Joanne White looked up and saw Zara Walsh, subconsciously trembling slightly.
Zara Walsh t her gaze unflinchingly, her eyes filled with disgust and ridicule.
Joanne White silently averted her eyes. She placed her right hand on her lower abdon, forcing herself to stay calm as she subtly leaned closer to Zane Simmons.
Beside Zara, Kylie Walsh, dressed in a dark green cheongsam, gracefully took a seat as well.
As the elder, Kylie Walsh imdiately greeted Zane Simmons upon sitting down. "Mr. Simmons, I hear you’re in charge of the new energy project Simmons Group is working on with the governnt. You’re so young and accomplished, just like your father was in his pri."
Zane Simmons offered a polite smile and replied modestly, "You’re too kind, Miss Walsh. I’m just helping my father out."
Kylie Walsh smiled, pursing her lips. Then, her tone shifted as she said with feigned concern, "You young people... it’s one thing to be busy with work, but you can’t neglect family matters. You’re not getting any younger. It’s ti you had soone at ho to look after you. That would put your mother’s mind at ease."
Instantly, everyone at the table looked at Zane Simmons, especially Zara Walsh. The corners of her lips curved into a suggestive smile as she blinked at him.
The smile on Zane Simmons’s face faded slightly. He extended a long arm, resting it on Joanne White’s slender shoulder. "What are you talking about, Miss Walsh? Oh, right, I forgot to introduce you. This is my girlfriend, Joanne White."
Then he gestured to Lucy White, who was sitting on the other side. "And this is her sister."
Zara Walsh understood the implication in Zane’s words. The smile on her face froze instantly, and she silently tightened her grip on her glass.
’These two sisters are so shaless! They’re actually willing to share a man!’
Kylie Walsh’s expression, however, remained unchanged. Without so much as a glance at Joanne White, she spoke to Zane Simmons in the tone of an experienced elder. "I know it’s normal to want to have fun at your age. But once you’ve had enough, it’s ti to settle down. You should still find a girl from a family of equal standing to marry."
Zane Simmons just smiled. Out of respect for Kylie Walsh’s status as a Walsh family elder, he didn’t argue back.
Kylie Walsh then turned her gaze to Sophie Thorne beside her and said warmly, "Sophie, you’re here too! I haven’t seen you in ages, you’re getting more beautiful every day! You should bring Ronan Rhodes over to visit soti. I’ve recently learned a few new dishes, I’ll cook for you."
Faced with Kylie Walsh’s warm overture, Sophie Thorne offered a polite smile. She said nothing more, simply nodding. "Thank you for your concern, Miss Walsh."
She knew Kylie Walsh had been pursuing Ronan Rhodes’s uncle for years, but her affection was unrequited. As part of the younger generation, Sophie didn’t want to get involved.
Kylie Walsh’s gaze then shifted to lody and Nina Sumrs beside Sophie, and she asked curiously, "Sophie, are these two your friends?"
Before Sophie could open her mouth, Zara cut in, pointing at lody. "Auntie, this is the Miss Sumrs I ntioned before. She’s Yuri’s and my neighbor."
Kylie Walsh paused. Zara had told her before that Yuri had taken a liking to a girl from an ordinary family nad Sumrs living next door...
At this thought, her gaze toward lody Sumrs grew more appraising.
’She’s pretty, presentable enough to be seen in public,’ she thought. ’But she cos from an ordinary, low-status family... Yuri is the most outstanding of the younger Walsh generation. Barring any surprises, he’s the next head of the family. A girl with lody Sumrs’s background is absolutely not good enough for him.’
lody felt uncomfortable under Kylie Walsh’s scrutinizing gaze. She frowned slightly, wondering what ga these people were playing. She lowered her eyes and kept her expression neutral, saying nothing.
Nina Sumrs kept her head down and remained silent. If lody didn’t speak, neither would she.
Watching lody and Nina with their heads lowered in silence, Zara sneered and said pointedly, "It seems just about anyone can show up at a high-society banquet these days. If you ask , you shouldn’t try to force your way into a circle you don’t belong in... What do you say, Miss Sumrs?"
Her words were laced with insinuation, making even the sisters, Joanne and Lucy White, look uncomfortable.
lody raised an eyebrow at the comnt, but before she could speak, Sophie Thorne was already unhappy.
Sophie’s expression soured. "Miss Walsh, are you mistaken about sothing? lody is a good friend of mine. She ca to this banquet as my guest."
Zane Simmons also chid in with a smirk. "What’s all this about belonging? Miss Sumrs is my friend, too. We’re just a group of friends having dinner and a chat. I’m afraid we don’t understand what you’re getting at, Miss Walsh."
Zara hadn’t expected Zane to defend lody. She froze for a second, then turned to glare viciously at lody. ’I knew it!’ she thought. ’These girls from ordinary families are all shaless vixens, using their pretty faces to seduce rich n everywhere!’
lody t Zara’s furious gaze head-on. In a cold, irritated tone, she said, "Who wants to be in your circle? You can keep your little club to yourself. I was sitting here first. Weren’t you the one who decided to join us?"
lody’s temper was flaring up. She had chosen this corner seat specifically for so peace and quiet, but she still couldn’t escape people looking for trouble.
Zara’s eyes widened in disbelief. "How dare you speak to like that!"
Just as Zara was about to tear into lody, she saw her own brother, Yuri Walsh, approaching.
Yuri had just finished greeting so guests and was scanning the room for lody. He finally spotted her in the corner and quickly made his way over.
But when Yuri reached the table, he was surprised to see his aunt, Kylie Walsh, and his sister, Zara. He paused for a mont but then sat down in the only empty seat.
Ignoring Zara’s smirk, Yuri greeted everyone at the table. Finally, his gaze settled on lody, and he said softly, his eyes gentle, "lody, thank you for coming... You look beautiful tonight."
lody was feeling so collateral animosity. Having just argued with Zara, she wasn’t in the mood to say much to Yuri and simply gave him a perfunctory nod.
Yuri didn’t seem to mind lody’s coldness. From across Nina, he repeatedly tried to start small talk with her.
Sophie Thorne glanced thoughtfully between Yuri and lody. She rembered Yuri’s call to lody a few days ago when the incident happened at The tropolis Residences...
In an instant, it was like a light bulb went off in Sophie’s head, and everything clicked into place. She lowered her head, hiding the smile that touched her lips.
Zara, sitting directly across from Yuri, watched him fawning over lody, so angry she could have ground her teeth to dust. Just as she was about to say sothing, the banquet hall lights suddenly dimd.
All eyes turned to the brightly lit stage—the banquet was starting.
A host in formal wear walked onto the stage. The large screen behind him began playing a docuntary introducing the achievents of the miracle drug developed by Paige Walsh’s research institute.
First, it showed the early stages of a volcanic eruption. Volcanic ash, so thick it blotted out the sun, drifted everywhere. Many people who inhaled it developed severe respiratory and pulmonary infections, leaving them on the verge of death.
Hospitals were overflowing with patients. As ti went on, the death toll climbed relentlessly. The governnt implented ergency asures to try to control the spread, but in the face of such a massive outbreak, their efforts seed futile.
Then ca the miracle drug, which saved the patients tornted by the illness.
As patients were cured one by one, the death toll curve, which had been rising exponentially, was dramatically forced down, eventually approaching zero.
As lody watched the docuntary on the big screen, her fingers trembled slightly with excitent. A profound sense of accomplishnt washed over her.
’In my past life,’ she thought, ’I rember that death toll curve climbing for a full six months. Before the long winter ended, the total number of deaths was dozens of tis higher than in this life!’
’Even those who were lucky enough to survive were tornted by lingering side effects. I myself would have fits of coughing, sotis severe enough to bring up flecks of blood.’
’In this life, thanks to the miracle drug, the number of people left with chronic side effects was drastically lower.’
Seeing the drug she helped develop assist so many people made lody incredibly happy. The foul mood Zara had put her in was instantly swept away.
In the dim light, Yuri discreetly watched lody. She was completely engrossed in the screen on stage, her beautiful eyes sparkling as if they could never be clouded by shadow...
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