In the Warde manor's rear garden, all the guests had gathered at the reception venue.The men talked business while the women chatted together.When women get together on an occasion like this, they would naturally chat idly and gossip among themselves."Isn't Mrs. Warde Senior introducing her daughter and granddaughter, whom she brought back from Danube City, today? What time is it? Why haven't the main stars of the event shown up yet? Why are we foolishly waiting here?" one of the ladies complained."They come from a small city and don't know how to behave properly. I heard that a few days ago, they acted out of line at the Harper manor, so Mr. Harper had his men slap them ten times each.They were sent to the hospital straight from the Harper manor and only came back yesterday. Until it's absolutely necessary, how could they bear to come out and embarrass themselves?" one of them commented. "What's with Ginny anyway? Is she blind? When Mr. Warde Senior was still around, the f
Elizabeth's words fell like a boulder crashing into the surface of a still lake—or like a bomb exploding beneath the sea.The guests were in an uproar as they watched Elizabeth pass Ginny the document."The Warde family has shares from the Harper family's business? Five percent? Besides Mr. Harper, no one else in the Harper family has that much, right? Even the White family only has three percent. The Warde family has been hiding this so well!" someone exclaimed."Mrs. Warde Senior definitely knew that someone would mess with Ginny, so she's helping her daughter establish herself. Mr. Harper is aggressive in protecting his beloved while Mrs. Warde Senior is aggressive in protecting her daughter. We're in for a good show.""Ginny is the Warde family's only daughter. Isn't the Warde family hers in the future? I envy her. Why can't I have such a good life? Being born to the right family really is a skill.""An endless supply of money, a good daughter, no troublesome husband, and no
At the loft behind where the party was held, Yves swore. "Mrs. Warde Senior had that up her sleeve, huh? It's like rising from the ashes. It really does require skill to be reborn. Comment by soonyoung gu: not sure what the author is trying to mean. i backread a little and still dont get what skill was needed..."From now on, no one would dare to gossip about Ginny and the others in front of them. Look at their arrogant faces. They deserve a beating!"Yves looked disgruntled. He looked sideways at Victoria and Benjamin and saw that they were devoid of any unnecessary emotions. It was as if they were bystanders unrelated to the situation. Benjamin even looked like he was a little happy."Why aren't you both reacting? Especially you, Mrs. B. Aren't you angry? Mrs. Warde Senior keeps saying that she's sorry and she'll compensate you. "This is how she compensates you? Isn't that too disgusting?""Why the anger? This is all within our predictions."Victoria did not make much
Louis reached the manor's door. Upon seeing those who had followed him, he told Ginny, "Mrs. Jameson, go greet the guests. I'll handle the situation in the manor."His stern and commanding tone caused discomfort to those who heard it. Those who wanted to watch the scene and flatter Ginny retorted, "Ginny is Mrs. Warde Senior's daughter, who's the matriarch of the Warde family. Who do you think you are? "On what grounds do you order her around? Even if anything has happened, she should be the one who handles it, so on what grounds should she listen to you?"Ginny had become arrogant from the praise. The Warde manor was hers. Louis was a pet raised by the Wardes. He was ordering her in front of so many people. If she obeyed him, what would happen to her dignity?Louis was blocking the door. Ginny was haughty when she pushed him aside. "Step aside!"She rushed ahead of him and brought the group with her as she strode towards the fourth-floor guest room.Louis backed away. As
Louis ushered all the guests downstairs. He walked to the front and blocked the manor door. He turned and looked at those who could not wait to spread gossip. "Whoever used their phones to take pictures or videos of the situation just now, delete it!"The guests who came had a reputation of their own, and the ones who entered the manor were primarily women. They did not participate much in business matters, so they believed that Louis was merely borrowing the Warde family's authority.Now that Ginny had returned and Mrs. Warde Senior had handed the Warde Corporation's shares over to her daughter, the company would definitely flow within the family in the future.Louis would be nothing."Who do you think you are? What grounds do you have to order us around?"Louis did not waste his breath with them. He had the servants call in the male guests. "Mr. Laurent, Mr. Farley, Mr. Anderson … Please manage your wives and daughters. "They shouldn't be sharing things they aren't meant
On the fourth floor, in the living room, Colette and Zachary had redressed themselves. They stood before Elizabeth, Ginny, and the others.Zachary had ripped Colette's dress, so she changed into clothes she usually wore.The shirt's collar was low, so the hickeys on her neck were exposed. The palm print was obvious on her pale face. It was shocking to see.Her head was lowered, and she was silent. Her shoulders were raised. She looked embarrassed and pitiful.As Zachary stared at her very swollen face, his cold gaze filled with disgust once more. He was very irritated.He did not want to take responsibility. With his finger pointed at Colette, he looked at Elizabeth, Nicole, and the others and said something mean and vicious. "She seduced me. She treated me like this the last time we were in Danube City."Colette, why are you so shameless? Are you that desperate for a man? If you are, find someone else. "You've set your sights on me, haven't you? Why do you keep using these
In an instant, her head started bleeding. She then fell onto the floor.No one expected her to suddenly act that way. They were stunned."Lettie!" Ginny was the first to react. She was so scared, her voice broke.She rushed to Colette's side and embraced her.Her blood blurred Colette's line of sight. She was not completely conscious, but she still could feel Ginny's worry and care.She sighed. On her face was a weak smile that caused Ginny to feel heartbroken."Mom … this way … no one can criticize you any longer!" uttered Colette. She then fainted."Lettie!"Ginny was distraught, especially when she saw the palm print on Colette's face. Her stomach turned with regret.Lettie was such a good child. How could she be cruel enough to hit her?Ginny cried. She was so remorseful she slapped herself twice. She stared at Nicole viciously. She yelled, "Are you two satisfied now? Zachary, who do you think you are? Though your surname is Harper, can you call the Harpers your family?
Soon enough, Victoria learned from Louis about Colette. To make her determination evident, Colette had purposely injured herself by hitting her head on the wall.Yves expressed his surprise. "Who would've thought Colette had such courage? Zachary's in a real pickle now. He'll have to marry her whether he likes it or not."Victoria chuckled knowingly and remarked, "She had to do it this way to appease Ginny's dissatisfaction. Without winning over Ginny, how would Colette get her hands on the Harper family's shares? "Her move was a ruthless and bold one, and not everyone has the determination and audacity for it. "Still, not only is she now marrying Zachary with a clean slate, but she's also getting a slice of Ginny's shares. It's a win for her.""How are you so sure that Ginny will just hand over those shares? What if she tells Colette to buzz off? "Doesn't she fear this reckless move might blow up in her face, and she'll be left to rot?"Victoria looked at Yves as if he wer
Victoria saw that Benjamin wasn't looking like he was kidding at all. She placed both of her hands on his chest and turned her head away when he leaned in to kiss her.She then pushed him away hard and changed the topic by saying, "I heard that Solomon was beaten up in his own house last night."Benjamin chuckled lowly and said, "There's no use changing the topic."As he was talking, he arched his neck and pressed his lips near Victoria's ear.Victoria's ears, especially her helix, were extremely sensitive. She subconsciously pulled her hands back and covered her ears with her palms.Benjamin took the chance to wrap his arms around Victoria's waist and pulled her close to him. His face was close to hers.Victoria could feel Benjamin's burning desire as she was pressed down onto his lap. She now knew better than to struggle.This was just shooting herself in the foot!It wasn't that she didn't know what he was like, but she just had to stir him up.Victoria felt uneasy when she
Victoria used her other hand to support her cheek as she blinked.She said, "How could someone who dislikes wasting words and unnecessary chatter nag endlessly over just a small wound?"Benjamin coldly asked, "Are you complaining that I'm long-winded and annoying now?"He looked aggrieved, as if he would be angry if Victoria were to answer "yes".Victoria laughed out loud again and replied, "I'm not!"She used her finger to poke at Benjamin's cheek.She was smiling when she asked, "Are you madly in love with me, Benjamin?"Benjamin looked at Victoria seriously as he crouched by her legs.If it was before this, he would've nodded and replied "of course" without hesitation. But now …Benjamin couldn't be as confident and sure when he recalled Wendy's previous words.Victoria didn't think much of it and took Benjamin's silence as affirmation.She continued, "I'm thinking that you're definitely madly in love with me. That is why you're so heartbroken and reacted abnormally even
"Where are we heading to now, Ben and Mrs. B? Why are the people here so weird? Why are they dressed up as if they're in a period drama?"What is this place? Why are the both of you here?"Yves was back to his lively self as soon as he got into the carriage. He started asking endless questions."You regained your memories now, Ben? I knew you'd never forget about Mrs. B no matter what. Even if you did, you'd definitely remember everything as soon as you saw Mrs. B!"Yves gushed on. It took him a good while to realize that Benjamin's expression had changed. Even the atmosphere in the carriage became strange.He asked, "Did I say something wrong?"Wendy laughed dryly and replied, "He's not as deeply in love with Victoria as you think he is. He didn't remember anything."Yves laughed awkwardly before pursing his lips.He started to butter Victoria up."How did you know Ben is here, Mrs. B? How did you find—"Victoria pursed her lips and glanced at Gwen who was driving in the fro
Yves stared at Anna. She started out mumbling, and her voice grew louder toward the end.He looked confused. "Ben, Mrs. B, what is she talking about?"He was sure she was speaking the same language but couldn't, for the life of him, understand what she meant.Upon listening to Anna, Wendy immediately felt she was too quick to agree to Yves' request because of the money. She wanted to push him aside.However, he was in a sorry state with his limp. His face was visibly thinner than before, and his eyes weren't as bright as they used to be. She found herself sympathizing with him.Victoria pressed her lips together, and her brows creased further.Benjamin turned to Silas. "Go and get Asher!"Anna didn't dial back on her arrogance. "Great idea. I'm looking for him, too."There was a horse race today, yet he locked me up in that cabin! I have a score to settle with him!"Victoria recalled Asher leaving the stables urgently during the day and had a hunch about what happened."If yo
Yves looked up with teary eyes and could vaguely make out Benjamin's sour face.He rubbed his eyes with all his might. Benjamin's face slowly became clear to him as his vision cleared."It's really you, Ben! Oh, Ben!"He was pleasantly surprised, as though he finally had someone to rely on. He teared up in excitement.The next moment, he became aggrieved again. He was just like a three-year-old who was bullied by a stray cat.He cried, "You're here, Ben. Why didn't you ask someone to look for me? You've no idea what I've experienced."I've been locked away in that shabby cabin and almost lost it. I miss you so freaking much!"Benjamin looked less sour now. He took out his handkerchief that he brought along wherever he went.He passed it to Yves, who had tears and snot all over his face. "Clean up. You're a grownup man, you know. Look at you."With one hand taking the handkerchief, Yves clung onto Victoria with the other.Benjamin stared at his hand that was holding onto her.
Asher felt his heart shatter. "Why didn't you tell me earlier? I've already gifted it to someone else!"The person in charge felt his heart ache, too. "I wanted to inform you when you arrived, but you told me to talk to you after the race."You've always said that horse has a character and that you like it, no? I never expected you to give it away."Who did you give it to? Could you, perhaps, buy it back from him?"Asher was dispirited. "I can't."He waved it off and continued, "Forget about it. It belongs to someone else now."I'd been obliging to its every wish for all the time it had been here. Still, it never obeyed me."It's intelligent and chooses its own master. I can't tame it. It's no better than an average horse to me."Tell those who witnessed that incident that they shouldn't talk about it to anyone. You may leave."The person in charge glanced at him. Bowing, he acknowledged the instruction he received and left.Asher looked toward Sebastian and sighed dejectedly
Silas and Wendy immediately hurried over in excitement when they heard they were going to split the winnings.Wendy, who wasn't the best in maths, counted gleefully, "We bet one thousand gold coins. As the odds are at one to 246, we'll get … ten thousand, 200 thousand … 244600 gold coins. Am I right?"She surprised herself when she said that out loud. She and Silas exchanged glances and started hopping about in delight.That was a lot of gold coins! They were rich!"Ten percent of 244600 gold coins would amount to roughly 24 thousand gold coins, so 20 percent would make it about 50 thousand. Victoria—"Silas and Wendy were already dizzy. Turning to them, Victoria instructed, "Give us a moment, and take Onyx with you.""You …" Silas looked at her suspiciously. Was she planning to keep all the money to herself?She gave him a warning glare, and he and Wendy obediently led Onyx away.They shouldn't offend their moneybag right now.Victoria looked at Asher. "That's over 240 thousa
Everyone looked in the direction of the sound. It was a teenager who was around 15 years old. Not bothering to keep up his image, he sat on the floor and clung to Sebastian's leg.Besides him, many others were standing around Sebastian. They all looked at Sebastian pitifully.Asher loudly asked the one kneeling, "Just look at you, Troy Lancaster! What happened to your enthusiasm?"It's only a meager sum. Do you really have to react this way?"Troy Lancaster? He was the Lancaster family's youngest son, Sebastian's younger maternal cousin.Victoria had a photographic memory. She saw his name when she skimmed through the log book earlier.He had bet 500 silver coins, which wasn't the least of all. It wasn't a hefty sum either, considering who he was.The Lancasters had very conflicting approaches in his upbringing. His mother pampered him, while his father was very strict toward him because he thought he was spoiled.Judging from his reaction, he must've been greedy and impulsivel
Once Roxy left, several women with ill intentions who criticized Victoria earlier became uneasy. They came up with excuses and left one after another.As the drama ended, everyone calmed down. Some were listless, while some were feeling down.There were also a few who approached Victoria, among whom were mainly men. They earnestly introduced themselves.Benjamin scanned the men who surrounded Victoria and somehow felt betrayed. Glowering, he seemed about to fly off the handle.His glare was too harsh, and many retreated after a short exchange with Victoria. She studied those who resolutely remained beside her.Compared to people from the outside world, the clan members had less desire for material possessions.Those who stood their ground didn't feel displeased at losing a hefty sum in the bet. They also withstood the pressure Benjamin's glare exuded.It was fair to say they were the best among the best.They were from decent families and had been receiving proper education sin