Chapter 8 Prank

When Marvin saw Annabelle, standing beautifully by the lake, he became slack-jawed as if he had been hit by a bolt of thunder. He tried to describe her beauty, but his mind went blank. He simply felt that he had seen a fairy. Annabelle, on the other hand, felt helpless. She didn't want to see Marvin at all, yet she just bumped into him. She then figured that she would see him sooner or later anyway, so she decided to greet him calmly, and then she would leave. Marvin beat her to it and said, "I think... Have we met somewhere before?" Annabelle was taken aback and suddenly realized what was going on. "That's right. He hasn't seen my face yet, and he always thinks I'm just an ugly bumpkin, so he probably won't recognize me right away." "Take your time to recall. I'm leaving now." After saying so, Annabelle turned to leave. Now that Marvin didn't recognize her, she could just walk away. Things would be easier for her in such a way. After all, she didn't like Marvin anyway. However, Marvin moved and blocked her way. He said with a half-smile, "In my dreams, I presume." Annabelle paused, and the corners of her mouth twitched. She thought, 'Is he hitting on me? Is that how he hits on other girls? In such a lame, outdated, and cheeky way?' As Annabelle taunted him silently, she also wanted to make some fun of him. She decided to hide her identity from him, for she wanted to know what he would do. So, she smiled gently. "Sir, you're so funny." Her voice was so sweet that it almost made Marvin numb. Seeing that she wasn't refusing him, he took a further step and said with a smile, "I lost my phone. Can I borrow yours and call myself?" Annabelle had goosebumps all over. She thought, "You're such a terrible actor, Marvin. That's a pretty lame reason to ask for my phone number!' "What a coincidence. I lost my phone, too." Marvin grinned and thought, 'Interesting. Is she playing hard-to-get? Yet somehow I have a feeling that she's different from the ones who've been fawning on me. Why don't I try something a little more direct?' "Then call me when you find it." With that, he took out a business card, shoved it into Annabelle's hand, stared into her eyes, and said, "Remember, my name is Marvin Gregory." Annabelle took the card and glanced at it, seeing that the title was the CEO of Deerbarrow Club, some club that she had never heard of. "After I get my phone back." Marvin looked at Annabelle seductively, which was his signature move, and said meaningfully, "OK. I'll be waiting for you." Then he turned around and walked toward his family's residence. In his eyes, she was just being pretentious on purpose, trying to keep him in suspense. And he always had a principle when courting girls. He would never force them too close. He figured that things would work out best if he kept them casual. As for who that fairy-like beautiful girl was, and whether he could contact her in the future, he wasn't worried, because he had confidence. With his elegant appearance and the impressive title on his card, no woman would say no to him. Plus, only a handful of families lived in this neighborhood, and no one irrelevant was allowed to enter. Finding her contact information would be easy. Five minutes after Marvin went inside, Kendrick came out. As he left the place, he saw Annabelle coming from the lake with a smile on her face. His eyes darkened as he saw the bright blue Maserati parked out front. He thought, 'Marvin is back? I didn't run into him back inside. I guess Annabelle has already met him.' "What's so happy about?" he asked flatly. Annabelle was stunned for a second and then stopped smiling. "Nothing. I thought of something funny." She didn't want to tell Kendrick that she had just played a prank on his brother. Yet Kendrick got jealous. He thought, 'Why did she purposely leave out the fact that she had just met Marvin? And why is she beaming?'