Love the Second Time Around Novel

Chapter 123 Another Coincidence

| felt it was a familiar voice. As | turned my head, | saw Royce, who had just gotten out of his car. He was just a

few steps behind us.

“Ms. Zanetti, what a coincidence again. Are you here for the banquet too?”

I had no idea what he was talking about, and | could barely care. Nevertheless, it was such a coincidence to run

into him again.

When we were departing in the morning, Shannon askedto invite Royce, but I rejected. Who would have

thought he would be here?

As | was still hesitating how to reply to him, Shannon had opened her mouth.

“We're invited by our friends, the one who asked us out last time. Mr. Horton, if you are not busy tonight, you can

cover and have fun with us.”

| immediately cut Shannon a glare. How could you invite others if you have not figured out the situation?

With that, Royce flashed back a courteous smile. “Sure, I'll stop by if | have time.”

Upon hearing that, Shannon’s grin grew wider. She pointed atand told Royce to findif he arrived later.

| was rendered speechless by her gesture, as | knew what she was planning. It looked like she had forgotten what

| told her in the morning.

At that moment, my mind was trying hard to find an excuse to leave with her. But before | could open my mouth,

Royce answered a call and left abruptly after that.

As soon as Royce left the scene, | started observing Shannon's expression closely. | suspected if she was the one

who invited Royce over secretly.

Noticing my suspicious expression, she immediately shook her head innocently.

“Don’t look atlike that. | didn’t invite him.”

| leaned close to her face sternly. “Are you sure it wasn't you?”

With that, Shannon lifted her right hand firmly. “I swear it wasn’t me.”

Standing up, | scoffed indifferently and gave her a warning. It's impossible between Royce and me.

Grabbing my arms tightly, Shannon did not seem to take my words seriously. “How will you know if you don’t try?

We did not invite him, yet you guys bump into each other. Who knows, maybe the two of you are meant to be

together? Sometimes we have to believe in destiny...”

Listening to her talking such nonsense, | could not help but stop her abruptly.

“Shannon, | thought you wantedto be with Nicholas, as you kept mentioning him to me. And now there's

Royce. Have you changed your mind?”

Shannon's following words pissedoff. “It’s like this, Liliana. Even though we are good friends, after | gave it a

good thought, | figure it’s such a waste to give Nicholas to you. After all, one should never stick a flower into cow

dung.”

| patted her back vigorously and yelled, “What're you saying now? Who's the flower, and who's the cow dung?”

“Ouch! Please have mercy on me. It’s painful!” Shannon let out a cry.

| feigned her an angry look. “You're the one who insultsfirst. Shannon, how could you neglect your friend

when smitten with a new love?”

She was not at all embarrassed by my statement, yet she spoke confidently, “It’s not that | neglect our

friendship, but | know how to appreciate real beauty.”

I almost vomit, disgusted by how narcissistic she was.

After taking a short walk around the resort, | started to feel sleepy. Right at that moment, the man who invited

Shannon called.

Judging by her speaking tone on the phone, it seemed like she was genuinely interested in the other party.

After hanging up the phone, Shannon signaledto go back to the resort's entrance; seemingly, he was waiting

for us there.

While we were still ten feet away from the entrance, | spotted a man standing there.

| pushed Shannon slightly and asked her if he was the one. She nodded with a shy smile.

By that time, that man saw us too and he started walking towards us.

His gesture added merit to my heart, as he did not look like a prideful domineering man.

After he cnear us, | finally recognized his face from the last date. His nwas Quinn, but | could not

remember what his occupation was.

The first word that cout of his mouth was an apology, as he did not fetch us here.

Nonetheless, Shannon was not the type of woman that would mind such details. With that, she smiled casually

and started introducing him to me.

| remembered the ncorrectly, and it turned out he owned a company doing landscape design.

In fact, part of the natural landscape inside this resort was done by his company.

Later, Quinn sent us to a room. He told us that he had a brief company meeting to catch, and he would cto

find us again after that.

After closing the door, Shannon eagerly turned toand inquired about my impression of him.

Honestly, | felt he was alright. He had this gentleman's kind of look, and the way he talked was polite and

humorous at the stime. In conclusion, my impression was much better compared to the last date.

Right then, both of us lay down on the bed as | yawned. “Shannon, it looks like both of you are getting along

well. Later, when he comes, you go out with him alone. I'm sleepy now. So you can leaveout.”

Shannon did not seem to agree. “Don’t tellyou call the way here to sleep. You rest now, and I'll wake

you up later.”

With that, | dozed off in a matter of seconds, as | was really exhausted.

Nonetheless, | felt | got woken up in the blink of an eye.

| opened my eyes reluctantly and saw a blurred figure wandering slowly in front of me.

“Liliana, are you up? Quinn has just called.”

| tossed my body, still feeling dizzy. “Please go without me. I'll join you later.”

Upon saying that, | went on to sleep again. | was not sure what Shannon's response was, and | could barely

remember.

However, a moment later, my sleep was interrupted by a call. Taking a glance at my phone, | was frustrated to

see it was Dominic.

Utterly displeased, | sounded agitated. “What is it? I'm sleeping.”

On the other end, Dominic spoke in a composed manner. “Why are you sleeping at such an hour? Where are

you?”