Chapter 244

Minutes later.

Ping.

Theresa received a message.

She was almost asleep, too groggy to bother checking.

But the name on the screen jolted her awake. [Thomas.]

She woke up in an instant.

Theresa quickly opened the message.

A faint smile played on her lips.

So, Thomas did have a bit of a conscience after all.

Did he know she’d been craving French food and was inviting her for a late–night snack?

But she was on a diet and hadn’t decided whether to indulge him or not!

Ten minutes later.

Theresa was made up, descending gracefully down the stairs.

She had rehearsed her lines in her head.

She’d make it clear to Thomas that it wasn’t the food she was after. She was merely giving him face because of his earnest effort.

With a haughty air, Theresa reached the lobby.

And then her expression subtly changed.

The lobby was not the intimate setting she’d imagined.

Instead, it was buzzing with nearly the entire crew present.

Spotted With a casual glance, Theresa even spotted Mr. Witt, in pajamas, shoveling food into his mouth.

“Rose.” a gentle voice called out.

Theresa’s face shifted slightly.

dd MM Monica? What was she doing here?

With a beaming smile, Monica said, “Rose, I know there may have been some misunderstandings between us. But since Thomas is a good friend of mine, for his sake, why don’t we bury the hatchet?”

Thomas was speechless.

Theresa’s face darkened.

She looked expressionlessly at Monica standing next to Thomas.

Thomas, feeling her stare, tensed inexplicably.

He cleared his throat. “Rose, Monica feels very sorry about the misunderstanding last time. She went out of her way to have the chef prepare these dishes for you. You’ve been saying how everything tastes so bland lately, right? This chef is a master of spicy food. Why don’t you give it a try?”

Monica’s eyes flickered slightly.

Why did it seem like Thomas became a bit of a pushover in front of Rose? Almost like he was trying to curry favor.

Was this her illusion?

Monica kept her thoughts to herself, her voice still soft. “Yes, Rose. Why don’t you join everyone and have a taste?”

Theresa arched an eyebrow, suddenly smiling. “Sure. With Ms. Lynn being so sincere, I’d love to give it a try.”

“Why wouldn’t I try it?

Monica came all this way not just to treat them to a meal, surely?”

Theresa had a hunch there was more to it.

With that in mind, she was even more determined to stick around and watch how things unfolded.

And so, Theresa happily began to eat.

During the entire process, she didn’t even spare a glance at Thomas.

Thomas, for reasons unknown to him, felt oddly guilty.

With Monica by his side, he couldn’t say much and just followed Monica around distractedly.

Monica seemed quite interested in everyone from the crew, flitting around like a butterfly among the people.

Thanks to the feast, everyone was very friendly towards Monica.

But Thomas couldn’t help but give Monica a curious look.

Hadn’t Monica claimed that Henri was her Idol? Yet she treated Henri Just the same as everyone else.

Everyone ate happily for a while.

Monica suddenly asked, “Is the whole crew here? If someone’s missing, I can have some food sent to them.”

‘Susan seems to be missing,” someone said.

Almost at the same time, another voice added. “Mr. Nicholas isn’t here either.”

There were many crew members.

These two comments emerged simultaneously, and for a moment, it was unclear who had spoken.

Theresa put down her fork, her brows knitting together slightly.

She sensed a hint of conspiracy in the air.

‘Susan? You mean Mrs. Landor?” Monica said, feigning surprise. “And who is Mr. Nicholas? Why are they both missing?”

Initially, nobody thought much of it.

But Monica’s comments made everyone feel there was something off.

Thomas glanced at Monica and said, “It’s you…”

It was Monica who had insisted not to call Susan.

Before Thomas could finish, Monica said with a soft voice, “It doesn’t seem quite right to feast like this and not save any for them. The Lynn family and the Landor family are old family friends. If Ben found out I was here and didn’t let Susan have a taste of some hometown dishes, he’d definitely be cross with me.”

“Old family friends?” Theresa raised an eyebrow. “I wonder if they acknowledge that as well.”

Monica acted as if she hadn’t heard her, and said with a tinge of guilt, “Rose, I know, I’ve done some unpleasant things to Susan before. As her friend, it’s right for you to be angry with me. How about this, let’s go find Susan together, and I’ll apologize to her face to face.”

Theresa frowned, her suspicions aroused.

Monica didn’t seem like the type to apologize.

If she wanted to apologize, why hadn’t she done it sooner? Why wait several months after the incident to suddenly decide to say sorry?

J JM M “Mr. Witt.” Monica turned to Mr. Witt. “You were there during that incident. It was a moment of folly on my part. I’ve been wanting to properly apologize to Susan, but only mustered the courage today. Mr.

Witt, could you and the crew witness my apology?”

“Huh?”

Mr. Witt was taken aback, not quite catching on immediately.

He eyed Monica for a long moment before speaking tentatively. “You’re the one from the advertisement shoot that time…”

“Yes, it was me,” Monica quickly said. “They say to err is human, to forgive divine, Mr. Witt, I truly realize my mistake.”

Mr. Witt’s expression shifted.

He still remembered Monica’s dramatics from that time.

The girl had jumped into the swimming pool herself and then claimed Susan had pushed her.

Back then, he’d sided with Susan and had outmaneuvered Monica.

If he had known that Monica would treat him to supper, he wouldn’t have come at all.

But now, having accepted her hospitality, it felt awkward to refuse her face–to–face.

“Mr. Witt, I’ll take that as a yes,” Monica said, a touch of joy in her voice.

She had some exquisite dishes brought over and then personally carried a tray, saying she was going to find Susan to apologize.

Theresa sensed something was amiss.

But there was Monica, voicing her guilt and intent to apologize.

Her seemingly pitiable demeanor convinced most of those who were unaware of the whole story to lean towards her side.

If Theresa were to stop her, it might give rise to gossip about Susan being petty–behind her back.

Watching Monica gather almost half of the crew to bear witness to her apology.

Theresa followed with an impassive face.

She really wanted to see what Monica was up to!