"Zara, since you're still busy, we'll head out first. There's a mall right by here, so we'll go for a stroll and walk off our meal," Skylar said.
"I've been a terrible host today. Go have fun, and whatever you buy, put it on my tab," Zara offered generously.
She was incredibly generous.
Naturally, Claire and Skye had no intention of actually spending her money.
"Looks like someone raked in quite a few gifts today," Claire teased.
"You bet!"
Both Rose's family and the Daltons were loaded.
At the engagement party, there was a staggering amount of cash on display, not to mention the exquisite bridal jewelry and gold.
On the surface, the wedding gifts amounted to millions of dollars, but privately, Reid had even transferred some of his company shares to Zara.
Reid's grandmother was incredibly pleased with her new granddaughter-in-law and had gifted her executive shares as well.
If the heiress had previously lived a comfortable life relying on her family, she was on a whole new level now.
She was now a bona fide wealthy woman in her own right.
"Don't worry about the price tag, just buy whatever you want!"
Zara beamed, her eyes crinkling with absolute joy.
Reid walked over as well, insisting that they should go and enjoy themselves.
Claire and Skye agreed politely, though they didn't take the offer to heart.
Even if they did go shopping, they would never let Zara foot the bill.
She was on cloud nine for her engagement today, but that didn't mean they were going to take advantage of her.
However, just as the two of them stepped out of the banquet hall and before they even reached the mall, they stumbled upon quite the scene.
Zoe was crying.
Preston stood beside her, but this time, he didn't pull her into his arms to comfort her like he usually would.
"Preston, do you not believe me?"
"There is genuinely nothing between me and Reid."
"I was young and naive before. I mistook my admiration for love."
"Back then, everyone always talked
about how amazing he was. I looked
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up to him, thinking he was so
outstanding that I couldn't help but want to get closer." fo FindNovel.net
"It wasn't until he rejected me that finally snapped out of it. My admiration for him was like a fan worshiping an ido it had nothing do with romantic feelings
"I was just young back then. I really didn't mean anything by it."
Preston cut her off. "I get it."
Zoe's sobs hitched in her throat. She couldn't understand it-if Preston wasn't upset about this, why was his face like thunder?
She genuinely believed she hadn't done anything to wrong him.
If he kept acting this way, she was ready to drop the act and snap at him.
But she also knew that she needed to keep Preston on her hook for the time being.
After all, she hadn't managed to reel in a bigger catch yet.
If she could steal Dane away, she wouldn't even give Preston the time of day.
But right now, she couldn't even get close to Dane, which left her feeling incredibly anxious.
"Preston, are you really not upset about that?"
"Then..." Zoe looked at him with a mask of deep concern. "Are you feeling unwell?"
"No," Preston shook his head.
"Is it because Zara got engaged to your cousin?"
"Are you regretting that you didn't end up with her?"
Her words caused Preston's expression to darken drastically.
He had never once entertained such a thought before.
He had always been so certain that Zara was in love with him, which was why he
had acted with such impunity.
The woman he loved had always
been Zoe, and he had only ever hoped that Zara would stop using her status to cling to him and make Zoe's life miserable.
He had always believed that Zara bullied Zoe entirely because of him.
But today's events had suddenly cleared the fog in his mind.
Zara didn't like him, and she certainly wouldn't go out of her way to torment Zoe because of it.
So, what had been the point of all Zoe's theatrical victimhood in the past?