"Lucius, Milana." Dalton"s warm voice paused Ci-ci"s steps.The soon-to-be-weds gracefully walked, arm in arm. The calm smile on their faces never once showed the true turmoil within their hearts. It was clear to anyone watching that Dalton"s only failure in comparison to his brother is that it was born two years too late… So, the question was how such an outstanding young man ended up settling for a 21st ranked University.
"How about you two stay?" Dalton continued warmly. "My parents have a company emergency to deal with and won"t be able to make an appearance today, it would be a shame if their seats remained empty. As such good friends of Isabella, it would be my honor to sit beside you two."
The temperature seemed to drop instantaneously. Despite it being a warm summer"s day, Dalton"s words were akin to laying down a gauntlet for war.
Whose parents wouldn"t attend their own child"s engagement party? Company emergency? What a joke. It was obvious to anyone that Mr. and Mrs. c.o.x had every intention of displaying their dissatisfaction toward this union by using their empty seats. Yet, Dalton gave those very same seats to others?
Ci-ci"s eyes flashed with something imperceptible as the small sound of cracking gla.s.s entered his ears. The sound itself was so faint that Ci-ci was sure that he was among the only ones who heard it… He was even more certain that he might have been the only one other than Roman to know where it came from exactly…
"It would be our pleasure." Ci-ci smiled, following the couple and helping Milana into the last empty chair before sitting beside Dalton.
In this one instant, Ci-ci learned many things.
Simply put, if one was born into the main line of an aristocratic family, the dissatisfaction of one"s parents toward one"s marriage essentially meant that your dreams were all but crushed. But, somehow, Dalton managed to ignore the anger of his parents and follow through anyway?
Secondly, even if he somehow managed to do this, the act of practically spitting in his parents" faces by giving their seats to him and Milana was more than just brazen. It showed a contempt and domineering aura that didn"t match his gentle and warm appearance.
"Interesting…" Ci-ci knew that he and Milana would be in the line of fire now, but his blood slightly boiled still. He hadn"t been this excited in a long time. This… This was an opportunity. If he was correct, by the end of the night, he"d gain a valuable p.a.w.n in the c.o.x family.
After waiting patiently for everyone to return to their seats, Dalton stood to deliver a toast. This should have been the role of his father, but he seemed to step into his task with ease.
"I want to first thank you all for coming." With his nervous exterior shed, Dalton stood tall. His Isabella had already done her part, now it was his turn to weather the storm. "It is an honor for the c.o.x family to have so many friends and family around on such a happy occasion. Isabella and I couldn"t be happier.
"Today marks six years since the moment I met Isabella, and now I"ve become a lucky enough man to call her my fiancée."
A genuine smile filled with his affection caused Isabella to blush in her seat. The atmosphere seemed to grow sweeter around the couple, completely erasing the once frozen air.
"Enjoy this day with us!" Dalton"s voice boomed. "Eat, laugh, play. Help us forge the very first memories on the path to the rest of our lives."
After Dalton finished talking, numerous skilled waiters and waitresses dressed in pristine whites glided across the gra.s.sed grounds, each carrying silver trays filled with delicacies.
It was at this moment that Roman"s eyes sharpened. "This food… It isn"t the same as Emeryus described. Ha… Fine. I"ll allow you to win this round."
Emeryus was none other than their Head Butler. Roman had stolen him away from Dalton so that he couldn"t help Isabella, however that was only the first tier of his plot. His true intention was to ruin the food… With so many guests here, the impact would be devastating. In fact, the c.o.x family might even take a hit in reputation, but Roman was prepared to risk it for the sake of lowering his younger brother"s position even further.
Yet, Dalton had seemingly prepared a hidden set of food even the Head Butler hadn"t been aware of? Roman"s wariness toward his younger brother couldn"t help but grow…
With Roman"s first plot foiled, the only one drenched in a cold sweat was none other than Butler Emeryus himself.
The fact that this food wasn"t what he scouted out meant two things: either Roman now believed that he was on Dalton"s side, or Dalton was aware that he was on Roman"s side.
Either way, it didn"t matter… For a lowly butler like him, he would likely be dead within a week… He had served this family for over 40 years, and yet he"d die over something so petty…
No one paid attention to the plight of the Head Butler faced with his own mortality, instead, the atmosphere had become quite harmonious. Everyone was enthralled by the food they were eating, it was so delicious that they almost couldn"t believe it.
What these uppity n.o.bles didn"t know was that this food was from Isabella"s favorite Jamaican Takeout restaurant. If they knew they were eating the food of the common people, just how would they react?
Isabella and her parents smiled happily, naively believing that the storm had pa.s.sed. Unfortunately, this dream would come crashing down very soon as the sound of a fork lightly hitting a gla.s.s containing sparkling wine caught everyone"s attention.
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Roman"s light laughter silenced the remaining side conversations. "As the elder brother of the groom, I would be remiss if I hadn"t prepared anything for my little brother, no?"
Polite laughter at Roman"s words warmed the crowd further.
"Still, as the second young master of the c.o.x family, there are very few things that my little brother can"t buy for himself, so it seemed like a waste to simply buy him an expensive gift with no meaning behind it."
The crowd nodded, understanding Roman"s words very well. There were a large pile of gifts within the c.o.x Estate, but how many of them carried any real meaning?
"Instead of going the traditional route, I"ve set up a little game for the bride and groom simply called: Memory Lane." With a clap of his hands, another set of well-dressed servicemen and women glided out from the Estate"s backdoors. There were about 20 or so of them and each held a beautifully embroidered envelope along with several blank white cards.
"The concept of the game is simple. Each of the guests here will receive a blank card and a pen. Your role is to write a fond memory you have with the couple.
"Afterward, these helpful servants will collect them all and randomly select 20 for the currently empty embroidered envelops. As much as we"d like to go through them all individually, there are hundreds of us and I"m sure you all have very important matters to attend to." Roman said with an understanding smile.
"Once these 20 are collected, they will be handed to the bride and groom, this is where the real fun begins.
"My little brother Dalton and his wife-to-be will read these 20 memories and attempt to guess when it happened, where it happened and who it happened with. For each response they get correct, I have a prize waiting for them!"
Both Dalton"s and Ci-ci"s eyes sharpened. It seems the games had truly begun.