?Chapter 145:


    “Alright.” She smiled at Denzel. “By the way, I was fiddling with your phonest night and identally invited someone. Bryan ising over for a meal. He epted the offer. You don’t mind, do you?”


    Denzel’s heart sank. He quickly grabbed his phone to check the chat history.


    But the message Ann had sent made very little sense to him.


    “His grades have improved a lot under Ms. Curtis’s tutge. She ising again tonight, and I n to invite her to dinner. Feel free to join us.”


    The timestamps showed that it had taken Bryan a while before sending a reply.


    “What’s wrong?” Ryann asked as she looked at Denzel and studied his reaction. “Are you upset by what I did?”


    “Of course not!” Denzel vehemently shook his head.


    “You’re awesome, do you know that? Mr. Dawson rarely epts social invitations, especially to an intimate gathering. Yet, you managed to do it!”


    Denzel was beaming with excitement. He proceeded to call his boss to say that he was taking a leave of absence from work. Then, he made a few additional calls to arrange for professional cooks to service them during dinner.


    Reading Ryann’s message reminded him that Adalina’s studies were indeed improving as ofte. And seeing how Eileen and Bryan were also acquainted, he saw no reason not to invite Eileen to dinner.


    He could alsopliment Eileen’s efforts in front of Ryann and hopefully help her boost her reputation.


    When Eileen received the dinner invitation, her first instinct was to say no. However, after mulling it over for a while, she decided to go.


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    She believed that the dinner was orchestrated by Ryann. The woman probably wanted some sort of proof that would quell her suspicions. Eileen couldn’t really me her for that. Even if there was an ulterior motive behind tonight’s dinner, she decided to soldier through the whole affair.


    Eileen finished some work during the day, then began to prepare the teaching materials she used for Adalina.


    As she did so, she pondered ways to keep her job and gain Ryann’s trust without hurting or offending anybody in the process.


    She wrapped things up at around five in the evening, then bought some flowers on her way to the Vance residence.


    Unlike before, the gates were wide open today, with servants bustling in and out of the premises.


    Eileen got out of her car, baffled by this unexpected scenario. She was just a tutor, after all. Surely, they weren’t preparing all this for her.


    With a cloud of apprehension hanging over her head, she slowly entered the house and ran into Denzel. He was decked out in a business suit and looked like he was just about to go.


    “Oh, Ms. Curtis! You’re here.” Denzel jovially led her to the living room. “You even brought flowers; how kind of you! Now,e and have a seat. Make yourselffortable.”


    Eileen walked and sat on the sofa. She caught a nce at the dining table on the way. It wasden with over ten dishes, and the servants were stilling in and out of the kitchen.


    She smiled at Denzel. “Mr. Vance, you don’t need to go to so much trouble.”


    “Oh, it’s no trouble at all! It might take a while before everything is ready, so feel free to rx here!” When Denzel noticed the look of unease on Eileen’s face, he quickly added, “Or you can go upstairs and tutor Adalina for a while.”


    Eileen didn’t even hesitate. “Great! I’ll go upstairs.”


    She went upstairs and pushed through Adalina’s door.


    The girl was texting on her phone, and she quickly put it down when she saw Eileen.


    “You need to have a proper bnce between work and y in order to learn,” Eileen said. “You can y with your phone if you like!”


    She thought Adalina might be afraid of getting reprimanded.


    Adalina smiled awkwardly and said nothing. As if on cue, her phone buzzed several times, indicating a bunch of new messages.


    Eileen said, “Just carry on with what you were doing. I arrived early, anyway. Your parents invited me to dinner.”


    She settled down by the window and also took out her phone. Seeing this, Adalina finally grabbed her phone and continued texting.


    Eileen nced at Adalina, who was grinning as she typed on her phone. Adalina must be chatting with her friends.


    Eileen didn’t pay much attention to Adalina and checked her own emails. About ten minutester, they heard the honk of a car outside.


    Adalina immediately put her phone down. She paused for a few seconds before saying, “I’ll go change my clothes, Ms. Curtis.”


    “What for?” Eileen asked in confusion. “We’re not going out; we’re just having a meal downstairs.”


    But Adalina was already rushing into the cloakroom without a backward nce.


    “We have a dinner guest,” came Adalina’s muffled voice as she rifled through her clothes. “It’s only right that I change into something more presentable. Here, what do you think of this dress?”


    Adalina came out holding an orange dress that had a sash around the waist. It was a good match for her temperament.


    “You still consider me a guest?” Eileen asked, smiling as she walked over and ruffled Adalina’s hair. “I’ve already seen you in your pajamas many times before. You don’t have to bother with your appearance.”


    “You’re certainly not a guest,” Adalina said as she rushed off to change.


    Before long, she came out again, bouncing with youthful excitement and grinning from ear to ear.


    Eileen had never seen Adalina in such a good mood before.


    “Do I look nice?” Adalina stood in front of the mirror, her cheeks red as she carefully arranged her hair.


    “You look great,” Eileen replied, getting increasingly curious now. “Why are you so excited, anyway?”


    Adalina lowered her head without saying anything, though her lips were still curled into a smile.


    Sounds of conversation came from downstairs.


    Eileen frowned. She didn’t know the Vance couple had invited someone else.


    “Let’s head down a littleter, Ms. Curtis,” Adalina suddenly said. She looked nervous as she sat back on her bed and yed with her phone.


    Eileen could no longer contain her curiosity. “Did your parents invite someone else to dinner?”


    She had just finished speaking when she heard the sound of footstepsing from the hall. The sound stopped right in front of Adalina’s room, then the door was pushed open. A figure came into view.


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