Chapter 4

I thought Skylar would finally calm down.

After all, I was only planning to stay a few days. If I weren’t allergic to pet hair, I would’ve gone to my best friend’s place directly, but her boyfriend’s dog was temporarily staying there, so I had to come here.

I didn’t mind Dylan dating; I was too busy to keep tabs on them.

With my relentless encouragement, Dylan had developed impressive cooking skills, so naturally, he prepared dinner.

The table was filled with all my favorite dishes: Southern-style pork, sweet and sour ribs, roasted chicken, stir-fried chives and eggs, cauliflower with ham, braised lamb, and my favorite spicy shrimp!

“Eating so heavy at night? No wonder you got dumped!”

“Ugh, chives? They’re so annoying to get out of your teeth!”

“Dylan! Why did you make lamb? The smell is unbearable!”

As soon as the dishes were served, Dylan hadn’t even had a chance to take off his apron when Skylar started picking food off the plate and shoving it into her mouth.

While we weren’t a rich family, we still had decent manners. I frowned slightly at Skylar’s behavior but said nothing.

Everyone comes from different backgrounds, and lifestyle habits vary; those can change over time.

Hearing Skylar complain, I thought maybe Dylan overlooked her tastes since he wanted to impress me and had ignored what she liked.

Just as I was about to reprimand Dylan for his lack of etiquette, he spoke up.

“Didn’t you ask for at least two meat and two vegetable dishes for dinner? It’s been a while since my sister ate my cooking, so I made a few extra dishes.”

“Didn’t you say eating chives is good for your health and you should have them every day?”

“Didn’t you say yesterday you wanted to eat braised lamb?”

Oh, great! So this whole dinner was a subtle attack aimed at me!

Under Dylan’s silent pleading, I decided to ignore her and put on some disposable gloves to start peeling shrimp.

Maybe I hadn’t given Skylar the reaction she was hoping for because, after just a few bites, she started acting up again.

“Dylan, I want shrimp!”

Dylan patiently peeled a few shrimp and placed them on her plate.

“Some people have to peel their own shrimp. How… common.”

Was that a direct jab at me?

Sure, and next I should just give her my bank account too!

But before I could swallow my shrimp and say anything, I witnessed something that shocked me to my core.

“Dylan, feed me!” Skylar cooed in a high-pitched voice, closing her eyes and opening her mouth, waiting for him to spoon-feed her.

Dylan looked troubled as he glanced at me, then turned to Skylar, who was looking at him with a blissful expression. He lowered his voice and said, “Skylar, don’t do that. My sister’s here; just eat your food, okay?”

Hearing this, Skylar opened her eyes, shot me a glare, and clung to Dylan’s arm, pouting, “Dylan, do you love your sister more than me now? You used to never say no to me!”

Dylan, looking uncomfortable, lowered his voice to soothe Skylar. “Skylar, my sister just went through a breakup. It’s not nice to tease her like this, and it’s not proper either.”

Somewhere along the line, Skylar’s temper flared. She slammed her chopsticks on the table and stood up.

“Dylan! Why is your sister more important than me? Just because she got dumped doesn’t mean I should be her little servant! You’re the only son; everything in this family will be yours! She’s just a daughter who’ll marry out someday. Why should I bow to her, an outsider?”

At this point, my temper also flared.

“Who are you calling an outsider?”

Skylar seemed taken aback by my sudden anger, shrinking back slightly, but quickly regained her bravado, glaring at me. “I’m talking about you!”

Seeing a confrontation brewing, Dylan hurriedly stood up to comfort Skylar.

Skylar ignored him, pointing her finger at me. “Avery, do you have no shame? You show up uninvited and take over my room!”

“You seem to forget who the real owner of this house is.”