Chapter 133 The Oriole And The Mantis
“Pfft. Why would you mention her on such a joyous occasion?” Thomas downed the glass of red wine in his hand and glanced at Yvonne. “That girl has a wild streak and does not know how to treasure herself. She does not deserve to be my daughter…”
Yvonne gave him an apologetic smile in response. “Yes, you’re right. That girl lived with her mother in the countryside since young. There’s no way she could amount to anything honorable.”
Although Yvonne was a mistress who later became the lady of the house, she treated Yara like her own child and loved her more dearly than she loved her daughter, Melissa.
“Unlike Yara, who grew up by our side with first-rate education, talents, preferences…”
At the mention of Yara, Thomas’ tightly knitted brows relaxed a little.
“Yara is indeed exceptional.”
“It’s because of who raised her,” Yvonne announced smugly. “After she marries into the Bowers family, your birthday celebrations will be as grand as Old Mr. Watsons.”
Everyone in Thomas’ family beamed with delight.
Natalie watched the happy family full of smiles from a spot not far away as she ate her chocolate truffle cake.
She was always an outsider in this family.
She had tried desperately to be part of the family in the past but ended up being ostracized.
Now, she felt nothing but hatred and disdain left for them.
She remembered how Thomas and Yvonne ridiculed her when she returned to the Nichols family residence with her pregnancy test results.
Melissa even deliberately tripped her, hoping to make her fall down the stairs.
These painful experiences were buried deeply in her memory.
Yet, although they were buried, she had never forgotten them.
As Natalie reminisced the past, Belle appeared before her, clinging onto Ross’ arm.
The two of them looked at each other, their minds racing.
However, Ross interrupted them, exclaiming with wide eyes, “Natalie? Why are you here?”
“Who are you?” Natalie quickly changed the look of surprise on her face to one of indifference, putting down the plate of half-eaten cake on the table. “I-I don’t know you. You’ve got the wrong person.”
“Natalie, you didn’t use to treat me like this.”
“Don’t call me Natalie. I don’t know you.”
With that, Natalie turned around and left, deliberately running off in a panicked and flustered manner.
However, once her back was turned to Belle, she grinned devilishly.
Shortly after, Max made his grand entrance at the main hall.
After saying some pleasantries, the crowd grew more and more excited. The next event was for the guests to present him with their gifts.
The younger generation from the Watsons family and their branch family was the first to present their gifts.
Without exception, they were all lavish gifts. However, Max had already seen many such items in his lifetime, and he politely thanked them.
Soon, it was Belle’s turn.
She walked forward in a dignified manner, looking like a proud and elegant black swan in her black gown.
“Old Mr. Watsons, Belle wishes you happy birthday. May you have many happy returns.”
“Thank you.”
Belle was in no hurry to present her gift.
Instead, she proposed, “Old Mr. Watsons, it’s too slow and uninteresting to look at the gifts one by one. Why don’t we present the rest of the gifts by drawing lots? Two people who get picked at the same time will present their gifts together.”
“Well, that’s something new!” Fiddling with his walking stick, he nodded slightly. “Might as well give it a try.”
Belle had already set things up before making her proposal, bribing the employees involved in the draw to switch Natalie’s gift.
Natalie would face ridicule as soon as she opened the present in front of everyone, and she would never be able to make a comeback from the humiliation.
Belle searched for Natalie amongst the crowd, staring at her with a calculative look in her eyes.
Natalie, however, was unfazed, as if she was not a part of the upcoming draw. She merely tasted the wine at the banquet. This wine… has a full flavor and is a little sweet.
