Chapter 202: Things Have Changed
Two days later, on a Friday evening just as dusk was settling in, Sophie Shaw’s phone rang.
It was a WhatsApp message from Alaric Blackwood saying he was downstairs at the Heart of the Ocean building.
Sophie put on her overcoat, grabbed her bag, and left the office early.
A black Cullinan was parked in front of her office building. Alaric had told her that the Cullinan belonged to Evan Ford and that they had traded cars.
Sophie got into the passenger seat and buckled her seatbelt. The car set off, heading to the grand hotel where Mrs. Ford was holding her birthday banquet.
The Ford family had made their fortune in real estate. After Evan Ford’s parents took over the company, Mrs. Ford stepped away from the business completely. She enjoyed investing and, being something of a gourmand, had put most of her money into the restaurant industry.
The grand hotel where the banquet was being held tonight was one of her investments.
The largest private room on the second floor had been booked in advance by the Fords. When Sophie walked in on Alaric’s arm, four people were already there: Mrs. Ford, Evan Ford, and two unfamiliar faces. They were Mr. and Mrs. Ford, who had been vacationing abroad and rushed back for the matriarch’s birthday.
Beaming, Mrs. Ford took Sophie’s hand and introduced Mr. and Mrs. Ford to her.
"They’re your uncle and aunt."
Shortly after, Quentin Blackwood and Mandy Halloway arrived. They took off their coats and exchanged pleasantries with the Fords.
Alaric quietly watched his father, who was acting as if nothing were amiss, his gaze cold and grim.
As if sensing the stare, Quentin Blackwood turned his head, feigning composure. The moment the father and son’s eyes met, Alaric looked away.
Sophie gave Alaric’s hand a gentle, comforting squeeze.
The atmosphere in the private room was pleasant. Sophie and Alaric had just taken their seats when Nina Halloway arrived.
She had barely taken her seat when Jaden arrived with Stella Yarrow in tow.
As one of the children Mrs. Ford had watched grow up, Jaden was naturally expected to attend her birthday party. What came as a surprise was that he brought his fiancée along.
He and Stella Yarrow had just gotten engaged and were in their honeymoon phase, utterly inseparable.
Their arrival made the previously harmonious atmosphere tense and awkward, and everyone instinctively looked at Nina.
Nina sat upright in her chair, her expression unchanging, as if she were completely unaffected by Jaden and Stella Yarrow.
Mrs. Ford had given her a heads-up a few days prior, telling her Jaden would be coming, so she was mentally prepared. And though she put on an indifferent front, the sight of Stella Yarrow on Jaden’s arm still sent a dull ache through her chest.
Noticing everyone staring at her, she forced a smile. "Why are you all looking at me? I’m not the star today, Grandma is."
While waiting for the banquet to begin, the guests all presented their birthday gifts to Mrs. Ford.
A lavish spread of dishes was brought to the table, and the restaurant manager carried in a large cake.
Mrs. Ford was so happy she was grinning from ear to ear. She waved the manager over to take a few family photos, but Jaden and Stella Yarrow were excluded from the shots.
Stella Yarrow was seething.
She dragged Jaden away, using the restroom as an excuse, and let out a stream of complaints. "What does that old hag think she’s doing?"
"Taking a family photo and pointedly excluding me and Jaden. She’s discriminating against us, trying to make us look bad."
Jaden thought she was being too sensitive. "The Ford and Blackwood Families have been friends for generations," he explained. "Sophie is Mrs. Ford’s granddaughter, and with her marrying Alaric, the two families have become even closer. Our family is close with them, but we’re not actually family. Don’t overthink it. Mrs. Ford wasn’t targeting us."
Despite his words, Jaden felt a little uncomfortable himself.
If he hadn’t broken up with Nina, there would have certainly been a place for him in that family photo.
He had promised long ago that he would celebrate Mrs. Ford’s birthday. Back then, Nina had been away filming, but they were still engaged.
Now... everything was different.
Seeing the lonely look on his face, Stella Yarrow’s heart clenched.
"Garland, do you regret it?"
He forced an unnatural smile. "What would I regret?"
"Regret breaking up with Nina."
"There’s nothing to regret. I don’t even like her."
"You keep saying you don’t like her, but you call out Nina’s name in your sleep. Did you know that?"
Stella Yarrow hadn’t wanted to bring this up, afraid it would harm their relationship, but she couldn’t bear it any longer.
Her fiancé was calling out his ex’s name in his sleep every other night. What woman could possibly stand that?
"I’ll ask you one last time: do you regret breaking up with Nina?"
Her eyes were filled with anger, her tone aggressive. "If you really do regret it, it’s not too late for us to break up."
Jaden scoffed. "Jasmine, I said I don’t regret it, and I don’t. It’s just sleep-talking. You’re making a big deal out of nothing."
"I’m making a big deal out of nothing?"
"I’ve been on edge lately because of that masked person, and they’re targeting me because of Nina. What you think about during the day, you dream about at night. Stop letting your imagination run wild."
He coaxed her patiently, pulling Stella Yarrow into his arms.
He patted Stella Yarrow’s back. "Be good. Don’t misunderstand the situation with Nina and me. There was never anything between us. We only got engaged because our families were pressuring us."
"Then say you love me."
"I love you."
Hearing those three words, Stella Yarrow’s anxiety gradually subsided.
She lifted her arms to hug Jaden back. He held her, pressing her into a corner, and kissed her fiercely, as if to prove how much he loved her.
This scene was witnessed by Nina, who had come out looking for the restroom.
She stood frozen a short distance away, watching the two of them locked in a passionate kiss in the dimly lit corner.
The sudden ring of a cell phone sounded jarringly loud in the quiet space.
It snapped her out of her stupor. The sound startled Jaden and Stella Yarrow as well.
Following the sound, Stella Yarrow discovered Nina staring at her and Jaden like some kind of voyeur, and she flew into a rage.
"Enjoying the show?"
Nina ignored her, pulling out her phone to glance at the caller ID.
The call was from Leon Grant.
She didn’t answer, just rejected the call.
He called back almost immediately. The normally pleasant ringtone now sounded harsh and grating.
Nina rejected the call again and, ignoring Jaden and Stella Yarrow, walked into the restroom.
"She ignored me!"
Stella Yarrow was livid. She hated Nina’s holier-than-thou attitude.
Nina was the one who’d been dumped, and she was the one who’d won his love, yet in front of Nina, she always felt as if her happiness had been stolen.
This feeling drove her mad, especially when she remembered Jaden calling out Nina’s name in his dreams. The unfairness of it all grew inside her like a weed.
"Alright, let’s go back to the room. The family photos should be done by now."
Jaden didn’t want to cause an unnecessary scene at Mrs. Ford’s birthday banquet, so he tried to pull Stella Yarrow away.
"Didn’t you say you’d always protect me?"
But Stella Yarrow wouldn’t let it go. "That woman just ignored me, and she was shamelessly spying on us..."
"So she looked. It’s not like it costs you anything."
"Why are you such a coward? Are you that afraid of Nina?"