?Chapter 719:


    “Alright, fine. Ask whatever you want,” Karen said, resigning herself to her fate. She figured no question could be that bad. After all, she wasn’t hiding anything scandalous.


    She had thought the punishment would be nothing serious. But the second the question hung in the air, she immediately regretted her bravado. Screw it! She grabbed her drink and downed it instead.


    Elena asked, “So, what’s your take on Malcolm?”


    Karen was caught off guard. “Huh…”


    Elena looked straight at Karen, a small smile ying on her lips. Karen’s face flushed bright red, and she stammered, “W-What kind of stupid question is that? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”


    Malcolm was also surprised; his smile faltered slightly. He nced at Karen’s red face and, looking a little annoyed, answered for her, “I’m probably a better brother than Wesley.”


    He was deliberately trying to put himself on the same level as Wesley. Karen was too dense to notice, but the other two caught on immediately. It was pretty obvious someone had a major crush that wasn’t going anywhere.


    The second round started, and Malcolm yed for real this time. He wasn’t just watching the cards; he was deliberately messing with Elena’s ys.


    Because of Malcolm, Elena didn’t win this time.


    However, Malcolm ended up losing the game.


    “Bottoms up,” Wesley, the winner, said, showing no mercy to Malcolm.


    Malcolm gritted his teeth and chugged the rest of the half-empty bottle. The next few games were aplete ughter. Wesley outyed Malcolm repeatedly, forcing him to drink an entire case of beer.


    By the end of it, Malcolm was about to lose his mind. Was Wesley really being this overprotective? All he did was not let Elena win once, and now Wesley was out for revenge, making him pay the price. His stomach felt like it was about to explode.


    g?lnσν???s．c????, a world of tales


    “I give up, okay?” Malcolm said, unable to take it anymore. He threw his cards down and bolted for the bathroom.


    Karen, sensing the weirdness, quickly bailed. “I just remembered I forgot to put on sunscreen,” she said. “You guys have fun.”


    That left only Elena and Wesley.


    Wesley raised an eyebrow. “You wanna keep ying?”


    Elena pushed up her sunsses. “Nah, I’m good.” After witnessing Wesley’s ruthless takedown of Malcolm, she knew his skills were every bit as sharp as her own.


    On the beach, in a rare moment of peace, Elena leaned her head back, closed her eyes, and luxuriated in the sea breeze and the sun’s warm embrace.


    “Aren’t you going surfing, Wesley?” she asked, her eyes still closed.


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