?Chapter 782:


    Thump… Thump…


    Realizing their proximity, Noah quickly regained hisposure.


    He released her abruptly, stepping back to create distance, a subtle blush coloring his ears.


    Clearing his throat, he caught her still-flushed face and maintained a casual tone.


    “It’s almost noon. Why don’t you stay for a quick lunch before you leave, Ms. Hudson?”


    His invitation came out suddenly and directly.


    Sadie looked up, locking eyes with him. Almost instinctively, before she could restrain herself, she nodded.


    “Alright.”


    Her own response surprised her.


    She should have declined immediately. She should have left.


    Lunch was served in the formal dining room on the first floor.


    The long table was adorned with avish spread of dishes, yet the atmosphere was charged despite the elegant setting.


    Sadie, Noah, and Hailey upied three distant seats at the table, each silent. Hailey’s face bore a grim expression. Her eyes flickered with animosity as she nced at Sadie, then she shifted her pitiful gaze to Noah.


    But Noah paid her no attention. He ate with a leisurely indifference, treating the woman across from him as if she were merely a stranger—not his wife.


    Suddenly, Hailey mmed her fork down on the table.


    “I’m full!”


    Hailey abruptly stood and rushed upstairs without a nce at either Noah or Sadie, her departure marked by the loud m of a door.


    Standing to the side, Nics Patel, the butler, hesitated briefly before shooting Noah a look of unease.


    Noah, however, seemed entirely unfazed by the disruption.


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    His expression unchanged, he calmly dabbed the corner of his mouth with a napkin and issued aposedmand.


    “Let her be. Ask the kitchen to warm the foodter and take it up to her.”


    Nics nodded briefly. “Yes, sir.”


    After a moment, he turned to Sadie and mentioned, “The staff in the kitchen is well acquainted with Ms. Burgess’s preferences.”


    Sadie’s grip on her utensils faltered briefly.


    Wasn’t Hailey Noah’s wife? Why did the butler treat her like a guest rather than thedy of the house?


    Doubt shadowed her thoughts.


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