11 Forced to endure

Yvette woke up to a text message from Summer early in the morning. It was about the details of the date she was supposed to attend on behalf of Summer.

"Royal Cuisine? Isn't that like, a really high-class dine-in place?" Yvette rubbed her eyes a few more times, doubting what she was seeing just now. "Exactly who did uncle fix her date with? Should she really miss out on such an awesome date?" she wondered.

Today was the weekend, and for a change, she didn't have any of her part-time today. Usually, her entire day is packed with tons of work. But today, she can take her time relaxing and then go for the dinner.

"Guess I'll do some studies while I am at home," she stretched out her arms a little before getting off of her bed.

"Yve! Don't you have any work to do, or planning to sleep like some pig there?" a loud female voice from downstairs came, sounding really annoyed.

"I am up, aunt!" Yvette let out a sigh. It was always like this, starting the morning with shouts from her aunt, who acts more like a landlady or employer. Or maybe way worse, a step one.

"Then get your ass down here, and help me with breakfast!"

Her shouts cleared up the remaining tiny bit of sluggishness from waking up early. Yvette hurriedly splashed a few handfuls of water on her face and ran down the stairs.

She jumped down the stairs, heading towards the kitchen in the east direction of the house. But her steps froze just before a few steps remaining, when her eyes landed on a guy sitting comfortably on the sofa, looking straight at her. And when he noticed that she saw him, he let out a grin before winking at her.

This is why she hated being at home on weekends. She felt like her feet were nailed down to the floor, unable to move even an inch. And being in front of that guy, her skin felt like it could fall off any moment out of disgust.

"Will you keep standing there like some fool, or come and help me, Yve?" the middle-aged woman in the kitchen kept fiddling with some utensils in the sink, ordering Yvette.

"Yes, Sophie aunty." For the first time, Yvette felt thankful for her aunt's shouts. Otherwise, it would've been hard to snap out of that moment. She fled from the drilling gaze of that boy in the living room, rushing straight into the kitchen. At least he wouldn't be able to land his piercing gaze on her this way.

She found the kitchen an absolute mess. She scanned the kitchen once before deciding to clean the kitchen a bit, as there was a pan with something burnt to the point of looking like a clump of coal on the stove. Yvette removed the pan, brought out a new one, and started making something light for the stomach.

"What are you doing?" Aunt Sophie peeked over Yvette's shoulder, looking at the pan.

"I-I thought I would make egg and bacon for everyone," Yvette responded meekly, her voice low and gentle.

"And you think everyone is going to have their fill with this measly food?"

Yvette shivered a little, startled by the sudden rise of voice just beside her ears. But she quickly composed herself, stretching out her hand towards the top shelf.

"I'll make some toasts as well," she brought out the packet of loaves and started separating them by each piece.

"Ugh, it's a weekend, and we can't even get a nice breakfast for a change? Where are we, some kind of third-rated inn?"

Yvette sneaked a little peek at the source of the voice, finding out the guy from before raising his voice from the living room.

"Forget it, son. Think of it like your mother did a blunder, agreeing to do some charity work of adopting people," Sophie sneered, looking away from Yvette.

"Oh mom, don't put stress on yourself, thinking so harsh now," the guy walked up towards the kitchen, giving a side hug to his mother. "And Yve already works hard enough. See, how fragile and skinny her body is. She must be working really hard." He glanced at Yvette, eyeing her from top to bottom before adding more, "Look closely, mom. How white her skin looks. She must have been really pale, everywhere. You should eat more, Yve."

Yvette felt her entire body burning in rage. She wished she could dig a hole in the ground and crawl within it. But for the sake of decency and courtesy, she tried to turn a blind eye to it, clenching her fist tightly to hide the anger.

"BROTHER Tony, I'm glad you think about your cousin so well," Yvette deliberately put emphasis on the word 'brother', to make the line clear. Pretty obviously, that Tony guy has the filthiest look on his eyes, scanning Yvette and having who knows what kind of dirty thoughts. But there is nothing she can say, since the elder of the home is her aunt, and Tony is her own son. And being under the favour of them, she ought to keep quiet about it.

She kept quiet, and focused on her bacon and eggs on the pan. And Tony took his mother away, letting her sit comfortably on the sofa. Soon, Yvette finished making the breakfast and proceeded to serve them in separate dishes. Seeing her preparing the plates, Tony immediately came ahead, pretending to be helping her.

"Let me get those plates on the table, Yve," he walked up, extending his hands towards her. But instead of holding the plate, he held her hand instead and gave her arm a tight squeeze.

*crash*

Yvette was startled by the unwelcoming and nasty touch of her cousin brother, thus the ceramic plate in her hands slipped off of her hands, landing on the mosaic floor and breaking into a few pieces.

"My goodness, what the hell are you doing, you stupid wench?" Sophie jumped up from the sofa, running towards the kitchen. She saw the mess on the floor, and her face immediately turned red with anger. "What are you doing, wrecking the house now?"

Yvette stood a few steps away from the broken shards of the plate, looking down at them. Sophie thought she was feeling ashamed of her deed, but in actuality, she was feeling disgusted by the incident happened just now, resulting into the wreck of the plate.