A Beautiful Misunderstanding

Chapter 147 Her First Kiss

Essie wiped the sweat off her forehead. Her carelessness just gave Zac the opening he needed.

"Well... How about I make you some braised tenderloin with radish? Would you like that?" she asked, trying to sound normal.

He shook his head, his expression still mischievous.

"I'll cook whatever you want to eat. But I'm afraid I can't do anything else for you," she continued. He lowered his head to kiss her pout. "Do you really think a few dishes could keep me away?"

"Don't get too greedy." She pushed away his arms and stood up. "If you're thinking you can bed me with your attempts, just stop. I'm not the one for you. There are many women there who could warm your bed better than I could." But before she could finish her unnecessary explanation, she found that she had fallen into his trap. Frowning slightly at her, he asked, "Is that what you want? For me to find another woman?"

"I don't want to, but I'm sure you will," Essie replied. Great and powerful men like Zac always attracted gorgeous women begging for their attention. Essie didn't believe that men like Zac would settle for one woman, let alone someone like her. These men craved for the thrill only exciting women could offer.

"You can take me as your private belongings," Zac said in deceitfully soft voice. She was sure it was meant to weaken her. He rested his chin on her shoulder, the back of his fingers gently stroking her face. She turned her head to the glittering lake. The wind was blowing hard enough to create little waves on the water. With a bitter smile on her lips, she said, "I can't do that." She knew that in his heart, she was just a paltry substitute. She shouldn't let herself fall deeper into their pretense. She couldn't expect too much from him.

"I disagree. You're the only one in the world who could." His tone left no room for complaints. It sounded like a direct order from an emperor to his empress. Unfortunately, she wasn't the kind of

person who would fight with a mistress. Don't get her wrong, she would never let herself be treated as a substitute to someone else. She would never let herself be a tool to please others.

"I won't. I can't." She pushed past his embrace. She picked up a stone and threw it into the lake. "Let's go check on Eva and Jim."

He heaved a deep sigh, feeling helpless and disappointed.

She was sending him mixed signals and it was frustrating him.

As soon as they stood up, they heard a scream from the other side of the lake.

Meanwhile, Eva realized she had caught a bucket full of crabs. There were only a few fish in Jim's bucket.

Obviously, she won.

She didn't know that Essie had changed the bait. In her excitement over her victory, her foot slipped and she fell into the lake.

Eva knew she had to swim. That much, her brain tried to tell her body to move, to swim, to do anything to survive. But a memory of her drowning before flashed before her eyes and her body immediately froze.

All her fear was aroused. She tried to fight the fear away. Her limbs awkwardly flailed against the water. But she was beginning to drink some lake water already.

Ivy and Daisy saw when Eva fell and tried to call for help.

But before anyone else could, Jim had already jumped into the water. William followed him, too.

By the time Essie and Zac arrived at the scene, the men had already successfully saved and pulled Eva out of the water.

Eva had already passed out, which terrified Essie.

Jim quickly administered CPR on Eva, losing no time before she was coughing up water and gasping for air. Her eyes widened as her lungs filled with air.

The crowd around them breathed a collective sigh of relief.

When she had finally calmed down enough to stop coughing, Essie and Daisy tried to help her stand up and change into dry clothes.

"Eva, are you all right?" Essie asked as she rubbed her best friend's hair dry.

"I'm good, I just choked up a bit back there." Eva took three deep breaths. She had been terrified while she was underwater. But then she remembered what happened before she slipped. Trying her best to overcome the residual fear on her system, she forced out a laugh. "Essie, did you know I just won over Jim? Ha-ha!"

"Miss Eva, Jim saved you from drowning. He even gave you a CPR after you passed out," Daisy said.

CPR?

Eva froze.

CPR? Did that mean... he placed his mouth on her own? Like kissing?

Oh my God! Did that bastard steal her first kiss?

She then burst into tears, which scared Essie and Daisy.

"Eva, what's wrong? Are you in pain?" Essie worriedly asked.

"No, nothing," Eva tried to wave her concern off as she continued to sniffle. "You can leave now. I'd like to be alone for a while."

Essie gave her one last look before she nodded her head and took Daisy with her.

They left Eva alone and joined the rest of the party downstairs.

"Is everything okay with Eva?" Zac asked.

"Nothing serious. Just a little scared. Let's give her some rest," Essie answered.

Daisy scratched her head and said, "It's so weird. I told her that Jim gave her a CPR and she suddenly burst into tears!"

Holy made a face at Jim and said, "Brother Jim, maybe she thought you kissed her indirectly?"

Jim coughed and pretended he did not hear what Holy said. Was this woman insane? She had fallen into a lake and could have drowned to death. Why was she blubbering over an almost-kiss? Did she think he would like to kiss her while she had passed out? What a joke! It was a good thing she wasn't the type he disliked. He never kissed women he didn't like. If he didn't have to save her life, he wouldn't have broken his rule for her. She should be thanking him, instead of crying.

It took a long time before Eva came downstairs with bloodshot eyes. It seemed like she cried hard and long for her stolen first kiss.

She walked straight to Jim and said as haughtily as she could, "You lost. You now owe me."

"Go ahead," With an indifferent expression on his face, Jim crossed his arms over his chest. He had already guessed what she was thinking about. She wanted to get the leading role in the War Emperor.

At one corner of the room, Essie's eyes sparkled as she watched Jim and Eva. Her plan was flawless, except when Eva fell into the lake but that was an accident.

"You did CPR on me today. But don't tell it to others," Eva said.

What?

It seemed like her pronouncement shocked two people in the living room: Jim and Essie. Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

Jim looked at her with wide, baffled eyes. Eva could have forced him to give the role to her. Was this woman stupid?

His eyes skimmed over her pale little face, as if he wanted to record every tiny detail of her face into his mind. "I promise you," he finally spoke.

Essie held Zac's arm in surprise. Her knees weakened. She asked, "Ice guy, did I hear it wrong?"

Zac held her shoulders and comforted her in a low voice. "It's all right, honey. It could be a blessing in disguise."

Could it be?

With a sad face, Essie buried her head into Zac's arms again. How did things turn out to be like this?

After the scene in the living room, the servants announced that dinner was ready.

Everyone was talking and laughing as they feasted on good food, but Eva was strangely quiet. Essie did not know if it was because of the kiss or the role that just slipped through her fingers.

The only thing Essie could do was to refill her plate with food.

After dinner, they all went to their respective homes.

"You can visit us anytime, okay?" Essie said to Holy.

Holy nodded with a smile, his big eyes twinkling. He seemed to have thought of something, and said, "Just a word of precaution, Sister Essie. Zac's mother visited the manor yesterday and brought the evil witch some news. You must be careful." Although Alice and Holy weren't staying the family manor anymore, they still had servants in their pockets ready to tell them information as they needed them. Especially information about Elizabeth and her children.

Essie shrugged. She had always known there was nothing that could stop Elizabeth and her daughter. It would not be easy to get rid of them.

"Thanks for telling me, Holy. Don't worry, I can handle it," she smiled and patted his head.

"We are friends. We will beat the evil witch together." Holy clenched his fist.

"Yes, we're allies." Essie nodded. She closed the door as he left.

The butler had prepared the guest room for Eva.

As soon as Essie came in, she poked Eva's forehead with her finger. "Come on, you got the heroine role in the bag and you dumped it again. Why are you acting so carelessly?"

At Essie's words, regret crept into Eva. She took one pillow and screamed her frustrations into it. "I fell into the lake and lost my mind. That was my first kiss! And a bastard like Jim ruined it!"

"That was your first kiss? Really? You change boyfriends every week. How could that have been your first kiss?" Essie said.

"I'm not a loose woman. I still have principles and standards, you know," Eva answered.

Essie lay on the bed and rolled for a while. Then she burst into laughter and said, "No wonder you changed boyfriends every week. Men always think with their smaller head. If you play their game seriously, they will surely run away in panic."

Eva stuck out her tongue at her and laughed. "Does that include your husband? Or do you get sweet torture from your husband every night?"

Essie threw a pillow at her. She thought she had changed the topic away.

Eva lay beside her, her head propped on one hand. "I still can't believe that you're married. And to a young, rich man at that."

Essie sighed. Getting married was easy. They could easily go to the Bureau of Civil Affairs to get a marriage license. What was difficult to get was divorce.

It was like entering a war zone. It was easy enough to lose yourself into it, but finding ways to get out was difficult. A few wrong turns and you'd find yourself lost and stuck.

"Sometimes, I still feel like it's all a dream." The corners of her mouth tipped up. A fleeting smile that carried all her fragile hope and confused longing.

Eva hugged her. She knew that Essie still couldn't forget Hanson. Essie invested a lot of time and attention on that relationship. It was very easy to fall in love with someone, but it was difficult to forget someone. "Take it easy. Time will heal everything."

Maybe.

Essie lowered her eyes and didn't say anything. After a long time, her eyes blinked fast as if she had thought of something. "Don't tell any of this to Mandy or else she will kill me."

"You can hide the truth from her for a while, but you can't hide it forever. She will know about it sooner or later," Eva answered. Essie sighed.

She didn't need a lifetime. Five months would be enough. If she got divorced, she would have nothing to do with ice guy.

"We can talk about this again when it's too late to hide it from Mandy,"

she said in a low voice before she sat up from the bed. When she was about to step off the bed, she noticed the bed railing.

Why did this bed look exactly like the one in ice guy's room?

She circled the perimeter of the bed, her big eyes confused. And then a light bulb flickered on in her mind. She hurriedly went out of the room.