“The party is going great,” Eleanor said, finally spotting Rosalind in the crowd of guests.Rosalind’s brows furrowed as she turned to her mother. She had been mingling with guests for a long time, facing questions that were difficult to answer. But as soon as she saw it was her mother speaking, she quickly found an excuse to leave.“Excuse me,” she said, a professional smile appearing on her face. “I have something to take care of. I’ll be back soon.”Before her mother could respond, Rosalind took Eleanor’s hand and gently pulled her aside. Once they were out of sight of the other guests, she looked at her mother as if silently asking what she wanted to say.Eleanor arched her brows at Rosalind. “You didn’t need to leave the crowd to speak to me.”“I know,” Rosalind replied. “I just wanted to get away from them. They kept asking me when the representative of the Stroud family would arrive.”Hearing that, Eleanor immediately grew concerned. She had noticed no sign of the Stroud represe

Abrill hadn’t expected to see Nate there, and she certainly hadn’t expected him to speak to her like they were old acquaintances. The way he spoke made it sound like he knew her so well that he had the right to question her presence—and that pissed her off a little.She had no time to respond to him.Without a word, she turned away, clearly intending to walk past him without entertaining the conversation.Nate’s jaw tightened, though the irritation never reached his voice when he spoke again.“Ignoring me? You should at least acknowledge that I’m standing here,” he said smoothly, as if her cold dismissal didn’t sting. “But I’m curious—why here, of all places? I’m sure you and Ms. Springfield aren’t close enough for her to invite you.”Abrill frowned, a thought crossing her mind. Hadn’t she introduced herself to them? Or perhaps they were all just so stupid and self-absorbed that they didn’t even bother to notice her name—never mind the fact that she had every right to be there.She did

As soon as Abrill stepped in, everyone turned to look at her. She arched her brows at them. She had just left Sean for a moment, and suddenly, he was getting harassed. She couldn’t help but wonder why that seemed to happen so often.Her eyes locked on Lillian, cool and unimpressed. She recognized her immediately, even though she had never met her. The resemblance to Rosalind was striking, though Lillian looked like a younger, ruder version.Rosalind, on the other hand, widened her eyes in disbelief. She had thought Sean wouldn’t attend since he mentioned the launch would be after three days. She assumed he was just here to eat. But now, seeing Abrill by his side, her lips pressed into a thin line.‘He actually brought his woman to my event.’Even if they were divorced, this was too much. To her, it wasn’t just bad taste, it was a deliberate show of disrespect.She had been about to step in and help him smooth things over with her younger siblings, making it seem like nothing happened.

Sean had no idea things would escalate like this. If he’d known the conversation with the siblings would take this turn, he wouldn’t have bothered responding to them at all.The event was already underway, and it was almost time for Abrill to be called onto the stage. The last thing he wanted was for her to be caught up in this nonsense.His jaw clenched. Now Rosalind was getting involved, and to make matters worse, Nate was approaching with another man walking beside him.Sean was certain now that whatever time he’d planned to use to relax at this event was about to be completely wasted.“You can go ahead with the event,” he told Abrill.She turned her head toward him and shook it. “No. I want to stay here and see what’s happening.”Her eyes twinkled with curiosity, and he sighed.“Okay.”Rosalind reached them just then, her gaze landing on her brother and sister. Both immediately moved toward her, confusion written across their faces.“Are you friends with her?” Lillian asked, gestu

Though Nate was waiting for a reaction from Sean, Sean only looked away, as if he couldn’t care less about what Nate was trying to pull.“The main event will be starting soon since Ms. Vesper is here,” Sean said flatly. “Are you going to keep showing her this performance?”At those words, everyone immediately turned their heads toward the door, expecting to see a woman walk in. Rosalind panicked and whipped around, but when she saw no one there, she quickly snapped her head back to Sean.Realizing she’d been tricked, irritation flashed across her face, her brows knitting tightly.Rosalind’s voice sliced the air. “Why do you have to play around with something like that?!” she snapped.“You think this is a joke?” Jullian barked. “Do you realize how serious this is? Don’t throw names like hers around carelessly!”“Exactly,” Lillian chimed in, glaring at Sean. “How can you say Ms. Vesper is here, acting like you know what you’re talking about? Are you trying to stir chaos?”Abrill’s eyes