My Unborn Baby Chose My Husband for Me novel Chapter 229

The air grew thick with immediate tension.

It really was a small world. Too small, apparently.

Tiffany immediately clamped her hand around her best friend's arm, bristling like a wildly protective mother hen.

Melody was the first to recover her composure, shooting her a saccharine, mocking smile. "Ms. Simmons. Fancy seeing you here."

Seraphina met her gaze dead-on, her expression utterly glacial. "Ms. Monroe. Indeed it is."

Melody's eyes flicked downward to her baby bump. Her tone was dangerously mild. "I heard Lucian made an absolute killing on that land deal. Congratulations are in order."

"Thank you." Her reply was just as sharp and detached. "Oh, and congratulations to you as well. I saw the news about your brilliant partnership with the Sullivans. I sincerely wish you both the very best of luck."

The smile on Melody's face never wavered. "We won't need it."

On the surface, it was a perfectly polite exchange, but beneath the veneer of civility, venom was dripping from every word.

Standing on the sidelines, Tiffany swore the ambient temperature of the hallway had plummeted by ten degrees.

She absolutely despised this kind of suffocating, high-society fake pleasantry.

All she wanted to do was drag her friend out of there right that second.

Then, Melody threw out another line. "Aren't you even a little bit curious why I'm stepping in to save his company?"

A soft scoff escaped Seraphina's lips. "You have your own business strategies. Why would an outsider like me waste brain cells wondering about them?"

Melody stared her down for two grueling seconds before letting out a dry, condescending laugh. "You really do live up to the rumors."

She tilted her head slightly. "Rumors? What rumors?"

"That you're incredibly cunning. The perfect, calculative wife for Lucian." The heiress's tone was incredibly dismissive. "It seems the gossips weren't entirely wrong."

Seraphina simply smiled coolly. "You flatter me."

They locked eyes for another intense beat, neither willing to yield the silence.

Eventually, it was Melody who looked away first, snapping her fingers at the assistants behind her. "Take these down to the valet."

She gave a stiff, arrogant nod. "I have places to be. Excuse me."

"Take care," Seraphina fired back.

As Melody brushed past her shoulder, she hissed under her breath, "You won't get to play the happy housewife forever."

But there was no need to voice those ugly truths aloud.

Tiffany tugged gently at her sleeve. "Hey. You good?"

Snapping out of her thoughts, Seraphina flashed a reassuring smile. "I'm totally fine. Come on, didn't you want to look at those dresses?"

Seeing that she genuinely wasn't rattled, Tiffany breathed a sigh of relief and linked their arms again as they strolled further down the concourse.

They spent the next hour popping in and out of boutiques. Tiffany tried on half a dozen outfits before finally settling on a gorgeous floral sundress.

By the time they finished, it was already well past noon.

Checking her watch, Tiffany groaned. "It's almost one. Let's grab lunch, my treat."

Just as she was about to say yes, her phone buzzed in her purse.

She pulled it out. It was a text from her husband.

Done shopping? I'll come pick you up for lunch.

Don't worry about it. Tiff and I are grabbing a bite together, so you don't need to make the drive, she typed back.