Chapter 286: Games of charades

Braelyn’s POV

Stock market that was what they were meant to get. All the choice were selected based on the work environment.

Lucien’s eyes stayed fixed on Amelia with that same unreadable, almost bored expression while she flailed through her gestures.

At first she tried to remain elegant about it. She pointed upward, then scribbled in the air, then mimed numbers with her fingers. Her movements were restrained, stiff from the tight evening dress that clearly was not designed for charades. The slit barely allowed her to step properly, let alone act anything out.

“Time is running, sir, please guess,” the host encouraged lightly as time went back. I could hold back my smile as I watched. Lucien was a natural asshole.

Lucien tilted his head as if genuinely thinking. “Cooking?” he said flatly. A ripple of laughter burst from the audience. That was completely absurd. My eyes twitched now I was feeling sorry for Amelia..

Her face turned red. On second thought I take that back.

Amelia’s jaw tightened. “No,” she mouthed sharply, exaggerating her gestures even more, mimicking trading and pointing to imaginary screens.

Lucien frowned harder. “Dancing class?” he said sounding genuinely confused like he had no idea what she was doing.

The laughter grew louder this time, several people openly covering their mouths.

I pressed my lips together, already feeling the second-hand embarrassment crawl up my spine. The buzzer rang.

“Switch roles please,” the host announced cheerfully. “Let us see the gentleman demonstrate now.”

Amelia exhaled sharply and took her place with her back to the screen while Lucien stepped forward. The image flashed.

Even from where I stood, it was painfully obvious, a Business meeting easier than the first image.

Lucien glanced at it, then at Amelia, and proceeded to make the most ridiculous series of gestures I had ever witnessed in my life. He spun once, tapped his wrist, pretended to fall asleep, then pointed randomly at the ceiling like he had forgotten what planet he was on.

The crowd completely lost it. To be frank it felt like a business meeting a place where you fall asleep. My charade partner, the guy from HR couldn’t hold back his laugh. His red turned red from fighting his laugh .

Amelia’s voice came out strained. ” Office? Work? Presentation? Interview?” she called multiple answers.

Lucien shrugged mid-gesture and deliberately made it worse, now pretending to juggle invisible balls. Lucien Volkov was the most petty person I knew. He was ready to embarass himself just to make Amelia look bad while acting so innocent about it

By the third round her composure was cracking. “Lucien, please let’s win this,” she hissed under her breath, frustration bleeding through her smile. I could faintly hear her from where I stood. The host even gave her a pitiful look. My gaze drifted to Natalia who was clearly uncomfortable watching all this.

“I am trying,” he replied calmly, his tone perfectly innocent while doing something that looked suspiciously like rowing a boat.

Even Raphael had a faint smile tugging at his lips, and for the first time that night, he and Lucien seemed silently aligned in their mutual refusal to help her. The buzzer sounded again.

“And that concludes their round,” the host declared. “Let us see the score…”

A dramatic pause followed while the screen updated.

“Zero.” the host announced but it wasn’t surprising. Amelia face was pale but she kept her elegant smile.

The audience erupted, this time no one bothering to hide their laughter. The louder the smile the paler her face grew. Lucien even gave her a apology. “I am sorry we lost. I am bad at charades..” he calmly said with the same innocent tone.

Amelia almost exploded but she couldn’t break character. She didn’t even clench her fist but the murderous that flashed her eyes were real. “It’s just a game..no need to be so deep.” She said sweetly consoling Lucien like he was the one who was the victim.

Shameless Lucien accepted it. “Yeah it’s just a game.” He hummed as the control laughter from the audience rang.

The host tried to control the audience. “Still, everyone please give them a big round of applause for the effort,” the host continued brightly.

The applause thundered through the hall, but it felt painfully close to mockery. Amelia’s smile was frozen. She was humiliated in a way I had never seen before.

Lucien simply nodded once like nothing unusual had happened and walked back as if he had just completed a perfectly respectable presentation.

“Next, number five please step forward,” the host called, clapping his hands. “Let us see if this team can beat that score.”

Raphael and the guest woman stepped out together.

The woman looked nervous at first, wringing her fingers slightly. “I am terrible at this,” she whispered to Raphael.

“It is fine,” Raphael told her quietly, his voice calm and steady. “Just relax. I will follow your lead.” She nodded and took her position. The first image appeared.

Her gestures started awkward and hesitant, and Raphael guessed wrong twice. The buzzer rang. A small groan escaped her. “Sorry.” she apologised..

“It is alright,” Raphael said evenly. “We will get the next one.”

Something shifted after that. She loosened up, moving more freely, laughing once when she nearly tripped over her own heel. Raphael watched her carefully, picking up on every clue she gave.

“Conference.”

“Correct.”

“Contract signing.”

“Correct.”

“Team building retreat.”

“Correct.”

I was surprised how they even got the team building retreat. They were pro at this. Raphael loosened up a bit to.

The host practically bounced. “Wonderful teamwork, ladies and gentlemen. That makes three correct answers.” The applause this time was loud and genuine.

“And we officially have our winners tonight,” the host announced. “Number five team takes the prize.”

The woman gasped in disbelief, clapping her hands together before turning to Raphael in pure excitement. She almost threw her arms around him, stopping halfway when she met his sharp, suddenly distant gaze. Raphael’s gaze drifted to me and she understood.

In an instant he was no longer her game partner. He was the cold, unreachable vice chairman again who was married..She awkwardly lowered her arms. “Sorry, sir.” she apologised.

That single gesture showed how devoted Raphael was but I did my best not to scoff

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep