Lionel watched as Suzan burst into tears, his brow tightening in clear annoyance.
He''d never been fond of women who acted fragile, always crying at the drop of a
hat. All that weeping grated on his nerves. When he''d first reunited with Suzan,
he''d managed a little patience. But ever since doubts about her true identity had
crept in, his tolerance for her tears had all but vanished.
"I just said a couple of things. There''s no need to blow it all out of proportion,"
Lionel said sharply.
Teresa nced at Yvette, and the two women exchanged a knowing, amused
smile. They were well aware of Lionel''s temperament, and neither made any
move tofort Suzan-in fact, they were almost waiting for Lionel to lose his
patience with her.
Suzan''s heart skipped a beat; she hadn''t expected her usual tactic to fail her so
quickly. She scrubbed at her tears, looking up at Lionel with a pitiful expression,
her voice trembling as she said, "I''m sorry, Uncle. I shouldn''t have spoken out of
turn or upset you. I promise, it won''t happen again."
Seeing her look so helpless, Lionel''s resolve wavered for a moment. After all, he
still didn''t know for sure whether Suzan and Vera were truly his kin. If it turned out
they were, and he''d treated them so harshly, he''d probably regret it.
"Forget it. I know you didn''t mean anything by it," he sighed.
He turned to her and said, "Let''s go."
But Suzan shook her head. "We hardly ever get a chance toe here, and now
we''ve already got a private room. I don''t want to leave."
She paused, ncing over at Yvette, and lowered her voice. "The other day, I
overheard Aunt Yvette telling you she was craving French food, so I made a
special reservation here. I just wanted everyone to try the most authentic French
cuisine. I didn''t expect things to get ruined like this."
Effie and her group had been getting ready to leave, thinking Lionel might finally
be seeing reason. But as soon as Suzan spoke, Maurice couldn''t hold back
anymore. He turned to her and said, "Honestly, as a professional in the field, your
act is embarrassingly unconvincing. Whether you''re crying or trying to sound
upset, it all justes off as fake."
Suzan''s eyes shed with irritation. "And who are you to judge? Just running your
mouth here?"
Suddenly, a thought seemed to ur to her. She took a couple of steps toward
Maurice. "Wait... you..."
Nita and Effie worried that
Maurice''s identity might be
exposed and that it would cause
unnecessary trouble with so many
people around-quickly tried to block
Suzan''s path. Unfortunately Maurice
was so tall that neither of them
could shield him effectively.
Suzan lunged forward, reaching for Maurice''s facemask.
"If you''re as impressive as you say,
why won''t you take off your mask?
What are you hiding-afraid people
will see who you really are?" Suzan
deliberately raised her voice,
drawing attention from the line of
people waiting nearby.
At that moment, Angelo, the restaurant manager, came out from the kitchen,
having heard there was some sort ofmotion.
"What''s going on here?" he asked, surveying the scene.
While everyone''s attention was on
Angelo, Suzan shoved Effie and Nita
aside and lunged at Maurice. By the
time Maurice realized what was
happening, it was toote-he was
more focused on protecting Effie
than himself, and Suzan yanked off
his mask.
Suzan stared, triumphant-until she caught sight of Maurice''s striking, familiar
features. Her expression froze in shock.
"You... you''re Maurice?"
Maurice was a national sensation; even if someone hadn''t seen his films, they''d
certainly seen him in countlessmercials.