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.
