Chapter 57 Banquet
A couple of days later, Chris reminded Joanna that it was time to go back to Cooper's estate with him.
Coopers' estate was another villa area in the city where Chris's parents and grandfather lived. Joanna would occasionally visit them, but she never got a warm welcome, so she stopped going as often.
Joanna had been grateful more than once that she didn't live with them—at least it gave her some breathing room.
Since the party was also for Chris's mother, Nicole's birthday, Joanna prepared a gift in advance. It wasn't particularly thoughtful, but it wasn't careless either.
It was a jewelry set she designed herself. Since she wasn't great at this kind of thing, she had asked Linda to help her look it over. So this piece could also be considered her teacher's design, which made it perfect as a gift.
Many people came to the party. Joanna recognized quite a few of them—she had helped Chris maintain these relationships before, so she could still make conversation with these people.
Several wives of business partners came over to her right away. "Joanna, are you and Chris really getting divorced?"
Everyone had seen the photos online.
When you marry into a wealthy family, nobody really expects you to control your husband. If he fools around with other women from time to time, everyone just looks the other way. They'd always looked down on Joanna because she came from a regular background and figured she'd just put up with it. No one expected her to actually stand up for herself and demand a divorce.
But so much time had passed without any news, so no one knew whether these two had actually divorced.
Joanna didn't miss the probing looks on the women's faces.
She forced a smile. "Whether we divorce or not is our choice. If there's a right time, we'll announce it."
The women exchanged glances and understood.
Looks like Joanna couldn't bear to let go of the Coopers' money tree. Made sense—with Jones Corp's business struggling, of course she couldn't leave Chris.
In a flash, the women's expressions turned haughty and dismissive again. They chatted among themselves, digging for gossip about other families' secrets, occasionally pulling their husbands over to meet others and arrange business deals.
Joanna used to do these things all the time, but today she felt especially tired. Still, since she had promised Chris, she would do her best to keep up appearances.
Soon, the Coopers' family arrived.
Cynthia stayed by Chris's side, acting like the lady of the house, which confused some people who hadn't been to Cooper's parties before. But the impact of those earlier photos lingered, so no one rushed over to talk.
Chris looked around the crowd and relaxed when he spotted Joanna. He walked straight over, frowning. "Why didn't you go help my mom? Are you just letting her handle everything alone?"
Joanna was confused; there wasn't much to do at a birthday party. The butler would handle the food and drinks. At this point, it would be better for Nicole to mingle with the guests.
But seeing Cynthia's challenging look nearby, Joanna wasn't surprised. She knew something must have just happened.
She didn't care, though. "Your mom didn't call for me. When I arrived, the butler brought me here."
Chris's frown deepened.
He had just seen his mother working in the back on the schedule, arranging wine glasses and desserts, checking with the butler about which guests hadn't arrived yet.
And only Cynthia was by his mother's side, not Joanna.
He had thought Joanna lied to him and hadn't come today!
Now, seeing that Joanna had indeed come but was slacking off with the guests, Chris naturally misunderstood.
With so many guests around, Chris couldn't scold her. He just glared at Joanna, warning her to behave, then went off to talk with business partners.
Cynthia stayed behind, smiling as she handed Joanna a glass of wine. "Joanna, I really didn't expect you'd be willing to let bygones be bygones and come celebrate Nicole's birthday. She was just complaining to me earlier, worried you wouldn't come. You didn't prepare a gift, did you? I happen to have an extra one you can use."
"No need." Joanna took the glass but didn't drink. She didn't trust Cynthia to be so kind, and she didn't think the wine was safe either. She stayed alert around this woman who had destroyed her marriage. "I prepared my own gift."
Cynthia's expression became a bit awkward, but she nodded in understanding. "Alright then, I'm looking forward to seeing your gift."
Soon, guests started giving Nicole their gifts.
Normally, all gifts would be opened, but with so many people, opening each one would take too long, so Nicole just accepted them symbolically and had the butler take them away.
Just then, Cynthia quietly leaned over to Nicole's ear and said something. Then they both glanced toward Joanna.
After that, Nicole publicly singled out Joanna's gift.
"We had quite a few misunderstandings at home recently—oh my, it even made the news, so embarrassing. But my daughter-in-law was thoughtful enough to prepare a gift. If Cynthia hadn't reminded me, I wouldn't have known." Nicole chatted with her friends while opening it.
When she opened it, she saw jewelry. At first glance, it was striking, but soon Nicole's expression turned sour.
Because this jewelry wasn't the work of any designer she recognized.
Although the gems used and the design were beautiful, that didn't matter!
Cynthia cried out in surprise, "Oh my god, Joanna, you actually prepared such a simple piece of jewelry? If I'd known this is what you were giving, I would have insisted you use my backup jewelry gift! What you're giving is way too plain..."
People around her noticed the gift because of her voice.
Indeed, it didn't look like any master's work.
Soon, several contemptuous looks fell on Joanna.
Joanna didn't look at them, just said calmly, "I designed this myself. The gems are also very rare materials. With Cynthia's expertise, that shouldn't be hard to see, right?"
It was a very rare red diamond, quite valuable. The other materials were also commonly used by designers and were not unfamiliar to wealthy ladies accustomed to wearing jewelry.
Cynthia frowned and said, "That's exactly why Nicole is upset. You actually wasted such good jewelry materials. If you'd given them to a famous master to design, it would definitely be a piece worth collecting!"
Nicole also snorted coldly and tossed Joanna's gift, box and all, onto the table. "The money you spent on these materials—isn't it all from my family anyway? You wasted so much money. Do you think Chris makes money that easily? Do you know how much he has to drink at business dinners? His stomach is messed up now! All you do is waste money—you can't even give a proper birthday present!"
The gift hit a wine glass, and a few drops of wine splashed onto it.
Joanna felt angry seeing her work treated this way.
She shot back, "I bought this with my own money. I respect you as an elder, and the gift I gave may not be the best, but it was sincere!"