Imprisoned While Pregnant, She's Back for Payback novel Chapter 349

Chapter 349 No Coincidence

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Tess knew exactly how clever he was. She lifted her chin, tapped his slouched shoulder with ease, and leaned close enough for her breath to warm his car. A faint smile curved her lips as she whispered, “If you don’t feel like eating, then you can leave.”

Her words sliced straight through the air. Even the smile that Abel adored turned into something edged with frost that was sharp enough to sting.

Abel’s back stiffened even more than the shoulder she touched. The warmth of her breath lingered by his car, circling and coiling until it burned across his skin like a sudden flame.

Heat rose to his face.

She wasn’t keeping him at a distance anymore.

That single thought stirred a hidden thrill inside him. Excitement flickered in his eyes before he could even notice it himself.

Tess never caught the shift in him. She simply stepped ahead and slid into her seat with calm grace.

Only then did Abel snap back to himself. He strode forward, long and steady, and pulled her chair out for her like a gentleman.

“Sir, ma’am,” the server began politely, “since you don’t have a reservation, there will be a wait for the entrées. Would you like to order dessert while you wait?”

“Bring me a raspberry black forest.”

Abel spoke without even glancing at the menu.

The server hesitated. “I’m sorry, sir, but that dessert isn’t on our menu.”

Abel placed his black card flat on the table as if it were nothing. “Then your chef should learn how to make it. If he can’t, then he can be replaced.”

Tess blinked at him, confusion flashing like a bright question mark in her mind.

What on earth is he trying to pull?

The server looked unsettled, but still bowed her head and set the card back in front of him carefully. “I’ll contact the kitchen right away.”

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16:34 Mon, Oct 20…

Chapter 349 No Coincidence

So, one of them was determined to push, and the other was too willing to bend.

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Tess rubbed her forehead with a quiet sigh. When she lifted her gaze, Abel’s wide eyes were locked on her, shining with childish pride. He didn’t speak, but his expression gave him away. He was smug, waiting to be praised, as if asking her, “Well? Did I impress you?”

Tess pressed her lips together and forced a smile.

“Just because you’re rich doesn’t mean you can make people do something they cannot.”

Abel’s shoulders sagged at once, drooping like a flower struck by frost.

He muttered with quiet frustration. “The chef’s profile outside said he used to work at the Fountain Opera House in Kingsland. Their raspberry black forest is their signature. It’s your favorite…”

“What are you rambling about?”

Tess cast him a sharp glance.

“Nothing.”

He turned his face away with stubborn silence.

Tess let it pass and lowered her eyes toward the window.

She leaned her cheek against her hand. Her gaze was drifting, though no one noticed the other hand hidden under the table. Her fingers curled tight against her thigh.

Raspberry black forest. After all this time, he still remembered.

The restaurant was calm and elegant, touched by the soft night breeze. In her white dress, Tess looked as though she might take flight at any moment, like a spirit with wings about to disappear into the dark.

Abel stared at her, completely spellbound. His hand moved up to cover his mouth, trying to hide the red flush spreading across his face.

Between them, the atmosphere felt warm and easy, but at the next table, tension coiled tight.

Henry’s expression darkened with disbelief.

Why is that brat showing up?

He tilted his head ever so slightly to look, and the moment his eyes landed on Tess, his mind

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16:34 Mon, Oct 20

Chapter 349 No Coincidence

faltered.

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Her side profile gleamed with a beauty that pulled him straight back to the first time he had laid eyes on Kylie.

It was impossible to deny. Tess had inherited her mother’s beauty. No, that beauty was sharpened further and refined beyond what Kylie had ever carried.

Shannon noticed his slip. She stirred her haute chocolate with a spoon, the crisp clink ringing out, but she said nothing at all.

Nadine swept her hair forward as though to hide her face, her guilty conscience plain as day.

Of all times, it had to knock right now.

“I’m going to the restroom.”

Tess rose from her seat.

Abel shifted to follow her, but her sharp glare stopped him in his tracks. He sank back into his chair, left alone in silence.

Shannon’s eyes followed Tess‘ every step until she vanished from sight. Then her attention dropped onto Abel, lingering over him with thought.

The moment Tess was gone, the warmth on his face vanished. His features hardened, cold and unreadable, his sharp profile like some painted noble from an old European canvas, beautiful yet dark.

Shannon’s gaze fell to the red diamond pinned at his chest. She stared, her fingers curling tight around her handbag.

“I need to fix my makeup.”

Her tone was gentle as she rose with her

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