"So sour!"
"What is this?" Irma grimaced, her face contorting wildly from the acidity.
She desperately wanted to spit it out, but Seb flashed a wicked grin. "You aren't going to spit that out, are you? That's my homemade mini lemon cake."
"You really need to mind your image, Irma. If you spit food out at a Churchill gala, everyone will talk."
Trapped, Irma had no choice but to force the horrific bite down her throat.
"Are you grossed out by my baking, Irma?"
"I originally made it for Claire, but I ended up offering it to you first."
"Is it good?"
Irma paused mid-swallow.
"It's delicious. How many did you make?"
She refused to suffer alone!
If it was originally meant for Claire, why should she be the only one to choke it down?
"Just this one. Super sour, isn't it? I made it from lemons."
"Three whole lemons, actually."
Seb looked immensely proud of himself.
Irma was speechless. It was the size of a golf ball! Of course three whole lemons made it sour!
"Then I shouldn't steal Claire's gift. I've only taken one bite. Take the rest to her."
"No thanks. It's sour, so it suits you way better."
Seb's pointed remark wiped the faux concern right off Irma's face.
"Seb, what are you trying to imply?"
"Is it that hard to understand?" Seb leaned closer, whispering in her ear. "Are you really that oblivious? You reek of so much sour jealousy it makes me sick."
"You've been choking on lemons all night."
"You're insanely jealous of Claire, aren't you?"
Irma's eyes darted frantically. She never expected this brat to be so blunt.
She had always known Seb had a bratty streak, but since he wasn't Padgett's biological grandson, she had never considered him a threat.
Now she realized this kid was an absolute nightmare!
"I have no idea what you're talking about!"
Irma slammed the tiny lemon cake onto a nearby side table and fled.
Seb shrugged it off, though he did mourn the loss of his perfectly executed prank pastry.
"Seb, get over here." Yolande waved him over, having finally tracked down her little brother.
Seb instantly reverted to an obedient angel and trotted to her side.
"Come here. You haven't officially met Claire yet, have you?"
"Say hi to your cousin!"
"Hi, Claire." Seb offered a brilliant smile, flashing his adorable little fangs.
He looked like the picture of pure, harmless innocence.
His own sister popped that bubble immediately. "Don't let the cute face fool you. He's a total demon."
"He's been pulling pranks since he could walk. Even my parents can't control him." But as his older sister, Yolande was the one person who could keep him in check.
Seb knew his very existence caused his sister to be overshadowed by their mother, and he was
hyper-aware of his mother's blatant
favoritism. Because of that, Seb
carried a deep, unspoken guilt
toward Yolande.
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He would terrorize anyone in the world, but he would never dare lay a finger on his sister.
"Seb," Claire nodded coolly, not particularly impressed by the boy.
Her icy reception was mostly due to her deep dislike of his mother, Tiffany.
Thank god Yolande hadn't inherited her mother's toxicity.
If she had, Claire would have written Yolande off too.
Seb didn't seem bothered by Claire's aloofness. He kept smiling and said, "Lactually made you a welcome gift, Claire, but frma ate it."
"What did you make?" Claire asked, mildly curious.
Seb blinked in surprise. Wasn't the polite response supposed to be
'That's okay, it's the thought the
counts
"A mini lemon cake."
"Did you still want to try it?"
It really was a shame Claire didn't get to eat it.
But compared to Claire, the sour lemon was definitely a much better fit for Irma.