Reborn, Reawakened, Rekindled

Chapter 396

I couldn’t be sure. The moment the thought took root, though, I couldn’t suppress it.

If Karina simply ignored me during my ordeal, I might have accused her of having an icy heart but if she intentionally tied that rope around my ankle, that’s a different kettle of fish. Wasn’t that akin to attempted murder?

“Neil, could you fetch me some wet wipes from my bag? My hands are all greasy,” Karina requested, shaking her oil-slicked hands in mild exasperation.

Karina had brought a bag, which was placed just a few feet away from me.

Neil responded, “Sure, in a moment.””

I got up first, “I’ll get it for you!”

Seeing me approach her bag, Karina’s expression momentarily flinched in resistance, she quickly stepped forward, “It’s okay, I’ll get it. God knows this bag is already dirty enough.”

She then moved her bag away to a place beyond my sight, only then did she proceed to take out a pack of wet wipes.

This action of hers seemed a bit odd. Was she worried that I would have seen something in her bag? Or was she just being protective of her privacy?

“What’s up?” My distracted demeanor caught Russel’s attention; he asked in a low voice.

“Nothing,” I snapped back to reality, shaking my head.

A while later, Karina and Neil prepared lunch, which was all seafood, complemented by a bottle of wine provided by the hotel. The spread was quite lavish.

Russel and I sat on one side, with Neil and Karina opposite us.

seemed quite pleased with her culinary achievement. She beamed at us, “Ms. Finch, Russel, please try it and tell me how

It looks very fresh,”

meaningful look, “Russel, shouldn’t you be more attentive to your wife? She’s hurt her hand. You should be helping her with her food, or

unexpectedly,

my daily activities weren’t much affected, especially when

the case, when

expression cooled a bit, but Karina remained relaxed, even offering Neil a smile, “Right, I forgot one can eat with one hand. I just wanted to give Russel an opportunity to show his caring side. He’s always been so slow on the emotional uptake. I’m worried that Ms. Finch might

bit introverted in front

so keen on highlighting my relationship with Russel to Neil, I decided to play along.

pleasantly surprised, and a hint of a smile tugged at

mostly keeping his eyes on his plate and not participating

for me, having to face Neil and Karina. Only Karina was enjoying herself, initiating most

to go to the restroom,” Karina announced midway through

on the bag lying on the edge of the table: She was so protective

‘accidentally’ smeared my hand with sauce, “Where are the wipes? I think Dr. Karina has some in her bag. Russel, could

didn’t think twice, and only glanced at Neil once. After all, meddling with someone else’s belongings wasn’t really polite,

present.

“Yeah,

the bag and as he opened it. I deliberately took a few glances. That’s when I noticed something odd. There was

why didn’t she just dispose of the rope in

unattended as she went to the restroom. It was as if she was deliberately drawing my attention and giving me a chance to

rope and confronted Karina with it as evidence when she returned. But I decided against it. Instead, I took the wipes, cleaned

The first thing she did was check her bag. Noticing it had been moved, she glanced