Faux Vows, True Desires
Chapter 43

"Sit tight; I'll fetch you two some water."

Lucinda had the two elderly folks seated at a table and poured them each a glass of water, also dishing out some of the shop's snacks for them.

"Missy, how much for all these? We'll pay now."

With a smile, Lucinda answered, "These are just some small bites, hardly worth anything. Consider it on the house; take your time enjoying them. I've got some other business to attend to." Seeing these two always reminded her of her grandparents, who used to spoil her rotten.

"Don't mind us, dear; we'll head out shortly," they said.

Lucinda exchanged pleasantries before going about her business.

She had deliveries to make, after all.

Sales were through the roof today; the coffee and snacks were flying off the shelf. Everyone was swamped, but they were all buzzing with excitement.

Cecilia sidled up to Lucinda, asking, "Lucinda, who are these oldies? Do you know them?"

"I don't. I caught sight of them hovering around our entrance when I came back and figured they might want to come in but were too shy to, so I invited them in."

Judging by their humble attire, Lucinda guessed that they'd probably never set foot in a café before and were just intrigued.

As she was saying this, Lucinda was packing the coffee and snacks into a basket, ready to be transported on the e-scooter with Cecilia's help.

Soon after, Lucinda was off on her delivery run again.

Savannah Anderson nudged her husband gently, whispering for his opinion, "What do you make of her?"

"She's got your spunk when you were young; I like her as our daughter-in-law."

The elderly lady blushed, softly scolding her husband, "We're getting on in years; you shouldn't be saying such things; it's a bit embarrassing." "All I'm saying is that I like you; what's wrong with that? I've been crazy about you for decades; there's no changing that, even if you ask me to." The old lady was left speechless.

Every moment with him made her feel as though she were eighteen again.

They'd been married for decades, but their love was still going strong.

"I like Lucinda too; Stefan's got good taste. But don't you think our daughter-in-law looks familiar? Have we met her before?"

The first time Savannah laid eyes on Lucinda, she felt a sense of familiarity.

She kept her thoughts to herself, though, never voicing out her suspicions.

Now that Lucinda was out delivering, the old lady finally shared her thoughts with her husband.

"We're meeting her for the first time; how could you feel a sense of familiarity? She's not as pretty as you were when you were young, so I only gave her a quick glance. I didn't pay much attention, so I didn't feel any familiarity."

"You're at it again; we're not at home, you know." The old lady lightly rebuked her husband once more.

She was certain that she'd never met Lucinda before, even though she felt a sense of familiarity.

Stefan had married out of the blue, without letting the family know. If it weren't for Stefan bringing Lucinda to a business cocktail party, they wouldn't have known about the marriage.

Lawrence Anderson had half a glass of water and two pieces of snack food. He found the snacks to be delicious and recommended them to his wife, saying, "Darling, give these a try; they taste great. I think they could give our personal chef a run for his money."

At Lawrence's recommendation, the old lady also tried a piece of the snack. She found it to be extremely delicious and helped herself to more, only stopping when her husband intervened.

The elderly couple spent their time at the Serendipity Cafe sipping water and munching on snacks, occasionally striking up casual conversations with Cecilia or other staff and indirectly replaceing out more about Lucinda.

Meanwhile, Lucinda, busy until the evening, had finally completed all her delivery orders.

Though exhausted, the day's earnings were phenomenal.

Both Lucinda and Cecilia were ecstatic, and even the chef felt validated.

As there usually weren't many customers, his pastries often went unsold, which made him doubt his skills.

The elderly couple left at around five in the afternoon.

Stefan would knock off at half past five, and being newlywed, he would rush home once he was off work.

The elderly couple didn't want him to know that they'd been there.

The café door was suddenly pushed open, and a few men in black walked in.

They were all tall and stern-faced, not to be trifled with.

"Gentlemen, what can I get you?"

Cecilia took the initiative to approach them with a warm welcome.

However, the man leading the pack shoved Cecilia aside, causing her to lose her balance and fall.

"Cecilia."

Lucinda quickly moved in to help Cecilia, but the man blocked her way.

He looked at Lucinda coldly, his gaze filled with threat, which took her by surprise.

She was a law-abiding citizen; she never did anything wrong or crossed anyone. She thought of Ruby and thought of the times she'd retorted at Ruby. Did that count as offending Ruby? Did Ruby send these people?

The man took out his phone, comparing the photo on it with the woman in front of him.

"Lucy."

Suddenly, Stefan walked in, a bouquet of flowers in his hand.

Seeing Stefan, the men in black reacted swiftly, with the leader asking Lucinda, "Got any booze?"

"Sorry, we don't serve alcohol."

"Alright, we'll go elsewhere then."

With that, he turned to leave, even apologizing to Cecilia, "Sorry about earlier."

Cecilia wanted to say it was alright but couldn't get the words out.

Because they did it on purpose!

Cecilia remained silent.

The men in black weren't bothered by Cecilia's attitude; they quickly left.

As they walked past Stefan, he turned to look at their retreating figures, deep in thought.

"Mr. Coleman, you're here."

Cecilia greeted Stefan with a smile, then told Lucinda, "I'll go prepare dinner; you guys chat."

"Ms. Yates, don't sweat about dinner for Lucinda; I'll take her home to eat."

Stefan spoke, handing the bouquet of flowers he held to Lucinda. His deep gaze fixed on her, he gently said, "I just passed a flower shop and thought I'd pick up a bunch for you."

"I got two bouquets today, both from you."

Stefan chuckled. "If you like them, I can get you flowers every day."

"But we don't have any vases at home to put them in."

"That's an easy fix. I'll call and have some vases delivered."

With that, Stefan took out his phone and started dialing before Lucinda could even stop him.

He was a man of action.

After ordering the vases, Stefan took Lucinda's hand and casually said, "Let's head home, darling."

"Stefan, don't call me darling; I'm not used to it yet."

"You'll get used to it if you hear it enough. Let's go, darling; let's head home. I'll have Emma tell the kitchen to whip up some of your favorite dishes."

As he spoke, Stefan was already guiding Lucinda out of the coffee shop.

Outside, a line of luxury cars approached, quickly pulling up in front of them.