Lucian was stunned for a moment. What invitation was that? She had only received a verbal invitation!
She stared at the security guards and said, “I don’t have a invitation as President Saunders personally invited me.”
“Are you sure? May I have your name, please?”
“I… I’m Lucian Barnbook.”
“Lucian Barnbook? Your name doesn’t ring a bell,” One of the security guards frowned and continued, “We are required to remember the names and faces of each guest. However, it seems that your name is not on President Saunders’ invitation list.”
Lucian was extremely furious as she had never been humiliated like this before. She knew that Archer must have done this purposely to embarrass her and to hinder her chance of meeting Natalie.
She held back her anger and said, “Why would I lie? Archer did invite me personally! Please call President Saunders to clear things up.”
“If that’s the case, why don’t you give him a call instead? We are just a security team and we don’t have President Saunders’ phone number,” the security guards stared at Lucian with a doubtful face as he indirectly indicated that Lucian wasn’t in a place to have his phone number as well.
Lucian was greatly irritated by the guard’s demeanor, but she could not do anything about it.
It was not surprising that the guard would give her an attitude as her outfit was indeed out of place compared to the other guests that attended the party.
She was embarrassed as the guards did not intend to be lenient with her and it would be even humiliating if she were to leave the villa now. Besides, she had something important to take care of at the party tonight.
Then, Lucian composed herself and called Braelynn, “Braelynn, I’m at the entrance. Could you come over?”
When she received Lucian’s call, Braelynn immediately made her way towards the entrance and had successfully persuaded the guards to let Lucian into the party.
As soon as they entered, Lucian stood out from the crowd like a sore thumb as she was not dressed glamorously like the rest of the guests.
Her simple get-up gained a wave of attention towards her. “Who is she?” someone from the crowd murmured.
“I have no idea.”
“I think she is Natalie’s former assistant, am I right?”
“Why did she come here like this?”
“I guess her life’s ruined now considering what she had done back then. She teamed up with an outsider and stole a lot of money from Natalie’s company. I have no idea how did she even have the guts to show up here.”
“Wow, isn’t she embarrassed?”
Lucian ignored the whispers and judgments around her as she searched for Natalie through the crowd.
Soon, Lucian spotted Natalie, who was wearing a gold dress and was holding Archer’s arm gracefully as the pair conversed with the guests.
Natalie was her angel sent from heaven that paved her direction like a light in the dark and was the love of her life. Lucian’s eyes were burning with affection as she grabbed Braelynn’s hand and paced towards Natalie.
Just then, a waiter came over out of the blue and halted them, “Ms. Saunders, Mr. Clark would like to have a word with you.”
“Mom, I’m going to head over there. Enjoy yourself,” Braelynn didn’t want to be seen with Lucian at that moment, so she immediately excused herself and left.
Lucian felt a rush of disappointment. Things would be easier for her if Braelynn was by her side as Braelynn was doing well at Valeria’s company, and Lamont was well trusted by Archer too. However, she had to brush off that glimmer of hope as she was all alone now.
Despite that, Lucian was not discouraged. She continued to walk towards Natalie and Archer with her head up.
As she made her way through the crowd, some guests did not notice her existence, and some even ignored her even if they did notice her. Soon, Lucian successfully made it through and managed to squeeze herself beside the pair.
She looked at Natalie passionately and said, “President Garcia!”
At the sound of her name, Natalie, who had Archer’s arm around her waist, turned her head around and stared at Lucian. To Lucian’s dismay, Natalie’s expression was calm and blank, as if she did not know who Lucian was.
Lucian’s heart sank immediately as she realized that Natalie did not recognize her. Natalie had forgotten about her!
She suppressed her disappointment and greeted Natalie once again, “President Garcia, it’s me.” At this moment, Archer explained to Natalie gently, who had a confused expression, “This is Lucian Barnbook, she was a former employee in your company.”
“Oh, is that so? My apologies, my memories about the past are a bit foggy.” Natalie smiled gently at Lucian and continued, “Welcome to the party!”
Lucian looked at her warm smile and wanted to continue the conversation but to no avail. She was forced to step aside as Natalie was then occupied by other guests that had come over to greet her.
Lucian felt bitter as she stood behind the perfect couple who was dressed glamorously. Her emotions hit rock-bottom as she helplessly stared at Natalie, who was being brought away by Archer.
Lucian had dressed like this on purpose tonight as twenty years ago, she had been this out of place too when she attended a function back then. As the other guests criticized her, Natalie did not look down on her but had made a move to spark a conversation with her instead. What Natalie had done that night was a form of salvation in the eyes of Lucian.
Since then, Natalie had become Lucian’s life goal and she had hoped to gain Natalie’s attention by standing out from the crowd tonight. However, Natalie’s eyes did not spark the sympathy and care that she had for Lucian back then.
Lucian felt depressed as she sent a message to Devon, “She doesn’t remember me! She looked at me like I was a stranger! She doesn’t recognize me at all! It’s all because of your stupid idea!”
Devon replied almost immediately, “How could you blame me when you had agreed to that idea too?”
“What should I do now?” Lucian’s mind went blank and she couldn’t think straight as she did not expect that she was now a stranger in Natalie’s eyes.
“Find your stepdaughter. Bring her to Valeria and tell them that Savannah intends to take her life tonight. Things will work out when you have gained their attention and trust.”
At this, Lucian put away her phone and collected herself while she took one last peek in Natalie’s direction. Then, she dragged herself to find Valeria with a sullen look.
Lucian needed to make good use of her trump card as this was her final chance to turn things around. Although Natalie didn’t remember her, she still had a speckle of hope left as long as she managed to persuade Valeria and gain her trust.
Lucian looked around and finally saw Valeria, who was together with William, Richard, Michael, Abbie, and Andrew.
Lucian felt anxious when she saw William as he was the president of Wolf Group and was no ordinary person. She had a rush of dissatisfaction towards him as she knew he had the capability of throwing Declan, Ronald, and Savannah under the bus easily.
Lucian would undoubtedly refuse to lay a finger on William if things weren’t this bad for her. However, she had no choice but to walk towards the group tentatively.
The group was in a midst of an interesting conversation, so they did not notice that she was there. Because of this, Lucian had to go up and greet Valeria to attract her attention, “Hello, Ms. Brown!”
As she heard this, Valeria turned and had a faint smile, which was obviously forced and insincere as she replied, “You’re here.”
Valeria’s nonchalant attitude made Lucian’s cheeks flush, and at this time, the rest of the group turned their heads and glanced at her as if she was a mere peasant who was worth nothing.
Lucian immediately felt regretful for not greeting Valeria correctly. She should have addressed her as President Brown instead, as to how she had greeted her sounded as if Lucian was Valeria’s servant.
Despite that, Lucian quickly composed herself and said, “Ms. Brown, I would like to have a word with you in private.”