Chapter 41

"Are you sure it's around here?" Chandra asked her sister as they drove along the streets, both sides lined with huge, breathtaking mansions accompanied by immaculate gardens.

Dara nodded. "I'm sure it is. Here, turn left here."

Soriya said, "Man, this place is awesome. I bet only billionaires live around here."

"I think it's quite a new development," Dara said. "Most of the mansions here were only built within the last five years or so."

A few moments later, they found the house they were looking for. It was hard to miss since there were colorful balloons tied to the gate in front of the house, an indication of a birthday party for a child. Not to mention there were cars parked along this street. Chan was pretty sure those belonged to the people attending Lilly's party.

They found a spot at the end of the street a few moments later, and the sisters climbed out. Dara went ahead to get the container that held salad, while Soriya took the presents���three different sizes and shapes—for Lilly. Chan grabbed for the container with her marinated satay meat. Once they were done, they headed toward the house.

"I can't wait to see inside," Dara said.

Soriya giggled. "Me, either. It's going to be awesome."

Dara nodded in agreement.

They were just entering the property through the gate when they saw Sam heading their way.

Chan felt her heart skip a beat at the sight of him. He had his eyes on her, and his smile was handsome today.

"Good morning, ladies," he greeted them. "You got here okay?"

"Hi, Sam," Soriya said. "We got lost a little. It's all Dara's fault. She said she knew where we were going."

Dara snorted. "My sense of direction and navigation ability is top notch, thank you very much. It was your fault." She turned to Sam at this point. She even did a dramatic eye roll as she continued. "She said to turn left at that intersection, and then we got lost."

"But we got here in the end anyway." Chan laughed. "Where's Lilly?"

"Inside," Sam replied, taking a step forward. His eyes shifted to the large plastic container in her hands. It looked heavy. He motioned to grab it from her as he said, "Let me help you with that."

His hands brushed against her skin, and Chan felt tingles rushing through her body. Her throat felt dry all of a sudden, and she licked her lips.

"Err, thanks," she said softly.

Dara and Soriya looked at each other, then smiled cheekily.

Soriya said, "I'm going in ahead to find Lilly. She's going to be so excited when she sees these presents."

Dara nodded. "I'll find Marian. I need to put this salad in the fridge."

"Lilly's in the living room with her friends," Sam said. "Marian's in the kitchen." He took the container from Chan and led them inside. "Come on in."

The sisters followed him. Chan's eyes widened with delight at the interior of Sam's mansion. It was very modern, with contemporary furnishings, decoration, and art. As they entered the living area, Chan noted it was a very masculine house, with the color palette of dark brown and black mixed with beige and white.

The moment they stepped through the doorway of the living area, noises made by both kids and adults reached them. They saw Lilly with her friends, including Timothy and Jason, playing in one corner of the living area. Around the corner on the other side was Marian, alone in the kitchen, looking like she was doing one hundred and one things at once. Chan frowned and wondered if there was anyone helping out.

Sam headed toward the kitchen, and Chan was about to follow him when Soriya said loudly, "Hi, Lilly," toward the group of little people.

In the middle of the group, Lilly stopped running around and turned her attention toward the door. She laughed with delight when she saw the sisters. She rushed toward them, her friends trailing along. There were at least ten of them, and they all looked so cute.

"Hi, Chan," Lilly squealed. "Hi, Soriya." Lastly, she turned to Dara. "Hi, Dara. These are my friends."

Then one by one, she proceeded to introduce her friends to the sisters. By the time she finished, the sisters had already forgotten what the first one's name was.

Soriya went with Lilly to play with the kids, while Chan and Dara headed toward the kitchen to help Marian. Sam was there as well, prepping the sandwiches.

"Hi, Marian," Chan said. "Need some help?"

"Yes, dear, please do," Marian said with what sounded like relief. "The catering company is running late, so I need all the help I can get until they arrive with the rest of the orders."

"Me, too," Dara said. "I'll help."

On that note, Marian instructed Chan to help out with the cupcakes and Dara with the cookies.

In his corner of the kitchen, Sam watched Chan diligently working on decorating the cupcakes, a smile on his face.

Marian nudged him on the shoulder, catching his attention. "There's something over there you're interested in, huh?" Her eyes were twinkling. "The cupcakes?"

Sam laughed. "Yes. The cupcakes. Looks beautiful and damn delicious."

Marian couldn't stop smiling broadly. She hadn't seen Sam smile this much or look so happy since the death of his wife Sarah. Despite everyone believing him happy and envying him for his success and lifestyle, they didn't know the dark, solitary hours he spent alone. Women wanted him and had done their utmost to attract his attention. Of course, Marian had known Nina was one of those women, and she knew Sam wasn't interested in her. Thank God.

About fifteen minutes later, Jeremy arrived carrying a huge present box, along with a few men to set up a bouncy castle. After greeting Chan and the sisters, he led the men away.

Soon, the catering company finally arrived, setting out food and drinks for the guests who slowly started trickling in.

It wasn't long before Marian realized there wasn't enough staff to help out, nor was there enough food to go around for both lunch and dinner. In frustration, she called Nina, intending to tell her off and to immediately do something about it. But the woman wouldn't pick up her phone, and Marian was at a loss as to what to do.

The Chandler sisters stepped in and devised an emergency party plan. Dara was a natural-born organizer and leader and opted to be the team captain. With Sam, Jeremy, Marian, and the four staff from the catering company involved, they implemented a strategy.

Chan suggested they do satay meat because that way, they could have satay kebabs as well as charred satay with peanut sauce to go with steamed rice and satay-filled rolls with fresh salad and, of course, have the satay meat in rice paper. The charred satay could be cooked on the barbeque, as well the kebabs. It also contained a lot of vegetables, so it would be delicious as well as healthy for the kids. While the rice paper rolls would do perfectly for female adults watching their diets, as it was very healthy. The satay kebabs and satay rolls targeted both adults and children alike.

Everyone agreed with that idea; hence, Soriya and Jeremy would go out and buy more meat—beef, lamb, chicken, and pork—all precut into bite-size chunks.

Chan and two of the four staff from the catering company would go back to the company's base and get more rolls as well as rice paper and prepare the three different types of marinades while the other two helped Marian prepare more appetizers for the guests.

Sam would go about greeting his guests normally and pretend nothing was out of order.