No Strings Attached

Chapter 466

When one of the cousins heard the little tattletale gearing up to spill the beans, he sprinted over and whisked him away. A playful smack landed on the boy's behind. "You little traitor! If you sing, all our hard work's for nothing."

Orin, with a deadpan seriousness, retorted, "I wasn't going to snitch. I just wanted to tell Uncle Ian that Aunt Clara's looking exceptionally stunning today."

Unable to hide his pride, Ian curved his lips into a smug grin. "My bride's the most beautiful woman in the whole wide world."

Basking in the limelight, Edwin, in his crisp suit, approached. A mischievous smile played on his face. "Go on, strut your stuff. But you'll be crying later. I've got four lipstick marks here. Guess which one's Clara's, and you can go up. You get it wrong, and you're giving us a dance."

Chase was the first to raise his hand. "Dancing's a piece of cake. I'm a regular at the clubs. This won't faze me."

Roger, slightly annoyed, punched him lightly. "Cut the crap. Eddie's family now, you think this is just some ordinary dance?"

"What, you want me to strip and dance?"

The room erupted into laughter at his remark.

Edwin chuckled. "If you don't mind stripping, neither do we."

Chase gave an awkward laugh, "No way, I'm not even married yet. Can't let you guys see the goods."

He grabbed the paper with Edwin's lipstick marks and scrutinized it. "This one's Sasha's. She's got those full lips. The other three, one's gotta be Clara's, one's Elle's, and another's Christy's." NôvelDrama.Org is the owner.

At the mention of his wife's name, Roger stepped forward, pointing at the third mark, "That's my wife's. Two left, you can't possibly guess wrong now."

Ian studied the marks. The remaining two were similar, but something felt off. He pointed to one, "This one's Clara's."

Roger's eyes widened, "You sure? I thought that was my wife's."

"I'm sure. Clara's lips are smooth. Even puckered, they wouldn't wrinkle."

Seeing his confidence, Edwin snickered, "So sure, yet so wrong. This one is Clara's. Time for your punishment."

The York cousins began to chant in unison, "Down! Down! Down!"

Just when they thought Ian had really goofed up, Orin piped up. "Uncle Eddie, lying will make your nose grow."

With that hint, Ian knew what was up. He leaped to his feet, pointing at Edwin's nose. "You tricked me!"

With that, he dashed upstairs.

Edwin glared at Anders. "Keep your kid in line."

Anders smiled thinly. "My boy's just telling it like it is, unlike you, settling scores under the guise of fun."

"Don't think you can land a catch like Ella just because you've got three kids. Dream on!" Then, Edwin chased after him upstairs.

Ian arrived at Clara's door, pounding and shouting, "Babe, I'm here to get you. Open up!"

Peering through the crack, Sasha teased, "You can open the door, alright. Just figure out which red string is Clara's, and we'll let you in." As she spoke, she poked four red strings through the crack.

Ian pulled one, and from inside came Della's exasperated voice. He handed the string to Roger. "That's your daughter's."

He tugged at the remaining strings, indistinguishable from each other.

Chase, standing aside, said, "Who can tell them apart? Sasha, just go straight to the punishment. I'll take it for Ian."

Sasha cracked the door open, handing them a transparent card with a lipstick mark.

With a grin, she said, "So you want the punishment? This card's been smeared with lipstick. Pass it around. Each of you must leave a lipstick mark on your lips, or you lose."