Chapter 687 Birthday Present (3)
The two boys had received very precious and valuable gifts. The moment the shares were presented, they immediately aroused the envy and admiration of everyone around them!
The Smith Corporation had a market value of hundreds of billions of dollars. It was impossible for one to spend all the money that came from even just five percent of the company’s shares!
In that case, what was Ian going to give Cherry?
While everyone was thinking about it, they saw Ian turn to Cherry. In addition to also giving her the same amount of shares, he took out an exquisite box and opened it. Inside the box was a diamond the size of a pigeon’s egg.
Ian handed it to her. “This is the Heart of the Ocean. I got it at an auction a few years ago. I’m giving this to you today, Cherry. Do you like it?”
Cherry’s eyes lit up. “Yeah, I do, I do!”
Ian smiled with satisfaction.
The crowd was dumbfounded for an instant. Then, a huge uproar went through them.
That jewel was simply too rare. So many families had tried their darnedest to fight for it but little did they expect that it would end up in the hands of a five-year-old.
Everyone’s eyes were filled with admiration. “I’m so envious of Cherry!”
As soon as they said that, someone sighed and remarked, “What a pity. There were originally two such diamonds, so that is just one of them. There’s another one just like it, but its whereabouts are unknown even now.”
“Having one is enough! It’s only because the Smiths have such a big business that they can win the jewel in the auction. Apart from the Hunts, who else is rich enough to do that?!”
While everyone was paying Cherry compliments, there were also some who didn’t agree with the way Mrs. Livingstone had lectured the child just now. They immediately said mockingly, “No matter how Cherry’s life was in the past, from the very day she returned to New York, she has been living in a nest of gold and silver! The girl still has a whole load of blessings ahead of her! Besides, Mr. Hunt is especially doting toward his daughter. She is most definitely the undisputed little princess of New York!”
The veiled insults made Mrs. Livingstone so angry that she immediately retorted, “Even so, it won’t get rid of the fact that she lived in poverty when she was younger! A child’s personality solidifies by the time they turn five!”
Some people also said with dissatisfaction, “You can’t say that she lived in poverty, right? I heard that their family is pretty well-to-do…”
Although the Smiths in California were not as wealthy as the Smiths in New York, they were still rather well-off. With an annual income of over five million dollars, how would they really be that poor?
Mrs. Livingstone pursed her lips. “Tsk, if they aren’t poor, then why don’t I see her relatives coming over to give her gifts?”
Everyone was speechless.
Most of the people who came with gifts had presented them on the spot.
Ian, who was an especially close family member, had caused a huge sensation when presenting his gifts, but it was true they didn’t see any gifts from anyone from where Nora used to live.
While thinking about it, Mrs. Livingstone suddenly spotted Lisa in the crowd.
Lisa was Nora’s cousin when she was living in California. Although her father, Henry, mistreated her, Nora had always been on good terms with her aunt. Lisa had also been willing to play with her when they were children.
Since her children were celebrating their birthdays, Nora had also sent an invitation to her aunt.
However, the place was simply too far away. Besides, Henry had simply gone too far overboard, so her aunt was too embarra.s.sed to visit her. Thus, she had sent Lisa, who was studying at the New York University of Medicine, to come over as a representative of their family.
Lisa had bought Lego sets for the children and was carrying them at the moment.
Mrs. Livingstone, who had been paying attention to Nora, knew that Lisa was Nora’s cousin. She launched into mockery mode at once and said, “Oh my, it’s not like no one came at all, isn’t it? Ms. Black, you must be Ms. Smith’s cousin, right? Your mother is her aunt from that family, right?”
Lisa flushed. She nodded and awkwardly hid the gifts in her hands behind her.
She was really embarra.s.sing Nora!
In front of all the expensive gifts from others, her Lego sets were really not presentable.
However, the more she hid, the more Mrs. Livingstone asked, “What gifts did you bring for the three children?”
Lisa: “…”
She took a step back in silence.
Mrs. Livingstone, however, had already spotted the Lego sets behind her. After all, Lego boxes were simply too big. It was hard for people not to spot them.
She immediately smiled and exclaimed, “Oh my, are those Lego sets?!”.
Then, she took another glance and said, “How much do they cost? Why do they look like bootlegs to me…”
Lisa panicked at once. “No way! These are genuine products from the official store. They cost more than $300!”
Mrs. Livingstone smiled. “Oh, they cost more than $300? Then they must be authentic, after all. That’s so expensive!”
As soon as she said that, Lisa realized that she had been tricked. She immediately flushed with embarra.s.sment.
Everyone around them was looking over and staring at her.
Lisa was at a complete loss.
At this point, Louis suddenly appeared behind Lisa and put his arm around her shoulders, his head of blond hair awfully blinding. He grinned and said, “Lisa, did you buy the gifts I asked you to buy on my behalf?”
Then, he looked at the Lego sets in Lisa’s hands. “Hey, that’s the one! Cherry and Pete love that the most! They asked me to buy these for them! You’re simply so reliable!”
He bent over, picked up the Lego sets, and handed them to Cherry and Pete. “Happy birthday, little guys!”
Cherry hurriedly looked up and said, “Thank you, Uncle Louis!”
Louis said, “Tsk, Uncle Louis has lots of money. Why must you insist on something like this? I don’t even have anywhere to spend all that money now!”
His words were a slap to Mrs. Livingstone’s face.
If Lisa was the one giving them a gift worth $300, then perhaps it might really be because she was poor. But if it was Louis… As a Smith, how could he possibly be poor?!
Everyone knew that he had earned millions of dollars recently!
Mrs. Livingstone frowned and clenched her fists. Then, she sneered, “Nice acting, Mr. Smith!”
Then, she asked cheerfully, “Then what is Ms. Black giving them? Surely you didn’t come empty-handed, right?”.
Louis panicked when he heard this.
Given his miserly nature, how could he possibly buy them gifts? He had been planning to give the children his stray cats and dogs.
But he couldn’t possibly take the cats and dogs out now and say that they were from Lisa, right?
He had wanted to give cats and dogs because the children liked animals.
But if they came from Lisa, then it would again highlight that Nora used to live with a poor family. Louis was furious. If he had known, he would have spent a few hundred thousand dollars and bought them an expensive gift! As such, he could only smile sheepishly and say, “Why does she have to give them gifts? She’s younger than Nora, and is still studying at the moment! Are there any younger sisters who give their elder sister’s children gifts when they are still studying?”.
While that was certainly true, in this situation, Mrs. Livingstone, unfortunately, gained the upper hand at once. She said, “So, the family Ms. Smith used to live with really didn’t give them any gifts, right?!”
Everyone started to speculate. Did Ms. Smith really live in poor conditions back then?
Mrs. Livingstone continued to discredit Nora. “I have heard that her stepfather treated her very badly in the past. When she was a child, she never even went to school… I heard that all her clothes were also junkyard stuff. It’s understandable that a family like that wouldn’t come over and bring any gifts.”
Almost as soon as she said that, someone suddenly walked in at the door.
It was the butler. He was leading a distinguished man dressed in a black suit into the room. The man was very tall and looked quite old but still very gentlemanly. He looked straight at Cherry and said with a smile, “Cherry, I’ve come to give you your birthday gift.”
Cherry’s eyes lit up when she saw him. “Grandpa John! Was my grandaunt unable to come? What a shame!”
John, a butler, smiled and replied, “Yes, unfortunately, she wasn’t able to make it! However, she won’t scrimp on the gifts. I have brought them here.”
When Mrs. Livingstone heard him, she immediately curled her lips disdainfully.
It was normal that they would have relatives abroad.
That so-called “Grandpa John” didn’t look like someone from a huge conglomerate, though. At best, he was just a butler. Never would she have thought that she was actually right on the mark.
Mrs. Livingstone immediately smiled and said, “Your grandaunt? Cherry, you have a grandaunt overseas? What does she do for a living? Quick, open the present and let us have a look!”