The ball had reached its climax.In the center of the dance floor, men and women reveled in their joy. Inside the VIP lounge, Lena found Nathan's female subordinate and asked, "I've done everything you asked me to tonight. Am I free now?""Free?" The female subordinate sneered, "And what exactly have you accomplished?""Mr. Nathan told me to spread rumors about Jeffrey to the other female guests, deliberately causing them to gossip and influencing President Morgan's attitude towards Melanie. Didn’t you see it? Melanie, that foolish woman, chose someone else to dance with instead of President Morgan. In the end, President Morgan came to dance with me!"Lena argued logically, "I don't owe Mr. Nathan anything. We were mutually benefiting from each other. Now that I don't want to be involved with him anymore. I am free!""People that Mr. Nathan favors don’t have the right to leave on their own," the subordinate coldly remarked."Ridiculous!"Lena cheered herself on inwardly. Though
While Lena dialed Daniel's number, her heart was still pounding irregularly with excitement.She relayed the unexpected encounter at the ball to Daniel. On the other end, Daniel and Lily listened and practically danced with joy!"Excellent!" Daniel exclaimed enthusiastically, "Rest assured, I'll make the arrangements immediately! You won't be embarrassed by tomorrow's banquet!""It's not just about not embarrassing me. It's about not embarrassing President Morgan," Lena replied, her tone playful and full of pride."Exactly," Daniel echoed in excitement, "I’ll transfer some money to you soon. Buy yourself some high-end clothes and jewelry. We can't let President Morgan look bad in front of his friends."After hanging up, Lily was both shocked and delighted. She asked, "Lena… really managed to catch Jeffrey's eyes?""We're meeting for dinner tomorrow. What's there to doubt?" Daniel shot a skeptical glance at Lily. "President Morgan not only agreed to dine but also entrusted me with
Jeffrey had been uncertain about Melanie's current feelings until now.During the ball, Melanie proposed a collaboration between them. They kept their distance, each gathering information about the emerald vines—Melanie focused on the male guests while Jeffrey focused on the female ones.However, the gossiping women at the ball had aggravated the situation, making it seem as if they were genuinely distant.But now, Jeffrey could be certain she was deliberately avoiding him, clearly affected by what people were saying.Watching her lonely silhouette on the balcony, Jeffrey couldn't decipher his feelings.She seemed concerned about rumors suggesting he had a childhood sweetheart or that she was a mere replacement in his heart. The more uncontrollable he felt about these sentiments, the more conflicted he became."Aren't you cold?"After a pause, Jeffrey joined her on the balcony, intending to offer her his coat. But before he could, she brushed his hand away. "I'm not cold."A sh
Daniel had never attended gatherings of the highest echelons, fearful that any sign of hesitation might leave a negative impression on Jeffrey.Aware that influential figures preferred tranquility, he had painstakingly decided to reserve an entire private floor, ensuring their uninterrupted conversations.Once arrangements were in place, Daniel instructed Lena to confirm the timing with Jeffrey's assistant.William had already received instructions from Jeffrey that today's dinner would follow Melanie's arrangements.He relayed this to Melanie, whose gaze was icy as she said, "There's no problem with the timing or venue. We'll go along with their plans.""Yes, ma'am."William passed on Melanie's response to Lena, and they could hardly contain their excitement! Daniel never imagined that Jeffrey would agree so readily, boosting their confidence even further.The banquet was set for noon, and Lena and Daniel arrived first.Taking in the luxurious restaurant, Lena exclaimed, "Dad,
The individuals seated at the adjacent table all stood up in unison, greeting, "The last to arrive should indeed be someone as busy as President Morgan!"Jeffrey nodded subtly, a hint of a complex smile lurking in his eyes. "Apologies for keeping everyone waiting.""Not at all. We've just arrived ourselves," Daniel hastily interjected, eager to assert his role as the host of this gathering.Pushing Melanie aside, Lena approached Jeffrey and tactfully said, "I knew you'd be swamped, so I didn't call to rush you."Intentionally omitting any formal titles in her speech, Lena hoped to emphasize the ambiguous relationship between her and Jeffrey to everyone present.However, Jeffrey barely glanced at her, ignoring her attempt at flirtation.Seeing Jeffrey dismiss his daughter's attempts to ingratiate herself, Daniel knew he needed to intervene.Originally, Daniel had thought that if Jeffrey and his daughter got along well, he could be more casual and call Jeffrey in a more familiar m
Daniel felt that he was going to lose himself. He quickly turned around to leave this moment, which was one that he had been dreaming of.When Lena saw that her father was leaving, the only clown left in this huge private room was her. While no one was paying attention to her, she knew that everyone was secretly laughing at her.She didn’t have the will to stay here anymore, so she quickly opened the door in a hurry and tried to run.However, before she could make it out of the room, some light flashed at her from a distance away, which caught her attention.She suddenly realized what it was: that wasn’t sunlight—it was a flash from a camera!Someone had been secretly recording this!Lena had no words, but she was so angry and nervous that she quickly took out her mobile to try to contact the media, wanting to cancel the exposé. What was she going to do if the Morgans forced Jeffrey to marry Melanie?But on the other side of the line, her friend in the media refused her request.
“Yes.”Cyrus nodded. The light in his eyes dimmed a little.“Then she...?”Mr. Azul became interested again as he scanned Melanie from head to toe.“Her last name is Jones,” Cyrus explained.However, Mr. Azul refused to let it go. “How’s your health?” he suddenly asked Melanie.The question came out of nowhere, but Melanie was still able to answer politely. “I’m fine, thank you.”While she wasn’t in the best of health when she was little, she was no different than anyone else after the surgery eight years ago.“That means you aren’t...”Mr. Azul sighed and mumbled, “Normally, even if the Yorks manage to live past 20, their health will be affected. Even we who are further away from the main family tree, do have some illnesses as well.”“I thought so too when I first saw her,” Cyrus said with a sigh.Just as they were chatting, they saw Jeffrey walking in from the outside. He was wearing a smile as he looked at Melanie. “Congratulations.”“Thank you.”Melanie paused and aske
That wasn’t even mentioning how Grace needed to grab on to Gemma tightly, especially since Gemma was her final chance. She had no better avenues left.After Grace had received the wrong information last time, which caused the Duke of William to make a wrong decision, which in turn caused the William family’s products to be boycotted, thus incurring huge financial losses for the family business, the Duke didn’t love Grace that much anymore.The Duke had plenty of children, and Grace was just one of them. If she wanted to regain the Duke’s favor, she would need to go through the Fowlers to regain the support of the national market.Grace would never let go of such a good chance, not when she could impress Gemma and use Grant to retaliate against Melanie at the same time.“Right. Last time you said Melanie turned your brother down. Is he feeling any better?” Grace asked while they were eating.“I thought you know the kind of person my brother is. He can be quite obsessive, and he had