The Clutches Of Hell Novel

Chapter 41

Victoria had been chasing after him for years, and she would already be in seventh heaven if he didn’t shoo her away.

She had always thought he was innately lofty and didn’t know how to treat others kindly, so she just had to be the nice one.

But lo and behold… It wasn’t that he was lofty; he simply didn’t give a damn about her.

Meanwhile, Bella looked at the food in her plate with unconcealable jubilation. “Thank you, Christian.”

“Do you like this one?” Christian put the communal chopsticks down and picked his back up. “We’ll order more of it.”

Bella’s eyes lit up in response, and her face turned rosy.

Victoria, on the other hand, stood by the table with her eyes drooped. Her heart felt sore, twinging painfully as though hundreds and thousands of ants were gnawing at it.

“Hello, Mr. Thatcher and Miss Spritz,” Gabrielle greeted somewhat stiffly, her eyes lighting up upon seeing Christian and Bella.

Victoria forced a smile, but there was not a sliver of joy beneath her eyes. “Sorry for disturbing.”

“I was so worried you wouldn’t come because of shame.” Bella sighed helplessly, then smiled amiably. “I’m glad you’ve come over. Come, have a seat.”

“Thank you, Miss Spritz.” After Gabrielle thanked her with a smile, she dragged Victoria to an empty seat. She then asked Victoria in a whisper when the other three had their focus elsewhere. “Why would

Miss Spritz say you wouldn’t come because of shame?”

Victoria’s body stiffened in response, stupefied for a long time.

“Oh, it’s nothing. She just ran over me and left me with a bad leg,” Bella answered softly, then apologized, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. It’s just that you guys are so close.”

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.” Gabrielle waved her hand with a forced smile, both awkward and shocked.

So the person Victoria tried to murder was Bella Spritz!

“No need to feel awkward. You’re not the one who hit me.” Bella smiled, then said with some regret, “Besides, I never blamed Victoria either. I just feel somewhat unfortunate that I can never dance again.”

“Were you a dancer?” said Gabrielle in shock.

Lucas took a gander at Bella in response, and his eyes turned dim. “A ballet world champion.”

If Bella hadn’t befriended Victoria because of him, non of this would’ve happened.

“And a world champion at that?!” Gabrielle covered her mouth. “Well, that’s very unfortunate! If I were you, Miss Spritz, I would never forgive the person who ruined my dreams!”

It was only at the next second that Gabrielle realized what she had just said. At that, she smiled awkwardly and turned to Victoria. “You didn’t mean to do it either, did you?”

“On purpose or not, Bella can never dance ever again.” Lucas was now seriously grim.

No one said anything more at that, and the atmosphere at the table became super awkward. Nôvel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner.

Christian was the only one unfazed, eating away like a noble gentleman.

“Alright, come on, guys. I already said I don’t blame Victoria.” Bella smiled forcefully. “Even if I can’t dance anymore, it’s no big deal. Let’s not dwell on such a depressing topic.”

As Gabrielle looked at Bella’s gorgeous features, she genuinely thought this young woman was so benign that it pained others to see her in misery.

“Aren’t you the one who wouldn’t stop talking about it?” Christian put his chopsticks down and leaned back against his seat, smiling ingenuously as he gave Bella a sidelong glance, causing her to lower her head and bite her lip. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought this up.”

Is Christian speaking up for Victoria? Bella looked at her barely immobile leg, feeling absolutely sad and aggrieved.

Victoria looked up at Christian reflexively, and her heart raced for a moment. However, she lowered her head in two shakes, suppressing the abnormal, inchoate feeling.

“You don’t have to apologize.” Unable to bear seeing Bella aggrieved, Lucas stared icily at Victoria and retorted, “What you said is a fact!”

“This will only make Victoria look bad, though.” Bella spoke barely audibly, and her eyes were already red-rimmed at this point. “I just wanted her to join us for a meal, but it looks like I’ve messed it up again.”

“She should’ve realized the consequences when she did that to you. This is what she should bear. You’re the victim here, and there’s no need to beat yourself up.” Lucas was less than happy about the fact that his dear sister kept putting others before her. She’d easily become the victim.

Christian snorted in response, smirking. “Beat herself up?” Is Bella too good of an actor, or is Lucas just plain dumb?

“It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have brought the topic up.” Bella bit her lip. “Victoria… and you, miss, see if there’s anything you guys would like to eat.”

She swept her gaze across Gabrielle and Victoria, latching it at the latter a little longer as repulse, anger, and jealousy flashed across her eyes.

Gabrielle felt absolutely awkward after knowing Victoria was the culprit behind Bella’s ‘accident’, but it wasn’t good timing for her to leave anymore. As such, she could only order a couple of dishes she liked with an awkward smile.

Victoria, on the other hand, ordered a few dishes out of habit only to discover after they were served that they were all Christian’s favorites.

With that, she looked toward Christian, but the man’s whole attention was on Bella. He hadn’t noticed it at all.

At that, Victoria licked her lips as bitterness crept up to her.

“Victoria, you have a weak stomach. Can you even eat these raw and cold food?” Gabrielle leaned close to her and whispered after seeing the dishes she ordered.

“They’re not for me,” Victoria whispered. “I’ve ordered them for Mr. Thatcher.”

With that, she grabbed a piece of sashimi and put it on Christian’s plate. “I remember you love eating this.”

In response, Christian fixed his gaze at her like he could see through her. She has been novelxo.com fast updatedeliberately buttering up to me since yesterday.

Victoria’s eyes glimmered, and she put some salmon and his other favorites onto his plate with drooping eyelids.

Lucas, on the other hand, frowned and felt somewhat irritated as he watched her do all that.

“You used your chopsticks, didn’t you?” Bella gasped. “Christian has slight mysophobia. He surely wouldn’t eat any of these when they’re stained with your saliva.”

Victoria froze for a split second and mumbled an apology, saying, “I’ll go and get a new plate.”

“You don’t have to do it yourself. Just calling the server will do,” Bella teased. “Has this become a habit for you when you’ve been working at Delta as a cleaner and a hostess for some time?”

“I’ll go and get a plate.” Victoria clenched the hem of her shirt, stood up, and went to look for a server.

After returning with a plate, she couldn’t help taking a peek at Christian’s plate to find all the food she had put on it were still as how she had put them.

Her gaze dimmed a little in response, and she put the new plate in front of him.

Halfway through lunch, she excused herself to the washroom, having had enough of Bella’s hypocrisy.

Lucas followed from behind, and just as she was about to enter the washroom, he grabbed her arm. “You deliberately tailed Christian all the way here, didn’t you?”

“No.” Victoria frowned and swung her arm to break free.

“No?” Lucas’ amber gaze was filled with nothing but mockery. “So you just so happened to be shopping in this mall and just so coincidentally came to have lunch in this restaurant at this time, bumping into us by chance?”