The car crawled on the road. A short silence later, Max said, "I assume you already knew that Steven Dickman had something to do with your abduction.""Yes." She nodded and gave him a confused look. He chuckled wryly and asked nonchalantly, "Are you going to let this slip?"She raised a brow questioningly and waited for him to speak again."The Dickmans are very influential in Parrington. Gilbert's power alone isn't enough to get rid of them," he explained."So?" She smiled as though she could anticipate his next words, but he wasn't bothered by it. He offered, "I can help."She chuckled and stared at him before quickly looking away. "Helping me? Haven't you been eyeing them, waiting to acquire them just to expand your influence?"After all, the fight for clients and resources was a zero-sum game for the families. Jenny found it easy to read his mind."You could say so." Max didn't deny her assumption. Indeed, he wanted to acquire Dickman LLC to strengthen his influence for the
Jenny seemed to be warning him that she would not go easy with him if he crossed a boundary, even if they were close. Max nodded with a smile and whispered, "Don't worry. I know the limits."His only goal was to irk Alec, and he would not do anything that would bring her trouble. Their close proximity made her uneasy, and she glared at him. After that, she walked to a corner and sat down in a quiet area to rest."Jenny." Morgan came up to her with a smile and handed her a glass of champagne. Jenny nodded as a show of thanks and asked, "Where are your parents? Why aren't you with them?""Look, they're over there. I think they're discussing some partnership." Morgan pouted unhappily. Jenny was more chill about the situation and comforted her with a smile, "This might be a birthday dinner for the Fausts, but for others, it is an opportunity to widen their network. It shows that your parents are working hard to take advantage of all opportunities.""I know." Of course, Morgan knew the
Jenny begged to differ. In her opinion, it was uncharacteristic of Alec to give up love for an arranged marriage. He must have had feelings for Yvonne, but whether or not he loved her was a secret only he knew. Anyway, Jenny didn't bother to reveal her thoughts to Morgan since they were just assumptions.They stopped talking when the event started. Old Mr. Faust appeared in the hall and was receiving well wishes from the guests, but Jenny and Morgan were not in a hurry to meet him. Morgan marveled, "The Fausts are truly the elite family of Parrington. No one could beat them when it comes to the scale of their events..""Why? Are you envious?" Jenny chuckled and said, "Tell your parents to keep it up. Maybe you could enjoy all these riches someday.""That's impossible." Morgan was sensible. "Jenny, when are we giving out the presents?" She noticed that everyone was giving Old Mr. Faust his birthday presents, both to wish him personally and to get acquainted. The Goldings also planned
Jenny's expression hardened as her eyes scanned the two guests who had gossiped about the Goldings. Before she could speak, she heard Old Mr. Faust scoffing. He reprimanded them, "Everyone here is my guest. I appreciate their presence at my birthday event regardless of their background. To me, they are equal. If I hear someone speak ill of the others again, I will not play nice!"In that instant, a hush fell over the hall. No one dared to say another word. Yvonne stood forward to lighten the atmosphere. "Grandpa, why don't you check out Miss Golding's gift? She must have put in a lot of effort to pick it."When Zachary turned his eyes on her, she hurriedly explained, "I ran into her when I was picking your gift! A friend of Miss Golding said she knew what you'd like. And I'm pretty curious about that." Then, she looked at Jenny. "Miss Walter, isn't that true? You claimed that you knew what Grandpa would like."Jenny was forced to step forward. She smiled and ignored Yvonne's provoca
"I hope you don't mind." Jenny took out the mid-sized gift she had prepared, which appeared rather average at first glance. Zachary didn't ask Warren to accept it nor take it himself. Instead, he shot a look at Alec. "Why are you still standing there? Get over now. Don't leave her holding on to that box."Everyone's jaw dropped to the floor, and Jenny was dumbfounded. Alec thought his grandpa didn't have to be this obvious in matchmaking. He walked up to Jenny, took the gift box, and whispered, "Thank you.""Why thank me? This is for Grandpa, not for you," Jenny said to him without a care about his feelings. He didn't mind it too, because he was accustomed to her slight. Zachary opened the box without hesitation when it was handed to him. There was a lapis lazuli stone in the box, to everyone's shock.Someone started gossiping, "Did she not have enough money for a better gift? Is that why she bought that old thing?""I don't think so! She's Mr. Birkett's last mentee, after all."
Alec felt like he was collateral damage in the exchange. Jenny was also stunned. Had Old Mr. Faust forgotten that they had already divorced?After a while, Old Mr. Faust returned the lapis lazuli stone to its place while giving Yvonne and her friend a disdainful look. "From how you treat this lapis lazuli stone, I'd have thought you were the richest person in Parrington. It's worth more than a hundred million dollars, you know."Even though he was directing those words at her friend, Yvonne still blushed with embarrassment. A hundred million dollars?Who'd have thought this rock could be worth more than a hundred million?Moreover, where did Jenny even get that much money? What was her relationship with Old Mr. Faust?Everyone's curiosity was piqued.Some even suspected that Jenny was one of Old Mr. Faust's illegitimate daughters. After all, hers was the most expensive gift tonight. Why would she give him such an expensive gift if they weren't related?Old Mr. Faust knew what the othe
Eventually, the crowd dispersed, leaving only Jenny and Alec standing in front of Old Mr. Faust. They looked at each other. Neither of them spoke.Old Mr. Faust was exasperated by the sight. He had created an opportunity for Alec, yet he was silent. Was he supposed to teach him how to speak to his ex-wife?He glared at Alec, then turned to Jenny with a smile. "Jenny, has Alec been good to you lately? Let me know if he treats you badly, and I'll deal with him for you."Jenny smiled awkwardly and shook her head. "Thank you for the offer, Grandpa, but Mr. Faust has never treated me badly. We're not that close, after all.""Why do you say that? Whatever happens, it's still fate that the two of you met. Alec was young and rash back then. He didn't know how to appreciate you. Look, he's regretting it now." Old Mr. Faust looked at Alec. If he weren't so afraid that someone else would get together with Jenny, he wouldn't have swallowed his pride just to say this.Regret?Jenny looked at Alec i
Jenny finally escaped from Old Mr. Faust. Just as she was about to find an empty corner to rest, Alec came up to her."I'm sorry about Grandpa. He's…""I hope you didn't think I was just joking with him," Jenny said, stopping in her tracks. Alec paused. She continued, "When I said I would treat him like my grandfather, I meant it. I don't mind it.""I might have taken that wrongly." Alec felt helpless. He seemed to always be hapless in front of Jenny.As if she had read his mind, Jenny smiled and said drily, "Even though I told Grandpa that I'd treat you like everyone else, there's something I need you to know, Mr. Faust.""What?""I never look back," she said.That said, she turned and left. No matter what Alec was thinking, it had nothing to do with her.In fact, Alec wasn't angered by her words at all. He was just a little sad. He should have known that Jenny had told Old Mr. Faust a white lie.Well, it was all his fault in the first place. He couldn't blame it on anyone else.As so