Marianne couldn't hold back. "Do you think we're idiots? This is a birthday party for the daughter of the Blackwood family. Do you think we'd try to get in with a fake invitation? Do we look like we want to be run out of Vaelion City? We have our reputation to think of!"
"Excuse me, but please cooperate," the guard said, his eyes sweeping over them. "We truly have never heard of any Wynn Group. And... based on your behavior at the entrance just now, it doesn't exactly look like... you care about your reputation.”
"You! What did you say, you worthless grunt?!" Marianne was so enraged she wanted to slap the guard.
Even if the Wynn family had fallen on hard times, they were not about to be humiliated by a mere guard!
Patrick grabbed Marianne's arm and shot her a fierce glare.
Marianne's mouth moved, but she reluctantly fell silent.
She couldn't take her anger out on Serena, so was she not even allowed to vent on these damn guards?
Benedict took her arm. "Mom, you really need to work on your temper. Even if they're just guards, they're the Blackwood family's guards."
He glanced at the security staff and lowered his voice. "Besides, they're just doing their job. Making a scene won't do us any good."
Marianne seemed to take his words to heart, but she still muttered stubbornly, "It looks to me like they're targeting us on purpose..."
Benedict looked at his mother's disheveled appearance, then at Hailey's swollen face, and sighed. "The way we were acting at the entrance, stopping this person and that, and making such a scene... anyone would think we were just here to crash the party."
"Who-!" Marianne's temper flared again at his words.
But when she met her eldest son's gaze, she swallowed whatever she was about to say.
She bit her lip hard and finally remained silent.
While they waited for the guard to check the invitation, Hailey's eyes were fixed on the manor's interior.
Suddenly, she spotted something and gripped Logan's arm. "Logan, look! It's her... it's our sister... she..."
Logan frowned and followed her gaze.
At the far end of the estate, in front of the magnificent, castle-like main residence, an elderly man with white hair was greeting Serena.
After they exchanged a few words, Mr. Anderson and Mr. Han walked cheerfully into the main house, leaving Serena with the old man.
They spoke for another moment, and then Serena followed him down a different path...
Then, the two of them disappeared around a corner, one after the other.
Logan's expression changed, and
his eyes widened. "I knew it! How could a country girl like her know Mr.
Anderson and Mr.
Han? Itturas
they were just the middlemen,
out
setting her up with some even older
man!"
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Hailey feigned a look of terror. "This is the Blackwood family's estate. If she's doing that kind of business here... and Miss Blackwood finds out, will she take her anger out on us?"
"Hailey, why are you still calling her your sister!" Marianne, who had overheard them, said with a look of utter disgust. "She's nothing but trash you stay away from her from How on. What if you catch some disease from her?"
Realizing that Serena had only gotten into the manor because she was selling
herself gave Marianne a smug sense of satisfaction.
She pursed her lips, her expression
suggesting that even mentioning
Serena was beneath her. "She already signed an agreement. severing all ties with the Wynn family. Whatever filthy thing she does, she'll face the consequences alone. It has nothing to do with us!"
Just then, the guard returned with the invitation. He held it out with both hands. "Honored guests, please proceed."