Her Precious Baby
Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Nevertheless, she endured it and stood her ground. “I have no reason to do such a thing, Mr. Golding,as I’m only here for work. Could it be your supreme confidence in your own qualities that had youconvinced that every woman out there must desperately want to get in your good books?”

Those utterances seemed to weigh heavily in the atmosphere around them.

The look on the pair’s faces told Delano Halls that something was not quite right. “Do you and Ms.Sorelle know each other, Mr. Golding?” he asked in concern.

“No, I don’t know her.” Speaking in his deep and low inflection, Evander sought to distance himself fromher.

Unable to stomach that sight, Angeline managed a stiff smile. “Of course, he doesn’t. Not everyone canhope to be acquainted with someone as illustrious as Mr. Golding himself.”

Is she suggesting that I’m unapproachable?

Evander’s expression turned increasingly sullen. It was as though a terrible storm was brewing withinhim.

A secretary-like woman skirted around to Delano from behind. After she whispered something into hisear, the latter’s face turned constipated. It would seem that he just had found himself caught between arock and a hard place.

So, Evander and Angeline actually can’t get along with each other? This is all because of my previouswork trip. It’s no wonder I had no idea about what was going on despite how long the news has beenout there!

“About that, Mr. Golding. I invited Ms. Sorelle to help me with the promotional work for the property along time ago.” He only concluded that he might have misspoken after those words had escaped his

lips, but alas, it was too late for him to retract them.

“Oh? Is that so?” Evander’s unblinking eyes remained fixated upon Angeline’s face when he asked thatquestion.

Does that mean that it is a sheer coincidence that we have found ourselves in the same place heretoday? Was I wrong about her?

“Look, Mr. Golding…” Delano wiped a palmful of nervous sweat from his own face as he was unable tofigure out what Evander actually meant to say.

Is he trying to tell me that he’s not going to step on that stage, or he wants me to kick Angeline out?

Should that be the case, he feared that his company would make the headline news the next day,except that it would be for all the wrong reasons.

An extended silence ensued.

“It’s time. Let’s go cut that ribbon.” Evander finally peeled his eyes off Angeline. Though he offered thatreminder in an icy tone, he had provided a way for all of them to ease out of that impasse.

With that, Delano was able to breathe a sigh of relief. He then quickly instructed the female compere tohand out the scissors.

Before the commencement of the ceremony, Evander and Delano positioned themselves right smack inthe center of the pack. Delano even called out for Angeline to stand directly on the other side ofEvander. On Angeline’s part, she was a little too self-conscious to refuse.

Her entire body was unnerved by the wintriness that radiated off Evander, so much so that the scissorstrembled in her grasp. It took her two solid tries to actually nail the cutting motion.

Upon the completion of the ribbon-cutting segment, Evander was ushered into the banquet hall byothers.

In the absence of that imposing presence, Angeline was finally able to let her hair down. When she feltthe back of her clothing, it was surprisingly slick with sweat.

All the guests for the evening’s event were mostly convened.

Angeline’s belly started rumbling the moment she was able to rest. In order to maintain her figureahead of the promotional shoot, she only had one packet of meal replacement cookies very early in theday. By this time, the hunger pangs were really starting to gnaw at her.

Seeing that there was no one around, Angeline made her way over to the banquet hall’s dining area,taking care to avoid the crowd. Coupled with the fact that everyone else was busy mingling amongstthemselves, no one really paid any attention to her.

The silvery trays that lined the length of the long table were stacked with a wide assortment of foodoptions. Grabbing a plate, she then went on to pick out a few small pieces of cake for herself.

Word had it that all the food served that night was prepared by a Ferropenian pastry chef and that theirtaste was truly something to behold. Leaning back against the table, Angeline worked her dessert forkaway at the cakes that were as savory as reputed.

She herself found the cakes to be quite irresistible, even as someone who did not have that much of asweet tooth to begin with.

“Your husband’s business has been developing quite splendidly, Mrs. Halls. Such a lucky woman youare.” At that moment, a familiar voice rang out.

Angeline’s gaze grew frigid when she glanced to the side—it was Joseline. The latter had her handsaround a wealthy woman’s arm, and the duo was steadily making their way over.

Joseline picked up a glass of red wine from the table in view of offering a toast to Colleen. Her smile,however, unraveled as soon as she made eye contact with Angeline.

I’ll be d*mned!

Angeline was not expecting to run into Joseline there either. Not wanting to get into an argument in thatsort of setting, she pretended not to know Joseline. Thus, she swiftly placed her cake down and turnedto make a quick exit.

Joseline, on the other hand, was still bearing a grudge from their last unpleasant encounter at the cafe.As such, there was no way she was going to miss out on that opportunity to embarrass Angeline. Aninsidious look flashed across Joseline’s eyes as she tightened her grip around the wine glass andintentionally flung its contents in Angeline’s direction.

Fortunately for Angeline, her quick reflexes saved her in the nick of time. Nevertheless, a couple ofsplotches of wine stains still managed to catch themselves onto her dress.

“Oh, my dear sister, how careless of you!” Purposefully feigning surprise, Joseline hurried to grab anapkin to help wipe at the dress, only to make it even filthier.

Her motivations did not elude Angeline, who straight up shook her off. Angeline then gave her a sternreminder, “If it’s not bad enough that you’ve terrible eyesight, Ms. Sorelle, do you now have a poorconstitution to go along with it? How else could you have failed to hold on to your glass and splashedwine all over somebody else?”

Joseline’s face fell, and her sharp nails dug deep into her own palms.

Colleen, who was observing from the side, reacted in astonishment. “Is this your younger sister, Ms.Sorelle?” she discreetly asked.

“Yes.” Joseline appeared apologetic. “I’m sorry that you had to see this.”

“It’s okay.” As an understanding person, Colleen scrutinized Angeline before she regarded her withsome skepticism. “But why would a young lady from the Sorelle family be taking on a job like this?”

“That’s a long story. My sister made many mistakes previously because of her own immaturity, so sheisn’t quite on reasonable terms with the rest of the family.” Exhaling, Joseline portrayed herself asthough she was a concerned older sister.

When Angeline heard that, she stopped trying to clean her dress. “Have you forgotten, Ms. Sorelle?I’ve already severed ties with the Sorelle family eons ago,” she scoffed.

“Oh, Angeline.” Joseline strutted over to her younger sister on her three-inch stilettos and placed ahand on the latter’s shoulder. “You should know that I’ll continue to do my best to convince Grandpa toallow you to go home. While I understand that you’re still very upset, we are in a public space and, assuch, should try to be more mindful of our conduct.”

Angeline could have really been touched by Joseline had she not been privy to the truth. It was a pitythen that her sense of clarity allowed her to seize upon the wickedness within the eyes of her own“good sister.”

“I think your kindness might be a little too much for me, Ms. Sorelle,” Angeline replied with a smirk. Shesuppressed the contempt in her heart while she tossed that crumbled piece of napkin in her hand intothe bin.

From the perspective of the outsider, she came across as being quite aloof.

Having untethered herself from the opinions of others for a while now, however, she elected to quietlyturn and depart.

“You will attend Hanson and my wedding next month, won’t you, Angeline?” Joseline called out afterher once more.

Wedding?

Angeline froze in her tracks. It felt as though she had just been doused with cold water that soaked herto the skin.

When she about-faced, there was an added element of astoundment in her eyes. “Are you two gettingmarried?”

“Yeah. Seeing that I’m conceiving Hanson’s child, we couldn’t delay things any longer. Grandpa hasalready settled upon a suitable date on our behalf.”

While Joseline spoke, she rubbed her own abdomen and let out a blissful smile. “I know that you’vedisowned the Sorelle family, but considering that we’ve grown up together, won’t you come and give usyour well-wishes?”

Angeline’s eyes fell upon Joseline’s tiny baby bump. As she regarded it with mixed feelings, her fingersinvoluntarily closed tightly against themselves.

Joseline can finally realize her lifelong dream. I bet that the Yiurks and the Sorelles must be feelingover the moon right now!

“My congratulations, then. I’ll be sure to have my assistant prepare and send a gift to you at yourwedding venue when I return.” Angeline’s lips curled up slightly to mask the pain she felt inside.

That was exactly the sort of reaction that Joseline sought.

Though she felt indescribably gleeful inside, she nonetheless acted as though she was regretful andaggrieved. “I know that you’ve been very busy with your work, but surely you must be able to set asideone day for this? I’m still hoping that you’d be able to be my bridesmaid.”

Being the bridesmaid to my ex-boyfriend at his wedding? How ridiculous is that?

“I’m rather concerned that I may end up making you uncomfortable by being there.” Angeline hookedher own hair behind her ear and curled up her red lips in a mocking manner. “After all, Hanson hadcourted me for so many years back then. What if…”

Her words hit Joseline right in the gut, so much so that it got the latter silently stewing.

“But of course, that was all in the past. Thinking back on it now, it probably doesn’t even warrantmention. You may rest assured, though, Joseline, that I’ll never reuse anything that I have discarded.”