Chapter Eight

Everyone turned to me in amazement as they faced Henry. They were all shocked at his response, and different thoughts ran through their different minds at the same time. 

What gave Henry the boldness to reply to them that way. 

Kelvin shifted on his seat and cleared his throat uncontrollably. His palm had begun to sweat, and he quickly tightened his fist. 

He wondered within himself if it was truly his father's doing. Henry was right. Does his father command such authority? Could his father really pull that string?

"I'm sure you only came here to eat and drink," James mocked Henry. "Of course, what else do beggars know how to do?"

Henry stared at James for a while, and then he snickered. The snicker sounded so loud and annoying. Everyone in the room was still amazed at Henry's newfound courage. 

"I knew you were only pretending to be meek all along," Madame Catherine said to Henry. "Your true colors are finally out."

Madame Catherine was also amazed at Henry's new courage but tried to convince herself that it was because he got dumped, and his true characters are finally coming out to the open. 

"We will find out the truth soon," Henry said and chuckled loudly. 

Kelvin was speechless. He was still trying to wrap his head around what was going on. Was it true that it wasn't his dad who did it? Of course, Kelvin was aware of the fact that it wasn't his dad. Yes, it was very possible that his dad didn't do it. What if it was true, and Henry somehow found out the truth?

He thought to himself that whatever the case may be. Even if his dad didn't do it. How would Henry know that? Who would be the one to tell him? 

Henry didn't have such a connection. He was only blabbering and trying to badmouth him because he was jealous that he wasn't in his position. 

"Instead of being jealous and trying to ruin the night. Why don't you pretend to be happy for us, at least for once?" Kelvin asked Henry. 

Henry burst out in a loud uproar of laughter. He began to couch and pat his chest softly while coughing. He did all of it intentionally and made so much noise, just to make sure that he annoys the whole family. 

"You are creating a scene, thereby causing discomfort in this room. I guess it's time to send you out of this table by calling the security," James threatened. 

"I'd love to see you try," Henry replied with a smirk. 

James exchanged glances with Madame Catherine. Everyone's mouth was left wide open for the next three seconds. 

Where did he get the guts to speak? 

Something was wrong, and they couldn't place a finger on what was. It was difficult to figure out. 

"James," Linda called as she held his hands and squeezed them gently. 

"I guess we should all just ignore him. He is only seeking attention where there's none. If we act like we don't see him, he'd definitely get tired."

Henry decided to ignore them as well and continued with what he was doing, as the family continued to sing Kelvins' praises. Henry kept smiling and laughing as this continued. 

He was grinning as though his whole life depended on it. They could see him grinning, but they pretended not to see it and ignored him completely. 

"Now that we have seen a real son-in-law, I'm sure that someone else would want to learn from him next time."

Henry knew that he was being attacked again, so he decided to respond to it. He turned to Madame Catherine with a smirk on his lips. 

"Maybe that real son-in-law is actually a fake one."

Kelvin was struck. The reply hit him more than everyone else present at the table. His feet were already sweating profusely, and his hands were a little shaky. He tried to convince himself that it was actually his dad that did it. 

Kelvin tried to compose himself and thought that defending himself would go a long way in keeping his reputation intact. 

"If you want to cry, Henry. I would advise that you go outside and do that. We do not allow cry babies in here."

Henry stared at Kelvin without saying a word, so Kelvin thought he could continue wagging his tongue. 

"I am sure that you feel so bad already," Kelvin leaned in. "You were beaten to the game. Why not accept defeat and move on? Why are you trying so hard to be relevant?" 

Henry snickered. 

"You're the one who's trying so hard to be relevant instead of telling them the truth."

Kelvin looked around the table. He was glad that no one was believing Henry's allegations. Even though they were all a bit surprised, they all still stared at Henry with so much hatred. 

Henry turned to Linda, who quickly looked away from him. Her eyes had been fixed on him the whole time. She wondered why he let her family maltreat him so much back then when he could stand up for himself. 

Perhaps he was only pretending so that he would get mercy from her family so that they could accept him and also let him marry her. Unfortunately, it didn't work, so she decided to move on. 

"Let's see how you go further with this, Miss Linda," Henry whispered to Linda. 

She faced him with a proud smile on her face. She crossed her legs properly and placed both hands on them. She sat up proudly and made sure her eyes were fixed directly on Henry's eyes as she spoke. 

"We already made it through, and there's nothing! Absolutely nothing you could do about it, Henry!" She whispered, but in a loud and confident voice. 

Kelvin stretched his hands towards Linda's. She was seated by his side while Henry sat on the chair directly opposite Kelvin's.

Linda took Kevin's hands, and he squeezed her fingers gently. Henry gulped his anger and tried to pretend like he couldn't see that. He looked away quickly and tried to focus on something else. 

Kelvin leaned downwards and placed his forehead against Linda's forehead. He rubbed their foreheads together before lifting his head and facing Henry, who pretended that he could not see them. 

"Henry," Kelvin called out as he tightened his grip on Linda's fingers. 

Henry lifted his head and faced him. He tried not to stare at their fingers, which were locked together and placed on the table. 

"Have you ever had something like this?" Kelvin asked Henry. 

Henry's brows were now furrowed in a frown. He wondered what Kelvin was driving at. Kelvin was busy smiling handsomely as he kept Henry in suspense for a while. 

"I mean, have you ever had the honor of saying something, and it happens before you even know it?"

Henry was about to respond when the start of the dinner was announced. He smiled deeply at Henry and looked away. Of course, he would get the answer to his question in a better way. 

Madame Gu walked into the building, and everyone began to bow and greet her. As she approached the table, everyone froze at a spot, except Henry, who was smiling at her to the amazement of everyone. 

"Hello, everyone," she greeted them in a soft tone. 

They were finally able to breathe as they adjusted to their seats and returned the greetings in a stutter. 

"I'm sure you all have met my son. The heir to the Floater's family fortune."

Everyone in the room exchanged glances. There wasn't any new face on the table. They looked around the table and tried to recall if there was any unknown person who had come in there earlier to introduce himself or not introduce himself. 

They couldn't recall anyone. There was a pause for a while as Madame Gu kept staring at them with a smile as she waited for their response. 

"Obviously," she finally said, seeing that no one else wanted to speak. 

Again, everyone exchanged glances, and if she didn't carry the aura she did, they would have begun to argue among themselves. They were all tempted to murmur and whisper, asking questions, but none had the guts to. 

"My son, the heir to the Floater family inheritance is here right now at this table..."

Everyone's heart began to pound as she continued to speak. 

"Henry Floater," she pointed to Henry as she mentioned his name. 

He bowed excitedly and

proudly. 

Everyone was stunned. Their eyes and mouth went wide in shock as they tried to process what they had heard.