Chapter 283: An Unexpected Invitation

In the blink of an eye, Monday arrived.

Monday mornings were undoubtedly the most agonizing part of the week for the working class. Having to wake up early after a two-day weekend and facing five full days of work was mentally exhausting.

Vivian Lowell was no exception. Ever since she got pregnant, her stamina had noticeably dropped. She grew drowsy easily, and the productive hours in her day had dwindled.

Yet, her workload remained just as demanding.

Vivian arrived at the office bright and early. Only Leo got in around the same time, so the two immediately dove into their work. By nine o’clock, employees began trickling in. Just as Vivian was contemplating whether to schedule a meeting for ten, she received a push notification on WhatsApp.

The message was brief but shocking.

The head of the Drake family had found his long-lost biological granddaughter and had decided to host a grand banquet in three days to officially welcome her back into the family fold!

Vivian froze when she read the news.

“Drake” wasn’t exactly a rare surname. Although her first thought was of Mr. Drake, who lived next door, it felt like too much of a coincidence. Hadn’t Mr. Drake previously mentioned that the search might not go smoothly?

Curious, she tapped on the notification to read the details.

The article didn’t offer a ton of information, but it largely aligned with what she already knew from Mr. Drake.

Over two decades ago, Mr. Drake’s daughter and her husband had traveled to Veridia for a project. Tragically, they both perished in a car accident. At the time, Mr. Drake believed that his unborn granddaughter had died alongside her mother. It wasn’t until later that he discovered the child had survived and was born posthumously.

By the time he found out, it was too late. His granddaughter had been placed in an orphanage and adopted at a very young age. To make matters worse, the orphanage had been demolished over a decade ago. Tracking down this information had been no easy feat.

Fortunately, thanks to Mr. Drake’s immense wealth and extensive network, he managed to overcome numerous hurdles to locate the family that had adopted her, successfully reuniting with his granddaughter.

Miss Drake had already returned to the Drake family. Since she was still unfamiliar with her new surroundings, Mr. Drake hoped to give her time to adjust. Meanwhile, the welcoming banquet in three days would serve as a public declaration to everyone: his granddaughter had returned. As his direct descendant, she would undoubtedly be the apple of his eye.

“So it’s all true,” Vivian murmured after finishing the article.

She figured that Mr. Drake’s high-profile announcement was his way of ensuring his granddaughter lived a dazzling life. After all, she was a member of the Drake family, and no child from that lineage was destined for mediocrity.

With that in mind, Vivian pulled out her phone to send Mr. Drake a message.

Back in Cyrina, he had worried that his granddaughter might be too attached to her adoptive family to accept him. She hadn’t expected things to go so smoothly. For a grandfather who had missed his granddaughter so dearly, this was surely a wonderful thing.

She quickly typed out a text.

“Congratulations, Mr. Drake! I can’t believe you actually found your granddaughter! That’s wonderful!”

He didn’t reply immediately. Vivian gathered her thoughts, organized her work, and called her employees in for a meeting.

By the time the meeting wrapped up, it was already past ten. Vivian returned to her office and resumed her drafting. Time flew by, and when she finally looked up, it was nearly noon. Opening her personal WhatsApp, she saw several unread messages.

The first was from her pinned chat with Julian Faulkner.

“I booked a table at a nearby restaurant. Do you want to eat at the office, or should I pick you up so we can eat out?”

“Are you busy? Reply to me when you see this.”

There were two messages in total, the most recent one sent twenty minutes ago. It seemed Julian was making sure she actually ate a proper meal. Otherwise, since it was almost noon and she hadn’t prepared anything, she probably would have just grabbed some fast food downstairs.

Vivian immediately replied to Julian.

“Let’s eat out. I’ve been sitting in the office all morning, so it’d be good to stretch my legs. Should I come up to find you now?”

After sending the text, she opened the other unread chats. Eleanor Rhodes had shared a news link with her—it was the exact same article about the Drake family she had read that morning.

Eleanor was utterly shocked that the long-lost granddaughter had actually been found.

“I wonder if they’ve done a paternity test!” Eleanor messaged. “With the Drake family’s wealth, putting this kind of information out there is bound to attract a bunch of imposters, right?”

Vivian stared at Eleanor’s message, falling into deep thought.

They must have done one, right? While Mr. Drake’s longing for his granddaughter was genuine, he wouldn’t blindly believe just any girl of the right age and background who claimed to be her. Besides, with a formal banquet already scheduled to welcome her back, he definitely wouldn’t be so careless.

“They probably did one, right? Anyway, Eleanor, I’m heading out for lunch. Make sure you eat soon too!”

After replying, Vivian opened the next chat. It was Mr. Drake’s response.

Uh.

To be precise, his response was completely off-topic. He didn’t mention a single word about his granddaughter. Instead, he brought up their plan to go hiking on Saturday.

“I heard Aethelburg University is organizing a hiking event this Saturday? Supposedly, they’ll donate cat food once we reach the summit. Vivian, are you going? If you’re going, I’d like to go too!”

Why was Mr. Drake suddenly asking about this on a whim? Didn’t the Drake family have a massive event in three days? Now that his biological granddaughter had been found, shouldn’t all his attention be focused entirely on her? Why was he still thinking about hiking with Vivian?

Was this the ultimate dedication of an animal rescuer? Mr. Drake’s noble character was truly something to learn from!

Amused by the thought, Vivian typed back, “I’ll be there, Mr. Drake. We’re meeting up at nine in the morning. If you want to come…

“Well, you’re more than welcome to join if you have time. Oh, and you can bring your granddaughter too! I’d love to meet Miss Drake.”

Mr. Drake replied in seconds.

Once again, it was completely off-topic.

“Nine o’clock, you say? Don’t worry, I’ll be there right on time!”

He still hadn’t addressed the topic of his granddaughter.

Vivian sensed something slightly strange about his replies, but before she could dwell on it, Julian opened her office door.

“Still working?” Julian asked as he walked in and closed the door behind him. He immediately cut to the chase. “Did you hear about the Drake family finding their granddaughter?”

Vivian nodded. After exchanging what they knew, they realized they had both heard the exact same details.

“Yeah,” Julian acknowledged, adding, “I’ve already had Vance Wyatt reach out to the Drakes to ask for more details, but we haven’t heard anything back yet.

“By the way, the Drake family sent me an invitation for the banquet in three days. They invited us and Grandmother to attend. Do you want to go?”

The Drake family’s welcoming banquet.

Come to think of it…

This wouldn’t be Vivian’s first time attending such a ‘homecoming’ banquet. The last one had been hosted by the Lowell family to welcome Shelly Lowell back. At that event, Vivian had pulled quite a few strings, causing the Lowell family to lose face and nearly turning Shelly into the laughingstock of Aethelburg’s high society.

But that was a long time ago.

Recalling the memory, Vivian couldn’t help but purse her lips into a smile. She turned to Julian. “Let’s go. After all, anything concerning Mr. Drake is my business too.

“Alright, Julian, I’m starving. Let’s head out and get some food, shall we? I could use a walk to stretch my stiff joints!” Stretching her arms above her head lazily, she beamed.

Julian walked over and took her hand. “Alright. It’s not too far from here—just a ten-minute drive. There’s a mall nearby too.

“Once we’re full, we can stroll around the mall. The weather is starting to heat up, and the forecast says it’ll be scorching all week. When I’m not around at noon, if you go out for lunch, try to stay inside the mall.

“I don’t want you getting heatstroke from being out in the sun too long.”

“Mhm, I know!” Vivian nodded, and they happily walked out hand-in-hand.

Three days passed by in a flash.

During this time, Julian kept a close eye on the situation regarding Mr. Drake’s granddaughter. However, the Drake family’s lips were sealed tight this time. Even Julian couldn’t dig up any further information.

But that hardly mattered anymore. Even if they were kept in the dark for now, they would finally see the true face of the eldest Miss Drake tonight at seven o’clock, once the banquet commenced at the Grand West Aethelburg Hotel.

In the car, Vivian and Eleanor were still animatedly discussing the matter.

“I wonder what kind of family Miss Drake grew up in,” Eleanor wondered aloud. “You don’t think Master Drake expects his biological granddaughter to inherit the family empire, do you?

“I mean, even if she’s his real granddaughter, the education she received growing up must pale in comparison to what Joy Drake and the others had. Even with Master Drake’s backing, could she really compete with them?”

Eleanor was genuinely worried!

Her concern stemmed primarily from the fact that Joy Drake was a deeply manipulative and ruthless woman! How could a girl raised in an ordinary environment possibly go toe-to-toe with someone like Joy?

Even with Mr. Drake’s protection, he was getting older. He couldn’t shield her forever, could he? Once his protection was gone, wouldn’t his biological granddaughter be eaten alive?

It wasn’t that Eleanor was a bleeding heart sympathizing with an eldest Miss Drake she had never even met; she just purely loathed Joy!

“Well…”

Vivian had pondered the exact same question. But for now, all she could say was, “Since Mr. Drake made this choice, I suppose he must have his reasons, right?”