“Max, watch your language,” Sophia frowned.
Max had a smug look on his face. “I was just speaking the truth. If Sister Sophia doesn’t want to hear the truth, I can also pretend to flatter him.”
“You…” Sophia was about to lose her temper, but Leo tugged at her sleeve, stopping her.
Max’s parents were also toasting, and they knew about Leo’s situation. When they looked at him, their eyes were filled with disdain.
Seeing the interaction between Leo, Sophia, and Max, the other guests at the table also began to give Leo strange looks. Leo continued to focus on eating, trying to fill his stomach first.
But in the eyes of others, his being silent and just eating was acknowledging his inferiority, causing those around him to look down on him from the bottom of their hearts.
A distant relative suggested, “Lily, now that you’re the sales manager at Everlasting Real Estate, do you need any janitors or something? Maybe you can find a way to get Leo in there; after all, you’re relatives, and you should help each other.”
Lillian quickly intervened, “That won’t work. Everlasting Real Estate has strict management, and if someone like Leo, who’s worthless, gets in through connections, Lily will be held accountable .”
Lily nodded in agreement, “My mom is right. Although I’m a sales manager now, I can’t do that. I can’t do anything for someone useless like Leo.”
In Lily’s eyes, Leo was nothing more than a freeloader, always in the way no matter where he was placed.
“Leo, Lily can’t help you here, but I can,” Max said generously, “The tax bureau recently moved to a new office building and is hiring a lot of janitors. I can recommend you for a job there, and you can get a salary of up to 500 dollars a month.”
Lillian, with a playful expression, looked at Leo and said with a smile, “Leo, how do you only know how to eat? You should thank your brother-in-law.”
Leo finally put down his chopsticks and wiped his mouth with a tissue. He looked up and asked, “What were you guys talking about? The food is really not bad here. What were you all nagging about?”
Everyone was speechless. After all the fuss, Leo didn’t seem to have heard a word; what a waste of effort.
“Leo, your brother-in-law wants to arrange a job for you,” another poor relative added.
“Oh, got it,” Leo said as he reached for a roast duck leg from the plate and began eating again.
Sophia felt a bit embarrassed; others might think that Leo had married into the Henley family and that the Henleys were not providing him enough to eat.
“Oh, the life of a freeloader must be so miserable. Look at him, it’s like he hasn’t eaten a decent meal in centuries,” someone commented.
“Maybe he has never been to such a fancy restaurant before. He finally has a chance to come, and he wants to eat as much as he can, in case he doesn’t get another opportunity,” another person added.
People began to discuss Leo, some disdainful, some sympathetic, and some pitiful.
This man was just disappointing. Sophia couldn’t take it anymore, and she stood up from her seat.
At that moment, the door of the private room was pushed open, and several men wearing black vests walked in, led by a young man with long hair, who looked somewhat artistic. He shouted loudly, “Everyone eating here, get out. This private room is changing hands!”
Max had drunk quite a bit of white wine and was somewhat tipsy. He heard this and got angry, saying, “I reserved this private room, and it’s not time yet. Who dares to make me leave?”
The long-haired young man walked up to Max with a cold smile, “The general manager of Everlasting Real Estate wants to dine here. Are you sure you want to occupy this place?”
“Everlasting Real Estate? Are you talking about Gerald Donne from Everlasting Real Estate?” Max suddenly became sober.
Lily quickly tugged at his sleeve, signaling him not to act impulsively.
Although Gerald Donne was just the general manager of a real estate company, Everlasting Real Estate was under Azure Cloud Group. Max knew the power and background of Azure Cloud Group.
After thinking for a moment, Max coughed twice, “Apologies, everyone. I’m sorry for the inconvenience, but Lily’s boss wants to use this private room. Let’s go somewhere else for dinner.”
Max’s mother also apologized, “We’re really sorry, everyone. Thanks to Mr. Donne’s favor, Lily was able to get her current position. Of course, we have to show him respect.”
The relatives and friends at the table were not happy, but since the host had spoken, they reluctantly stood up one after another.
The long-haired young man’s expression looked much better now. It seemed like these guys knew when to back off.
Leo stood up from his chair and looked at Max, saying, “Max, didn’t you say there would be dessert after the meal? I haven’t had it yet, so I can’t leave!”
Hearing this, everyone’s gaze focused on Leo, wondering if this freeloader was intentionally causing trouble to embarrass Max.
Leo pointed his finger at the long-haired youth and said, “You mentioned earlier that Gerald Donne was coming, right? He disturbed my meal, so tell him to come in and apologize.”
At this moment, the crowd looked at Leo as if he were a lunatic.
This statement shocked Max, and Lily became even more anxious. What if Mr. Donne overheard Leo’s words? She wouldn’t be able to explain herself. So she yelled at Leo, “Leo, this has nothing to do with you. Get out of here!”
Ignoring Max and Lily’s words, Leo approached the long-haired young man, “I’ll give you three minutes to tell him that Leo Bloomer asked him to come and apologize. Otherwise, you’ll bear the consequences.”
Max’s face turned ugly, and Lily was even more frightened. “Leo, who do you think you are? This is my banquet. It’s not your place to interfere. If you don’t leave now, I’ll call the security!” Max was afraid that Leo would escalate the situation, so he threatened.