Chapter 2871
“It’s our turn now since you’ve given her your gift already,” Lulu teased.
“Of course,” Stanley said, not in the least surprised by how others hade to know about Tia’s
birthday.
He felt that Nicole knew that today was Tia’s birthday, and that she had seen her n to surprise from
a mile away. If his guess was correct, Nicole had informed others of the asion and its purpose.
“You’ve all prepared gifts too?” Tia asked, her eyes widening in surprise.
Thest thing she had expected him to do was throw her a surprise party by inviting all of their close
friends to celebrate her birthday this year. The only other thing she did not seeing was that they
had shown up bearing gifts.
“Of course we did. Preparing gifts is a must for such an important asion,”
Lulu replied, before handing her gift to Tia.
After everyone had given the items they had prepared to Tia, Preston lowered his head awkwardly and
apologized. “Sorry, I didn’t prepare any.”
“Did no one tell you?” Samuel asked, a little taken aback.
He knew the kind of person Preston was, and that thettering empty handed was a result of him
being genuinely oblivious to the purpose of this asion rather than being a cheapskate.
“Yeah, no one did,” Preston said, his eyes downcast.
He wondered why everyone was aware of Tia’s birthday except for him.
Seizing the opportunity to tease him, Lulu raised her eyebrows. “Well, maybe it’s because you don’t
have a girlfriend?”
They had gotten to know about Tia’s birthday through frequent and casual chats with one another.
Nobody had made any official announcements, so they had identally forgotten to inform Preston.
“Are you trying to eat my heart out?” Preston argued.
After all, it was not his fault that he did not have a girlfriend, and Lulu’s jibes at the dinner table had only
served to embarrass him further.
“Well, that’s unlikely,” Lulu said, shrugging her shoulders. “I was just reminding you that you still have a
responsibility to shoulder.”
Understanding what Lulu was implying, Preston helplessly turned to Nicole, his eyes narrowed in
difort. “Can you count me out like you did for Er? I’m begging you.”
If they continued mounting all of that pressure on him, he would find the responsibility too
overwhelming for him to shoulder.
Frowning, Er retorted in disapproval. “Hey, I’m not throwing anyone under the bus here. Besides, I’ll
soon have a girlfriend.”
After he had said his piece, Er unconsciously nced over at Patricia. ‘If Patricia won’t be my
girlfriend, I’ll stay single forever.’ Preston’s expression soured in an instant, and he murmured, “Why do
I feel like I’m the only one being left out?”
That one single sentence from him got the entire crowd roaring and guffawing, making the atmosphere
in the room even merrier than it had been.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org.
Amid the gales of roaringughter, Patricia was the only one who remained solemn. Her head was
hanging low, as if she was lost in thought. She had seen through Er’s intentions, but she did not
know how to proceed without scarring him in the process. She was thinking of ways to let Er know
that they could never be a couple.
“Sorry, I didn’t know it was your birthday today. I have not prepared anything for you either,” Cindy
suddenly admitted.
However, she did not regret her choice of following Martin over. She even went on to re at him,
resenting him for not telling her what the celebration was all about. If he had done so, she would have
prepared something.
“Oh, it’s alright. No worries,” Tia said, pleasantly surprised by the fresh, new face before her.
“I’ll make it up to you the next time,” Cindy promised, feeling that it was the best she could do to not be
rude.
Shaking her head, Tia instantly declined the offer. “There’s really no need for that. I really am happy
that everyone is here today.”
Being the only young woman in her early twenties at the table, this was Tia’s first birthday celebration
of such a grand scale, which had been nothing short of lively. To make things better, she even got to
celebrate it with so many close friends and Stanley himself. It would be hard for her to not be satisfied
by what they had done for her this evening.
“No, no,” Cindy insisted.
Tia raised her hand, about to further her objections when Martin stopped her.
“It’s alright, Tia.”
Martin knew Cindy would definitely make it up to her if she wanted to. After having spent a decent
amount of time with Cindy, Martin had gotten to know how stubborn she was.