Why didn''t he call her? Because as soon as Lyman heard Effie would be in


    charge of this shoot, he rushed downstairs, his mind entirely on seeing her—he didn''t have a second thought for Isabel.


    As for a certain someone, well, he clearly had his own agenda too, though at the moment, it looked like he was only making trouble for himself.


    "I forgot," Lyman said.


    Just those two simple words, but they left Isabel feeling slighted, as if she didn''t matter at all.


    "Lyman, when the shoot is over, do you think you could-"


    "Mr. Etheridge, your coffee."


    Effie appeared at Lyman''s side, thrusting his coffee toward him a little too forcefully.


    The cup was filled to the brim, and coffee sloshed out, nearly sttering all over Isabel.


    Isabel red. "Effie! How could you be so-" She bit back thest word-careless -in front of Lyman, swallowing it with difficulty.


    She clenched her jaw. "You need to be more careful. The coffee''s hot-what if you''d spilled it on Lyman?"


    She deliberately addressed him as "Lyman" right in front of Effie, just to make a point: she and Lyman were close. Effie was the outsider here.


    Lyman took a sip of the coffee Effie had made. "This is great, Effie."


    "So long as you like it, Mr. Etheridge," Effie replied.


    Fenton piped up, "Is it really that good? Sweet or bitter?"


    "Sweet," Lyman answered.


    How could coffee made by his darling wife taste anything but sweet?


    Fenton''s mouth twitched. Seriously? Lyman must be head-over-heels-coffee, sweet? Did Effie dump a whole bag of sugar in there?


    "Isabel,e over here and get your makeup done. You''re already holding up the shoot," Annabel called out.


    Annoyed, Isabel obeyed, heading off to the makeup chair.


    Annabel watched her, hesitating as if she wanted to say more.


    If it weren''t for Lyman and Effie asking her to keep their rtionship quiet, Annabel would have told Isabel off ages ago. Those two were happily married-what right did she have to stir the pot? ''


    "Isabel, you should watch your words from now on," Annabel said quietly.


    Isabel froze, her face crumpling as she looked at Annabel. Her voice trembled. "Annabel, did I do something wrong? If I ever upset you, just tell me. I''ll fix it, I promise."


    Annabel frowned. Did Isabel really not get it?


    When Annabel didn''t answer, Isabel felt even more triumphant inside.


    Nearly an hourter, Isabel''s hair and makeup were finally done.


    Effie came over, inspecting Isabel''s look and holding up different pieces of jewelry to her.


    She frowned and turned to the makeup artist. "Why is the makeup still so heavy? Didn''t I say the main focus today is The Etheridge


    Group''s jewelry? Everything het


    is


    secondary-the spokesperson''s makeup should be subtle so the pieces stand out."


    "That''s not my fault, it''s—" The makeup artist nced at Isabel.


    Isabel didn''t say a word, but her face was thunderous.


    She snapped, "Effie, what''s that supposed to mean? I''ve been in this industry for years and I''ve never heard anyone say a person should take a back seat to jewelry. The jewelry is here toplement us, not the other way around."


    Effie said calmly, "That may be true, but—"