Chapter 417

"Patrick, don't you think it sounds a bit strange?"

Christina leaned in to ask him in a low voice.

After they had finished the main meal, the waiter removed the plates from the table and served the
desserts.

Patrick didn't reply and moved the mango pudding to her front, then he gave her a tender look as a hint
that she could continue talking to him after finishing the pudding.

Mango pudding was Christina's favorite, so she began to enjoy it using a spoon although she was very
full now.

"Well, frankly speaking, I feel that people from the Stephenson family were a little bit strange"

She mumbled while eating.

At that time, Charles sat beside them and kept silent.

According to his observation, Patrick intentionally tempted Christina to eat more to make her gain
weight.

Charles guessed that maybe Patrick thought that Christina was too skinny and wanted her to be
stronger.

Christina leaned over again and whispered to Patrick, "It seems that Chandler is too protective of
Geoffrey.From my point of view, Chandler does not like Geoffrey's father."

Normally, Christina would be told to mind the table manner, but she was filled with excitement and joy
recently that she totally forgot that she shouldn't talk while eating.



Anyway, Patrick didn't mind.

The only thing that Patrick noticed was that Christina would get close to him and whisper to him now.

Hearing her words, he smelled the fragrance of mango.

Although Patrick was allergic to mangoes, he wasn't so disgusted at them now.He would kiss Christina
if they were not having a meal with the Stephenson family at this point.

"Be cautious, or you will choke."

Patrick was not interested in the things about the Stephenson family.He was worried that Christina
would choke.

Christina got used to the way in which Patrick talked to her, so she continued to speak in a low voice.

"For example, sometimes you play a trick on our son at home.However, Chandler is too kind to
Geoffrey, he is close to Geoffrey but their relationship doesn't look like the relationship between you
and our son.It's weird.Don't you think so?"

"What? Did you just say that I am bullying our son all the time?"

Obviously, Patrick missed the point that Christina stressed.

Christina glanced at him.

"You hid the baby's bottle of our little son yesterday and left him crying for such a long time.He refused
to go to sleep without his bottle, and our elder son began to cry upon hearing his brother's crying.Do
you want to deny it?"

Their sons had been crying for quite a while in the nursery of the Hopkins family yesterday.



It was such a mess that the nurse and the maid had to spend a long time getting the twins to sleep.

Patrick remained calm and retorted, "I don't want our son to carry a baby's bottle all the time"

"Your son is only half a year old!"

Christina got angry with Patrick and she thought that he didn't shoulder his responsibility as a father.

During the meal, Chandler received a phone call and he said that he would go downstairs to pick up a
friend.

Senior Mr.Stephenson asked Patrick to leave with him to discuss some issues, so they began to rise
from the chairs.

Patrick brought a glass of kiwi juice to Christina before he left, "Drink it’ He said to Christina.

Christina looked at Patrick's tall figure.

Although she was annoyed and full of complaints, she chose to keep her mouth shut and drink the juice
as he required.

As soon as Patrick left, Charles didn't remain silent anymore and then he edged closer to Christina.

Charles joked at her, "Christina, what were you talking about just now? Did you flirt with him or discuss
what to eat for dinner?"

What he said was quite offensive and rude.

Christina knew that Charles and his friends had been making fun of her because she and Patrick once
made a fool of themselves at dinner.

Christina thought that Charles was annoying, "He should spend more time on his work.”



Christina thought angrily.

Charles sighed when he noticed that Christina didn't want to respond to him, "Christina, why can you
marry such an excellent man? You are a lucky dog, aren't you? You are so lazy and stupid.It's totally
unbelievable."

"You have so many girlfriends.Just take one home, ok? Stop nagging."

Christina was not polite to him at all.

Charles shot her an angry glance.

However, he immediately behaved himself when he noticed that Patrick was glaring at him and
observing them from the balcony.

Charles signed mysteriously, "Christina, I have my own difficulties."

He knew that it was not a good way to take a tough stance with Christina, and he'd better show his
weakness to her for sympathy.

As he expected, Christina asked him in a gentle voice upon seeing his embarrassment, "What's the
problem?"

"I have a chameleon at home."

Charles somehow mentioned his pet.

Christina stared at him in confusion.

Charles sighed and then continued, "My mother warned that she would put the chameleon on my head
if I take my girlfriend home."



"What? Why? "

Christina was surprised.

Charles replied with self-deprecating humor, "My family firmly believes that the chameleon will definitely
change color on my head if I bring my girlfriend home, which means that she has an affair with another
man."

Christina burst into laughter.

"Why are you laughing out loud? Isn't it a sad story? Jesus"

Charles was very upset because he indeed regarded her as his close friend.

"I'm so sorry, Charles, forgive me.It's hilarious and I couldn't control myself"

Christina was still laughing.

Christina doubled up with laughter when she realized that Charles was trying to hold back his anger
and he didn't dare to fight back.

She couldn't figure out why a cold and distant man like Patrick would make friends with such a fool like
Charles.

"What are you talking about?"

Crystal saw her laughing so happily and then asked curiously.

"Charles told me that he had a chameleon as his pet in his house"

Crystal couldn't understand what Christina said and then turned around to look at Charles, who was in
a bad mood now.



Charles snorted angrily and he knew that Christina was laughing at him.

However, he was very happy today, so he didn't want to take it seriously.

"I mean, I'm afraid that my wife will betray me and sleep with another man after our marriage"

Suddenly, an idea popped up in Christina's mind.

She grabbed Charles's arm and asked him seriously, "You have been dating so many girlfriends for
many years.It turns out that you are actually the one who has been picking up by those women.Poor
Charles."

"Charles, you are afraid of getting married.You are such a coward.You're really killing me"

Christina almost laughed her head off.

People sitting around the table heard their conversation, and even SeniorMrs.Stephenson couldn't
resist laughing.

Charles was speechless and he was in despair now.

He roared, "Damn it, I'm worried that my wife will cheat on me.What's wrong with you? Women are
realistic and there is nothing they can't do for their interests.Jesus."

As they were laughing, the door opened and a sexy woman with smokey- eye makeup came in.

Christina and Charles stopped making fun of each other and they were surprised by the sudden arrival
of Erica.

Everyone felt a bit awkward at this point.

In fact, Chandler was forced to divorce Erica because she slept with other guys.



Erica was the kind of woman that Charles talked about, and she showed up while they were talking
about such a topic.

It was an extremely embarrassing moment.

Then, Chandler followed her and came in.

Apparently, it was Chandler that took Erica here.

After all, Erica was Geoffrey's biological mother, and she had the right to come here to celebrate
Geoffrey's birthday.

So the Stephenson family was not strongly against Erica's arrival.

In the past, Erica would celebrate Geoffrey's birthday even if she was reluctant to meet with the
Stephenson family.

"Happy birthday! Geoffrey."

Erica smiled and took out a small gift from her white LV bag and gave it to Geoffrey.

Geoffrey sat beside Crystal.

He looked up at his mother, hesitated for a while, and then said in a low voice, "Thank you."

He was a little bit nervous.

Then, Geoffrey lowered his head.

It seemed that he didn't dare to have eye contact with his mother.

However, he held the gift tightly in his hand and never let it go.



Everyone in the Stephenson family knew that Geoffrey wanted to be on intimate terms with Erica, but
he was disdained by his mother for so many years.

The Stephenson family felt pity for what Geoffrey had been through these years, but there was nothing
they could do to help.

The waiter immediately came over and then added a seat to this table when he saw that a woman
came in.

"Crystal, could you change your seat and let Erica sit beside Geoffrey?"

Senior Mrs.Stephenson spoke out in a low voice.

Christina and the other guests heard what Senior Mrs.Stephenson said although her voice was quite
low, then they all looked at Crystal.

Erica, who was standing in front of them, also stared at Crystal.

At that time, everyone was waiting for Crystal's reaction.

Crystal was not used to being looked at by so many people.

She knew that Geoffrey was longing for Erica's love.

When she heard her mother-in-law's words, she was a little embarrassed.

"Sure."

Crystal managed to force a smile and then rose from the chair.

The waiter added a new chair to the table and then Erica sat down.



She was sitting beside Geoffrey and Chandler.

The whole family gathered together now.

Crystal tried not to look at them.

Christina looked at Erica angrily.She thought that Erica was not supposed to come.

She could not hold back her anger anymore and was about to smack her hand down onto the table
when she was stopped by Charles.

He warned her not to be impulsive and make trouble, then he dragged Christina out of the room.

"What the hell are you doing? Why did you take me out?"

Christina was dragged out of the room and she still glared at Erica.

"Erica is such a shameless bitch! She had an affair and didn't take care of her son.

How could she come to Geoffrey's birthday party when Crystal is present? Just because she is
Geoffrey's biological mother? Ridiculous! I have never seen such a hateful woman before.

Did she want to humiliate Crystal using this dirty trick? Why did Senior Mrs.Stephenson ask Crystal to
offer her seat to Erica? That is completely ridiculous!"

Christina could scarcely keep in her indignation and cursed loudly.

Christina wanted to question Chandler why he let Erica come in and whether he didn’t care about
Crystal’s feelings at all.



She would rush in and bark questions at Chandler immediately If Charles didn’t grip her as tightly as he
could.

"Calm down, please.Christina."

Charles tried to persuade her not to act on impulse.

Christina was outraged at the way Crystal had been treated.

She shouted at Charles, "Do you think that Crystal should make room for Erica as well? What the hell?
Crystal is Chandler’s wife now.Why is Erica invited to attend Geoffrey's birthday party? It is absolutely a
humiliation to Crystal.The Stephenson family goes too far"

Christina got furious now, "I will ask the waiter to remove the chair.If Erica refuses to leave, I will ask
Patrick to stand, then let's see how the Stephenson family deals with it"

"Listen, Christina.Don’t be impulsive."

Charles got anxious.He thought that Christina would screw it up.

"It is quite clear to me that they are bullying Crystal now.I must argue with them.Let me go!"

Christina wouldn't allow her friend to suffer shame.

Her feelings were at a high pitch of indignation.

"If you make a big fuss about this, it will be difficult for Crystal to get on with the Stephenson family in
the future.Whenever you feel like criticizing any person, you should remember that most people in this
world haven't had the advantages that you’ve had.Crystal has to sacrifice part of her interests for the
peace and harmony of the Stephenson family.You can do whatever you want because you are lucky,
but you need to put yourself in others’ shoes.Do you understand?"



Charles stopped her gravely.

"When a woman gets married, she and her husband will form a new family, and she may not be under
the protection of her parents as before.

Also, she is regarded as an outsider to his husband's family.

Although Crystal may feel deeply wronged today, the Stephenson family will compensate for her
tolerance.

Most women have been through a similar process.

You were also a little bit gauche when you just married into the Hopkins family"

Christina gradually calmed down when she heard what Charles said.

However, she was still discontented with the measure that the Stephenson family took, so she retorted
stubbornly.

"Although I was pretty cautious when I just married Patrick, he didn't embarrass me in this way.The
Stephenson family was too tolerant of Erica."

"Although the Stephenson family is more prestigious than Crystal's family, she never coveted
anything.She didn't even tell her mother about her lightning marriage because she was afraid that her
stepfather and stepbrother would blackmail the Stephenson family.She became a stepmother at such a
young age and tried her best to take care of the whole Stephenson family.The Stephenson family was
of great importance to Crystal.I couldn't understand why the Stephenson family invited Erica to come
here to make Crystal feel embarrassed"

Noticing that Christina was so indignant, Charles sighed with sarcasm, "You don't pay much attention to
your own business.I couldn't sort out why you are getting mad with things related to Crystal when she



herself didn't think it is a big deal "

“Although the attitude of the Stephenson family was kind of inappropriate just now, I know that
Chandler cares about Crystal and would shoulder his responsibility.Your friend is fine and you don't
need to be worried about her."

Finally, Christina agreed to what Charles said and calmed down.

She made her displeasure obvious when she returned to the table.

Patrick and Senior Mr.Stephenson also returned to the table.

Patrick glanced at Erica, who came here unexpectedly.

Then, Erica smiled and greeted him.

Patrick remained expressionless as usual.

However, he found out that Christina was obviously in a bad mood after he returned to his seat.

"What's happening?" Patrick asked.

Christina was reluctant to respond to her husband.

The people of the Stephenson family felt uneasy upon hearing the question asked by Patrick.


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