From Ashes of Scandal to His Embrace (Laurinda) novel Chapter 56

Irvin charged in, Foley trailing behind him with a stack of food containers. Both of them paused, a little surprised to find Laurinda already there.

Irvin didn’t waste a second. He shrugged off his jacket and headed straight for Laurinda. When he caught sight of the food on the table, he threw a dramatic, wounded look over at Adolphus.

“Adolphus, why does she get the special treatment?”

Adolphus glanced at him, clearly unimpressed by Irvin’s puppy-dog stare. He turned away, voice cool. “You can start eating in the cafeteria tonight.”

“Seriously? Why do I have to eat in the cafeteria? Are you really going to deny me one meal?”

“Because you’re too noisy. If you don’t like it, you can go eat in the cafeteria right now.”

Irvin realized Adolphus wasn’t joking. He clamped his mouth shut, shuffled over to Foley, and started helping him unpack the containers, grumbling under his breath as he sat down.

Laurinda sipped her porridge, noticing Irvin throwing longing glances at her food. She couldn’t help but smile.

“What’s wrong? Want a bite?”

Irvin’s eyes lit up. He instantly nodded. No one could resist Adolphus’s cooking. Anyone who tasted it knew how amazing it was.

“Nope. It’s all mine.”

Laurinda raised her eyebrows playfully and scooped up another big spoonful, making an exaggerated show of enjoying it. She was a pro at teasing people.

Irvin just looked at her, shaking his head, half annoyed, half amused. “You’re so childish. Here I was, worrying about you, thinking we were good friends.”

Laurinda studied his sharp, handsome features and sighed to herself. Honestly, it was a tragedy he wasn’t a model.

“Why are you staring at me?” Adolphus asked, sounding a little uneasy.

“Oh.” Laurinda snapped back, giving him a soft, easy smile. “I wanted to ask you about Irvin. He doesn’t really seem like the brightest guy, but how did he end up with something so impressive? He knew someone was after me and gave me a vial of nerve-numbing stuff.”

Adolphus didn’t look surprised. He already knew about the vial. After that incident, he’d made sure Foley collected all the other bottles Irvin had, just in case Irvin got any more bright ideas about handing them out.

Still, when Laurinda called Irvin clueless, Adolphus couldn’t help but laugh. Irvin’s reputation as a young genius was well known.

“Both his parents are top researchers in biomedicine. He basically grew up in a lab and loves to mess around with things like that. The Main Family took him out of the research institute so he could have a normal life.”