Thelma knew Sam Noah had sent them invitations, so she wasn’t surprised. However, Ruth clearly didn’t recognize them. She approached Sam Noah and asked, “Who are these people?”
Sam Noah introduced them one by one, and Ruth then realized that these were Thelma’s family members.
Upon hearing that this was Sam Noah’s mother, Susan immediately showed respect, rushing forward to flatter her, saying how well she maintained herself and looked young, how beautiful her gown was, and how eye-catching her earrings were.
Ruth had heard about Thelma’s family situation and knew that her stepmother was a mistress who had taken her place. Ruth’s own family had also been ruined by a mistress, so she had never had a good impression of mistresses. Not kicking her out was merely out of consideration for Thelma. Facing Susan’s flattery, she felt disgusted but responded blandly to appease her.
Seeing that Ruth wasn’t buying into her flattery, Susan had the self-awareness to stop trying to curry favor. She smiled and said, “This time, my family was able to get the endorsement from Sam Group thanks to Mr. Sam and Mrs. Sam’s support.”
After saying this, Susan meaningfully smiled at Thelma as if to say, “Look, my Ava is so capable. Without your help, she managed to get the endorsement from Sam Group in no time, seemingly mocking Thelma for slapping herself in the face.”
Sam Noah said, “Ava is Thelma’s stepsister, so of course, we should take care of her.”
Ava also timely raised a glass to Sam Noah, making a toast, “Thank you, Mr. Sam, for your kindness.” Her gaze swept over Thelma, “And thank you, Thelma, for your care.”
Thelma could see that Ava’s overly generous behavior was deliberately meant to irritate her.
Chris couldn’t understand the true situation between Thelma and Ava and Susan. He was very happy, his smile unable to be contained, “Seeing you sisters so united makes me really happy.” He raised his glass to Sam Noah and Ruth, saying, “Mrs. Sam, Mr. Sam, I toast to both of you.” After saying this, Chris drank it all in one go.
Thelma truly didn’t know whether Chris was genuinely foolish or just pretending. After so many events, how could he still get along peacefully with Ava?
At that moment, a person slowly walked over from behind Ava, his gaze fixed on her, uncertainly calling out, “Ava?”
Upon hearing the voice, Ava turned her head. The cheerful expression on her face vanished in an instant, as if someone had splashed a bucket of cold water on her. She squinted at the person and quickly recognized him.
Oscar, seeing her face, finally confirmed she was Ava. He hurriedly approached her, saying, “I told you it looked like you; I didn’t expect it to really be you.” He grinned, “It’s been so many years; have you thought about me?”
The disgust in Ava’s eyes when facing this person was something she couldn’t control, no matter how hard she tried. She coldly replied, “Stop talking nonsense; I don’t know you at all.”
Oscar was a person with a strong sense of pride. As soon as he saw Ava, he eagerly approached her to greet her, but now she was pretending not to know him. He had come to the Sam Group banquet today because of an invitation card from his hometown friend, probably wanting to show off that he was doing well enough to get an invitation card. He knew that friend was likely nearby, and he didn’t want to be made a fool of.
“You shouldn’t be like this; even if we broke up, it shouldn’t be like this, right?”
There were quite a few reporters at the Sam Group banquet today. Ava was now a public figure, and the gossip about public figures was what reporters cared about most. She was afraid this person might say something, so she quickly said, “This is the Sam Group’s year-end banquet. Who are you, a little punk, making a scene here?!” After saying this, she turned to Sam Noah and said, “Mr. Sam, I don’t know this person. Can you have security escort him out?”
Susan chimed in, “Mr. Sam, this person clearly snuck in. Don’t let unrelated people ruin such an important occasion as the year-end banquet.”
Sam Noah didn’t speak but signaled to the nearby security with his eyes. The security quickly approached, clearly intending to escort Oscar out. Seeing this, Oscar hurriedly took out his invitation card and said, “I’m not sneaking in; I have an invitation.”
