“The moment we have all gathered for is here.” Esther Davies announced, a smile plastered on her thin red lips. “Please join me in celebrating my dear husband and patriarch of the Davies’ family, Lloyd Davies as he arrives!” A spotlight immediately fell on the grand staircase, illuminating it to reveal a silver haired man dressed in an impeccable white Boglioli suit. The tap-tap-tap sound of his gold rimmed cane echoed throughout the room as he descended the stairs in slow, calculating steps—This was Lloyd Davies. Although, he was slightly bent over due to age, one could still feel the aura of a formidable businessman that he exuded. The crowd elicited in a round of cheers as Lloyd walked towards the stage and with effortless sophistication, settled down on the beautifully crafted chair that was specially designed for him. Grandma Esther glided towards him, handing him the microphone to greet the guests. Lloyd Davies cleared his throat and a smile stretched across his face. “Tha
Anita shifted uncomfortably on her feet, feeling an inexplicable amount of nervousness washing over her as all eyes including her grandfather’s turned towards her. “Didn’t you hear your cousin, Anita?” Grandma Esther spoke through the silence when she saw that Anita hadn’t yet uttered a word. “Come over here with your gift this instant!” “Y-yes, grandma.”Anita nodded in a shaky voice. She was completely unsure of how to go about this situation. On one hand, if she presented Adrian’s cheap gift to her grandfather then he would be deeply displeased, and on the other hand, if she didn’t present anything, he would be more disappointed in her than he already is. After a moment of contemplation, she decided to go with the latter. According to her grandfather, it was better to give nothing at all than to give something of no worth. Before Adrian could convince her to take his gift, Anita was already approaching her grandfather. She shared nervous glances with her mother before she muste
Every head spun around at the sound of Adrian’s voice as they wondered who he was to say such a thing. Regina’s face became white when she saw Adrian approaching, and she lunged forward to block him from taking a step further. “Are you out of your mind?” she hissed through gritted teeth. “I warned you not to utter a word at this party again, so what do you think you’re doing?”“I wouldn’t have had to intervene if you hadn’t just stood by and watched your daughter being humiliated.” Adrian retorted in a barely restrained tone. “If you’re unable to defend her, then don’t stop me from doing so.” After saying this, Adrian sidestepped a fuming Regina and moved to stand beside Anita, who was taken aback by his audacity to challenge her grandfather.Lloyd’s thick gray eyebrows, furrowed into a deep V. “Who’s this fool?” he barked, his eyes narrowing intensely at Adrian. “And what is he doing at my party?” Adrian was about to speak when Anita discreetly nudged him with her elbow and shook he
Grandpa Lloyd chuckled dryly at Adrian’s proposal before his expression turned stormy. “Do you know why I gave you the benefit of the doubt, boy? Because I wanted to see how far you were willing to take your stupidity, and it seems I really underestimated it.”Nathan mirrored Grandpa Lloyd’s stormy expression. “You shouldn’t have given him a chance to utter such balderdash, Grandpa.” His eyes then shifted disdainfully to Adrian. “Do you know the caliber of company Crestwood Investment is? I bet you don’t, otherwise you wouldn’t be making such a ludicrous wager.”“He’s just a nobody trying to act important to impress Senior Davies,” Lilian chimed in, her expression filled with mockery. “He’ll only end up shooting Anita in the foot because as we speak, my name is already on the proposal as the Davies Designs’ representative. How then do you think you can change that, huh?”“That’s for me to know and for you to find out.” Adrian responded sharply and his gaze turned to Grandpa Lloyd’s. “
Liam Muller and the entire Muller family arrived at Lloyd Davies birthday celebration just in time to spot Adrian presenting his ginseng root gift to Lloyd.Liam’s face contorted into a scowl and he turned to his family members. “Mom, dad, Tiffany, hold on a sec. I need to go and see what that idiot is trying to do.” He walked away from them and dashed towards the the part of the hall where Lloyd Davies and his family members were. On seeing Lloyd about to collect the ginseng root from Adrian, his jaw clenched. He instantly shot out his hand and snatched the ginseng root away from Adrian’s palm.“Don’t be fooled by that cheap plant, Senior Lloyd Davies, I have the real thousand year old ginseng with me!” he declared in a smug voice.Everyone’s attention shifted to him, and Grandpa Lloyd’s eyes narrowed in confusion. “And who are you?!”Lloyd straightened his gait. “I’m Liam Muller, the sole heir of the Muller family.” He announced proudly, then pointed a condescending finger at Adrian
A wave of nausea rose in Anita’s throat at Liam’s words. She hated his guts. What gave him the right to think he could buy her affection with gifts?Liam on the other hand, was oblivious to the animosity festering within Anita as he gestured to the servants lined up behind his family. “Bring me the gifts meant for Anita Davies!”Another male servant scurried forward, with two boxes, one big, the other small and held them out to Liam. Liam retrieved the big box first. He opened it and took out a pair of shimmering silver shoes adorned with sparkling diamond anklets. He turned to Anita with a wide, pompous grin on his face. “This, my dear, is my first gift to you. It’s a pair of original Stuart Weitzman Limited Edition heels worth over half a million dollars!” he declared, before placing them back into the box and extending it towards Anita.Everyone marveled at the dazzling beauty of the shoes and some of the female guests even became jealous of Anita. “I heard that they are only 20 p
A jolt of surprise surged through Liam at Adrian’s accusation before he masked his countenance with a scowl. “A fake necklace?” he scoffed. “Do you think I’m a cheapskate like you? I spent a lot to ensure that this necklace is the genuine Moonstone. So keep your lucid opinions to yourself!”The guests, completely swayed by Liam’s display of wealth, also murmured in agreement with him.“Why is this nobody so shameless? How can he say the Moonstone necklace is fake?”“He’s just jealous because he can’t afford such a gem in his lifetime!”“What a sorry excuse for a man. Too disgusting!”Regina’s expression also mirrored Liam’s as she glared at Adrian. “What could you possibly know about genuine jewelry when you’ve never seen one in your life? Just keep quiet and stop disgracing yourself with your ignorance!” She shifted her gaze back to Liam, the scowl on her face morphing into a smile. “Ignore this fool, my dear. Go ahead and place the necklace around Anita’s neck.” she urged him.Anita
“Wh-what?!” Liam sputtered incredulously. “That’s not possible! You probably made a mistake. Check again!”Gerald maintained his serious expression. “ I’ve been in the gemologist business for over two decades now. I can assure you that I didn’t make any mistake.”Everyone was surprised at Gerald’s remark. Could it mean that Liam really bought a fake necklace and Adrian was right?Regina spoke up in surprise. “Mr. Gerald,” she chuckled nervously. “I don’t mean to water down your expertise or anything, but, can you check the necklace again? I mean maybe you made a slight error somewhere.”“There is no error.” Adrian butted in, a confident smile playing on his lips. “The necklace is truly a ripoff. I’d detected some irregularities with the pearls and crystals which wasn’t supposed to be the case with an original Moonstone.” he explained.Regina narrowed her eyes at him, clearly still unimpressed. “No one asked you to interfere in this, and your opinions don’t matter. Remain silent!”She