Chapter 470: Overflowing with Jealousy

Chapter 470: Chapter 470: Overflowing with Jealousy

"Are you saying that even your birthday banquet wouldn’t qualify to be held at Tidal Pavilion?" she asked, her tone calm yet tinged with curiosity.

Old Mrs. Yeats deliberately raised her voice to highlight Estelle Lockwood’s ignorance. "Of course!

"That is Tidal Pavilion! Who in high society doesn’t know how exclusive it is? Estelle Lockwood, only a country bumpkin like you would dare use Tidal Pavilion as the subject of a lie."

"Is that so..." Estelle mused for a couple of seconds. Suddenly, the heavy doors of Tidal Pavilion swung open behind her.

Turning around, she offered a slight nod to the person stepping out. "My apologies, I’m late."

"Not at all. There’s no need to be so polite, Miss Lockwood. Today, the entirety of Tidal Pavilion is at your service."

The man, the manager of Tidal Pavilion, was dressed sharply in a suit and spoke respectfully. "Please come in, Miss Lockwood. By the way, are these your guests?" He glanced at Old Mrs. Yeats, who was frozen in shock, and offered a polite smile. "If they are your guests, they are naturally guests of Tidal Pavilion. We certainly can’t have them standing at the door."

Estelle’s lips curled into a meaningful smile. "They aren’t. These two are guests of Seaview Tower."

"Oh." The manager’s face instantly went blank.

Old Mrs. Yeats was utterly dumbfounded. Trembling all over, she pointed a shaky finger at Estelle. "You, you, you..."

Claire Yeats was equally in disbelief, almost shouting, "You’re a guest at Tidal Pavilion?! That’s impossible!"

Estelle looked over with a calm smile.

Claire managed to steady her voice, but the cold sweat beading on her forehead and the slight tremor in her tone betrayed her panic. She forced out a strained smile. "E-Estelle... you’re joking, right? This is Tidal Pavilion. You’re actually hosting a banquet here?"

She thought, "How could this be? How could this be?!

"I finally found a way to crush Estelle, to put her in her place. But now, she’s hosting her birthday banquet at Tidal Pavilion?! I went to such great lengths to snatch Seaview Tower away from her. And then she just casually strolls through the doors of Tidal Pavilion?

"On what grounds?! This isn’t real. It absolutely cannot be real!"

"Miss Yeats." Estelle tilted her head, tossing the exact words Old Mrs. Yeats had just said right back at them. "Would you like to come into Tidal Pavilion? I can clear out a private room for you. After all, on any normal day, you wouldn’t even have the chance to set foot inside."

How could Claire not hear the blatant mockery in Estelle’s voice? Gritting her teeth, she felt like an absolute clown. "Estelle..."

"Oh, right." Estelle suddenly remembered something. Smiling, she turned to the manager of Tidal Pavilion. "A moment ago, Old Mrs. Yeats said that even she wouldn’t qualify to host a birthday banquet at Tidal Pavilion... Is that true?"

The manager smiled politely. "Yes, if it were Old Mrs. Yeats, she indeed wouldn’t qualify. But you are different. Please rest assured, you are our most esteemed guest. However, if you were to put in a word for her, Tidal Pavilion would agree to host her."

Estelle nodded and asked unhurriedly, "Ah... then is Old Mrs. Yeats interested? Would you like to host your upcoming birthday banquet at Tidal Pavilion?"

"Estelle Lockwood, shut your mouth!" Old Mrs. Yeats shrieked. She simply couldn’t stand being ridiculed by a junior she so deeply despised. "How could you be worthy?! How could you qualify?! I know what’s going on! This man definitely isn’t the manager of Tidal Pavilion. You’re in cahoots to deceive us!"

The manager’s face instantly darkened. "Old Mrs. Yeats, I suggest you watch your words!"

Estelle couldn’t care less. "It’s fine. If Old Mrs. Yeats feels better thinking that way, let her." With that, she nodded at the manager. "Let’s go inside."

"Right away, Miss Lockwood." The manager maintained an impeccable smile throughout. Only after Estelle had walked through the doors did he turn back, his tone turning ice-cold. "I apologize, Old Mrs. Yeats, but Tidal Pavilion does not welcome the two of you. Please leave."

Old Mrs. Yeats quivered with rage.

Claire bit her lip. When she turned around and noticed the evasive, avoiding gazes of the onlookers, her expression turned incredibly sour.

She thought, "What on earth is going on? Didn’t they say Estelle couldn’t even rent a banquet hall? Why is she suddenly a VIP guest at Tidal Pavilion?! One second I was smugly mocking her, and the next second, she slapped me right across the face!

"Could it be because of Nathaniel Sloan? Yes, that’s possible. Then there’s nothing to be afraid of... Estelle just got lucky, that’s all!"

Claire almost crushed her teeth from grinding them so hard, her jealousy and resentment practically overflowing. She glared fiercely at Tidal Pavilion for a long moment before forcing her smile back into place. Turning to the guests, she gave a slight nod, feigning a look of helplessness.

"Estelle is probably just doing this to oppose me... I heard before that she had some ties with the owner of Tidal Pavilion. Perhaps the owner owed her a favor."

Leaving the statement ambiguous like this was the best way to incite speculation. Sure enough, those who had been hesitating upon hearing this quickly stepped back. They exchanged glances and shook their heads.

Tidal Pavilion was notoriously mysterious and unattainable. Just how much power did the boss behind the scenes hold? Did Estelle know how precious a favor from the owner of Tidal Pavilion was? How useful it could be? For her to waste it on something like this was terribly short-sighted! Besides, once a favor was used up, it was gone. In that case, there was no need to curry favor with Estelle anymore.

Soon, the banquet officially began, and Seaview Tower immediately buzzed with excitement.

"Miss Yeats, winning an international design award at such a young age—your future is truly limitless!"

"It’s so lively over here with Miss Yeats, unlike across the street..."

"Exactly. So what if the banquet is at Tidal Pavilion? What’s the point if no one shows up? Look over there, she barely has any guests. Only the Kendrick family went."

"If you ask me, the Kendrick family is quite formidable, but compared to the Yeats family..."

"If Miss Yeats wasn’t here today, I would have liked to head over to Tidal Pavilion to join the fun. But since Miss Yeats is here, she is naturally far more important."

"That’s very true, haha..."

The suffocating lump in Claire’s chest finally cleared. Yes, this was exactly how it should be. She wanted to outshine Estelle at every single turn. So what if the banquet was held at Tidal Pavilion? Without the acknowledgment of high society, Estelle was still the loser!

Meanwhile, inside Tidal Pavilion.

Estelle looked around, a bit surprised. "It’s beautiful."

The banquet hall was decorated to exquisite perfection. Mrs. Kendrick wheeled in a large, elaborate cake, clearly custom-made just for her.

"Estelle, come. Let’s light the candles." Mrs. Kendrick looked at Estelle with profound tenderness. Though this child wasn’t hers by blood, she had stayed by her side for five years. She had witnessed every hardship the girl had endured along the way.

Estelle always said she was blessed—first having her grandfather, then the Kendrick family, and now Nathaniel Sloan. But both Mrs. Kendrick and Nathaniel felt it wasn’t enough. It was far from enough.

Glancing around the glaringly empty banquet hall, Mrs. Kendrick cursed those opportunistic fence-sitters in her heart. But on second thought, she decided this wasn’t so bad either. With only family and close friends present, it was peaceful and intimate.

Just then, the doors to the banquet hall pushed open. Quentin Yeats walked in.