Ste, fed up and drained, shot an angry look at the two men and snapped, “Enough!”


    Seeing Ste’s frustration, both men released the te and fell into silence.


    Be, relieved by the break in tension, smiled awkwardly and tried to shift the mood.


    “It’s just lunch.


    Is it really worth all this fuss?”


    Turning to Ste, she added, “Try to understand-they both mean well.


    Just eat what you like and leave the rest.”


    She then nced at the two men with a meaningful look and continued, “Ste is an adult.


    She doesn’t need to be pampered.


    Let’s just enjoy the meal.”


    ..


    Library


    After diffusing the tension, Be reached for her utensils and said, “Alright, let’s eat.”


    Ste, however, had lost her appetite.


    She turned to Matthew with a firm look and said, “Come with me.”


    Standing, she addressed Sanford and Be, saying, “You two go ahead.


    I’ll be back in a minute.”


    Matthew gave Sanford a hard stare before catching up with Ste.


    Unbothered, Sanford calmly continued his meal.


    Once they reached a quiet spot, Ste faced Matthew with frustration.


    “What are you trying to aplish here?”


    Unfazed, Matthew shrugged and replied, “What do you think? I’m having lunch with you.”


    His nonchnt response pierced her heart, and she couldn’t help but ask, “You’ve been avoiding me all this time.


    Why the sudden change?”


    Matthew paused, struck by an unfamiliar awkwardness.


    It wasn’t that he didn’t want to respond to Ste; the truth was he didn’t have an answer.


    His memories were frozen in a state of disliking her and yearning for divorce, yet, inexplicably, he now felt drawn to her,pelled to be near.


    In Ste’s eyes, his silence seemed to confirm her frustrations.


    To her, Matthew was being utterly irrational, refusing to give her rity, all the while hovering close, asionally wounding her with his unpredictable behavior.


    She was on the verge of breaking under the weight of his constant emotional shifts.


    Taking a steadying breath, she forced herself to remainposed and, with as much patience as she could muster, said, “Just forget it.


    Leave.Text property ? N?vel(D)ra/ma.Org.


    I don’t want to argue in front of my mother.”


    With that, she turned to walk away.


    A surge of panic gripped Matthew, and he instinctively caught her wrist, his brow furrowing as he demanded, “Are you going back to eat with Sanford?”