Chapter 1203: Targeting Him

Once the Preston sisters left, the guests slowly began to disperse.

Miles Morgan walked toward Anna, saying, “Anna, Ivy’s being childish, don’t stoop to her level.”

He didn’t know exactly what his lover had done, but he was sure Anna had been wronged.

In the spirit of “a harmonious family prospers,” Miles came over to comfort Anna.

He also wanted to smooth things over between Anna and Ivy.

His divorce case against Mrs. Monroe was about to go to court; his own lawyer wasn’t as capable as Counselor Zimmerman, and he had no idea what cards Mrs. Monroe and Counselor Zimmerman were holding. His chances of winning might not be as good as he’d imagined.

So Miles was torn inside.

He really didn’t want to be driven to a dead end with Mrs. Monroe and Anna.

But the moment he got together with Ivy, he had already pushed himself onto that dead-end road.

Anna shot Miles a cold, mocking look and said nothing.

She no longer wanted to say anything to him.

Miles only ever shielded Ivy—where did that leave his daughter?

“Let’s go.”

Anna turned her head and spoke to Carter.

Her familiar tone didn’t register with Miles at first; only when he watched the two of them walking away did his gaze fall on their joined hands.

Anna was holding Carter’s hand as they walked.

Miles stood there, stunned.

When had Anna and Carter gotten that close?

No, if they were just friends, they wouldn’t be holding hands.

Could the two of them be…?

As her father, to know absolutely nothing about his daughter’s love life at this point made Miles feel like he was going out of his mind.

He wanted to go after Anna and ask her, but wary of Carter, he decided it would be better to find someone else to ask.

Anna and Carter hadn’t gone far when they ran into Finn Chandler and Julian Ford outside the banquet hall.

The two men were chatting and laughing together, clearly not affected at all by Riley Preston’s little “fall into the water.”

Or rather, Julian hadn’t even bothered to tell Finn about it.

“I just saw a bunch of people rushing out of the banquet hall. Did something happen?”

Finn, seeing Anna coming from where the crowd had just been, asked curiously.

“Oh.”

Anna smiled and lifted her head to look at Julian standing beside Finn.

Among all the guests, Julian’s looks were definitely the most outstanding. Wherever this man went, he was the brightest presence; no wonder Riley had taken a fancy to him.

“Anna!”

Seeing Anna staring at Julian, Carter made his displeasure known.

He was practically a walking jar of jealousy.

Finn chuckled, not taking it to heart.

Anna quickly turned her head to coax the unhappy Carter. “Honey, Julian may be good-looking, but he attracts way too many women.”

“You’re still the best!”

A straight-faced man like Carter, who walked around with a perpetual scowl, was the safest option.

Anna’s sweet words softened Carter’s expression, and Finn couldn’t help breaking into a smile.

“Anna, you’re getting better and better at talking.”

She and Serena Sullivan were already used to hearing Anna sing Carter’s praises; their ears had grown calluses, and they’d long since built up immunity.

“So what exactly happened? You still haven’t said.”

Finn pressed Anna.

“Oh.”

Anna responded, “Riley Preston fell into the water. She probably jumped in herself.”

“Huh?”

Finn couldn’t quite wrap his head around that—fell into the water, but jumped herself?

“Who was Riley aiming for?”

Finn thought aloud, then glanced at Anna and Carter coming from the lakeside. Could it be…

“Mr. Lockwood may look stern, but he’s very popular with the ladies.”

“It wasn’t him,” Anna replied, her gaze landing on Julian.

Following her line of sight, Finn suddenly understood, and Julian picked up the thread of the conversation. “She was probably aiming for me.”