“Come on, do you think I don’t know what kind of person you are?” Casey laughed mockingly. “You’re just a spoiled princess with a bad temper, always shopping like crazy every day. What man can tolerate you? Don’t go and trouble Mr. Howlett.”
“You!” Fatima rolled her eyes in anger. “Are you even my brother? That’s too much!”
“Don’t waste time here. I need to go chat with Miss Andrews!” Casey gave her a push and walked straight to the main table.
“Ugh!” Fatima stomped her foot in frustration behind him.
“Fatima, come over here! What are you whispering about with your brother?” Brittany waved at Fatima. “Your favorite lobster is served.”
Fatima had no choice but to walk over to her mother. “Mom… can I go to the main table to toast later?”
Brittany was taken aback and glanced at her daughter’s unwilling expression, immediately becoming cautious. “Fatima, Miss Andrews and Mr. Maskelyne are not ordinary people. Don’t make a fool of yourself and offend our distinguished guests, or your uncle will be furious.”
“Mom, how can you say that about me? I’m your daughter.” Fatima grew angrier. “My brother criticizes me, and now you do too.”
Brittany’s temper flared as well, and her tone became stern. “Fatima, you’re not a child anymore. How can you be so immature? Do you even know what kind of occasion this is today? Toasting? That’s for your uncles to do. It’s not your place as a junior.”
“But…” Fatima glanced secretly at Jasper’s upright figure. If she didn’t get his contact information today, where would she find him in the future?
Such an outstanding man caught her eye at first sight. No, she had to find a way to create an opportunity for herself.
Brittany thought her daughter had listened to her and softened her expression, placing some food on Fatima’s plate. “Eat up. Our Gentry family has what we have today all thanks to Miss Andrews. If it weren’t for her bringing back the Healing Herb back then, our family’s chronic illness wouldn’t have been cured.”
“Whether it’s Miss Andrews or Mr. Maskelyne, we must be grateful. Understand?” Brittany patted Fatima’s hand. “Be good and don’t cause trouble for Mom.”
Fatima was fuming inside but couldn’t vent it.
At the main table, Casey had already taken his seat. “Sorry I’m late. I’ll punish myself with a drink.”
He downed a glass of wine in one gulp, almost choking.
He sat down and said to Sylvia, “Miss Andrews, you must try this fish maw chicken soup. It’s very nourishing. Let me serve you some.”
As he reached for a small bowl to serve Sylvia, Franklin raised his hand to stop him. “No need, I’ll do it.”
Casey handed the small bowl to Franklin and watched as Franklin’s well-defined hand carefully served a small bowl of fish maw chicken soup and placed it in front of Sylvia. “Darling, have a taste.”
Tony laughed heartily. “Mr. Maskelyne and Miss Andrews are truly a loving couple.”
Reginald, sitting next to Casey, stroked his chin and looked at Sylvia with a hint of curiosity.
Sylvia noticed his strange gaze and asked, “Reginald, do you have a question for me?”
“Miss Andrews, forgive my boldness.” Reginald hesitated before speaking. “I once had a close friend, Master Newman. I previously calculated that he had passed away. He must have found an ideal successor… Just now, I sensed something from you…”
Before he could finish his sentence, there was a loud crash!
Everyone’s attention was drawn to the noise, and they couldn’t help but look towards the source.
Reginald’s words were interrupted.
Annoyed, he looked over and saw that Fatima had somehow knocked over a chair and spilled a plate of braised prawns nearby.
Brittany glared at her daughter with a very displeased expression and whispered harshly, “How could you be so careless?”
Fatima stood there awkwardly with a stiff face, wishing she could find a hole to crawl into.
She hadn’t meant to; she had just been staring at that man so intently that she accidentally fell off the chair, knocking it over and spilling the prawns…
So embarrassing.
“I warned you earlier that today is an important occasion.” Brittany was so angry her face turned green with embarrassment. “Hurry up and clean yourself up and change into new clothes!”
“Oh, okay.” Fatima quickly lowered her head and hurried away.
Brittany forced an embarrassed smile. “I’m sorry everyone had to see that. Fatima is always clumsy and still hasn’t changed that bad habit today.”
“I saw that Fatima took quite a fall just now. As long as she’s okay.” Tony tried to smooth things over and then looked at Sylvia and Franklin again. “She’s young and immature; I hope you don’t mind.”
“We should be thanking you for your hospitality. The Gentry family is lively and has a great atmosphere. Truly an enviable big family.” Sylvia smiled politely.
But Reginald’s earlier conversation was cut off, and he sighed helplessly.
He would have to ask another time.
His intuition told him that Sylvia might have some connection with Master Newman.
Fatima walked out with a face full of shame and anger. She was in such a hurry that she didn’t watch where she was going.
As she turned a corner, she bumped into what felt like a solid wall with a loud thud. Holding her aching nose, she looked up and cried out in pain, “Ouch!”
Vaild was startled. “Miss, are you okay? I didn’t mean to.”
Fatima looked up into a pair of clear black-and-white eyes and realized she had bumped into this man’s chest. Already feeling embarrassed for losing face in front of the man she admired, she was now even more annoyed after bumping into someone else.
“How do you walk? Can’t you watch where you’re going?”
Vaild saw her red eyes looking like a little rabbit’s, her delicate appearance making his heart skip a beat.
Are all girls this delicate?
The woman he interacted with most was Sylvia, but Sylvia was almost like a deity. He knew other women couldn’t compare to Sylvia, but this girl seemed too fragile.
It felt like he could break her with just a bit of force.
His heart softened as he said gently, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, it’s all my fault. If you’re really hurt, you can hit me.”
Fatima hadn’t expected this man to be so good-tempered; this tall man bent over apologizing repeatedly.
She couldn’t help but smile. “Forget it, I won’t hold it against you.”
With that, she hurried back to her residence to change clothes.
When she returned home, she saw Adeline lounging on a chaise longue sunbathing. Seeing Fatima, Adeline coughed heavily several times before speaking. “Fatima, why are you back?”
“Oh dear, look at my clothes; they’re all stained with oil! How can I face anyone like this?” Fatima said as she hurried upstairs to change clothes.
She changed into a light pink dress paired with a beige long coat, making her look tall and slender. With her sweet and cute appearance, she looked even more charming in this outfit.
She hurried downstairs again to leave.
Before leaving, she walked over to Adeline and took her hand. “Adeline, do you want to come with me?”
“No thanks; I’m not feeling well. I don’t want to make everyone uncomfortable.” Adeline coughed twice more.
“Alright then, I’m going.” Fatima said as she ran off like a little rabbit.
Adeline watched her leave sadly and closed her eyes.
They were twins with identical looks; why was she the one with a frail body who had to deal with medicine all the time?
Sometimes life was really unfair.
When Fatima returned to the banquet, everyone was chatting enthusiastically.
Brittany was talking to Kelsey about her two daughters. “Adeline is steady but too weak physically. Our Gentry family is known for medicine but can’t cure the illness she was born with. It worries me sick.”
“Adeline has been frail since childhood; there’s nothing we can do.” Kelsey sighed about her own children too. “My son is still out there saying he wants to make his mark.”
“When children grow up, they don’t listen to their parents anymore!” Brittany noticed Fatima returning and called out to her immediately. “Sit down and eat properly; don’t cause any more trouble, understand?”
Fatima glanced at the main table and saw the man who had bumped into her earlier sitting steadily at the second table next to it. Wait-there were two of them?
Identical thick eyebrows and big eyes!
Were they twins too?
Vaild and Mark were dressed identically with matching hairstyles!
“Fatima? Fatima?” Kelsey called out several times. “Why isn’t Adeline coming over?”
Fatima snapped back to reality when her mother pulled her arm. “Uh, Kelsey, Adeline thinks it’s too noisy here.”
“What are you looking at? What’s so interesting over there?” Brittany glared at her angrily.
Fatima pouted but thought to herself that these twin brothers were unfamiliar faces.
Were they Sylvia and Franklin’s people?
At the main table, Sylvia and Franklin were chatting with Tony about recent developments in the red-light district.
“The district chief has been cracking down on arms dealing lately. EMPEROR and his gang are really causing trouble.” Tony sighed deeply. “This EMPEROR is ruthless; he’s not someone to mess with.”
Reginald added, “That Jade Dragons gang he’s running is disgusting. The red-light district was already chaotic; he’s made it even worse.”