In the kitchen, Linsey threw herself into meal preparation with suspicious enthusiasm.

Her plan was refreshingly simple. Since her previous schemes in the study had failed miserably, she figured she might as well sabotage the food instead. Perhaps she could make something so terrible that Collin would finally lose his temper and throw her out.

To accomplish this, she deliberately cooked in the most revolting way possible, determined to make the meal absolutely unbearable.

After chopping the vegetables and meat, she made a point of not washing her hands. Despite having a perfectly good whisk within reach, she insisted on using her dirty fingers to scramble the eggs before slowly pouring them into the sizzling oil.

Next, she swapped salt for sugar and vinegar for chili sauce, cooking with reckless abandon and tossing in whatever random ingredients caught her eye. Several times, Roland opened his mouth to intervene. The thought of how this concoction might taste made his stomach turn queasy.

Before long, the catastrophic meal was complete.

Just as Linsey and Roland finished setting the table, Collin made his entrance. Slight surprise crossed Roland s face upon seeing him, and he quickly offered a respectful greeting. Mr. Riley.

Linsey nearly jumped out of her skin but quickly remembered her masterpiece of culinary destruction was ready. Forcing herself to appear calm, she looked up to meet his piercing gaze. The food s ready. Come and eat.

Collin s eyes swept over the dishes arranged on the table.

Everything looked presentable enough, but Linsey s obvious eagerness immediately put him on guard. Something was definitely off. He was certain she was plotting some kind of mischief.

Collin s face remained completely expressionless as his piercing gaze shifted to study Linsey s face.

Linsey s breath hitched under his intense scrutiny, but she fought to maintain her innocent facade.

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Roland vividly remembered Linsey s horrifying cooking performance and couldn t help but feel deeply worried.

Sweat beaded on his forehead as he desperately tried to think of some tactful way to warn Collin about the potential disaster awaiting him. An uncomfortable silence stretched between all three of them.

Finally, Collin broke the tense quiet with a simple command directed at Linsey.

Come with me.

Where to? Linsey asked, genuinely puzzled.

Collin s response was characteristically brief. To eat.

Linsey s eyes widened in complete surprise.

The meal was sitting right there in front of him, so why would he want to go out to eat?

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