Chapter 479: Ruined the Birthday Speech (3)

Chapter 479: Chapter 479: Ruined the Birthday Speech (3)

"Miss Sterling, I’m sorry! Please forgive me." Tears welled up in Shelby Fenton’s eyes as she forced down the bitter resentment in her heart. As unwilling as she was, she still apologized to Seraphina Sterling. Bent over in a half-bow beneath the brilliant lights, she looked like a complete joke. It was a public slap in the face—and a loud one at that.

She had lost this round. Lost completely. Utterly crushed. Not one of the many guests had stood by her side, and in the end, even her own father had stopped defending her. Who else could she possibly count on?

’But it didn’t matter. So what if she’d lost this round? There would be a next. They were university classmates, after all—in the same school, in the same dorm. The days ahead were long. There would be plenty more opportunities to clash. One day, she would repay this humiliation a hundred, even a thousand times over!’

"Since you both know you were wrong, we’ll let the matter go this time. I don’t wish for the same thing to happen a second time. If this sort of thing happens again, then don’t blame me for being impolite. After all, some things can happen once, maybe twice, but not a third or a fourth time."

Seraphina Sterling accepted their apologies with grace, though she didn’t forget to warn them after they’d spoken. Being lectured by someone their junior—and with every word being perfectly reasonable—the two of them lost all face, inside and out.

Jacinta Hale and Shelby Fenton had caused a scene right at the start of the banquet, but the little incident didn’t disrupt the festivities. People in high society, the denizens of powerful families, were masters of one thing above all: acting. Led by Zion Hale, the crowd moved to the inner hall where the contemporary calligrapher, Mr. Holden, was creating a birthday gift for Mr. Hale on the spot. As if nothing had just happened, everyone gathered around to watch in admiration.

"Seraphina, we haven’t seen each other in more than half a year. Did you miss your big brother?" Zion Hale disliked the party’s atmosphere, which is why he’d made an excuse to step outside. He just hadn’t expected to run into Seraphina Sterling. His plan had been to leave after he got out, since he’d already delivered his gift. But after meeting Seraphina, he had obediently turned right back around.

Seraphina looked at him, completely exasperated. "It’s only been a few months, you know. Aren’t you being a bit dramatic?"

"Really? Feels like forever to me!" Zion Hale frowned. "Now that I’m back, it’ll probably be hard to leave again. Dad’s making me join the company and stay put. Can’t skimp on any of my duties. At first, I thought my life was a tragedy, but then I realized, staying with the company means we’ll have more time to hang out! When I think about it that way, I’m actually pretty happy about it. You won’t be lonely anymore!"

As he spoke, Zion Hale slung an arm over Seraphina’s shoulders, the picture of two best buddies.

Seraphina was speechless once again. "I wasn’t lonely to begin with, okay! And another thing—do you have any idea how heavy you are? Are you trying to make me fall by putting all your weight on me? I’m wearing high heels! And you have the nerve to keep calling yourself the big brother! What kind of brother oppresses his sister like this?"

"Big brothers are *meant* to be bossed around by their little sisters! Come on, let’s go see what Mr. Holden wrote to make Grandpa so happy!" Zion Hale said this without a hint of a blush. Aren’t sisters supposed to be cherished by their brothers? How was it that in his world, sisters existed to boss their brothers around? Being his sister was a truly tragic fate!

Mr. Holden was around the same age as Mr. Hale. A renowned contemporary calligrapher, he was a master of the regular script. His style was powerful yet graceful, elegant and refined, with perfectly structured characters and masterful, mature brushwork that earned him critical acclaim. While one couldn’t quite say a single character was worth a thousand pieces of gold, obtaining even one was nearly impossible. The old master was notoriously difficult to book and known for his eccentric personality. His life was consumed by his art; aside from academic conferences, he rarely made public appearances. This, of course, only contributed to the scarcity of his work, and precisely for that reason, his calligraphy was incredibly valuable.