Turning Of the Tide by Diana Sander

Chapter 453

At this moment, everyone had taken their seats by the long table in the courtyard of the Roberts villa.

On one side sat Trevon, Natalie, Ava, and Frank, and on the other sat Hackett, Sherri, Rose, and

Edward.

Trevon had been taking care of Natalie since he took his seat. “Honey, I’ll get you whatever you want to

eat. Let’s eat less roasted neat. It’s not healthy enough. Do you want kiwis?”

Trevon was worried that she might suffer from constipation in the later stages of pregnancy.

Therefore, he didn’t dare to let Natalie eat too much roasted meat, and she planned to do as he said in

case he got too nervous. “Get me a can of yogurt and that little cake. I feel like having something

sweet.”

Trevon reached out and placed the stuff Natalie wanted to eat in front of her. “Okay”

On the other hand, Ava acted differently. She did not need Frank’s help to get the things she needed.

She reached out to take them and asked Frank beside her, “What do you feel like eating, Frank? I’ll get

it for you?

She could not have Frank take care of her every time. She had to learn to take care of him so that they

could work hard together.

Hearing what she said, Frank was stunned by her sudden care. A few seconds later, he smiled and

said, “I’ll have whatever you get me.”

Sherri did not look like a pregnant woman at all. She stood up and sat down. She helped herself with

the food. Hackett, who was beside her, felt greatly troubled. “Give me some leeway to show my

concern, dear. You should be seated”

“I’ve given you the chance to do that. Forget it, you will do it. Help me get a glass of lemonade. It looks

quite delicious”

Rose was taking care of Edward, but Edward was obviously taking care of her too. It could be said that

they were taking care of each other. Rose took care of Edward because they were in the Roberts villa

after all. Other than being his girlfriend, she was still the host.

Edward took care of Rose because he was a gentleman. He was deeply rooted in the belief that guys

should take care of ladies and take responsibility.

“It’s rare for all of us to get together. We can’t just sit around and eat and drink. We have to show our

strengths, such as singing or dancing.”

Hackett made that proposal when he looked across everyone at the table.

Sherri felt that her husband was right. She picked up a grape and stuffed it into Hackett’s mouth as a

form of praise. “That makes sense.”

“Thank you, honey. Mwah!”

“Mwali

Trevon looked at Hackett in disdain. “Do you need to get Frank’s room?”

Frank objected. ‘It’s not for other people.”

He thought, “That room is for me and Baby Ava. What is Trevon thinking? How could he possibly ask

some couple to use my room?”

Natalie said, “Fortunately, Stella said that she wasn’t available today. Otherwise, she would have had a

hard time dealing with the couples here.”

Everyone present was in pairs. Stella would be alone if she came over without anyone to accompany

her. The only one who could accompany he was Pat.

Jim had recently been demoted and had been unemployed as a driver for a long time. He was still

working overtime in the company and was also a bitter worker.

Ever since she got pregnant, Jim had been having a tough time working. He worked overtime for a long

time. What could comfort him the most was the increase in the price of overtime pay.

As soon as the guys talked about playing games, Rose agreed with Hackett’s proposal. Under the

table, Edward held Rose’s hand. “Tell me if you want to play games. I’ll arrange whatever game you

want to play for you. I guarantee you’ll be satisfied.

Frank looked up at his sister, who was smiling brightly. It was obvious that she was really happy.

Meanwhile, Edward’s sister, who had always been carefree, did not feel that Rose was too perky at all.

He smiled faintly.

“Come on. Let’s play some games. We don’t have much chance to come to Frank’s villa, and it’s rare

for everyone to have a gathering. Also, Ava the Little Princess is finally having her summer break.

Other than having fun, there’s nothing we should do. Hackett said with a chuckle.

Trevon praised him indifferently, but there was no real praise in his tone. “You used the analogy well.

You’re now a literate

man.”

Hackett said, “It’s what I said that matters.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Rose let go of Edward’s hand. “I need to get something.” With that,

she stood up and ran into the villa.

Everyone at the table was dumbfounded. Rose was very fast, and she was no longer in sight. Trevon

raised his drink at Edward and said, “Your endurance is not bad.”

Edward didn’t answer this question, but he knew what Trevon meant. It meant that Rose couldn’t focus

and could easily get distracted with her personality. Why did she suddenly leave now?

But Edward didn’t get worried.

Not long after, Rose returned with an unopened package. She placed it on the ground. Edward was

about to go over to help when he was stopped by Rose. “Thank you, but no. Take your seat.”

However, Edward still stood up and walked to her side to help her open the package.

Rose was a professional at opening packages. She took the bottle opener on the table and cut the

package when the tape broke.

When the box was opened, Edward took out the things inside and placed them on the ground

Rose opened the package next to Sherri, who was the first to speak. Her face was filled with shock as

she suddenly raised her voice. “Are these wooden pegs?”

“Rose, why did you buy these things? Are you going to use them as punishment in the game?”

“Well, pregnant women won’t be punished. If you lose the game, your husbands will take your

punishment,” Rose said seriously.

Hackett said, “I suppose only men are targeted then. Did you specially prepare these things for us?”

“Hey, they’re brand new, and you should be honored that you’ll be the first ones to use them.”

Natalie and Ava were both laughing. Ava was very curious as to why Rose had bought those wooden

pegs. “How are we going to use them? Will the losers be required to do laundry?”

With Edward’s help, Rose placed several wooden pegs on Hackett’s face. Hackett looked funny with

those things on his face. After Rose was done with that, she looked very pleased. “Now this looks fun. I

learned this game punishment from a TV show. That’s why I bought the pegs as I wanted to give it a

try. I didn’t expect to use them today. Let’s all try it and have fun together.”

Frank pinched the space between his eyebrows. He had thought that his sister had already reached

her limit by buying strange dolls. Now, she was even using the wooden pegs just to have fun. He said

to Edward, “I feel sorry for you.”

However, Edward didn’t think that there was anything wrong with what Rose was doing. Instead, he

smiled.

Rose collected the wooden pegs and sat down again. She began to explain the rules. “Let’s play a

high–level game with much difficulty…

Frank said, “A high–level one? Are you sure your level can match it?”

Rose felt like she was being looked down on by her brother.

Rolling her eyes at Frank, she continued, “We need to do the opposite of what a person says. For

example, if someone says ‘left hand, the one next to them needs to raise their right hand. If someone

says ‘stand up, the next person needs to remain unmoved. The loser will be pegged by others.”

Rose had never tried out this game punishment, and she thought that it would be fun.

She had bought dozens of wooden pegs, which were more than enough.

The game began.

Trevon was the first to start. As early as when Rose decided on the game, the couple had planned on

how to cheat. “Honey, when I say stand up, you don’t have to move.”

Natalie heard this, and Ava naturally heard it too. She knew that her brother–in–law didn’t want her

sister to get exhausted, so Ava pretended not to know he said that and helped them cheat.

“Stand.”

Natalie did not move as promised and continued the game. “Speak.”

Ava shut up. The next second, she said, “Cry.”

After waiting for a while, Frank looked at Edward with a faint smile. He pressed his tongue against his

teeth and said, “Laugh”

Hearing that, everyone laughed. Frank said the word “laugh” because he wanted Edward to cry. How

could Edward cry as a big man? Hackett mighn do it, but Edward wouldn’t do it.

Rose felt that her brother said that on purpose. She was starting to feel sorry for Edward. Before she

could say anything. Frank shrugged. “You set the rules of the game. You bought the wooden pegs.

What he said meant that Edward’s failure had nothing to do with him. Rose never thought Edward

would be the first to love. She was speechless.

She wondered, “I even tried the pegs on Hackett first.

“How could Frank not tell such an obvious hint?”

Edward pinched Rose’s fingers and comforted her. “It’s fine. I’ve lost, so I’ll try out the pegs.”

Rose’s heart ached a little. “Fine. I’ll go easy on you.”

Frank looked at Edward playfully. Trevon sat calmly and continued to take care of Natalie while Hackett

was gloating.

Edward was pegged by several others. He took a deep breath and tried to hold back the pain, but his

subtle expression was still noticed by Trevon and Frank. The two of them took their drinks in unison to

hide their desire to laugh.

Natalie patted the man beside her who was holding back his laughter. “You’re gloating. Are you sure

you won’t lose later?” Trevon replied confidently, “I won’t lose even if Hackett loses ten times.”

This kind of game was child’s play to him. He believed that it was a piece of cake, so why would he

lose?

His confidence made Natalie unable to refute what he said. Although Edward looked relaxed and did

not seem to be in pain, Natalie had also noticed that he was holding back his pain.

Half a minute later, Edward was pegged almost all over his face. He appeared very calm and did not

have the heart–wrenching scream that Hackett had expected. Hackett was a little disappointed. “Are

you sure this is how the game punishment works, Rose?”

Rose found it infuriating that he was questioning her.

Since Edward was there, Rose had to keep her composure and did not scold or talk back to Hackett.

However, it was absolutely intolerable for her to be questioned. “Yes! I’m 100% sure!”

Hackett wondered. Then why is Edward expressionless? He doesn’t seem to feel any pain at all. He

isn’t even frowning.

“Is it because he hasn’t had enough pegs on his face?

“Or is it because we haven’t hit the parts that will get him hurt?”

After Edward had the pegs on his face removed, he couldn’t help but rub his face a bit. He was in a bit

of pain after all, and he tried to massage his face.

Frank secretly clenched his fists and looked at Edward. “Your endurance is not bad.”

Edward smiled politely in response. Only he knew the pain on his face. It did not feel good.

Being pegged by wooden pegs was painful.

Edward’s calmness made Rose doubt the game punishment she picked. She asked with concern,

“Does it hurt?”

Edward leaned close to Rose’s ear and replied softly, “It’s quite painful. You’d better not lose.”

Rose was speechless as he wondered “So Edward was pretending that it didn’t hurt?

“How did he holdt in?

“I planned to make the guys have funny looks in pain. That’s why I picked this game punishment!”