James excused himself and went to where the other children were. The only vacant seat was in between Pearl and Akira. He had no choice but to take it, or it would look extraordinary if he asked Jeffrey to move to the other side of Akira so he could sit in between Ava and Akira.
"Hi, James!" Pearl greeted him with a beautiful smile planted on her lips. He only nodded to acknowledge her greeting as he sat down. His eyes were secretly looking at Ava and Ashton, busy conversing, and didn't even look up to greet him.
That didn't bode well deep inside him. He wanted to say, 'hey! Look at me; I'm here!' But then, he had no right to get upset; he had given her away to his twin brother; it was his fault after all. There was nothing he could do; by right, she belonged to Ashton.
Pearl, who was sitting next to Ashton, looked at James then looked at Ashton. Then she looked at Akira... After repeating that, her eyes widened a couple of times, and without hesitation, she blurted out a question directed to no one in particular.
"You three are siblings! I can see it now with all of you together and..." She then turned her head to look at Ashley and Tanaga. Once she confirmed her suspicion, she stood up and slammed her hands on the table.
"Bang!" She did it so hard and loud that the glasses with drinks started shaking. The adults on the other table stopped conversing, and all turned their heads towards their direction. They all heard what Pearl had said loud and clear.
"I can't believe that you guys deceived us! Especially you!" She pointed her finger at Akira, who was shocked and opened her mouth wide while staring at Pearl.
"What's going on?" Tanaga asked Ashley, who was sitting a little closer to the children's table.
"I think the first daughter just found out that your children are siblings. I assume that they never told her the truth. I don't know why they would do that, though?" Ann interjects while still holding a smile. Ashley just sat there quietly while watching to see what happens next.
Ann had a slight idea as to why they chose to never tell Pearl. Ava had mentioned to her that Pearl often did live streams, which could be why. "Forget about them; that's for the children to deal with." Added Ann while trying to get Jeff's attention, who had turned his head to watch and listen.
None of the three siblings uttered a word. They didn't deny it nor acknowledge Pearl's accusation. When no one replied to her, Pearl had more to say, but then her parents arrived.
Right behind President and First lady Grant was Arman; he was there to inform them that dinner was served at the presidential suite in the main hotel.
===
Pearl got up to greet her parents. She shyly went to greet her father first. "Hello, daddy!" She said before giving her father a swift hug. She then turned around to Andrea, who was waiting patiently to provide the father and daughter some time.
"Mommy! I missed you!" Her tears started flowing down her face as she succumbed to her mother's tight embrace. She didn't care that everyone saw her acting like a baby; she only cared about seeing her parents after nine months.
Being an only child, she had been spoiled by her parents. Everything she wanted, she would get. Although they never said anything about her live streaming, Pearl knew deep down that her parents knew about it and just chose not to say anything.
"I missed you too, sweetheart! How have you been doing? Are they treating you well?" Andrea almost whispered. She didn't want others to hear.
Tanaga got up and extended his hand to help Ashley. Once Ashley was standing up, he made an announcement.
"Everyone! Listen up! Dinner is served at the main hotel. Let's go!" His voice sounded loud enough for the children on the other table to hear.
One by one, the children got up and followed their parents as they headed to the main hotel.
Ava, Akira, and Pearl walked hand in hand while Jeffrey, James, and Ashton walked right behind them. Jeffrey was conversing with Ashton while James walked quietly with his face as hard as a stone.
===
During dinner, the table arrangements were the same as in the garden; all the parents sat at one table while the children sat on another. The three girls sat on one side of the table while the three boys were on the other side.
Akira was sitting at the far end facing Jeffrey. Next to her was Pearl facing Ashton, while Ava was facing James. Before sitting down, the twins had already spoken with each other and agreed on their seating arrangement.
Once they were seated, Jeffrey and Akira started chatting. Pearl did the same thing to Ashton, who could care less and didn't really listen.
Ava, on the other hand, was very excited that she was facing James. However, she didn't know what to say or do, so she just sat there quietly and waited for James to start a conversation.
Unfortunately, James was thinking the same thing. He was also waiting for Ava to start a conversation between them, but it never happened. So the two of them ended up just sitting there, just sipping water once in a while.
However, once the food arrived and they started eating, that's where the fun began. James and Ashton were both serving food to Ava. While one brother was smiling happily as he put food on Ava's plate, the other one was beginning to get upset that his brows were about to collide.
A couple of times, James stopped Ashton by kicking him under the table before secretly glaring at him. After that, Ashton would stop for a little bit but would continue again after a moment just to tease his brother.
Ava's face was turning red because of what the twins were doing. But she couldn't say anything. She was afraid that their parents would overhear if she said something. So she decided to just eat everything as soon as the two put food on her plate.
Ava was so full that she had to run to the restroom as if the devil was running after her by the time they finished eating.