After John and Jessica left the crowd of reports and entered the hall, Jessica asked him, "You're not angry, are you? That I didn't tell the journalists that Dicky wasn't my son.""I'm not," John replied, and there was no emotion in his tone.It was as if John did not care whatever she did, even if she did it right in front of him.There were times when Jessica felt like a clown, entertaining no one but herself.Her eyes flashed icily, and she told herself that he would be hers eventually—that was the only way.Thus, right now, she could bear with anything he threw her way.Composing herself, she flashed a good-natured smile and explained, "I just didn't want people talking badly about Dicky, especially since his mother was never revealed. I'm worried there'd be a psychological effect. I’ve already considered him my own son, even when he was a baby.""I know," John replied, but his voice made it clear he wasn’t interested in her words at all. When they entered the hall, there
Cordy and John’s eyes met.There seemed to be unspoken emotions in their gazes, yet at the same time, there seemed to be nothing. Silence ensued between them until Jessica spoke up, "Patrick, my dear cousin—a shame that you beat me to a partnership with Cordy!" "Is that so?" Patrick replied, cordial as ever with Jessica."I've been saying that I’d like to partner with her, but never did have the chance," Jessica said, appearing genuinely disappointed. "On the other hand, you seemed to really hit it off with her! It’s left me really upset for a while.""Now, now—you shouldn't overreach, Jessica. Mr. Levine there leads a lot of people and multiple elite businesses. I'm just a startup, so don't snuff me out so soon now," Patrick said, seemingly jokingly as he insulted Jessica's family for their greed. "Come on. We're family, aren't we? What's mine is yours. You have my best wishes in your partnership with Cordy. Johnny, here. Let's drink to their success," Jessica said.She had
Cordy frowned at Patrick, who was grinning nonchalantly. Ultimately, she didn't leave and stood at his side to watch the rich and important people filling the ballroom.Naturally, she saw Noel—who certainly rode a coattail well to be able to attend such a prestigious charity ball.In that sense, the same applied to Cordy, though it was more because of her personal grudge against the host than other reasons.That would be more or less the same in Noel's case, since Jessica was really bringing out her checkbook to buy Noel’s complete allegiance. Suddenly, the lights in the ballroom dimmed while a spotlight illuminated the center of the stage; everyone turned toward it.The emcee walked up above the stage and spoke, "Good evening, everyone. Welcome to Stuart Holdings' annual charity ball! Thank you everyone for making time to attend this honorable occasion despite your busy schedules."The ballroom erupted with thunderous clapping. Anyone who could host such a prestigious event n
Jessica then added, "Now, before the charity auction, I have prepared a little social session for everyone."She certainly gained everyone's attention upon that announcement. Every pair of eyes were on her as she continued, "We’ll be picking ladies present at random and auctioning her first dance for the night. As with other proceeds, proceeds of this dance auction would be donated to the charity organization under Stuart Holdings."The ballroom grew a little restless—it was the first time they had heard of auctioning a dance!But come to think of it, this was a charity ball. The more the proceeds, the better it was. In comparison, how said proceeds were obtained was certainly secondary in importance. Moreover, those who were taking part weren’t here for the auctioned items—they were just donating for the sake of glorifying themselves and their businesses. "Is there any lady who would like to volunteer?" Jessica asked onstage.The ladies below the stage were whispering amongst
Jessica stood above the stage, asking everyone below, "Is Number 62 present in this hall?"In reality, the paddle numbers were arranged before the auction—odd numbers were assigned to men, while even numbers were assigned to women.Cordy Sachs had no idea why that was the case when she received her auction paddle, and simply presumed there would be a lottery or something else. After all, entertainment was necessary to keep things lively at a charity auction, and she realized now that the arrangement was for this mini-event.Patrick obviously knew Cordy's number and teased, "Oh, this truly is destiny!"Cordy shot him a sideways glare. Destiny? She would already disagree when Jessica picked Noel with pinpoint precision for the first number, and had even more reason to after Jessica picked her as well.There were only that many coincidences in the world—Jessica meant to do this, and as the host, she had a million ways to find out the numbers of every person in this ballroom."Numb
After a brief interaction with the crowd, Jessica returned to the topic at hand. "Let's not waste time—we shall now auction the ladies' first dance, starting with Noel."Noel didn’t say no, and smiled shyly as she moved to stand at the front end of the stage. "Please introduce yourself?" Jessica said, passing Noel the mic.Noel appeared charmingly shy even as she took it. "It's my honor to attend tonight's charity ball. It's my first time here too, so it's my good fortune to make everyone's acquaintance. I'm a little nervous now, since I'm not sure what I should say… Anyway, the purpose of this ball is for charity, and I hope everyone will bid for me and become the first donor of the night. Thank you, everyone." She was certainly smart. Knowing that she didn’t have the advantage with Cordy there with them, she emphasized on the charity part, even using the word 'first' to appeal to the men. She was perfectly aware that those present were all amongst the best in their respective
The ballroom was rather silent after Jessica had spoken, with no one raising their paddle.Noel had at first been upset since Cordy’s speech left her humiliated, but seeing this made her happy. It was Cordy’s own fault for playing up her virtue—it would be far more humiliating as a woman if no one made a bid for you!Naturally, as Noel was sneering inwardly, Jessica also felt delighted.After all, she sent instructions beforehand that no one was to bid for Cordy, just to humiliate Cordy.Thus, Jessica was actually surprised that Cordy seemed to have read her mind and gave such a grandiose speech beforehand, so that Cordy wouldn’t look so bad even if no one auctioned for her in the end.In any case, Cordy would still be humiliated regardless—and even more so once word of this got out."Is no one bidding?" Jessica exclaimed in surprise, appearing caught in disbelief.On the other hand, Cordy remained composed—as she had been from the start. It was as if even the world would en
Jessica was extending an olive branch to John, but he didn’t accept it.His indifferent gaze did not change, and his auction paddle was still in the air.Jessica scowled—she had already lowered herself this far! Was John really not going to spare her any dignity at all?!Even as she was crumbling inside, Cordy suddenly exclaimed loudly and clearly, "Two million."John's bid was left stuck in his throat, while everyone turned towards Cordy, not sure why she would bid for herself.Maybe she thought herself worth that much?! Wasn’t she giving herself too much credit?Nonetheless, Cordy continued loudly and clearly, "I'm bidding two million for my first dance." The crowd was left rowdy, stunned by her sudden charisma.She ignored their stares, however, and asked Jessica, "It's not against the rules to bid for myself, right?"Jessica came to her senses right then, since she was also stunned by Cordy's sudden self-bid. She really never played to anyone's tune, did she?Jessica c
Soon, another nurse emerged from the delivery room with a small bundle. "Is the mother's family here?""Yes!" John exclaimed loudly."The delivery was successful," the nurse said. "The baby weighs eight pounds—""How is she?" John asked in agitation, not caring about the child."She's fine. The doctor is just helping her clean up and she'll be out soon," the nurse replied.As John breathed a sigh of relief, the nurse reminded him, "Aren't you the father? Here's your child."John took the baby off her arms, staring at her for a moment as the others flocked around him. "Oh, she's so fair!" Zoe could not help exclaiming. "That's the most beautiful baby I've ever seen.""Are you saying that your son's ugly?" Bob teased."To be honest, yeah," Zoe replied without thinking.Jay cleared his throat—even if it was a subjective opinion, it still hurt to have his own baby called ugly."Let me carry her," Zoe volunteered just then, and John did not hesitate to hand her his baby.As Zoe
"What?!" Zoe exclaimed in shock.Beside them, John's face fell despite being usually stoic.Still, even before anyone could react, he scooped Cordy up in his arms and left.Zoe did not hesitate to follow, but Jay reminded her, "We're the hosts, Zoe.""Don't care." Zoe was completely unconcerned. "Ask my mom and your sister to handle the guests. I'm going with Cordy!"Jay hesitated for a moment before deciding to follow since there was no reasoning with Zoe.Sam and Quinn also realized that something was out of place.As they pulled away reluctantly, Bob shouted from below, "If you're done kissing, we're going to the hospital! Cordy's going into labor!"Quinn hurried after them as soon as she hurt, but Sam caught her. "Slow down. We can catch up."In fact, most of the guests were leaving as well—it was as if the banquet for Zoe's son was actually intended for everyone else.The poor boy was certainly unlucky to have such unreliable parents!-As everyone rushed to the hospit
"I'm swelling from my pregnancy," Quinn explained. "It's not your fault."Sam was left staring at her for a while before asking, "So, what should I do?""I'll put it on when I slim down.""Oh." Sam was a little disappointed, since he had always dreamed of having her put on the ring he had custom made.But this was fine—they had all the time they needed, and the most important thing for him is that Quinn was marrying him!He rose to his feet just then, and everyone was cheering as soon as he did. "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!"Quinn blushed right then, and Sam could see that she was embarrassed.He did not want to make things awkward for her, even if he was quite eager at the moment.Heaven knows how much he missed that night's drunken fumble they had. In fact, during the times he remembered it in dreams, he had to wash his pants when he woke up.Still, just as he took Quinn's hand and started to leave, he felt a softness on his lips—Quinn was kissing him! Sam's heart pounded thunderous
Everyone waited patiently for the final outcome.Quinn's eyes were welling up with tears, threatening to gush if she so much as blinked.She did her best to hold back her tears—to be strong!Sam pursed his lips in turn, his Adam's apple bobbing.A long while passed, and it felt like a century for Quinn when she finally heard him say, "Yes."Quinn's tears started falling in happiness as Sam declared loudly, "I'll marry you, Quinn—it's what I've always wanted to do! I won't let you go even if you regret it eventually! You only get to be with me, and I'll never let any other man claim you! I'll become very overbearing… eventually!""I won't regret it," Quinn said, determined.She certainly would not regret marrying him!Zoe walked up to them with perfect timing just then, and Sam did a double take.He finally remembered that Zoe was the host of this luncheon and was going to leave with Quinn when Zoe whipped out a small red velvet box."You know what's in here, don't you?" Zoe a
However, Sam had already pushed Quinn away before she could tell him. But even if he did not love her or did not want to be with her, she would never stay with Ryan.She had been disappointed in Sam, wondering why he would give up so easily.Was she that unimportant to him?Therefore, if it were not for Zoe and Cordy showing her that video or telling her so much, she would never have known that he loved her for years…Sam's heart ached even as he looked into Quinn's tearful eyes.He reached out a hand, but soon withdrew it—would he not burden her?Even so, it hurt to restrain himself as he watched her, and he was actually getting the feeling that Quinn loved him…But she already had Ryan's child…Well, he was fine with that, as long as the child was Quinn's.But would she not mind?"I will marry you, Sam," Quinn said slowly and clearly then. "Not because you're a good man, not because you prepared so much for me, and not because of how much you prepared for me, but because I
Everyone in the hall was staring at Sam and Quinn, while Quinn took center stage, staring fixedly at Sam.He stood in the middle of the crowd, watching her silently.She in turn felt fear that he would turn and leave, just as she did not know if she had the courage to stand before him again and to declare her feelings for him in front of so many others.Nonetheless, amid the deafening silence, Sam suddenly walked toward the stage.His pace was slow as if his feet were made of lead, but he was also unusually determined.Quinn's heart raced uncontrollably right then!Everyone else was watching them nervously, especially Cordy and Zoe, with the latter being especially concerned that the cowardly Sam would bail.Fortunately, he was a man who showed responsibility. He would not leave Quinn alone and embarrassed.Hence, as everyone looked on, Sam stood before Quinn, his gaze flickering as their eyes met.He gulped ever so slightly, his emotions clearly ruffled even as he did his bes
The guests were encouraging, loudly asking, "Why?!""Because of a woman," Sam's recording replied."Who is it?""Quinn Summer," the Sam on the screen said slowly and clearly, leaving the Sam who was in the hall stunned.What the hell?! That was the proposal video he prepared before! Why did it show up here? Did Zoe make a mistake?!He knew it—leave anything to Zoe, and she would mess it up!He started striding toward the stage, intent on stopping the recording, when John and Bob intercepted him with a look of utter guilt while the recording continued. "Quinn is my wife, and we've been married for years, but I've never really loved her—not because I don't, but because I'm afraid to. I feel too insignificant in comparison to the one she loves, so I'd always hurt her… painfully and childishly. I regret that so much now, Quinn. How could I have abandoned you for so long because of my own jealousy? I'd rather hold you in my sleep every night, but my damned pride denied me that for y
At the banquet hall, Jay and Zoe were thanking their guests with their children in their arms.Then, Zoe announced excitedly, "Please give my best friend, who is also my son's godmother, a warm applause as she comes on stage!"Sam stood at a corner of the hall, watching as Quinn walked up the stage, only realizing just then that her belly was clearly swelling despite her baggy clothes.Time flies—he had not left that long ago, but she and Ryan already had a child.She was not worried about giving him a stroke, was she?He watched as Quinn took the mic and looked around below searching, seemingly searching.After a while, he thought she was looking at him, but by the time he looked up, she had already turned away.Maybe she was looking for Ryan before remembering that Ryan was not there?Nonetheless, Quinn spoke into the mic, saying, "I'm honored to be chosen as the godmother to Zoe's son, and she's been saying he'd be engaged to my child if it's a girl. I already love my godson
As their eyes met, Sam turned frantic and averted his. "Of course.""Really?" Quinn asked."Would I lie to you?" Sam asked a little grumpily."And you didn't bring her back?" Quinn asked."I'm on a schedule, and it'd be taxing for her if I bought her along," Sam said, making things up as he went along. "I'll bring her along when things are less busy.""Is she pretty?" Quinn pressed."What, have I ever picked an ugly one?" Sam snorted smugly. "You know I prefer curvaceous types, and there are plenty of those abroad.""Do you have a photo?"Sam was silent for a while and eventually said, "Yeah.""Can I see it?""What, does she have to pass your assessment?""Just curious about the girl who can tempt you to settle down," Quinn replied. "You'd be humbled." Sam hastily came up with an excuse."I won't," Quinn said, determined."You'll see her when I bring her home." Sam refused nonetheless."I would like to see a photo now.""No, she's not that photogenic. It'd be slander a