Filed to story: Mia Bowen and Timothy Barrett Novel
His glare shot daggers at her. “Who told you that it’s for Luna?”
“Is it not? Otherwise, who could it be for?” She shrunk her neck at Timothy’s furious expression.
However, Timothy was indeed treating Luna well, at least more so than Maya.
That was why Shelly jumped to the conclusion that the jewelry was for Luna.
Yet, her guess turned out to be wrong!
The agitated Timothy glared at Shelly. “Stop getting ahead of yourself again.”
“So who is it for? Grandma?”
“Stop asking questions you shouldn’t ask.” He didn’t want to waste his time with her at all, so he left.
Standing right there alone, she stomped her feet out of frustration.
Like any other member of the family, she didn’t have the nerve to infuriate Timothy.
The question was still hanging in the air. Who was that jewelry for? Could it be Mia?
In addition to Mia’s current social status and pregnancy, if she got married to Timothy again, would there be a place for Shelly within the family?
The sheer thought of the aftermath made her grimace.
After all, she had been looking down on Mia. Now that Shelly’s the one getting bullied. She felt as though she’d never surpass Mia, but Shelly couldn’t admit her defeat.
“Shelly, what were you guys talking about?” Luna was on the second floor the entire time because Timothy personally told Kaleb to prohibit her from showing up at the party.
She followed the orders so that Timothy wouldn’t hate her.
“Luna, Timothy said that the jewelry isn’t for you. I must’ve misunderstood something.”
Luna’s jaw tightened at that. Her fingers fumbled with the necklace on her neck and her smile was a forceful one. “It’s alright. I can take it off. Did he say who it was for?”
“I think Timothy was trying to explain something to Mia, so it has something to do with her, I guess,” Shelly speculated.
Luna clenched her fist. “I thought they were divorced.”
“That’s why I found it strange too. But I heard the maids saying that Grandma hosted this party on purpose for Timothy and Mia. I think she’s trying to get them together again.”
Luna’s gaze dropped to the ground, and her voice grew weak. “If they get together again, Mrs. Barrett Senior would be happy. It’ll be good news for your family too.”
“What are you talking about, Luna? That’s not how it’ll work. If they get together again, there won’t be a place for us in the family. Mia is Ms. Lane right now. No one would dare to mess with her. Besides, she’s pregnant with Timothy’s child.”
“What?” Luna’s face fell.
Shelly hushed her voice deliberately. “I’m the only person in the family that knows this. Mia’s doing a good job keeping everyone in the dark.”
“There’s no reason for her to keep everyone in the dark, though.”
“Previously, I thought that she would use the child to threaten him. Then, I don’t think he’s the father. Now, I don’t know whether it is his child anymore. Either way, if they get together again, I’ll be dead meat.”
Luna’s eyes darted to the middle of the party venue, where the people were dressed in branded clothes and enjoying their time with a wine glass in each hand.
Admiration tinged her eyes, finally knowing how it felt to be at a party hosted for the rich.
She muttered, “Is there really no way to stop them from getting together again?”
Soon, Kaleb came up to them. “Ms. Maynard, Mr. Barrett asked you not to show up at the party. If you disobey his rule, you’ll have to leave Barrett residence for the time being.”
She gulped down the bitterness at the tip of her tongue. Nevertheless, she decided to ask, “Is Mrs. Barrett Senior free right now? I’d like to meet her.”
“She’s preparing to show up at the party. She’s not free at the moment.”
Left with no choice, Luna looked at Shelly. “Enjoy the party. You can tell me stories later.”
“O¨COkay.” Shelly was flabbergasted.
Once Luna entered the house, Shelly questioned Kaleb, “What’s going on between Luna and Timothy? Why does she want to meet Grandma? I don’t remember her having anything to do with us, though.”
“I don’t know either,” he answered politely.
She gave up trying to pry for information and strode toward the center point of the party.
Not only must she stop Mia from standing out at the party, but she also had to leave a pleasant impression on the Lane brothers.
On the other hand, Luna returned to the waiting room on the second floor. It wasn’t where the Barretts stayed. It was merely a waiting room for the guests.
At that moment, a maid entered and spoke ominously. “Would you like revenge against Mia?”
Luna looked back, alarmed. “Who are you?”
The woman lifted her head, revealing her cold expression. “The name’s Dana McQueen.”
Back at the party, Mia suddenly felt cold and sneezed.
Connor quickly came over. “What’s wrong? Feeling cold?”
“Nothing. It’s not that cold outside.” She brushed her arms, wondering why she suddenly sneezed.
Perhaps her body was still getting used to the wind.
“You mustn’t catch a cold now.” He draped his coat over her shoulders out of concern. “Tell me if you feel unwell.”
She nodded obediently before raising her head just in time to see Laura show up. Laura’s appearance drew all the attention.
Timothy stood next to her, handsome and tall. Standing there alone was enough to attract attention from others.
Mia couldn’t deny the fact that the bastard indeed looked dashing.
Mia heard a lady squealing next to her. “Oh my god, Mom! He’s hot!”
“He is. You were reluctant to come when I asked you to, though. You must surely regret not dolling up, don’t you?”
“I’ll do that now.” Nancy whipped a tiny mirror out of her bag and applied some lipstick on her lips.
Liam snorted. “Do you really think he’s hot?”
Nancy and Bethany were taken aback. They spun around, wondering who had the gall to speak about Timothy like that. It was then they realized six attractive men were standing before them. Stunned, Bethany chanced a glance at Nancy and remained silent.
An excited squeak escaped Nancy’s lips. “A¨CAre you Linden Lane?”
“Yeah, I am.”
“Oh my god!! I can’t believe my eyes¨Cmy favorite celebrity is standing right before me! Mom, can you pinch me so I know this isn’t a dream? Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
Slightly frustrated, Bethany chided, “Nancy, stop it. Weren’t you praising Mr. Barrett for his looks earlier?”
“But Linden is on another level!” Nancy squealed. Staring at him with starstruck eyes, she asked, “Mr. Lane, can I take a photo with you?”
“Sure, but later.”
“Alright!” Exhilarated, Nancy took her phone out to spill the news to her friend. She still couldn’t digest the fact that she met her favorite actor at today’s banquet!
Bethany sighed. She intended to make Nancy show up at the banquet to get her connected with Timothy, since he was now divorced. Who knew they might have hit it off?
Everything seemed painfully familiar to Mia. Back when she was still married to Timothy, socialites would taunt her during banquets, saying that Timothy was too good for her. Not like she was bothered about it now.
Glancing around at the guests, Laura said, “I had a close call to death because of my sickness. Thus, I organized this banquet to celebrate that I still have more years to live on, and secondly, to express my gratitude for the person who ensured my successful surgery. She’s kind and earnest, though she might have more bad days than good ones in our family, she was still forgiving enough to persuade her family to perform surgery on me.”
Mia’s eyes turned red. As Laura spoke, she sauntered toward her and held her hand. “Mia used to be the lady of the Barrett family. Now that she has become the daughter of the Lane family in Nord City, I’m sincerely happy for her. She’ll always remain as one of our most important guests. Thus, I hope everyone will take care of her for the sake of our family.”
A round of applause erupted among the crowd. Someone couldn’t help but jeer, Mrs. Barrett Senior, since you’re so fond of her, why don’t you make her remarry?
“Yeah, isn’t that a pleasure for both families? They both share the same status, and it’s splendid to have the most prominent families in Bern City and Nord City to merge as one!”
Mia didn’t expect those people, who used to mock her, to actually propose for her to remarry Timothy. In fact, Sharon was quite intrigued as well. Pride swelled in her chest once she imagined herself boasting about having the daughter of the Lanes as her daughter¨Cin¨Claw.
The tension dripping off the Lane brothers caused the jeers to cease to a palpable silence. Dominic began politely, yet indifferently, “We appreciate Mrs. Barrett Senior’s hospitality toward Mia. I hate to say it, but we’re not particularly fond of forging familial ties with the Barrett family.”
Nathan added grimly, “If we had found Mia three years earlier, we wouldn’t have let her marry so soon either.”
Connor nodded, chiming in, “Exactly. We love Mia dearly, and she deserves to spend the rest of her life in bliss with the Lane family.”
A middle¨Caged woman pried. “Is Mia never going to marry again?”
Eva replied calmly, “She can if she wants to, but we’re planning to have the groom marry into our family.”
Her statement rendered everyone speechless. The Barrett family was the most prominent family in Bern City, and it wasn’t likely for Timothy to marry into the bride’s family. Even Sharon’s intrigue was dampened despite her fascination with the idea of Mia remarrying Timothy earlier.
Mia stood her ground. She was well aware that those meddlesome ladies were anticipating her reaction when they deliberately brought up the topic of her remarrying Timothy. They knew she was the daughter of the Lane family. Fortunately, her family sided with her. They rebuked them swiftly, and Eva stood up for her. She wasn’t surprised when she spotted the tension on Sharon’s face, knowing how much Sharon cared for her daughter¨Cin¨Claw’s status. The only thing that stopped her from disagreeing with the remarry was her status as a
Lane.