The private room plunged into a silence so profound it was deafening. The spoon clattered against Everly's plate, the sound unnaturally loud in the sudden, suffocating silence that had swallowed the room whole.
Nolan's perpetually cheerful smile evaporated, his jaw going slack as his mouth formed a perfect, cartoonish 'O'. He looked like a man who'd just seen a unicorn get hit by a car. His brain, a simple machine designed for pleasure and gossip, was currently emitting smoke and sparks.
Of course, he was completely, utterly, and spectacularly lost. He hadn't been at Everly's chaotic banquet, and Jeremy had been working overtime to suppress the explosive rumors about the Qin, Shen, and Chang families families all vying for her hand.
