The Underestimated Tycoon

Chapter 10

“What a joke!” Aria sneered after hearing Ethan’s words. There was no way that his words would be true. She thought Ethan was bluffing. After all, why would someone like him be an important guest at a dinner hosted by the powerful Crestwood family?

Just looking at his poor outfit alone, he didn’t even fit in among the city’s elite. How then would he be the important guest to the powerful Crestwood family?

It was obvious that he was blatantly lying to their faces. He was a boastful fraud after all.

It appeared that it wasn’t just Aria who thought the same way, as the crowd joined in and started to insult Ethan.

“Do you really expect us to believe that?” one of the audience uttered, and the rest of the crowd murmured in agreement, with several of them glaring at him with disdainful sneers.

“You have quite the imagination.” Greg, ever eager to humiliate him, remarked with a mocking smirk.

“It’s not too late to back out of this lie you’ve told before you embarrass yourself even more.” Greg added smugly, his words eliciting a round of laughter from the crowd.

“I’m not lying.” Ethan said calmly, not flinching at all. His expression remained as cool as a cucumber as he stood there, unbothered by the taunts directed at him.

Greg was irritated by Ethan’s calm demeanour, but just as he was about to mock him even more, his phone buzzed loudly in his hands. He briefly glanced at the caller ID, and a smug smile appeared on his face.

“Look everyone, my father is calling.” Greg announced, drawing everyone’s attention to him once more.

“Let’s see what my father has to say about this so-called ‘important guest’.” Greg declared.

The crowd leaned in, the tension thick in the air as Greg answered the phone call. He put the call on speaker as he wanted everyone to hear the details of the phone call. Aria, alongside the other guests, listened keenly, anticipating the truth and waiting eagerly for Ethan to be exposed as a liar.

“Hey, Dad.” Greg answered as soon as the phone call connected. “Has the dinner started already?”

There was a brief moment of hesitation on the other end of the phone call, and just when everyone was questioning if his father heard him, the voice of Charles Holden came through.

“The dinner won’t hold anymore, son. It’s been cancelled.” Charles Holden said firmly, his voice curt, but the strain in his voice was poorly hidden.

The words hung in the air like a bombshell, shocking everyone into silence.

Greg blinked in disbelief, his confidence faltering as he processed what his father had just said.

“What? Cancelled? Why?” Greg stammered, trying his best to mask his confusion.

“The important guest cancelled at the last minute, so they decided it was best to postpone the dinner to a later date. It’s nothing to worry about.” Charles replied as he scrambled for an excuse, his tone suddenly casual, as though the change of plans was no big deal to the Holden family.

The colour drained from Greg’s face as he ended the phone call, and the crowd began to murmur again, but this time in confusion. Aria’s gaze flicked toward Ethan, who stood calmly with a stoic expression on his face. He did not appear the least surprised by the content of the phone call, as though he had expected it all along.

The possibility that Ethan had been telling the truth began to worm its way into her mind, and her heart raced wildly at that thought.

Could it be?

Could Ethan Blackwell—this seemingly ordinary man—actually be someone important? Someone her grandfather wanted her to marry? The very idea sent a shiver down her spine.

She glanced around at the others in the crowd and noticed some of them were starting to doubt as well.

“I don’t believe it,” Natalie, Aria’s best friend, cut in harshly. She stood next to Aria with her arms crossed tightly over her chest.

“He’s just guessing. There’s no way he’s actually the reason the dinner was cancelled. He’s probably just a fraud.” Natalie said harshly. She did not want to believe that the man she disliked so much was someone who was more important than her.

Greg, trying to regain his composure, jumped in to back Natalie’s claim.

“Exactly. It’s pure coincidence. Don’t get your hopes up, Ethan. You should apologise to everyone here for wasting our time.”

Ethan didn’t budge, his expression remaining calm.

“I don’t think I owe anyone an apology,” he said evenly, his voice cutting through the murmurs around him.

“If anything, some of you should think twice before jumping to conclusions.”

Gregory’s face flushed with anger. He couldn’t stand the way Ethan remained so composed, as if nothing could shake him. Desperate to salvage the situation, Gregory turned to the crowd with a grin.

“Well, in that case, I’ll make sure everyone’s evening isn’t ruined. How about I treat all of you to dinner at the Crystal Hotel? I’ll pay for everyone’s meal, except Ethan's, of course!”

The announcement was met with cheers and applause from the crowd. Once again, Greg was back in the spotlight, earning everyone’s admiration. Several people congratulated him, patting him on the back, as though he had just saved the night.

Aria watched as Gregory basked in the praise, but something about the whole situation didn’t sit right with her. Her mind kept drifting back to Ethan, who stood quietly in the background, untroubled by Gregory’s actions.

“Guess you’re not invited to that dinner, Ethan.” Natalie said, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she sidled up to Ethan.

Ethan’s gaze flickered toward her, but before he could respond, another voice cut through the crowd.

“I think I’ll be having dinner with Mr. Ethan,” said a confident, feminine voice.

Everyone immediately turned to see Victoria Lennox, the elegant manager of the prestigious Crystal Hotel, making her way through the crowd of guests, and hushed whispers instantly echoed among the crowd at her words.

Victoria Lennox was known for being extremely selective about who she spent her time with, and she was rarely seen socialising with the guests she hosted. So many rich and wealthy young men had offered to take her out for dinner, but she always turned them down without fail.

“What?!” Greg exclaimed as his jaw dropped, a bewildered expression on his face. He had once asked Victoria Lennox out to dinner, and she rejected him instantly! Now, she was offering to take Ethan, who was a nobody, to dinner.

“You heard me.” Victoria continued, a small smile gracing her lips.

“I’ve already invited Mr. Ethan for dinner at the hotel. I trust he’ll accept the offer.”

Aria’s eyes widened, and the crowd around them buzzed with disbelief. Some of the young men muttered to each other, shocked that Victoria would extend such an invitation to someone like Ethan.

Greg, his face red with frustration, turned to Victoria. “You can’t be serious. He’s nobody important!”

Victoria cut him off with a raised hand. “I’m quite serious, Mr. Holden. I don’t take back invitations.”

The crowd fell silent, all eyes now on Ethan. They were eager to know if he would accept Victoria’s offer or not.