Trapped with a Lawyer

The audience burst into an uproar when Ella tried her best to flatter grandma.

On hearing that the Maitreya was carved by Ella, Melody was so excited, tears welled in her eyes, "It's beautiful. I like it very much. Help me put it on."

Ella put her son down, took off Melody's pearl necklace and replaced it with the Maitreya pendant.

"Grandma, I went to the temple especially to have the Maitreya pendant blessed by eminent monks. It is now an auspicious symbol to keep you safe and happy!" Ella's words sparked another round of heated discussion and praise.

Wearing the pendant, Melody clasped Ella's hand and introduced her to her old workmates, "This is Jerry's mother. Isn't she beautiful?"

"Yes. You are lucky to have her."

"I heard that Ella is a superstar now!

How brilliant!"

Samuel was observing what was happening. He arched an eyebrow, satisfaction in his eyes.

He didn't want to talk with Catherine, until now. He started to respond her.

The clock struck 12:00. All who were invited were in attendance. More than 30 people gathered around the big table.

Melody went to the bathroom with the help of Mrs. Qi. Everyone else found their seat and sat down.

It was awkward for Ella because her son Jerry had sat next to Samuel.

He took Jerry from her arms without a word and carried him to where Catherine was sitting. Samuel sat Jerry between him and Catherine.

After watching the scene, many people concluded that Ella was no longer a member of the family. Catherine would be the hostess of Shao family in future. Quite a few people had favor with her. Ella standing there not far from her son, squinted at Samuel angrily and gritted her teeth. "Jerry, come here."

Her words made people stop talking and laughing. They all looked at her.

"Miss Bo, don't worry about Jerry. I can look after him well. In order to be a good company of Jerry, I have learned some parenting knowledge from nursery school teachers." Catherine smiled. She prevented Jerry from going towards his mother.

Unsurprisingly, everyone spoke highly of Catherine for her thoughtful behavior.

Ella took a deep breath. She thought Catherine was going to take Jerry from her.

"Miss Gu, if you are fond of kids, you can bear yours with Mr. Shao. But Jerry is my son. It's my responsibility to take care of him."

She said as she went over to pick Jerry up.

Catherine did not let go of Jerry. The situation became tense.

The crowd hoped that Samuel could say or do something. But he kept silent as if he had seen nothing. He walked out of the private room when his phone started ringing.

Well...

What had happened here?

Vincent and Viola made eye contact about the situation. Viola would have humiliated Ella, but Vincent's look stopped her.

At that moment, Melody came from bathroom and said, "Ella, bring Jerry with you here. Come and sit with me here."

Embarrassed, Catherine let Jerry go with an awkward smile.

Accidentally, Catherine locked her eyes with Emma's scornful ones. This made her more angry.

Standing outside the private room, Samuel hung up his phone and recalled Ella's words: 'Miss Gu, if you are fond of kids, you can bear yours with Mr. Shao...'

He was surprised that she would let him bear kids with Catherine. He needed to find time to talk to her about this.

When Samuel returned, something else embarrassing happened.

Ella sat next to Melody with Jerry close to her. Beside Jerry was Samuel.

Ella, Jerry and Samuel sat together as if they were a family.

However, beside Samuel was Catherine. They made a couple as well.

Many people found this a weird seating arrangement. However, they said nothing about it.

A big 3-layer cake was placed in the middle of the table. A waiter lit some candles and turned off all the lights.

The crowd joined together to sing "Happy Birthday" to Melody. She cut the cake after she blew the candles.

It all worked out fine. Hot dishes were served consistently.

Ella was thoughtful about her son and reached over with her chopsticks to refill his plate. When the dish boiled shrimps with salt was served, Samuel asked Jerry whether he would like some shrimp? Jerry wanted to refuse his father's offer but sensed awkward. His father's expression was unusual. Jerry nodded his head.

Samuel nodded his head as well with satisfaction. He took up disposable gloves from the table and started shelling the shrimp in a leisurely manner. Then he put some shrimp into Jerry's plate. Catherine did not care much about this until Jerry put all the shrimps in his plate into his mother's plate. She seemed to understand something.

She also noticed that Ella was watching Jerry, looking puzzled. Ella just found out that Jerry did not like to eat shrimps.

What a pity that unlike her, her son did not like to eat seafood. Ella was fond of seafood.

Speaking of seafood, Lola and her shared the same tastes. Whenever the two got together to have meals, they always ordered seafood.

With Samuel shelling the shrimps, Ella was pleased to eat them while her son refused to eat.

After, Jerry got a clue of what his father meant, he smiled.

Samuel continued shelling the shrimps and two thirds of them went into Ella's stomach.

"Dad, I want that salmon."

Pretending to know nothing, Jerry said to his father while looking at him. They both knew what they were doing.

Samuel wiped his hands with tissue and took a piece of the salmon when the mess gear brought the dish.

Then he dipped some mustard and put it in the scoop of his son's plate to let Jerry give it to Ella.

Meanwhile, Ella was pouring water into Melody's glass. She did not notice that there was a piece of salmon on her plate.

"Dad, I want that shrimp dumpling."

"Dad, I want that meat ball made of seafood."

"Dad, I want..., "

Samuel did as his son asked.

Most people thought that Jerry was playing with Samuel when they saw Samuel take food for Jerry. However, Jerry gave the food to Ella.

A few people who were watchful and alert, including Catherine, knew what exactly was happening.

They were sympathetic to Jerry who gave such attention and thoughtfulness towards his parents.

At the beginning, Ella didn't think anything was happening, Until Jerry continuously put food that his dad gave him on her plate. She eventually knew what was going on.

'Did Jerry let his father fetch food for her indirectly and deliberately?' She thought to herself.

She was full but Jerry continued asking his father to fetch food for him. "Jerry, do not ask for food if you don't like it, okay?" she said at last.

Samuel heard what Ella said and he put down his chopsticks.

Catherine lost her appetite when she noticed the scene. Her food remained on the plate, untouched.

She sat there in silence except when she was asked a question and had to reply.

She could not overstep her boundaries in front of Melody and Samuel even though she hated Ella's guts so much