Chapter 626: The Party
Chapter 626: The Party
Time passed pretty quickly and it was already almost time for the party. Liam was already dressed and was waiting for Lucy and Yanxia, who were still dressing up. Especially Lucy, who was struggling with what to wear even though she had a shopping complex filled with clothes.
"Come on, girls. We are going to be late," Liam said, his voice echoing throughout the house, walking to the entrance where Nick and Mason were already waiting for him.
"We will be on way down soon,"Lucy said.
"That’s what you said fifteen minutes ago," Liam muttered.
As he reached the door, Mason held it open for him.
"Good evening, sir," Mason greeted.
"Good evening to you, Mason," Liam greeted back. "How are you and your family? Hope no problem at all?"
"No problem at all, sir. My family’s doing great, all thanks to you."
"That’s good to hear. Remember that you can come to me if anything comes up."
"Yes, sir," Mason gave a nod, with a bright smile on his face.
Liam smiled and walked to the waiting car. Mason closed the door and walked ahead of him to open the car’s backseat door.
"How are you, Nick?" Liam asked, as he got into the backseat.
"I’m great, sir," Nick gave a smile, with a bright, satisfied and proud smile on his face.
Liam smiled and gave a nod, as he settled in. He looked out the window and saw Lucy, and Yanxia coming out of the house.
They walked to the car, giggling between each other. When they got close, Mason who had been standing beside the door, greeted them and opened the door for them.
They greeted him back and got into the car. Yanxia turned to Liam and hugged him, still laughing at what Lucy had said earlier.
"Papa. How do I look?" She asked, with a sweet smile on her face.
"You look fabulous. The both of you look stunning," Liam said.
Both girls looked at each other and giggled happily, which caused Liam to simply shrug his shoulder in confusion.
Nick steered the car down the long driveway to the gate.
Liam stared out the car, while the girls simply chatted with each other.
Nick steered the car steered down the street and Liam curiously spread out his spiritual sense around the car, to see if there was anyone actively watching them.
Like he had expected, there were indeed people watching the car as it made its way down the street and some were even taking pictures. But they weren’t from the press but residents of the street.
This caused him to smile but he didn’t pay too much attention to it. He had actually thought of them to flying to the part, but he decided to just take the car for once, as it has been a while. Also, the party venue wasn’t far from his place. Just fifteen minutes drive away.
"Master, how do you think the party will go?" Lucy asked.
"I don’t know but I’m sure that it will be great."
"Is that so? Thank you for bringing me along."
"What do you mean? I told you that you would no longer need to be stuck in the research section or the lab. You have to get out there and have fun. This will be the start of it," Liam said.
Lucy smiled and nodded.
"Don’t worry, Papa. I will make sure Lucy have fun. I will reluctantly break the hand of anyone who tries to lay their hands on her."
"No breaking of hand today, Yanxia. Just leave it all to me to handle," Liam said.
"Okay Papa," Yanxia smiled.
They arrived at the the party a couple of minutes later. Mason opened the door and when they stepped out, they saw a quite a few people standing at the door, staring at them.
"They are staring," Lucy observed, her voice carrying the tone of someone cataloguing information rather than expressing discomfort.
"Let them," Liam said.
He straightened his jacket and walked toward the entrance. Lucy and Yanxia fell into step beside him, and Mason and Nick followed a few paces behind.
The small crowd at the entrance parted instinctively as they approached. Phones immediately came up and a few flashes went off, as everyone tried to take pictures of him for varying reasons.
Someone said his name in a tone that showed that they weren’t sure if they were allowed to say it, and then a second person said it, and then it spread through the small crowd in a low wave.
He didn’t slow down.
Two men near the entrance moved toward him, tentatively, with an expression that said that they wanted something and hadn’t decided how to ask for it.
One had his phone extended. The other was already talking, words coming fast, something about a quick photo, just a second, it would mean everything.
Liam’s eyes moved past them without stopping, his pace unchanged, the space between himself and the entrance closing steadily. The two men found that the path they had been walking toward had simply continued past them.
A woman near the door reached out and touched his arm as he passed.
Liam stopped and he looked at her hand, then at her face. She pulled it back immediately, her expression shifting from excited to something closer to alarmed. He held her gaze for a moment — not unkindly, but long enough, then continued walking.
Nobody else reached out. They were scared due to how nonchalant and gold Liam was acting. Though some of them were inwardly offended, they didn’t dare show it.
Liam and his group crossed the threshold and the sound of the crowd outside fell away behind the door.
Inside, the music was already blasting through the roof and the space was warm with the energy of a party that had found its rhythm. It was a good-sized venue — not large enough to lose people in, not small enough to feel packed — with lighting that made everything look deliberate and a crowd that was young and dressed for the occasion.
For exactly three seconds, nobody noticed them.
Then the room shifted in sections, as if awareness was moving through a space, with one person looking, then the person beside them, then the cluster around them, until a visible current of turned heads and paused conversations ran from the entrance toward the far end of the room.
Liam ignored it.
Kristopher appeared from the direction of the crowd before they had taken five steps, moving toward them with ease, as if he had been watching for exactly this moment. He was dressed well and looked genuinely glad to see them, which came through immediately.
"You made it," he said, and shook Liam’s hand, pulling him into a brief embrace. "And on time. I’m marking this down."
"Don’t get used to it," Liam said.
Kristopher’s eyes moved to Lucy and Yanxia and his expression carried a look of appreciation like someone encountering elegance and having the sense to acknowledge it without making it awkward.
"Lucy. Yanxia." He gave a nod that was warmer than formal. "You both look incredible. Genuinely."
"Thank you, Kristopher," Lucy said.
Yanxia studied him for a moment, then smiled. "You’re the party one."
Kristopher blinked.
"I’ve been called worse," he said.
"It’s a good thing," she said.
Kristopher turned and gestured toward the far side of the room. "Come on. Everyone’s already here and they’ve been asking since eight-thirty."
He led them through the crowd, moving through it with ease. The path he carved was efficient, and the crowd gave way more readily around Liam than it would have around anyone else, which Kristopher had clearly anticipated and used.
They came through the far side of the main floor and found the group already arranged around a section that looked like it had been claimed early and defended cheerfully.
Matt saw them first.
He stood up from his seat, looked at Liam, then at Lucy, then at Yanxia, and seemed to need a moment to organize his response to all three arriving simultaneously.
"Finally," he said.
"We’re on time," Liam said.
The rest of the group rose and the greetings moved through the circle — Harper, Alex, Stacy, Kristy, Elise, Lana — each one warm, some louder than others.
Liam settled into the space the group had made for him, the music running overhead and the party moving around them, and felt the particular ease of being somewhere simple after weeks of everything that had been anything but.
"Drink?" Kristopher said, appearing at his shoulder.
"Yeah," Liam said. "Whatever you’re having."
"So, how do you like the party?" Matt asked loudly over the loud music.
"It’s looking good. Just the stares are a little bit much," Liam said.
"Well, you can’t exactly blame them, can you? You’re the most popular person in the world. If Kristopher hadn’t limited the number of guests, thousands of people would had flown in from all over the world just for the party. That’s the level of influence you have," Stacy said.
"I’m that popular, huh?" Liam smiled.
"Shameless!"