Chapter 318

Isabella stood there, scratching her head, totally lost on where to even begin.

Nina jumped in, "You said Siena is Sebastian's sister, but now she's knocked up by Sebastian's brother? What the heck is going on?"

Isabella shrugged, "Oh, that's easy. Siena's got Charles's baby."

Nina's jaw dropped. "What? She's so young and already messed up like this?"

Isabella just sighed. It was really Sebastian who was the one messing things up.

If Sebastian hadn't been so hell-bent on getting back at Charles, he wouldn't have pushed Siena to get close to him.

It was a total mess. Siena's story was like a bad soap opera.

"Man, that's rough," Nina said, shaking her head.

"Yeah," Isabella agreed. "Even you feel bad for her. If you were in my shoes, you'd probably do the same thing I did."

Nina shot her a look. "I trust you and Sebastian, but that Siena chick? Be careful. Don't let her take advantage of you."

Isabella nodded. "Yeah, I got it."

They dropped the subject and moved on.

The designer class was set up in some fancy performance hall.

By the time Isabella and Nina got there, most of the seats were already taken.

The guy at the door asked for their entry badges. Isabella was like, "Entry badges? What?"

She turned to Nina, "Do you have a ticket?"

Nina nodded, "Yep."

She handed it over, and the guy pointed to a round badge on the ticket. "This one."

Turned out, it could be detached and pinned to your chest.

"Nina, let me help you with that." Isabella carefully pinned it on Nina and said, "Looks awesome!"

Nina smiled and asked the guy, "Can we go in now?"

The guy nodded but then looked at Isabella. "Where's your badge?"

Isabella was speechless. She didn't have one.

Nina said, "Didn't they say one ticket gets two people in?"

The guy shook his head, "Too many people today, and you guys are kinda late. We gotta control the crowd to keep the class quality up. So, sorry, Ms. Miller, you can go in, but your friend can't."

Nina pleaded, "Can't you make an exception? She's my sister. We don't mind sharing a seat."

The guy was firm, "Sorry, rules are rules. No exceptions. Hope you understand."

Nina looked bummed out.

The guy added, "Class is starting soon. If you don't go in now, we're closing the doors."

Isabella gave Nina a little push. "Go on in. I'll wait outside. Take good notes and fill me in later."

Given the situation, that was the only play.

Nina nodded and hurried inside.

As the door shut, Isabella found a spot to sit and texted Laura to check on Sweetie.

Laura replied: [Sweetie's doing great. Don't worry. I've got her covered.]

She even sent a bunch of short videos.

In the clips, Sweetie was all smiles, kicking her little legs.

"Such a cute kid, is she yours?" A deep voice came outta nowhere, right by Isabella's ear. She got so spooked, her phone slipped from her hand.

A hand shot out from the side, catching the phone just before it hit the ground.

Isabella turned and saw who it was. "Mr. Black?"

"You remember me?" Quentin grinned, handing her the phone.

Isabella nodded. "Thanks."

"Did I scare you?" Quentin asked, his deep eyes locked on her face.

"Yeah, you did," Isabella admitted.

Quentin looked surprised, then laughed. "My bad. Didn't realize you were so into it."

"It's cool." Isabella put her phone away. "Guess I was too focused."

She hadn't even noticed someone sneaking up on her.

"What brings you here?" Quentin asked, "You here for the class too?"

"Yeah. Came with Nina, but I don't have a badge, so I'm stuck out here."

Quentin nodded. "Wanna get in?"

Isabella's eyes lit up. "You got a way?"

"Yep." Quentin nodded, heading towards the elevator and pressing the button.

Isabella followed him, glancing at the door Nina had gone through. "But Nina went in that way."

"I know." The elevator arrived, and Quentin held the door open for her. "We're taking the VIP entrance."

Isabella raised an eyebrow. This guy was more connected than she thought.

The elevator went up one floor. Isabella followed Quentin out, their shoes sinking into the plush carpet. They could already hear the lecture.

Isabella looked around. "So this is the second floor."

The second floor had seats too, but they were few and all empty.

Clearly, in Lakina, no one had the privilege to sit in the VIP seats for Esme's class. Quentin was full of surprises.

"Have a seat." Quentin pulled out a chair, all gentleman-like.

Isabella sat down.

Their spot was perfect, right in front of the stage.

At that moment, the host was still talking.

Isabella smiled. "If I'd known I'd run into you, Mr. Black, I would've brought Nina with me."

The view here was way better than downstairs. Plus, it was quieter.

Quentin raised an eyebrow. "If there were too many people, I might not have brought them along."

Before Isabella could think more, thunderous applause erupted downstairs as the host announced, "Let's give a warm welcome to Ms. Stewart."

Seeing the hype, Isabella joined in the applause.

Amidst the clapping, a figure walked out from the left side of the stage.

It was a middle-aged woman, slender and tall, wearing a long dress with embroidered lotus flowers that shimmered under the lights. Her makeup was on point, her hair neatly done and pinned up.

As soon as Esme appeared, Isabella recognized her. "Isn't that..."

Quentin met her puzzled gaze and slowly nodded.

The highly anticipated lecturer on stage was the woman Isabella had recently saved at Blue Horizon Cafe, Quentin's mom, Esme.

"So she's Ms. Stewart!" Isabella suddenly felt a weird sense of fate.