Chapter 474: Tidal Pavilion and Chase Lockwood

Chapter 474: Chapter 474: Tidal Pavilion and Chase Lockwood

Unlike Evan and Claire, Quentin didn’t constantly try to coax and please her. Old Mrs. Yeats didn’t want this grandson at all.

Now, look at him! It was one thing to be disobedient, but to deliberately humiliate his own biological grandmother and sister—was he even human?!

Fortunately, it wasn’t as if Seaview Tower was completely empty. Most people had already entered, including several prominent figures in power.

Claire breathed a sigh of relief. As long as there were—

"B-Bad news, Miss Yeats! They just dropped off their gifts and left!"

"The eldest daughter of the Willow family has arrived—what? The Willow family went across the street?"

"The Carson family is here. Young Mr. Carson said his mother feels a connection with Miss Lockwood, so he w-went over to Miss Lockwood’s side..."

"The Foster family has arrived! Uh... Young Mr. Foster said he really wanted to stay and congratulate Miss Yeats, but since it’s Miss Lockwood’s birthday over there, missing today means waiting until next year. So, he went over..."

Claire was absolutely furious.

What kind of excuse was that?! If Estelle’s birthday only happened once a year, did they think her championship win was an everyday occurrence?!

The major wealthy families had turned out in full force. Some were there to show respect to Nathaniel Sloan, some for the Aethel Group, some were friends with Quentin, and quite a few had come purely for Estelle. No one expected that in today’s "competition," the most spectacular loser would actually be Claire Yeats!

Was there even any comparison to be made? Everyone knew Claire had snatched Seaview Tower and its banquet hall simply to suppress Estelle.

Suppress her? Was this what she called suppression? She was the one being suppressed!

The guests inside Seaview Tower were filled with immense regret. Many of them had initially received invitations from Mrs. Kendrick, but they hadn’t been able to resist the temptation offered by the Yeats family. A miscalculation! What a massive miscalculation!

Fortunately, the banquet wasn’t over yet.

"Miss Yeats, my assistant just called. There’s an urgent matter at my company, so I’ll be taking my leave."

Finally, someone couldn’t sit still any longer. Throwing out a flimsy excuse, they dashed across the street. Seeing someone take the lead, the others became even more restless and stood up one after another.

"Miss Yeats, my daughter says she misses me. I have to go back. Farewell."

"Miss Yeats, I’m so sorry, but I absolutely must attend an international conference call. My hands are tied. Excuse me, I’ll definitely come next time."

"Miss Yeats, it’s getting late. My wife is calling me home..."

"Miss Yeats..."

"Miss Yeats..."

Almost everyone rose to their feet. The last few didn’t even bother pretending anymore.

"Hurry up, before it gets too crowded and we can’t get into Tidal Pavilion."

"I regret it so much! I should have known that Old Mrs. Yeats and Claire hold no real power in the Yeats family. Why did I ever trust them?!"

"The Young Master of the Yeats family is literally right across the street!"

"Speaking of which, Estelle is the true eldest daughter of the Yeats family. Who knows how much actual blood tie Claire’s ’Yeats’ surname even has to the main family!"

"We really threw away a diamond just to pick up a pebble..."

In an instant, Seaview Tower was completely empty. The guests had fled, leaving the place deserted.

Of course they left! With so many major families and prominent aristocrats gathered over there, why stay here instead of trying to curry favor with them? Did they want to stick around just to look at Old Mrs. Yeats’s murderous expression?

Claire could no longer maintain her composure, her expression twisting into a vicious scowl as she thought, "Estelle Lockwood!!!"

Inside Tidal Pavilion.

Old Mr. Rhodes entered with a smile. Upon seeing Estelle, he let out a hearty laugh. "Wonderful, wonderful! It’s been a long time, Estelle."

Estelle’s eyes lit up. "You actually came?"

"How could I miss your birthday?"

Old Mr. Rhodes was a good friend of Chase Lockwood. During the years Estelle had been taken in by Chase, she had met Old Mr. Rhodes a few times. Back then, Old Mr. Rhodes had assumed she had no blood relation to Chase. Only now did he know that she was actually his biological daughter.

Not long after, another elderly man walked in.

Old Mr. Rhodes was surprised. "Oh? If it isn’t Summers! You came too?"

Old Mr. Summers stroked his chin and sighed. "How could I not come to Tidal Pavilion?" He then looked at Nathaniel Sloan. "Is Tidal Pavilion in your hands now?"

Nathaniel smiled. "Yes."

Mr. Summers raised an eyebrow. "Left to you by the previous Mr. Lynch?"

This surprised Nathaniel a little. Did Mr. Summers know that Mr. Lynch was merely a title and not a specific person?

Mr. Summers waved his hand dismissively. "Wondering how I know all this? Think about it. Why is Tidal Pavilion called Tidal Pavilion?"

Estelle’s heart suddenly raced. As if realizing something, her eyes lit up.

Old Mr. Rhodes couldn’t help but chuckle. "It was named after Chase. That’s why it’s called Tidal Pavilion. Estelle, your grandfather was Tidal Pavilion’s first owner. Later, he gave the pavilion to that little girl from the Lancaster family, and then, she passed it on to this... Mr. Lynch."

Estelle blinked, subconsciously looking around the restaurant. Was this the restaurant her grandfather had founded?

Old Mr. Rhodes teased Mr. Summers. "Everyone knows Tidal Pavilion was Chase’s restaurant, and everyone knows our Estelle is right here. Why did you have to go over to Seaview Tower and act like a fool?"

"Watch your mouth," Mr. Summers pursed his lips. "I did that on purpose. Do you understand what ’on purpose’ means? I wanted to make it crystal clear that the Claire girl across the street was deliberately trying to suppress Estelle, only to humiliate herself instead. If she can do something like that, what’s wrong with me throwing a few sarcastic remarks her way?"

Following that, Miss Willow, Young Mr. Foster, and Young Mr. Churchill arrived...

The guests who had rushed over from Seaview Tower were green with envy. So many prominent figures whom they never had the chance to socialize with on a normal day were now all gathered in one room!

"Miss Lockwood! Miss Lockwood!"

"Miss Lockwood, we’re here to celebrate your birthday..."

"Y-Yes, we have invitations!"

Seeing that Tidal Pavilion’s bodyguards weren’t letting anyone in, the crowd grew anxious.

"Earlier... earlier, Claire insisted on blocking me. Otherwise, I would have been here ages ago!"

"That’s right! We wanted to come to your side from the very beginning. We only went across the street to drop off our gifts and leave. Who would have thought Claire would be so shameless as to forcibly keep us there?!"

"Miss Lockwood, please let us in!"

Estelle’s lips curled into a half-smile.

Mr. Summers muttered under his breath, "They’re all just a bunch of fence-sitters. They were just talking badly about you over at Claire’s place."

Old Mr. Rhodes frowned in displeasure. "If we turn them away, I doubt they’ll be willing to leave."

Estelle simply smiled, her tone meaningful. "Actually, there’s no harm in letting them in."

Henry Kendrick looked confused. "Estelle, are you really that kind-hearted?"

"Kind-hearted?" Estelle replied casually. "Of course not. Or rather... why don’t you look up at the building across the street?"

Henry looked up and immediately saw Claire’s vicious, scowling face. He couldn’t hold back a snort of laughter. "Oh... I get it now. You’re right, letting these people in is actually a good idea... Wait, Estelle, I just thought of a brilliant plan."

Henry pointed at a specific person—the one who had just been cursing Claire the most enthusiastically. "You can come in."

The crowd froze in surprise.

Henry looked at Quentin Yeats with great interest. "Young Mr. Yeats, you don’t have any objections to my methods, do you?"

Quentin lowered his eyes and let out what seemed like a helpless sigh. Regardless of what Estelle thought, at least on the surface, the Yeats family was truly proving to be a massive disappointment.