Suddenly, people started to whisper, making the hall noisy.
"Gosh! It's Derek. He is so handsome."
"I heard Nick is good friends with him. No wonder he came."
"Are those his twins? They're so cute!"
"I'm so jealous of Rose. Derek fancies her. It makes me mad to think they're engaged."
Emily raised her head when she heard the discussions around her, only to see Derek walking in with Aaron and Ian. Aaron smiled when he saw Emily.
'Rose didn't show up together with Derek? That's so not her,' Emily thought.
Louise was standing next to Emily at first, yet Louise left at some point.
Seeing Derek walking in, Jenny nervously adjusted her clothes and hair. She knew Derek. He was the heir of the Scott family and Nick's good friend. If she won Derek's approval, she would be closer to Nick. Plus, she couldn't wait for everyone to know about Nick's relationship with her.
When everyone knew that Nick belonged to her, she could have him completely. She also got to drive away women who wanted to be near him fair and square.
She fantasized about a beautiful future in her mind without stopping in her tracks. She walked elegantly, approaching Derek. They were already very close. Only three more people to pass, and then she could greet Derek.
At the same time, Emily saw Louise beside Jenny with a glass of wine in her hand. She immediately knew what Louise was up to.
Then, a girl's scream suddenly rang out from the hall.
"Oh! Sorry, I didn't mean to. Are you OK?" With an empty glass in her hand, Louise apologized anxiously.
"Louise! You bitch! You did it on purpose!" Jenny's face was twisted. She had a crush on Nick, yet she made a fool of herself at his birthday party. She wished she could strangle Louise.
"Don't be angry. I will compensate you for your dress. I'm so sorry. I didn't see you. Who knew you would bump into me?" Louise said nicely.
"Get lost!" Jenny pulled Louise's hand away from wiping her dress, which was a couture dress with high-end fabric that she had carefully selected. Now the dress was stained with wine and ruined.
In case guests needed to change their clothes due to unforeseeable unexpected events, the host would always prepare spares at banquets like this. However, those ordinary clothes could never be compared to the dress Jenny was wearing.
Jenny thought, 'I should have been the most dazzling woman at this banquet!'
The more Jenny thought about it, the angrier she became, and she started to curse Louise in a series of slang. With that, those around her looked at her with surprise. They were stunned by her ferocious curses.
Jenny looked at Louise with hatred in her eyes. Her resentment was so overwhelming that it made her ignore the gazes of the people around her.
Just when the atmosphere was about to freeze, a female voice rang out.
"Jenny, watch your mouth. You are a lady of the upper class. These harsh words should not come out of your mouth," Emily walked over and said sarcastically. "Besides, it's not like we can't afford your dress."
Emily winked at Louise. The latter stood up and stopped helping Jenny wipe her dress.
Emily walked to Jenny and whispered into her ear, "There are so many people here. I don't think you want them to watch you look like this. Am I right? If Nick knows you are the biggest joke at his birthday party..."
Emily smiled at Jenny and stood up. She didn't finish her sentence. Instead, she left room for Jenny to run her imagination wild.
Jenny used the toy factory to threaten Emily because of Nick. Therefore, Emily decided to return the favor by using Nick to restrict Jenny's behavior.
'Well, well. That works perfectly!' Emily raised her eyebrows happily.
Jenny clenched her fists at the thought of Nick finding out, but she dared not swear again.
She looked at Emily fiercely. If glare could cause actual damage, it would have killed Emily already.
Jenny felt the great urge to tear Emily's face into pieces because the expression on Emily's face was a complete eyesore. However, she figured that Emily was right. They were at Nick's birthday party, so Jenny couldn't afford to make a scene, or she would embarrass herself in front of Nick.
Jenny chose to keep silent. Emily could see Jenny's bulging muscles due to anger.
Seeing that Jenny had stopped making a scene, Emily turned to the waiter and said, "Waiter, take this lady to change her clothes."
"Ma'am, this way, please." The waiter stretched out his hand.
"I'll make sure that not a single toy from your company will be made by the Evans family!" Before leaving, Jenny whispered those harsh words in Emily's ear, each word filled with pent-up anger.
Though Derek wasn't standing close to them, he saw the farce anyway. He frowned in disgust and thought, 'How is Emily such a troublemaker everywhere she goes?'
When he passed by Emily, he didn't stop. He only nodded at her and went over. And Emily did the same.
On the contrary, Aaron kept looking at Emily, and Ian waved at her secretly.
Everyone was talking about Emily's relationship with Derek and how the twins treated Emily.
The fact was, they had to attend many banquets every year, and they were pretty much identical, which always bored them. The encounter of such things excited them a lot, and they winked at each other.
Louise pulled Emily away from everyone. Louise had been so sad these years since she thought that Emily was dead. Thus, she seldom attended social events like this. She did not know these people well and was not at ease with them.
After a while, most of the guests had arrived. Nick came down the stairs, representing the official start of the banquet.
Nick spoke up for a while when standing on the stairs before raising his glass and giving a toast.
Emily was absent-minded. She thought, 'I wonder how Chris and Diane are doing at home? When I get back, Chris is going to be nagging me about my drinking, and Diane is going to think I stink.' Her expression softened before she knew it as she thought of her kids.
The men around her saw her smile, which caught their eyes.
Gradually, the lights dimmed, and the crowd began to look for dance partners.
Louise never enjoyed dancing. She whispered, "Emily, I'm going out for a while."
With that, she hurried out.
Emily could not help laughing at the sight of Louise, who would always slip out when it came to dancing.
Yet Emily was not in the mood to dance today as well. She became a bit impatient after rejecting two men who offered to dance with her.
Just as Emily turned around and was about to leave, someone put a hand on her shoulder.
"Woman, I think you're pretty. I'll give you a chance to dance with me," a man said. Clearly, he was up to no good.