Chapter 139


    Linda took the eggs off the stove too soon. I wondered if they had fully solidified. When she cracked


    them on a bowl, however, the whites of the eggs, at least, seemed whole. Yet when she cut them in


    half,


    to remove the yokes, the yellow yoke was slimy,


    She didn’t seem to mind and poured them into a bowl anyway. A bold choice.


    Nathan leaned closer, peering into the bowl. “Does that look right?”


    Linda nodded. “I cook the eggs shorter than necessary so the yellow bites out better. It makes it


    easier to mix too.”


    To me, Julian said, “I wonder who they are going to get to taste test this, because not it.”


    I really hoped it wasn’t me, either.


    Nathan leaned back. His face crumpled like he wanted to correct her, but ultimately, he decided to stay


    neutral.


    Linda then mixed the other ingredients in with the eggs and began to stir. She lifted an egg half to add


    Exclusive ? content by N(?)ve/l/Drama.Org.


    the mixture, when the egg slipped down onto the ground.


    “Slippery little things, aren’t they?” Linda said,ughing though it sounded nervous.


    She reached down, picked up the egg, and returned it to the te.


    Everyone in the room went very quiet


    Linda continued adding the mixture to that egg, like nothing had just happened.


    Nathan leaned forward again. “Linda. Did you see any problem with adding that specific egg back to


    the


    te?”


    She blinked at him in obvious confusion. “idents happen. I’m sure the floor is regrly cleaned.”


    Nathan frowned. “Do you ever spend time in the kitchens at home?”


    Her brow furrowed. “Sometimes,” she said, but her eyes shifted as she spoke. She was clearly lying.


    Nichs stepped into the center of the room. “That’s enough. I believe this experiment has proven my


    case.


    Grumbling, Joseph pushed off from the wall and stormed out of the room. I stepped back just in time to


    narrowly avoid being shouldered by him.


    Sore loser, Jun said.


    don’t understand,” Linda said. “What did I do wrong?”


    Someone should have been supervising the girls when they cooked,” Nichs said to Nathan, “If we


    do another cooking challenge, please see to it.”


    Nathan bowed. “A horrible oversight on my part. I beg forgiveness, Your Royal Highness.”


    Nichs nodded.


    “Someone exin to me what is going on,” Linda said, voice rising in panic or anger or both.


    Julian smirked. “You blew it, Linda. Not only did you undercook the eggs, but you even dropped one on


    the ground, then returned it to the table. Admit it, you’ve never even been into a kitchen before in your


    life.”


    “I’ve been in one!” she announced loudly.


    Julian smiled wider. She’d taken his bait and proven that, though she’d been in a kitchen, she had not


    been in one to cook. Very likely, she had never cooked in her entire life. Likely, she hadn’t seen anyone


    else do so either, or she would know not to pick things up off the floor.


    Everyone in the room watched her with pitiful eyes, except those few who wereughing.


    Yet Linda sought me out in her ire.


    “This is all your fault, Piper! You. You sabotaged me!”


    “We know she didn’t,” Nichs said. “You will convince no one otherwise after what we have just


    witnessed.”


    “If you had only listened to me,” she said instead.


    “I did listen, Linda. Until you stopped speaking to me. We could have helped each other, but you were


    too stuck on excluding me.”


    “You deserve to be excluded. You have no right to even be here!”


    “Stop embarrassing yourself,” Julian said. “You’ve already had a poor showing. Just ept the failure


    with grace.”


    “Poor showing?!” She was shouting now, her eyes wild. She looked around the room like a woman


    crazed. Then her sightsnded on a nearby knife.


    She snatched it off the counter, then, holding it in both hands, she lunged for me.