Chapter 7

After leaving Gideon at the city hall half an hour ago, Elara had been in such a foul mood that she went to a bar to drown her sorrows in alcohol. By sheer coincidence, she bumped into Matthew Carter.

He was the handsome and talented son of the Carters of Goldspire, and they had been classmates at college, too. Over time, they became great friends who confided everything in each other. In fact, she considered him her bosom friend despite him being a guy.

"Why are you upset, Ella? Tell me what happened," Matthew asked in concern as he patted Elara's hand.

"I don't even want to talk about it. I got married."

"What did you say?" Matthew exclaimed in shock. Frowning, he asked, "You're joking, right? Why would you have gotten married out of the blue? This is my first time hearing about this."

Elara replied in frustration, "It was my dad who arranged this marriage for me. He made me marry a stinking farmer! We even got our marriage license already."

Matthew's expression turned dark.

Elara continued, "Matthew, what do you think I can do to make him ask for a divorce?"

"Why don't I get someone to beat him up or threaten him? He's just a farmer, isn't he? We can do whatever we want to him."

"That won't do. I'd be dead if he rats me out to my dad," Elara said while shaking her head.

Matthew's gaze flickered in thought before he suggested with a smile, "How's this? I'll arrange a gathering with some of our closest friends in our social circle, and you can invite him over. Once he sees the disparity between you two, he'll feel ashamed and realize he's not good enough for you. Maybe he'll ask for a divorce then."

Elara's eyes lit up at once. "That's a good idea! I'll text right away."

"Okay. I'll set things up, then."

Matthew called up several other people from wealthy families, and soon, over a dozen young men and women arrived at the bar. Matthew led them all into a lavish private room.

"Remember now. Our goal here today is to help Ella deal with that leech. You all know what to do, right?" Matthew asked.

"Relax, Matthew. I can't believe a lousy farmer from the countryside is deluded enough to think he can score with the princess. We'll make him realize what it means to be utterly humiliated."

"Excellent!"

Matthew nodded in satisfaction before asking, "By the way, Ella, what's the farmer's name?"

"Gideon Snow."

"Oh? Why does that name sound so familiar to me?"

Scoffing, Elara explained, "It's him, the son of the Snow family who disappeared five years ago. He's back now."

Everyone had a look of realization.

"It's Gideon, huh? I didn't see that coming. Back then, even my family, the Carters, had to depend on the Snows for our success. However, in just five years, the Snows have fallen from grace, and their company is about to go bankrupt.

"When Gideon shows up, you guys need to show him a bit more courtesy, got it?" Matthew said meaningfully, and the others got the hint.

Just then, one of the young men called out, "Something major happened! Everyone is talking about how Gideon attacked Eric Gross, and Eric is looking for him right now! He wants to turn Gideon into a cripple!"

"Are you serious?"

Intrigued and amused by the news, everyone started checking their phones for updates.

Elara scrunched her face up in disdain as she thought to herself how foolish Gideon was. Did he think he was still the man he once was? How dare he attack Eric? He sure knew how to cause trouble!

Then again, she figured that perhaps Arnold would agree to let her divorce him if Eric crippled him.

Just then, the door to the private room opened with a creak, and Gideon walked in. When he saw the crowd, he frowned and commented, "Why did you invite me to a meal at a place like this?"

Elara didn't know what to say.

It was Matthew who approached Gideon with a smile and said, "How have you been, Gideon? Don't blame Ella. I chose the place."

Gideon eyed Matthew and said coolly, "Why are you tagging along when I'm having a meal with my wife? Who are you?"

Matthew's expression stiffened. With an insincere smile, he said, "Calm down, Gideon. I'm Matthew Carter, Ella's bosom friend."

"Bosom friend?"

"That's right."

"Are you a man or a woman?" Gideon asked, his eyes flashing with derision.

Matthew was startled at first, but rage immediately bubbled up inside of him.

Elara couldn't take it anymore. She snapped, "How can you talk like that, Gideon? Matthew is my bosom friend. I forbid you from insulting him!"

"How boring. I'm leaving."

Gideon only came over out of consideration for Arnold, whom he respected.

"Hey, now. You're already here, Gideon. You might as well join us for a drink," Matthew said as he stood in Gideon's way and closed the door.

Chuckling, he continued, "I heard you and Ella got married. That's good news. As her friends, it's only right for us to celebrate the happy occasion. Come on. Have a seat."

Gideon sneered to himself. He couldn't be bothered to deal with such petty tricks.

Just then, Leopold called.

Gideon took the call and asked, "What is it, Leo?"

"Sir, I've made all the arrangements. The teams behind three major projects have gotten in touch with Snow Corporation."

"Good job!"

"Oh, by the way, sir, I have a bit of a presumptuous request. I hope you'll be able to oblige."

"What is it?"

"Well, my daughter heard the stories I told about Oasis Vale. She's extremely curious about you and wants to meet you. She's my only child, you see, and I've spoiled her rotten. I was wondering if you could spare your time one day to fulfill her wish.

"Rest assured, sir, for it is only a simple meetup. I promise she won't be of any bother to you."

Chuckling, Gideon replied, "I'm at Twilight Bar. You can tell her to come over."

"Twilight Bar? I own that place. Why didn't you tell me you were going there, sir?"

"Room 606," Gideon said before ending the call.

Since Leopold's daughter was coming over, he decided to stick around for a bit. He sat beside Elara and closed his eyes to get some rest.

Seeing that, Matthew shot the crowd a look. Immediately, one of the young men walked over with a glass of wine. Smiling, he asked, "What has a great man like you been up to, Gideon? You were gone for five whole years! Were you off building an empire somewhere? Well, what have you accomplished since?"

Gideon didn't react at all.

Expression darkening, the man mocked, "Don't tell me you haven't accomplished anything, Gideon. What have you been doing in the last five years, then? Were you off having fun? You sure made a huge mistake back then. The Snows have fallen so far from grace that they're on the verge of bankruptcy."

Upon seeing the continued lack of response from Gideon, the man was hopping mad.

Just then, a young woman chimed in, "Gideon, I heard Ella mentioning that you're a farmer. Have you been off farming in the countryside the last five years?"

Instantly, everyone in the room guffawed. But alas, no matter what they said to degrade Gideon, he remained as cool as a cucumber without reacting to them. This left them feeling extremely disgruntled. It was as if all their efforts had been in vain.

"Greetings."

Out of the blue, a man in a suit entered the room and said respectfully, "Please pardon me for interrupting you. I'm the manager of Twilight Bar, and I'm here to bring over two bottles of red wine. I hope they will be to your liking."

"Oh, my! That's two bottles of 1982 Burrandi! It's extremely expensive!" one of the guests familiar with wine exclaimed.

The manager explained, "The combined value of these two bottles is 300 thousand dollars. It is part of our premium collection here at Twilight Bar, and we only have two bottles."

"Seriously?"

Everyone was stunned and rather confused.

Twilight Bar was well-known among the entertainment establishments in Goldspire. It was said that the owner was a major figure in the criminal underworld. Why would they be giving out two precious bottles of wine just like that?

"Who is the wine for?"

"My superior says it's a gift for an honored young man here, but I am not aware of his name. Please enjoy. Feel free to let me know if you need anything."

The manager left with his subordinates, while the others in the room gulped as they stared at the two bottles of wine on the table.

They were all from wealthy but unprestigious families. Matthew was the only one whose family held a somewhat higher position in the upper class. Even then, he couldn't possibly dream of being given 300 thousand dollars worth of wine just like that.

"Who is the wine for?"

"Who else could it be, you idiot? It has to be for Matthew, of course! He's the only one here right now who's worthy of it."