Miles was watching as everyone helped around with the birthday surprise preparations when someone came running toward him, eliciting a smile on his face.“Dada, you finally came! I missed you!” Kelsey hugged her father’s legs before gazing up at him with loving eyes.It turns out that Lola and her daughter had left their house a day earlier to help with her father’s birthday preparations.Miles lifted Kelsey into his arms before kissing her cheeks. “Dada missed you too, sweetie.”“Oh, you’re finally here.” Fiona walked forward with a bored tone and disdainful voice. “I mean I would have preferred that you didn’t show up at all, but whatever.” She ignored Miles as she returned to the preparation.Miles was barely affected by his mother-in-law’s insults so he was hardly bothered, but then he saw the face of a young man approaching him.“Hey, Miles!” Lucas Herald waved at him with a smile but his gaze was reservedly condescending. “I’m surprised that you were actually invited to this bir
Lesley’s eyes suddenly widened and she grabbed Lucas’s arm lovingly. “It has to be Lucas and his father’s doing! There’s no one else as capable as them! After all, he did help my mom to bag her contract with Eckre Empire Headquarters as well!”Miles could only shake his head in astonishment as he waited to hear Lucas’s reply to this.Lucas Jerald was a little bit nervous as he glanced down at his girlfriend before shifting his gaze to the people around him. He knew very well that the contract that Eckre Empire Headquarters had granted Bygone Corporation through Fiona Blaine was not his father’s doing, and yet, he had swiftly claimed a glory that was not his on purpose.Now that his girlfriend and her family were asking him once again, he wouldn’t dare come clean now; it would be far too humiliating.Therefore, Lucas smiled as he stood up straight and nodded at the small audience. “It wasn’t really a big deal. My father’s influence in the business world is quite profound. When Lesley t
Lucas became scared but he tried to maintain an outwardly calm appearance. Inside his heart though, he was heavily cursing at Miles. This man seemed hell-bent on exposing him in front of the Blaine family.Miles smirked. “What’s the matter? You can’t handle it?”Lucas gritted his teeth. “Of course, I can; I’ll do it!” He spoke bravely as he saw the skeptical look on Lesley, Fiona, and everyone’s faces. He dialed his father’s phone number before he reluctantly put the phone on loudspeaker.“Hello, Lucas.” The older voice of Lucas’s father came through the call. “Why are you calling me while I’m in the middle of work, and I’m about to enter a meeting right now.”Lucas chuckled nervously. “Sorry, Dad; I just wanted to talk to you about how you worked out the contract that Bygone Corporation wanted to negotiate with Eckre Empire Headquarters.”There was a sharp silence that slowly became awkward as Lucas’s father suddenly went quiet on the other end of the call. The family members in the
Jonathan Blaine has always been a hardworking man. An accomplished pilot who makes time to cultivate a solid relationship with his wife and his two daughters despite his hectic schedule. He’s the source of inspiration for Lola whenever it comes to working hard and being smart at what you do.Despite his schedule at the airport, Jonathan always makes sure he’s home for a special family holiday. He rarely missed any of his wife’s or children’s birthdays. For those ones he missed, he always made sure to make it up to them.This was the reason why Fiona, Lola, and Lesley had long insisted that Jonathan must always come home to celebrate his birthday with his family. Persistently coerced, Jonathan had no choice but to do the bidding of his family. Even after years had passed by, and Lola was now married with a kid, the three women of the Blaine family would always make time to come together and celebrate the head of the Blaine family’s birthday.As soon as the kid with the ball rushed ins
Once Lucas was done, Miles was about to move in when Fiona instructed everyone to start the preparation. She then took her husband’s hand and led him to the master bedroom so he could freshen up and change into an outfit befitting of a birthday celebrant.Miles refused to let Fiona’s snobbish behavior get to him. There’s still plenty of time to properly wish Jonathan a happy birthday. He looked down at the packaged jade box he had gotten from that antique shop. He knew Jonathan would be able to notice the worth of this gift since the man dabbled in the appraisal of ancient artifacts.Jonathan later returned down to the living room in a casual but beautifully designed outfit that Fiona had bought for him just for this special day. Once he settled in the dining room, everyone followed suit. The food was served and everyone had a filling taste of the delectable meal.After this, Fiona got up and clapped her hands to attract everyone’s attention. “Alright, it’s time to give the gifts to t
Everyone at the birthday party was shocked. The room got awkwardly quiet after Fiona’s sudden outburst. Right in front of everyone’s eyes, she had grabbed Miles’s present for Jonathan and smashed the antique item against the floor.“Mom, why would you do that?!” Lola was shocked and a bit angry at her mother. Even Lesley didn’t know how to feel about it. The gift was meant for her father, and yet, Fiona had solely decided what to do with it without her husband’s consent. At the very least, it was considered quite rude.Meanwhile, Fiona glared at Lola. “You stay out of this, okay?!” Then she turned to Miles with a furious glare. “And you! Are you deaf or something?! What are you still doing here in my house?! I’ve tried to tolerate you despite the fact that every single thing about you is just infuriating, disgusting, and absolute garbage. Your very existence is garbage!”Jonathan looked at his wife with shock. “My love, why did you break that item?” He reigned in his anger as he love
“This is my old friend, Alfred.” Jonathan happily introduced him to the family. “We met many years ago. He’s an appraisal expert.”“An appraisal expert?” Fiona frowned slightly but she still kept a smile on her face for the visitor. “My love, don’t tell me you called over your busy friend just for that pi…thing.” She quickly stopped herself from calling the broken jade box a piece of trash.Jonathan sighed as he knew his wife too well. He was aware that she would express her discontentment over the decision to know the item’s true worth.Before Jonathan could utter a word though, Alfred spoke up with a cheerful smile. “Please, Mrs. Blaine. It’s no trouble at all. Besides, it gives me a chance to reconnect with an old friend. Plus, it’s on his birthday.” He elbowed Jonathan playfully. “By the way, I hope you saved me a cake?”Jonathan chuckled before replying.Fiona saw the good mood between the two of them and she felt like she had no choice but to let the appraisal happen. Still, she
Fiona didn’t know what to do; she hated that the birthday party was now ruined as Jonathan stormed off to his room, demanding privacy, after what had happened with the jade box that turned out to be priceless rather than worthless.The birthday party was now ruined and the celebrant had left the living room. Lesley took charge of calming down the rest of the family to at least keep up the positive vibe in the atmosphere.Meanwhile, Fiona pulled Lola to the kitchen. “How could you not tell me that the gift your husband brought was that expensive?”Lola had a look of incredulity on her face. “Mom, please tell me you’re joking. I had no idea either. In fact, back then, Miles wanted me to pick that item as my gift to Dad, but I refused. Later, I found out that someone else showed up out of nowhere and was willing to pay as much as $100,000 for it.”“What?!” Fiona’s eyes almost bulged out. “Lola, you did not include this part in your earlier narration. How on earth did you not get suspicio