?


    The waiter swiftly brought a new ss for Debra, but Shelia felt offended.


    She knew Debra was provoking her.


    "Shelia, have you ordered?" Leanna emerged from the restroom, her voice slicing through the tension.


    Shelia shook her head. "Not yet."


    Leanna''s eyebrows furrowed in disapproval. "What''s going on? You can''t even handle something as simple as ordering. Forget it! I''ll take care of it."


    Her tone carried an air of authority. The people present realized that she was not Shelia''s colleague but her supervisor.


    Shelia blushed with embarrassment and quickly returned to her seat. Juan knew that Debra had done that on purpose to give Shelia a hard time.


    He whispered, "Are you upset?"


    "No," Debra replied, shaking her wine ss. "I just don''t like people touching my things."


    Juan smiled wryly. "I thought you might be jealous. Seems I was overthinking."


    Before, Debra had never arbitrarily troubled Shelia. He had thought it was jealousy driving her actions, but now it seemed Debra was simply emphasizing her identity as Mrs. Nichols in front of everyone.


    But this was enough to make him pleased. He picked up food for her and said, "If someday you were bothering her out of jealousy, I''d be quite happy."


    Debra ignored him, her focus elsewhere. She had done this to send a clear message to everyone that Shelia had been abandoned by Juan.


    In this circle, everyone was sharp and understood exactly how to navigate shifting allegiances. Shelia''s only value had been as Juan''s woman. But now that Juan had severed ties with her, those people wouldn''t have anything to do with her either. To avoid offending Juan, they would avoid her altogether.


    By doing this, Debra hadpletely cut off all of Shelia''s retreats. Tomorrow, or at thetest the day after, everyone would know that Shelia and Juan were no longer associated.


    "Try this," Leanna said, picking up a chunk of meat for Shelia.


    As Shelia brought it to her mouth, she suddenly felt a wave of nausea and couldn''t help but retch.


    The noise immediately drew attention. Debra nced at Shelia, whose face turned red as she clutched her chest, looking ufortable.


    Concerned, Leanna asked, "What''s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"


    "I just feel nauseous," Shelia grimaced, her face pale. "It''s nothing. I''ll be fine in a moment."


    Leanna deliberately raised her voice. "Oh dear, are you pregnant?"


    Debra noticed Juan''s hand paused in mid-air.


    "Pregnant?" Shelia couldn''t contain her joy, thinking it might be the case.


    Hester, who had just arrived at the entrance of the Sapphire Hotel, happened to overhear this remark. Her gaze fell upon Shelia, whom she had never met but knew all too well.? 2024 N?v/el/Dram/a.Org.


    She had heard stories of how good Juan had once been to Shelia. If Shelia was pregnant, then she would stand no chance of marrying Juan.