—
“General Cruz.”
When General Cruz arrived, Layla made no effort to greet him. If not for the incident on Cloudgate Mountain, she might have extended some polite courtesy.
But Braiden had falsely accused General Cruz, even submitting fabricated charges to the military department, leaving Cruz scrambling to defend himself.
As the leader of the three-family alliance, Layla appeared to be the orchestrator behind Braiden’s actions in Cruz’s eyes. The tension between them had flared on Cloudgate Mountain, where they had been at each other’s throats.
Today, Layla saw no reason to ingratiate herself. She had her pride.
Given her current status and position, General Cruz had not yet reached the level where she would humble herself to forge a connection.
“Ms. Woods,” General Cruz greeted as he settled into the seat next to the head of the table, idly toying with the wine glass before him.
Others revered Layla as a celestial being, the brightest star in the night sky. But to General Cruz, she was unremarkable. His rank as a God of War major general placed him far above the need to curry favor with anyone.
Besides, Braiden’s mess still lingered in his mind, leaving him simmering with resentment.
Had this incident not occurred, perhaps he would have offered a polite smile and a handshake.
Now? Forget it.
The atmosphere grew awkward.
After exchanging brief greetings, their eyes averted, and they each busied themselves with their own matters, their tones cold and indifferent.
Kendal Roy furrowed his brow, suddenly recalling Braiden’s charges against General Cruz. The scandal had caused a huge stir, becoming widely known.
No wonder. Cruz clearly bore a grudge against Layla.
The tension was palpable, and Kendal found himself at a loss over how to mend the situation.
Lilia, too, greeted General Cruz but struggled to find a way to start a conversation. She barely knew him, having only met him a handful of times and exchanged no more than a few words.
Fortunately, General Cruz’s arrival caused a commotion in the hall. The elites flocked to him, raising their glasses in toast and showering him with flattery.
This helped ease the awkwardness.
Madeline joined the crowd, eager to seize the opportunity to make an impression.
She wasn’t about to miss her chance to be noticed by General Cruz. If she could earn his admiration or even a few words of praise, it would greatly boost her reputation.
Madeline was confident in herself, sure that Cruz would glance her way and perhaps offer a compliment.
But after her introduction, General Cruz merely cast her a glance, his expression as cold as frost.
For others, even if he didn’t drink their toast, he would at least pick up his glass and set it down again.
But for her? He said nothing, shifted his gaze elsewhere, and resumed mingling with others of wealth and influence.
What was going on?
She was stunning-wasn’t it customary, even for someone unfamiliar with her, to at least smile faintly and nod at a beautiful woman?
Cruz’s indifference stung. Worse, his eyes held disdain.
She quickly understood.
She was viewing the general through the lens of her own ordinary mindset.
Cruz’s status was untouchable. While he might not rival the likes of Yves Yancey, the circles he moved in were still far beyond her reach.
At this banquet, in terms of wealth, power, and connections, she was the least impressive person here.
Her boldness in approaching him, rattling off a long-winded introduction, must have seemed laughable.
Cruz had likely been thinking, “And who are you to address me?”
In the end, she lacked the qualifications to build any sort of rapport with someone of his stature.
But that was fine. She’d make her mark soon enough.
Give me three years, she thought. I’ll become a woman everyone talks about.
Resolving herself, she returned to her seat with her wine glass, feeling much better.
General Cruz, meanwhile, cast a fleeting glance at her retreating figure, a cold sneer playing on his lips.
He and Yves Yancey wielded immense influence. Investigating someone’s background was effortless for them.
He already knew about Madeline’s divorce and how Mr. Clark had been treated by the Kaur family. Naturally, he held no favorable opinion of her.
To him, they were nothing more than blind fools and clowns.
The Kaur family had squandered what countless others would have killed for.
Madeline, he thought, go ask the heads of those elite families or Dragon Cavalry commander Nate Black-if Flynn wanted to marry their daughters, what would they do?
They would wash themselves clean and personally deliver their daughters to him.
And yet, what had the Kaur family done?
Not only had they refused such an opportunity, but they had mocked it.
What a joke!
—
“Madeline, there’s no need for me to be here. You could’ve attended this event alone,” Matteo Kaur muttered, glancing around the bustling hall. He felt out of place, as though society had left him behind.
Ten years ago, he had stepped away from managing the family business, partly due to his declining health and partly to make way for his daughter.
Events like this grand banquet no longer interested him, and he found them tiresome.
His health had taken another hit recently. The day Flynn attempted to kill Maximo, Matteo’s heart condition, which was on the mend, had flared up again due to the emotional strain.
Paulina Johnston shot him a look of disdain. “It’s all because of that lunatic Flynn. He’s always causing chaos. Has there ever been a single banquet where he didn’t stir up trouble?”
“The second-in-command wanted you here to rein him in, to stop him from losing his mind again.”
Matteo sighed. “Flynn is hot-tempered, yes, but he doesn’t go looking for trouble. If others don’t provoke him, he won’t act out.”
Paulina rolled her eyes. “It’s come to this, and you’re still defending him?”
“Layla visited Rose yesterday, trying to convince her to surrender. But that woman refused, and Ms. Woods promised to crush the Sharp’s Group with a billion-dollar investment.
“A billion! Do you have any idea how many truckloads of cash that is?”
“Going up against Ms. Woods is a death sentence!”
“When the Sharp’s Group collapses, the first person Lilia will come after is Flynn. Let’s see who helps him then!”
She listed Flynn’s many offenses against Lilia: humiliating her, hiring assassins to target Layla, crippling Frederick Powell, and even orchestrating schemes to drive away Layla’s investors.
Each act was enough to seal Flynn’s fate.
By the end of today’s battle, Flynn would be a dead man, with no one daring to associate with him.
Matteo looked equally troubled. The business war had entangled too many powerful families.
If the Sharp’s Group fell, their enemies would pounce like ravenous wolves, tearing apart the empire Rose had painstakingly built.
Lilia and her allies, having spent a decade dismantling the Sharp’s Group, wouldn’t hesitate to destroy it completely this time.
Flynn’s survival seemed impossible. Even Dragon Creek Society president Bobby Sheppard wouldn’t be able to save him.
To make matters worse, Flynn had offended Zion just the day before. If Lysander King decided to intervene, Flynn’s chances would diminish even further.
This boy, Matteo thought, never fails to cause trouble.