After Rebirth, I Became My Ex's Aunt-in-Law

Chapter 250: I love Pizza!

Bella offered a soft, delicate smile, blinking innocently. "Cover up what?"

Jade froze. Her forced smile strained so hard it looked like her facial muscles might actually snap.

Her eyes darted down to Bella’s chest, where the thin, white ribbed cotton was failing to hide anything. Then, her eyes darted back up to Bella’s face. Down to the chest. Back to the face.

It was glaringly obvious.

Jade took a single step forward, leaning in close so her brother wouldn’t hear. "Your nipples," she whispered. "Your nipples are showing."

Bella didn’t whisper back. Instead, she kept her voice at a perfectly normal volume.

"Yeah," Bella shrugged nonchalantly, crossing her arms to emphasize her point. "So what?"

Jade’s mouth popped open. "I... what do you mean, ’so what’?! You are in our home, and I can see your nipples through your top! Shouldn’t a guest show some modesty?"

"Wow, Jade," Bella gasped, raising her voice just a decibel higher. "Are you seriously trying to body-shame me right now?"

Leo spun around from the television. "Whoa, what’s going on?"

He walked over; his brow furrowed in confusion. As he approached, he caught a split-second glimpse of Bella’s braless display. Leo instantly, respectfully snapped his gaze directly to Bella’s eyes, locking onto her pupils like his life depended on it.

"Jade, seriously?" Leo scolded, looking at his older sister with disappointment. "It’s 2024. We do not police women’s bodies. If Bella wants to free the nipple, that is her right. Body-shaming is super toxic."

Jade looked like she was going to have an aneurysm.

"I wasn’t body-shaming!" Jade screeched, her hands flying into the air in pure exasperation. "I was offering her a shirt!"

"It felt like a microaggression," Bella sniffled, looking down at the floor as if she were trying very hard to hold back fresh tears.

"Hey, it’s okay," Leo said softly, stepping between them to shield Bella from his sister’s ’toxicity’. He gently placed a hand on Bella’s back, guiding her away from her. "Come sit on the couch. The pizza is ready."

As Leo turned his back to lead her to the couch, Bella slowly glanced over her shoulder. She looked at Jade. The bullied-victim facade vanished for exactly one second as Bella dropped a victorious wink.

Jade’s eye twitched. She gripped the edge of the marble island so hard her knuckles turned white, silently praying for the strength not to lunge across the room and strangle her.

Bella sauntered over to the plush grey sofa, settling herself right in the center.

A moment later, Jade stalked over, carrying the paper plates. She moved to sit in the empty space between Bella and where Leo was sitting.

But Bella was faster.

As soon as Leo approached with the drinks, Bella aggressively scooted sideways, plastering her thigh directly against Leo’s the second he sat down. She left zero inches of space between them.

Bella looked up at Jade, who was now left standing awkwardly with nowhere to sit but the end of the sectional.

Bella offered a sickly-sweet, condescending smile, patting the empty cushion on her other side. "You can sit right here, Jade!" she chirped brightly.

Jade glared daggers at her, hidden behind a polite smile, before stiffly sitting down on the opposite end of the couch.

"Alright, feast time," Leo announced enthusiastically. He flipped open the three greasy cardboard boxes resting on the coffee table. "We have pepperoni, extra cheese, and Hawaiian. What do you want, Bella?"

A wave of hot, fragrant steam rushed out of the boxes.

Bella looked at the spread, a subtle look of horror masking her features. The pepperoni cups were literally swimming in tiny, glistening pools of orange oil. Thick layers of melted mozzarella cheese pulled apart in gooey, elastic strings. The crust was thick, doughy, and visibly glistening with garlic butter.

Bella could literally see the thousands of empty calories staring back at her. She hadn’t eaten a slice of actual, non-cauliflower-crust pizza in years. If she ingested that much grease, she would bloat for a week.

But... what if Leo only liked ’chill’ girls?

Bella hesitated, her eyes desperately scanning the boxes to determine which slice looked like it had the lowest calorie density.

"Oh, actually, Leo," Jade intervened, her voice dripping with fake, helpful concern as she pulled a gooey slice of cheese onto her own plate. "Bella is a famous actress. She’s likely on a very strict, restrictive diet. I really don’t think she wants a greasy slice of pizza to ruin her figure."

Bella panicked.

"Oh my god, no!" Bella squeaked, her voice pitching up an octave. "I love pizza!"

To prove her point, she blindly lunged forward, grabbing the largest, greasiest, most disgustingly oily slice of pepperoni pizza in the box and dropping it onto her paper plate.

"I eat carbs literally all the time!" Bella lied through her teeth, forcing a wide, enthusiastic smile. "I’m just naturally blessed with a super fast metabolism!"

"That’s awesome!" Leo grinned, biting into a slice of Hawaiian. "Eat as much as you want, seriously. We have plenty."

Leo grabbed the TV remote and hit play. A popular sci-fi movie filled the screen, the opening credits booming through the suite’s sound system.

Bella sat rigidly on the couch. The paper plate rested on her lap. A single drop of orange grease slid off the tip of the pepperoni slice and plopped onto the cardboard. She stared at the pizza like it was a live grenade preparing to detonate.

Jade, chewing her own food, watched Bella sweat.

"Aren’t you going to eat it?" Jade jeered sweetly, leaning forward to catch Bella’s eye. "It’s getting cold."

Bella’s mind raced. She couldn’t eat it. She refused to ingest that much fat. She needed an excuse. A distraction. Anything.

"I... I have to bless my food first," Bella stuttered out, blurting the first thing that popped into her head.

Leo paused with a slice halfway to his mouth.

He blinked, reaching for the remote and pausing the movie. He looked at Bella in genuine, wide-eyed surprise.

"You’re religious?" Leo asked, a delighted smile breaking across his face. "That’s actually so cool. My grandma is super religious. Bless ours too!"

Bella’s stomach dropped into her toes. "Oh, no, I just... I do it silently in my head. You guys don’t have to—"

"No, let’s do it together!" Leo insisted earnestly.

He set his plate down, reaching over and gently taking Bella’s left hand in his warm palm. He looked across Bella to his sister.

"Jade, hold her hand," Leo instructed.

Jade looked at him like he had grown a second head. Under Leo’s insistent, expectant gaze, Jade reluctantly reached over and tightly, rigidly gripped Bella’s fingers.

"Okay," Leo smiled, closing his eyes and bowing his head.

Jade closed her eyes.

Bella sat in the middle, panicking. She squeezed her eyes shut. Her palms were sweating. She hadn’t stepped foot inside a church since she was a child. She had no idea how to say grace.

"Dear... Lord," Bella started, her voice shaking slightly. "Thank you for this... bounty of pepperoni. And... the Hawaiian."

Jade’s hand twitched in hers.

"Thank you for the cheese," Bella babbled. "And please... guide us to digest it well. So we don’t get bloated. Amen."

"Amen," Leo said with a boyish grin, opening his eyes and reaching back for the remote.

Before he could hit play, Bella desperately struck again.

"Wait, Leo," Bella asked softly, looking up at the ceiling fixtures. "Can we dim the lights? It’s kind of bright. A movie night isn’t a movie night otherwise."

"Actually," Jade argued softly, setting her plate down. "Shouldn’t you be calling your Uber? It’s getting pretty late, Bella. And you have your luggage downstairs."

Bella let out a soft, pathetic sniffle. Her eyes instantly pooled with tears, her lower lip trembling flawlessly.

"I... I can’t go home yet," Bella sobbed, shrinking into the cushions and wrapping her arms around her stomach. "My mom and I had a massive fight today. She said some really awful things to me. If I go back to the house while she’s still awake... I don’t know what she’ll do to me."

It was a complete fabrication, but she sold it with the skill of a seasoned actress.

Leo’s face softened with pity.

"Hey, it’s okay," Leo promised softly, resting a comforting hand on her knee. "You don’t have to go back there tonight. You can stay here for as long as you need, and when you’re ready, I’ll personally take you home."

Bella sniffled, looking up at him with wide, teary, grateful eyes. "Thank you, Leo. You’re so sweet."

Jade sat silently on the other end of the couch.

"Alexa, set lights to cinema mode," Leo commanded the smart speaker on the counter.

The bright overhead lights immediately faded, plunging the living room into a dark, cozy, ambient glow, illuminated only by the flicker of the television screen.

Bella reached behind her and grabbed the thick, plush throw blanket draped over the back of the sofa. She pulled it forward, spreading it over her and Leo’s laps.

"Now this is a movie night," Bella sighed happily, leaning her shoulder warmly against his.

And beneath the cozy cover of the shared blanket, Bella’s fingers slipped into the pocket of her midi skirt. Her hand closed tightly around the little white sleeping pill.