Chapter 197: Banquet

Chapter 197: Chapter 197: Banquet

Grandma Faulkner completely took the initiative.

Once the call went through, Julian Faulkner picked up quickly and asked gently, "Grandma, what’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

"No, no!"

Grandma Faulkner straightforwardly told Julian that she wanted to take photos, and that she wanted Vivian Lowell and Julian to take them with her. Then she said in an unquestionable tone, "Check which day you’re free! I’ll have Vivian arrange it!"

A helpless sigh came from the other end of the line.

Vivian could tell this was the tone Julian used when there was nothing he could do about his grandmother. He said, "Alright, I’m available anytime. See which day she prefers."

These words carried a hint of doting. After Julian spoke, it seemed he hadn’t even realized there was a faint trace of a smile in his tone.

After mulling over the matter, Julian asked, "Grandma, is there anything else? I’m almost at the meeting venue, so I don’t have much time."

"That’s all, that’s all." Hearing this, Grandma Faulkner chuckled and hung up the phone herself.

After hanging up, Grandma Faulkner looked at Vivian again, her eyes and brows brimming with smiles. "Did you hear that? That brat is probably overjoyed knowing he gets to take photos with you!

"I told you! That boy looks cold on the outside, but inside, he’s like a ball of fire!"

Hearing about him being cold on the outside but hot on the inside, a term suddenly popped into Vivian’s mind. She chuckled and said, "Grandma, there’s already an adjective for your description nowadays."

Grandma Faulkner was very interested. She leaned in and asked, "What word?"

"A closet romantic." Vivian thought about it seriously and found that this term really suited Julian perfectly.

Grandma Faulkner froze for a moment, probably figuring out the inner meaning of the word, then started laughing as well. As she laughed, she said, "Oh, a closet romantic. That’s a good word for it!"

The two of them chatted and laughed all the way back to the Faulkner’s home.

On Vivian’s end, she settled Grandma Faulkner in. After confirming everything was fine and that Felix Faulkner and Rachel Faulkner hadn’t come over to cause trouble, she breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Right then, Vivian’s phone rang.

It was a message from Eleanor Rhodes.

She mentioned that the Rhodes Family had also been invited to tonight’s banquet, and that she would be coming with her parents so she could hang out with Vivian.

"That’s great."

Vivian was very happy to see Eleanor’s message and replied, "Originally, I thought this kind of banquet was just going through the motions. I didn’t think it would be very interesting.

"But if you’re coming, Eleanor, then it’ll be completely different!

"Alright, I’ll stop texting for now. I’m getting ready to head back to the company. See you tonight!"

"Mhm, see you tonight! Vivian, I heard a lot of people are coming tonight. You absolutely have to dress up beautifully. Whatever you do, don’t let those women with ulterior motives outshine you!"

Vivian knew what Eleanor meant. She was saying that Julian would attract women like bees to honey!

Vivian laughed. She didn’t really care about this. She had thought about it a long time ago; getting involved in catfights over a man was impossible for her, but it was hard to guarantee that some women wouldn’t have such thoughts.

But she trusted Julian.

And what if she didn’t trust him?

If a man’s heart changed the moment he saw a pretty woman, Vivian would rather see his true colors early on. Keeping someone like that around would be useless anyway.

In the afternoon, the sunlight was soft and lingering. Vivian had just finished handling her tasks at the company when a knock came from the door.

KNOCK KNOCK.

It was two crisp knocks. Vivian happened to be organizing the documents in her hands. The moment she raised her eyes, her heartbeat suddenly quickened just a little bit.

It seemed she could recognize who the knock belonged to.

"Come in," Vivian said softly. Sure enough, Julian walked in.

He was smiling slightly. When he entered, he was holding a small bouquet of roses in his hand. It wasn’t particularly vibrant or dazzling, but Vivian still liked it.

She thought that most girls probably liked flowers.

Especially after a somewhat tiring day of work, seeing the person they liked bring them a small bouquet of flowers and smelling its faint fragrance could make one feel as if their entire body was relaxing.

Vivian was exactly like this.

"Thank you."

Vivian put down the things in her hands, walked up to Julian, and took the flowers. Returning to the vase, she tossed the carnations—which had bloomed a few days ago and were now slightly withered—into the trash can, replacing them with the roses Julian had brought.

Illuminated by the warm evening sunlight, the roses lazily displayed only a single bud.

But Vivian knew that it wouldn’t be long before these roses fully bloomed.

"Are we heading to the banquet venue now?" Vivian carefully examined the bouquet, almost reluctant to tear her eyes away, before turning to look at Julian.

"Yes. Once you change into your evening gown, we’ll head over," Julian said gently. He took the initiative to walk over to the nearby rack and helped pull Vivian’s evening gown out.

"Alright, wait for me for a bit." Vivian took it and went into the restroom to change.

A moment later.

Vivian looked at herself in the mirror and blinked in satisfaction.

It was a black mermaid-style evening gown that perfectly accentuated her figure without being revealing in the slightest. It was incredibly stunning.

Vivian had heard Vance Wyatt mention that Julian had personally selected this gown.

As expected, Julian had excellent taste. Vivian could say she was extremely satisfied with this outfit.

Walking back into the office after changing, Vivian gave Julian a reserved smile. Julian had been reading a magazine in his hands, but the moment he looked up, a flash of pleasant surprise crossed his eyes.

Vivian caught this gleam of surprise in Julian’s eyes.

She knew that Julian liked it.

"Let’s go." Looking like a queen, Vivian said to Julian and walked toward the door in her high heels.

Seeing this, Julian considerately took a Chanel-style jacket out of Vivian’s small wardrobe, afraid she might get cold at night, before following after her.

Grand West Aethelburg Hotel.

By the time Vivian arrived, the banquet venue had already been beautifully decorated.

She looked around and saw plenty of bouquets, balloons, and champagne everywhere. The venue was gorgeous, showing that the Drake Family had indeed put a lot of effort into it.

When Vivian and Julian entered, they saw the Drakes.

The Drakes, excluding Sylvia Drake and Finn Drake.

"President Faulkner, Mrs. Faulkner, hello. I am Sylvia’s cousin, Joy Drake. This is my older brother, Hazel Drake. We just returned to the country, so if there’s anything lacking in the arrangements for tonight’s banquet, we hope you can forgive us."

Joy had a pretty face, and her smile looked extremely sincere.

Vivian sized Joy up.

Joy seemed to give off a very different vibe from Sylvia.

When Vivian first met Sylvia, she could tell right away that Sylvia was a natural-born aristocratic lady who wouldn’t put those she deemed "lowly" in her eyes.

Sylvia was a snob who sucked up to the high and mighty while stepping on those below her. She was incredibly materialistic and had eyes on the top of her head.

But Joy was different.

Vivian didn’t know if Joy had prepared in advance, but when facing her and Julian, Joy’s attitude was so gentle that it was truly hard for people to turn her away.

"You’re too polite, Miss Drake."

Vivian also exchanged pleasantries with Joy, saying, "Even though you just returned, Miss Drake, your Chinese is excellent. Domestic social etiquette actually isn’t that different from overseas.

"You don’t need to worry too much, Miss Drake. I think you’re doing great."

"Really? I’m so glad." Joy responded with a smile. Then, hearing a nearby waiter mention that more guests had arrived, Joy needed to greet them and couldn’t talk to Julian and Vivian much longer.

"I’m sorry, please excuse me for a moment."

After saying that, Joy turned and walked away.

Watching Joy leave, Vivian blinked at Julian, finding it all quite unbelievable.

In the past, at banquets Julian attended, he was always the center of attention. Many young ladies would swarm around him.

Tonight, however, Joy mingled among the crowds like a social butterfly, treating Julian with only mild politeness. She handled the boundaries perfectly.

Honestly, this level of poise wasn’t something just anyone could possess.

"Why are you looking at me?"

Julian noticed Vivian’s gaze and felt a bit helpless. After he asked, two people from the side walked toward him.

Vivian recognized them. One was President Ward, who had gone to Valeria with her last time. The other was someone Vivian wasn’t familiar with, but she seemed to have seen him before.

He was likely one of Julian’s elders.

"President Faulkner."

President Ward looked like he wanted to discuss business. Vivian motioned for Julian to go ahead and busy himself, while she searched for Eleanor in the crowd.

Vivian found her very quickly.

It turned out that after Joy excused herself earlier, she had gone to greet Eleanor’s parents. Now that the elder Rhodes had arrived, Vivian also went over to say hello.

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Rhodes."

Vivian was very polite. Eleanor came over and linked arms with Vivian, saying, "Tonight’s banquet is quite beautiful! Vivian, let’s stick together tonight and have a good time."

After Eleanor finished speaking, she glanced playfully at her mother.

Mrs. Rhodes never knew what to do with Eleanor, so she could only nod in agreement and remind them, "There are a lot of people tonight, so both of you be careful, you hear me?"

"Mhm!"

Eleanor nodded and pulled Vivian aside to whisper.

"Grandma Faulkner has been discharged from the hospital, right? Is she doing well? Make sure she remembers to eat the supplements I gave her, they’re good for her health! Vivian, when you have time, you should eat more of them too!"

Eleanor seemed to be in a good mood today, and her little mouth started chattering non-stop. She said, "Let’s not even talk about bird’s nest yet, eating more is good for the skin.

"The fish maw inside, you can use it to make soup. I heard my mom say that before having a baby, you can drink more fish maw soup. You should eat the fish maw too; it’s good for the womb!"

Vivian was so shocked she almost knocked over a bottle of champagne placed nearby! What in the world was Eleanor thinking about every day?!

"Eleanor, I..." Vivian really wanted to explain that she and Julian hadn’t even done that yet. So, a baby... wasn’t a rush, right?

Moreover, the matter with Felix Faulkner and Rachel Faulkner hadn’t been resolved yet. The heavy stone in Vivian’s heart truly couldn’t drop; she was terrified of when Rachel might pop out and cause trouble again!

"It’s fine, it’s fine."

Eleanor, however, didn’t seem to understand what Vivian meant. She just gave a knowing look and said, "I get it. As a newlywed couple, you definitely still want to enjoy your private time together for a while.

"A baby and all, maybe you’re not in a hurry to have one yet.

"That’s okay. You don’t have to have one right now, but you can still nourish your body!"

Vivian was a little unsure of how to refute that.

Nourish her body.

True.

She was usually quite busy with work, so eating more nutritious food was indeed necessary. She had no choice but to say, "Alright then. Eleanor, I got it."

"That’s a good girl!" Eleanor hummed a song and spoke happily. Suddenly, at that moment, Eleanor looked toward the hotel entrance.

More people had arrived.

This time, Joy went over to greet them personally again. Vivian realized that, coincidentally enough, the arrivals were the Sterlings.

Mr. Sterling and Mrs. Sterling, whom Vivian had met at the hospital last time, along with Henry Sterling—the three of them came together. Because Mr. Sterling and Henry were both exceptionally handsome, many girls present looked over in their direction.

"Isn’t that Professor Sterling? How rare! He’s always been devoted to scientific research and barely asks about his family’s business. To think he actually came to the banquet with his parents this time."

"Did you guys hear? Professor Sterling broke up with his whatever ex-girlfriend. That’s just fantastic! Professor Sterling is single again—does that mean I have a chance?"

These whispers weren’t far from Vivian and Eleanor.

Vivian had always known that Henry was very popular in Aethelburg’s wealthy circles. He was capable himself, and his family background was nothing to scoff at.

He was countless times better than those playboys who could only rely on their families.

When Vivian heard these discussions, she subconsciously glanced at Eleanor, wanting to see her reaction.

The expression on Eleanor’s face was faint. She merely lowered her eyes slightly, looking as if her mood had changed just a tiny bit.

Vivian suddenly felt a little hesitant. She wondered if she should say something.

"Vivian, it’s fine~ If they like him, they can just go chase him. If they manage to catch him, it just means they’re capable, but if they don’t, hopefully they won’t end up as sad as I did."

Eleanor seemed not to care too much. She leaned closer and asked, "Oh, right. I also heard that the Drake Family is planning to throw some kind of beach yacht party at the end of the month!

"It sounds pretty fun. Are you going?"

"I am."

The topic was changed so suddenly that it took Vivian a moment to react before saying, "Julian said he has a project collaboration to attend to, so I’m tagging along. It’s a good opportunity to talk business on the side.

"The Drakes are also business people. Although Sylvia and Finn did some bad things before, I don’t think the Drake Family would go as far as to oppose the Faulkner Family.

"The Faulkner Family is powerful. For them, having an extra enemy right after returning to the country would make it hard to expand their business in the future."