party wouldn't start until noon, but as Barbara's close friend, I definitely had to arrive early. As for Neil, I had no idea why he was so eager.

Stella and Alicia Rider arrived around the same time as us. Their outfits were quite similar to mine. We were all on the same page about this, to accentuate Barbara, the most beautiful girl in a red dress.

When they saw Neil and me arrive together, Stella looked like she'd seen a ghost, her expression changing three times in a second.

Shock, confusion, speechlessness.

Alicia was a bit calmer, but her eyes were wide with surprise.

"I'll go up first," Neil said coldly after seeing Stella. He and Stella were never close to begin with. After the incident at the bar and the fight at the Wellness Oasis, their relationship had grown even colder.

"Sure," I nodded. Barbara's engagement party was on the eighth floor. He could take the elevator straight up.

After Neil left, Stella rushed over and shook me by the shoulders, "What are you doing?"

"What's going on?!" Alicia asked dramatically.

I sighed, gently pushed away Stella's hand, and explained, "The Sands family invited Neil. We're still married, we can't drive here separately, right?"

"Mr. Whitmore? You're here today too!" A woman in a black sequin dress came over to Neil, bent over and started talking to him. Her V-neck dress revealed her ample cleavage. She had a charming smile, "Long time no see."

Neil glanced at the woman, his brows furrowing slightly in confusion, "Who are you?"

The woman's smile froze, clearly taken aback. Mitch quickly jumped in, "Neil, this is Kathy. You've invested in her movie!"

When Neil heard the name "Kathy", he relaxed his brows, gave a casual smile, "Oh, it has been a while."

"We should grab coffee sometime." Kathy, somewhat embarrassed, hastily left after forcing out this sentence.

Stella was also watching Neil. She shook her head, "Look at your husband's behavior! Only you could put up with him for five years, Rena. If it were me, I would've been done with him ages ago!"

Alicia chimed in, "Yeah. So, being handsome gives him the right to scoff at marriage? That's just low!"

Hearing our chatter, Neil's gaze drifted our way. We locked eyes for a moment before we both, as if on cue, shifted our attention elsewhere.

"Enough about me. Today's all about Barbara's engagement, why are we talking about me?" I craned my neck to look around, "Hey, Barbara, where are your parents and your future in-laws?"

No sign of Norman either.

Barbara swiveled her head, "My parents are playing host to the relatives. Norman's parents were here just a moment ago. Where did they vanish to all of a sudden? I'll go check."

"Off you go." I waved her away.