True Fated Marriage (Grace and Heinz)
Chapter 1966

They went back to their rooms after they woke up but the men were nowhere to be seen. They figured they must be downstairs already. Thus, they washed up and walked down the stairs together. On the stairs, Maria spotted the three of them eating by the dining table and shouted, "Hey, why didn't you wait for us?"

Gary sneered and retorted, "Why should we wait for you when you specifically asked us to not disturb you? Who would dare to disturb you then?"

Maria was startled.

Gary continued, "So what should we do then? Should we disturb you or should we not disturb you? It seems like we are going to be in trouble either way."

Maria was startled for a while too listening to what Gary said, then returned to her senses and then chuckled.

She cleared her throat and said while walking to them, "You shouldn't disturb us last night. That's clearly your fault. However, isn't it a bit too much to not ask us to join you for breakfast the next morning?" "It's not morning anymore, girls." Gary corrected, "It's already noon, and it's almost one o'clock."

"However, you still shouldn't have started eating without waiting for us." The ladies then got to the dining table.

Gary continued to bicker with Maria, "Who knows what time you guys went to sleep? What if I woke you up when you had just fallen asleep? I don't want to get myself in trouble by then."

Maria glared at him with her eyes wide, full of despair.

Gary snorted. He got up and pulled the chair for Celeste to sit right next to him.

Ernest also did the same for Leah.

Maria was angered by Gary's words, so she retorted again. "I thought you were fearless. I didn't know that you would be scared of girls who didn't get enough sleep."

"I'm not afraid of anything, but you," Gary said, "You influenced Celeste to turn off her phone for the entire night. That really intimidated me."

Hearing that, Maria instantly widened her eyes.

She felt so wronged!

"Since when did I influence Celeste to turn off her phone?" Maria was dumbfounded as she stared blankly at Gary then at Celeste.

Celeste immediately apologized awkwardly, "I'm sorry, Maria. I didn't mean to involve you in this."

"It's fine." Maria waved her hand. "I'm just confused by his tone. He made it sound like I'm the only one at fault here. Do you really think Celeste isn't capable of doing any bad thing on her own?" "Well, you can't blame me for thinking like that. You have been a troublemaker since you were a kid. If it wasn't for Liam, you wouldn't even have become this ladylike," Gary retorted again. Celeste immediately stopped him from making things uglier. "Gary, I made that decision to turn off the phone myself. Maria is not involved in this at all. Stop saying things like this." Gary glanced at Celeste. He wasn't planning to hold back and he continued, "You wouldn't have turned off your phone if she didn't ask to have a ladies night. She still started this."

"Yes, blame it all on me," Maria snapped back, her tone displeased.

Liam pulled Maria to him and let her sit down.

Maria looked at Liam and asked, "Do you really think I started this?"

"Let's stop talking about this." Liam refused to answer her question. "Didn't you say you were hungry? Go on, have your breakfast."

He said as he picked some food for Maria.

The butler was also able to read the room, and served all the dishes once he saw everyone was by the dining table.

The fragrant aroma of the food eliminated the tense atmosphere.

Maria snorted. "Gary, I don't want to argue about this anymore. Anyway, I wasn't being a bad influence to Celeste and I only asked for a ladies' night because I missed Celeste too much. However, I'll just let you say whatever you want."

Gary wanted to refute but Celeste tugged on his shirt. He could only say awkwardly, "I don't want to argue either, especially with this much good food on the table. I'd rather enjoy the meal with Celeste." Celeste was looking helpless as she continued to tug on Gary's shirt.

Gary gave her a look and finally decided to listen to Celeste and to stop arguing with Maria.

Maria looked at Liam and then at Gary. She suddenly felt that she was starting to feel displeased with both of them.

Gary had often bickered with her since they were kids.

However, what about Liam? How could he not take her side when he was her boyfriend? Maria felt depressed about that.

She ate in silence, couldn't enjoy her food at all, feeling dejected and upset.

Liam noticed that, yet he still asked, "What's the matter? Did you stay up all night? I told you to get some good sleep first, didn't I? Why can't you just continue your conversation the next morning? Look at your eyes, they're swollen."

Maria got even more speechless.

She was just a little too excited the previous night.

After she returned from London and spent a day at home, she went to visit Liam at work.

They had been spending time together since then.

It was stressful for her to be around Liam. She had to always stay alert of her surroundings to avoid their pictures being taken.

Liam wasn't really bothered about that. He was just acting like his usual self. However, Maria was being the exact opposite, especially as his manager. She didn't want Liam's photos to be taken.

Liam didn't seem to understand her intentions.

Liam got two days off from his filming duties. Naturally, she would love to meet some friends and just chill around with Liam, rather than speningd those two days in the hotel or at home.

She wouldn't have talked all night with Celeste and Leah without sleeping if she actually had more time to be with them. Time was precious to them.

Anyway, men would probably never understand what she was thinking. She didn't want to bothered by Liam's unconcern either.

As for Gary, he had always had such a sharp tongue. It was no surprise.

Maria then noticed Celeste's apologetic and guilty expression, then she chuckled.

She shook her head at Celeste, showing that she wasn't bothered about it, and also to tell Celeste to not dwell on it.

Celeste finally heaved a sigh of relief, but she was still feeling very guilty.

She glared at Gary in annoyance and said in a low voice, "I told you I should have some personal space to myself, yet you are still trying to blame this on Maria." Hearing that, Gary quirked his brow. "Fine, fine, the blame's on me then."

"It's no doubt your fault," Celeste replied.

Gary felt helpless. He looked at Liam and Ernest. "Guys, mind helping me out here?"

"However, you're really at fault," Liam said indifferently, "Aren't you being a little petty to be so offended about the ladies spending just one night together?"

Maria blinked her eyes.

What did she just hear? Has the world changed?

Did Liam really say that?

She smiled happily, feeling joyful and proud about it.

Although it was a little late to finally hear her boyfriend taking her side, she should still give him the credit where it was due. He finally could have a clear picture of the situation, and acted like a boyfriend. Ernest also nodded and talked with a straight face. "Gary, I also think that you're being too calculative about this. It was only one night. Why can't you just let it go?"

"Ernest, Liam, you guys really surprised me." Gary knew that they thought the same way as him, but he realized that he was alone in the battle. He was made the bad guy again.

Ernest and Liam didn't reply. They just smiled faintly as if they weren't bothered by Gary's words.

Gary looked at Leah, who had been silent all the while, and decided to ask, "Leah, you've been quiet. It seems to me that you are exhausted from staying up all night."

Leah was startled. She didn't want to get herself involved, yet he mentioned her. It seemed like Gary just wanted to start another fight.

"I'm exhausted from the hiking. Talking all night actually only got me excited. Gary, I think you should start cherishing the time you get to spend with Celeste because clearly, you can't live without her, not even for one night."

Leah's words left Gary dumbfounded.

He sneered.

They were all taking the same side. He rolled his eyes at them and did not say anything.

After the meal, he was the first to leave.

Celeste noticed that he was getting emotional about it and immediately said to others, "You guys continue. I'll take a look at him upstairs."

Ernest said, "He's fine. He's throwing a tantrum purposely because he wants you to keep him company. This is actually one of his many strategies." Celeste was stunned, but was still a little worried.

It was only normal for Gary to be angry when she left him alone the whole night and everyone was against him the next morning.

"Celeste, Ernest's right. Gary's not that petty. He's throwing tantrums just trying to get you up there," Maria echoed.

Celeste smiled awkwardly. "Anyway, I'm already full. You guys carry on without me."

Celeste then went upstairs after she said that, without trying to check on their expressions and reactions.

Maria sighed. "She's never going to be independent of him. Look at her acting so timid as soon as he started throwing a tantrum. Gary has total control of her. He is just too good at this."

"It's destined that Celeste will always try to please him in the future as well," Leah agreed, unable to change the situation.

Ernest raised his eyebrows and suddenly asked Leah, "Could it be that your ladies' night was just a trick to make us realize how lonely we will be without you all by our sides?"

Leah was startled and then she looked a little guilty. "No! You're overthinking."

Ernest smiled gently. "I hope that's the case."

"You are obviously overthinking." Leah chuckled.

She looked a little mischievous. Anyway, she would never admit to that, and they could do nothing about them.

Ernest felt helpless as he knew that he was also destined to be under Leah's control.

He exchanged a look with Liam, who shook his head slightly, indicating he would not argue with the ladies.