The soldier in the lead, however, took no notice of them and instead bellowed with a swift sweep of his arm, "I don't want to waste my time dealing with rabble rousers like you! Take them to the holding cell and keep them there until the commander-in-chief arrives!"With murmurs of assent, his subordinates began to haul the Stones toward the holding cells to await their fate. This, no doubt, terrified the Stones so much that they began to cower in fear. Sherah even burst into tears, her entire body shaking like a leaf as she pleaded, "Colonel… Colonel, have mercy on us! Please don't capture us!""We're innocent! We're telling the truth! We are here to attend the party, and we swear we're not gatecrashers!""Colonel, if you don't believe us, you can phone General Chanter and ask him yourself. We're really here for the party!""Colonel, the person you should arrest is that man named Liam Cole. He's the one impersonating a Pendragon Warrior, not us…""Yes, yes! It's all Liam's faul
What?Yafe's words seemed to have sent a jolt of electricity through Celena's entire body, such was the shock of his statement. Liam was not the retired martial arts coach from the Pendragon War Zone?Celena's entire body seemed frozen to the spot. The colonel assumed her shock to be a result of his declaration, and that she, like her family, did not possess an invitation. He gestured to his subordinates and ordered, "Boys, take her away!"The soldiers stepped forward and soon had Celena surrounded as well. This finally snapped Celena out of her stupor, and she hastily tried to explain, "Colonel, there must be a misunderstanding. I… We…"Cheryl seemed to have had enough of Celena's nonsense. She screeched, cutting Celena off, "Celena, you little b*tch! This was all your fault! We're all going to end up in jail because of you. Are you happy now?"That b*stard Liam as well! How dare he lie to us and lead us on? He tricked us into thinking he held a high-ranking position in the mil
Liam froze, as though he had not expected to be asked such a question, but when he caught sight of the crestfallen expression on Celena's face, he shook his head fervently and explained, "No, darling, listen to me. I didn't lie to you. You have to believe me…"He was cut off, however, by Cheryl, who snorted and snapped, "Liam, how dare you deny it? The colonel has already phoned the Pendragon War Zone to verify this, and it's been proven that no such position exists!"Celena stared at Liam with tearful eyes and whimpered, "Liam, are you truly a veteran? Have you been lying to me all this while?"Liam shook his head and tried even harder to explain, "No, Celena, I didn't lie to you. You have to trust me…"The colonel, upon hearing the Stones' assent that this was the man who had started this entire misunderstanding in the first place, approached Liam, eager to punish the culprit for his sheer audacity to impersonate a soldier. "So you are the one who impersonated a war veteran from
He had realized, with a startling pang of horror, that he had not only insulted the commander-in-chief's wife but had even pointed a gun straight at her head! Therefore, he hoped his peace offering would subdue some of Liam's anger enough to let this slide. Celena, however, had yet to recover from the shock of the encounter. She could not bring herself to utter a single word, but merely smiled and shook her head at Jefferson, before shooting Liam a puzzled look. Liam explained with a smile, "For safety reasons, we have all opted for nicknames while serving in the military. Not only that, but the military has made it a priority to reveal as little about its members' identities as possible, which was why none of them recognized my real name, and that no results could be yielded from the search using my name."Realization dawned on Celena, and she was satisfied enough with the answer that she did not ask any further questions. Some people, however, would not be patronized so easily
After all, the Stones were not among the wealthiest or most influential families in Drunham City, so it was really a wonder how they even got invited to such a prestigious event!The guests could not help but murmur in speculation of the new arrivals. Naturally, most of the attention was on Celena, who was easily the most attractive woman there! None of the men, not even the richest tycoons or the most well-connected moguls could find it in themselves to tear their eyes away from her. Celena wore a gorgeous black dress with a long train that hugged all her curves in the right places. She also had on a full face of makeup with a strikingly red lip that brought out her features, making her look glamorous and elegant at the same time. Of course, even without the makeup, Celena's beauty earned her attention everywhere she went. Cheryl was seething with jealousy when she realized that virtually all the men were ogling Celena with a mixture of stupefied awe and lust. She was so outraged
Kendrick was clearly just as surprised as Celena was to run into each other. He was also incredibly delighted to discover that the adorable little girl who could always be found just a few steps behind him had blossomed into a beautiful, sophisticated lady!Kendrick locked eyes with Celena, taking in her beautiful face and ravishing figure, and could not help but recall Celena's naive, childish claims of wanting to marry him when they grew up! He had always treated her words as nothing more than an innocuous joke, but now that they finally reunited as adults, his heart fluttered at the thought of this coming true. Celena was no doubt the most drop-dead gorgeous woman he had ever seen, and he was determined to make her his wife!A glimmer of lust flashed across Kendrick's face, and he raised his glass to Celena's. "Celena, it's been a long time since we last met. Have you been doing well?"Celena clinked her glass against his in a friendly toast and took a small sip of her drink. A
"Kendrick, let me introduce you to my husband, Liam Cole!"She then turned to Liam and said, "Liam, this is Kendrick Hyde. He was our neighbor growing up."The smile froze on Kendrick's face as though he had been struck by a bolt of lightning. Husband?Celena was married?Was he too late?Kendrick stared in utter horror at Celena, like a husband betrayed by his once-devoted wife.Celena stared back at him in puzzlement, unable to fathom why Kendrick seemed so distressed at this new information. Kendrick, realizing how inappropriate his reaction was, quickly regained his composure. He forced a smile onto his face and extended his hand to Liam. "Liam, eh? Nice to meet you. My name is Kendrick."Although Kendrick's dismay had lasted barely five seconds, it did not manage to escape Liam's hawk-like eyes. He also swiftly picked up on the spite that flashed across Kendrick's face as the two men shook hands. Nevertheless, he met Kendrick's gaze head-on and shook his head graciously
Kendrick glanced down at Cheryl's arm, which was draped lovingly around his, but did not say anything. Instead, he allowed Cheryl to continue holding him and replied, smiling, "Of course I remember you, Cheryl. How can someone possibly forget such a gorgeous woman like you?""You're just as I remember you, Kendrick, always exaggerating everything! What are you doing here anyway?" Cheryl giggled at this. Although she feigned modesty, one could tell by the glee on her face that she was secretly enjoying Kendrick's attention.The Stones and the Hydes were next-door neighbors, and Cheryl, being only a few years younger than Celena and Kendrick, always used to totter around behind them eagerly as children. Unfortunately, Kendrick was so enamored by Celena at that time that he had never given Cheryl so much as a glance.If anything, perhaps Kendrick's preference for Celena over her had formed a pivotal foundation of her hatred toward Celena. Cheryl had fallen for Kendrick back then and