Imani immediately apologized to Laney in broken English.
“I’m sorry.l’ve been living in France for a long time and I’m used to speaking in French.I’m afraid my English is getting a little rusty now.”
Before Laney could respond, Kelly interrupted her, saying in flawless French, “It’s not your fault at all, ma’am.You only spoke simple French words just now and I assume everyone here should have understand it.”
Imani smiled at Kelly and replied, “Your French is very fluent.Have you lived in France before?”
Kelly smiled confidently.
“I lived in Paris for half a year and learned French on my own.”
Imani was taken a bit aback by that.
“That’s imp**ssive.”
Kelly smiled shyly.
From the corner of her eyes, she noticed that Laney was being ignored.
This made her smile even wider.
Vera frowned and sighed.She didn’t like how Kelly managed to steal all of Laney’s thunder but felt powerless to stop it.
Besides, at least it didn’t seem like Laney was interested in being the center of attention.
Vera could do nothing but look away.
At the same time, while Imani was talking with Kelly, she couldn’t help but look over at Laney.She decided to take the initiative to talk to Laney.She asked her, “Mrs.Harding, may I ask where you buy this dress? The design is so unique I’ve always wanted to have a dress like that.French styles don’t really suit my taste.”
She was extremely interested in the dress Laney was wearing.
Kelly’s smile froze on her face.She had been sure she was going to win but was miffed to discover that Imani was talking to Laney again.She immediately interrupted them.
“Mrs.Harding’s dress is made by a designer she randomly discovered.If you want, ma’am, I can introduce you to a studio with even real talented designers.”
Because Laney couldn’t understand practically any French, now she could belittle Natalie as she wanted.Laney sensed that something was wrong, however.She frowned and asked loudly, “Kelly, wasn’t Mrs.Sampson asking me who designed the dress?”
Kelly didn’t say a word in response.
Laney immediately continued, saying, “My mother-in-law hired Natalie Larson from W Marks Studio to design the dress for me.”
Imani could understand English.
When she heard Natalie’s name, it seemed to spark her interest.
“I remember Natalie! She’s Draco’s assistant.l didn’t expect her own designs to be as good as that.”
As Imani spoke about Natalie, her voice grew louder, and everyone looked over.
With so many people watching, Kelly realized she’d now have to translate Laney’s words faithfully.
This made her seethe with anger.
The fact that Imani liked her dress so much made Laney very happy.
As it just so happened, Natalie was there that day, so Laney said to Imani, “Mrs.Sampson, should I introduce you to each other?”
But Imani just shook her head, replying, “I will meet her when the time comes.Mrs.Harding, it seems that a dress as beautiful as yours should be paired with a suit to stand by it.What a pity your husband couldn’t come today.”
Hearing Imani’s words, Laney lowered her eyes.What a pity.She had hoped that Garrett would also come.
At that moment, a waiter opened the doors of the banquet hall.
The party had been going for quite a while by this point.Who could it be? Laney looked over.
It was Garrett! He looked a little rushed and out of breath.
Garrett was wearing a suit that perfectly complemented Laney’s dress.His entrance just now was like a hero in a movie charging in at just the right moment.
“My husband’s here!”
Laney’s heart beat like a drum in her ch*st.She ran over to him, holding the hem of her dress.
People all looked in Laney’s direction as she suddenly started running towards the door.
“Be careful. You’re pregnant.”
“I’m here.Don’t be afraid,” said Garrett, holding Laney close to him and gently touching her face.
Vera and Kelly looked at each other, both surprised to see Garrett there.
Garrett approached the center of the room, his arm firmly around Laney’s waist.
“Mrs.Sampson, you’re as beautiful as ever!”
Garrett greeted Imani in fluent French.
Imani smiled in return, replying, “Garrett, you’re truly a charmer.No wonder so many women were always throwing themselves at you in the past.But it seems that you’ve finally found your true love this time around.She’s definitely the finest rose.”
Not understanding the language, Laney was curious to know what Garrett and Imani were talking about.
At the same time, she was still a bit peeved with Garrett for being late, so she didn’t bother asking.
“She said that you’re as beautiful as a rose.”
With a gaze of pure adoration, Garrett raised his hand and touched the tip of Laney’s nose with his fi**ger.
“I heard that you’ve been very busy recently.And yet you still take the time to attend this dinner party with your wife! You remind me of how my husband was when we were young.You do love your wife so much, Garrett!”
Imani praised Garrett generously.She looked over at Vera and said to her, “You have a good son.Such a responsible man as this will certainly do a great job managing the Harding Group.I believe we shall have a lot of opportunities to collaborate in the future.”
Vera gave her a wry smile yet secretly looked over at Garrett in confusion.
“I’m going to go over there and greet my other friends.Enjoy yourselves.”
Imani left with a smile.
Kelly and Vera fell into silence.
Vera looked over at Kelly with questioning eyes.She asked Kelly to make sure that Garrett wasn’t able to attend the dinner party.
Kelly hadn’t expect that Garrett would make it.She was stunned silent and didn’t know how to react.
Garrett gently pulled Laney to the side and pulled up chairs for both of them.
“Why don’t you speak? Are you still mad at me?” he asked.
Of course, Laney was still angry, and so no matter how Garrett tried to make her laugh, she remained silent.
Garrett began to grow discouraged at her refusal to respond.
Once Laney realized that she’d gotten to him a bit, she tugged at the corner of his suit and asked, pleadingly, “Why didn’t you keep your promise…?”
Garrett felt a wave of remorse and hugged Laney closed to him.He apologized again and again.
“I’m so sorry!”
They remained at each other’s sides until the dinner party had ended.
When the driver arrived, Vera looked over at Garrett beside her and asked as gently and nonchalantly as she could manage, “Garrett, why did you come here all of a sudden?”
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Garrett undid the b**tons of his cuffs and replied, his voice tinged with annoyance, “Mom, why were you so sure that I wouldn’t come?”
Before he could lose his temper, he stopped and took a deep breath.He then continued, “I’d already said that I would come with Laney.But at the last minute, two partners of our company insisted on coming to visit, which prevented me from getting here on time.”
Privately, though, he knew it wasn’t actually that simple.
Vera remained silent, her l*ps pursed.
Seeing that, Garrett grew colder.
“Mom, why are you still the same as before?” he demanded.
Vera’s grip on her handbag tightened, and she started to feel a bit guilty.
In actuality, Vera had wanted to prevent Garrett from attending the dinner party all together.
That was why she’d arranged for Kelly to get in contact with the clients the company had cooperated with before, asking them to visit the newly-built building of the Harding Group that very day, in order to keep Garrett busy and away.
Laney always hung on Garrett when he was around.
Vera knew that if Garrett were there, he would have done everything in his power to protect Laney.
This would have made it very difficult for Vera to enact her plans.
Vera sought to mold Laney into the perfect daughter-in-law to the Harding family she wanted her to be.
She wanted to teach her a lesson.She also wanted Laney to treat her with more respect.
“Listen, Garrett, you should know that everything I do is for your own good,” Vera said calmly.
Hearing Vera’s words, Garrett was suddenly flooded with all the bad memories of years of his mother’s meddling.He voice sharply rose in anger as he said, “All you want is a son who is obedient to your every command! What will make you happy, me being nothing but a puppet for you?”