Raelyn knew what her daughter was thinking and said, “That woman was born out of wedlock but was raised by Lamont and Lucian. It looks like things are going well for her. She is now the vice president at Valeria’s company.”
“I know her, but I didn’t expect her to be this capable,” Natasya glanced at Braelynn once more.
Natasya’s impression of Braelynn was that she was beautiful and talented. However, her aura was on another level now when she stood beside Richard and took his arm.
It was true that the tailor made the man, and Braelynn had successfully transformed herself in that flattering dress.
“You’re right, and it seems that Valeria intends to put her in the spotlight, otherwise she would not have gifted her such a lavish dress. Valeria is certainly very full of herself now. She’s even willing to go the extra mile for someone who’s working under her. It looks like Valeria would be incomparable tonight,” Raelyn said jealously as she assumed that the dress that Braelynn was wearing was chosen by Valeria.
“Mummy, stop it. Your jealousy is written clearly on your face and that is not good. We should put on a bright smile instead,” Natasya saw the enviousness in Raelyn’s eyes and reminded her immediately.
“I know, let’s head in then. Your grandfather adores you so much and I’m sure that he would be over the moon when he sees you,” Raelyn was proud as she thought that she could show off her intelligent and beautiful daughter to the public. However, Archer and Gavin were nowhere to be found, and there was no sight of Raymond either.
Raelyn held Natasya’s hand and they made their way into the grand hall in hopes that Gavin would come over and give them a warm welcome.
Unfortunately, she was disappointed once again. As they went into the main area, Natalie and Valeria were descending the stairs, followed by Abbie. The trio stole the show immediately as they were dazzlingly gorgeous in their eye-catching dresses.
Valeria’s dress was full of shimmering rhinestones and she wore a big sparkly diamond around her neck. Seeing this, Raelyn looked at her daughter subconsciously and realized that Natasya was instantly out of the picture as she wasn’t even close to comparing with Valeria.
The guests were in awe and murmurs could be heard upon Valeria and Natalie’s entrance, “Is that Mrs. Saunders? She is so beautiful and elegant!”
“She has always been gorgeous and is every man’s dream girl. Many men tried to win over her heart back then,” a guest replied.
Raelyn’s eyes darkened upon hearing the comment, whereas Natasya did not take her eyes off Valeria for a long time. This was the first time she saw Valeria in real life after hearing a lot about her.
Valeria had excellent features which she attained from the merits of Archer and Natalie.
Natasya did not expect Valeria to be this gorgeous, so she started to feel threatened and insecure about herself.
She fixed her eyes on Valeria and Natalie as the pair made their way to the grand hall, where Archer came forward immediately to hold Natalie’s hand. Valeria and Abbie followed behind them as the group paced towards Gavin, who smiled and extended his hand to Valeria, who greeted him sweetly in reply.
Natasya was on the verge of losing her cool when she saw how Gavin was smiling gently towards Valeria.
She finally understood why Talitha had gone bonkers towards Valeria and Abbie.
Natasya, who was usually calm and collected, was like a ticking bomb now upon seeing how innocently perfect Valeria was.
Meanwhile, Gavin took Valeria’s hand and introduced her to the guests who had come to the party. Valeria smiled lovingly and greeted the guests with polite nods.
Valeria behaved very well without a hint of shyness, and Natasya felt increasingly anxious and furious when she saw how Valeria and Abbie were clinging closely to Gavin’s arms.
Valeria was Gavin’s granddaughter, and he had organized this party tonight especially for her and Natalie. It was expected that Gavin would introduce Valeria to the guests, but why was Abbie tagging along too? Who did she think she was?
Natasya was jealous, so she pulled Raelyn over to the side while saying in a low voice, “Mummy, let’s go over and say hello. You have to control yourself. You’ll just have to behave like an aunt who adores her niece very much. Do not give yourself away, okay?”
“I know. How would I have been able to survive all this if I can’t even manage something this easy?” Then, the pair made their way to Valeria and Gavin with cordial smiles on their faces.
Just as they were about to approach the hosts, an accident happened. A waiter, who was holding a serving tray full of glasses of red wine, lost his balance. The wine on the tray toppled and spilled onto Natasya and Raelyn as he tripped.
Red wine splattered across Natasya’s white dress and hair. It seemed that her makeup had been ruined as well. Raelyn was no better, as she was covered in wine too, and it was a flustering and embarrassing scene.
Attention was immediately focused on the pair due to the loud commotion and the guests murmured in discussion around them, “Isn’t that Mrs. Anderson? Who is that young lady beside her?”
“It seems to be her daughter, Natasya Anderson.”
“Oh no. Their makeup and dresses are all ruined!”
“Yeah, that is embarrassing!”
The red wine had accidentally gotten into Natasya’s eyes and she was upset and angry as her eyes stung. The incident had caught Gavin’s attention, so he informed the servants to help the pair upstairs to clean themselves.
William grinned as he watched the scene unfold while holding a glass of red wine by the entrance. Natasya turned around and saw his gaze on her way up and flushed red in humiliation.
D*mn it, William had seen her make a fool out of herself! How could she live with it?!
Michael, who was standing beside William had a surprised look on his face and said, “What’s going on? The servants here are professionals, so could this happen? It’s going to be a rough night for the both of them.”
“Are you feeling bad for her?” Richard interrupted him.
“No, of course not. I’m not even close with them, it’s none of my business anyway.”
“Are you sure? I remember that you and Natasya were close with each other when you guys were living abroad. I thought…”
“Stop right there. I remember you had something going on with her!” Michael spurted back. Richard narrowed his eyes at this and said, “Hey, watch your tongue. I’m innocent and have nothing to hide.”
Michael resisted himself and swallowed his words as he saw that Braelynn was still holding Michael’s arm. William took a sip of red wine leisurely and said, “Gentlemen, isn’t this exciting to watch? What are you guys arguing about?”
“Hey…” Michael and Richard exchanged a glance as one of them continued, “Were you behind this? What did they ever do to you?”
“I just don’t like them, that’s all.” William replied nonchalantly.
Richard shook his head and said, “You have gone too far this time. Your mother-in-law and wife will be the ones who will receive the blame. Those two must think that they were set up by Valeria and her mother.”
“It doesn’t matter if it’s me or Valeria who’s behind this. Don’t worry about it, and let me tell you something, my wife will not blame me for what happened today. She will thank me instead.”
“What?”
“Alright, I’m done hanging out with you gentlemen. I’m heading off to join my wife,” William placed the wine glass on a waiter’s serving tray and paced towards Valeria.