Chapter 22: My Sister Is Simply a Genius!
Esme shamelessly stayed for dinner at the Windsor Villa.
After all, she was Lila's adopted daughter, so when she wasn't causing trouble, Bethany, Aurora, Charles, George, Richard, and Philip would at most ignore her - nothing worse than that.
After dinner, Bethany gathered Charles, George, Richard, and Philip to discuss Catherine's birthday party.
Charles: "Our house is a bit small. Catherine's birthday party might be somewhat beneath her. How about we buy a new place? I saw that the best unit at Starry Residence is pretty nice - 10,000 square feet, only a billion dollars. We can put it directly under Catherine's name."
Bethany agreed: "Starry Residence is barely acceptable. The luxury homes in Imperia City really aren't what they used to be. Next year we should buy Catherine a castle in Istalia. This year is too modest, but your grandparents aren't well enough to travel abroad."
Catherine stayed silent.
George: "Let's use air-shipped flowers for the venue. Catherine likes roses, so let's have a crown made of pink diamonds in the shape of roses for her birthday."
Catherine said nothing.
Richard: "We'll invite all the media, have helicopters and drones livestreaming the whole thing, and tell the whole world this is the Windsor family's princess! We'll have a fireworks show too. I've already contacted the Royal Orchestra. For Catherine's dress, I reached out to Quinn, who agreed to custom-make an outfit just for Catherine!"
Catherine fell silent.
So you're the one who spent three hundred million dollars asking her to make a dress?
Philip: "For the banquet's chef team, I've invited state banquet chefs from various countries. Ingredients will be air-shipped the same day. On Catherine's birthday, she'll get to eat the freshest food from around the world. The kind without scallions and ginger."
Catherine fell silent again.
She was just having a birthday - wasn't this all a bit much?
Catherine was about to decline when Juniper pressed her hand.
"This year is pretty rushed, so we're not doing you justice, Catherine. I know you never got to celebrate your birthday at the Smith family. It's okay - from now on we'll make it up to you and give you the best of everything in the world."
Aurora was almost in tears.
Even with all this, she felt it was too hasty and couldn't give Catherine the best experience.
And to think Catherine had never even celebrated a birthday before!
"Catherine, Mom and Dad have failed you. Why didn't you tell us you had it so hard before?"
Aurora had the classic look of an elegant, delicate beauty, and when she cried, she looked even more pitiable.
Charles, George, Richard, and Philip rushed to comfort her, flustered.
Juniper slapped her own mouth: "It's my fault for saying the wrong thing and making Mom sad. My mistake!"
Catherine took Aurora's hand and wiped away her tears.
"I was fine. I wasn't wronged."
Aurora knew Catherine was just trying to comfort her, which made her feel both touched and heartbroken. More than anything, she felt sorry for her.
Juniper knew Aurora would get a headache if she kept crying, so she quickly changed the subject.
"I'll handle the fireworks show for the party. Our lab recently developed a non-toxic, odorless firework with some really cool special effects. Catherine will definitely love it!"
Most of Juniper's lab products were supplied directly to the government.
If she said something was good, it was something you couldn't buy anywhere else, no matter how much money you had!
"I'll go get my computer to write up a report and show you all the model!"
All her experiments were extremely important and required the highest level of attention.
The data was also crucial - even the slightest deviation could cause irreversible damage and harm.
As soon as she got back to her study and opened her computer, Juniper's brow furrowed!
Her data was clearly wrong!
"Who just went into my study?"
Aurora looked up at Juniper, who was holding her computer with a serious expression. "What's wrong? Catherine and I went in earlier to change the fresh flowers in your study."
Juniper frowned: "Someone tampered with my computer data."
Her computer data couldn't have even the slightest error!
Esme, who had been listening to Catherine's birthday party arrangements with burning jealousy, spoke up.
"Everyone knows not to touch Juniper's computer. Only Catherine doesn't know that. It must have been Catherine who accidentally touched Juniper's computer. Catherine, don't be scared - I'm sure it was an accident and everyone will forgive you!"
Catherine was speechless.
Why would she touch Juniper's computer for no reason?
"It wasn't me."
Esme continued: "Catherine, stop denying it. Juniper's data is extremely important - touching anything will cause big problems. Even if it was an accident, you need to admit your mistake."
Catherine frowned slightly and repeated: "It wasn't me."
Aurora nodded along: "We really didn't touch your computer. I can vouch for that."
Esme rolled her eyes.
"Mom, you can't cover for Catherine just because she just came home. That's not good for Catherine's growth. Grandma always taught me to be honest and trustworthy. How can you be like this, Mom?"
Aurora was in a difficult position.
She definitely remembered Catherine hadn't touched Juniper's computer, but the data couldn't have modified itself, could it?
Esme smirked to herself.
Juniper valued that data more than anything. If Catherine had touched her data, she would definitely go after Catherine!
Once the two of them were fighting each other, the Windsor family would only have one daughter left - her!
In the future, whether it was birthday parties or the Howard family engagement, it would all be hers alone!
Juniper nodded.
"I believe Catherine. If she says it wasn't her, then it definitely wasn't. Actually, it was you, Esme. I remember you were in my study for a while before dinner. Did you touch my computer?"
Esme's expression turned panicked!
"No, it wasn't me. I know not to touch Juniper's computer. How could it be me? The only person in this house who doesn't know about this is Catherine, so..."
Juniper's face turned cold, her sharp gaze carrying a chill.
Young and already in a high position, she carried an authority that made her subordinates afraid - one look was enough to make Esme tremble!
"My study has surveillance cameras. We can just go back and check."
Esme was shocked.
Was Juniper sick or something?!
Installing cameras even in her study - how much did she distrust this family?
Catherine's voice rang out calmly: "Juniper, do you need my help? Can I take a look at your data?"
Esme was full of disdain.
Even she couldn't understand Juniper's messy data - did Catherine think she could?
"Catherine, you won't understand Juniper's data."
Juniper never let anyone else see her data!
Juniper hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
"Okay."
This was the first request Catherine had made of her - she really couldn't bear to refuse!
Besides, Catherine probably couldn't understand the data anyway, so letting her look wouldn't be breaking any rules.
Catherine took the computer and scanned through the complex, intricate data with focused attention.
She selected a data point and looked at Juniper: "Juniper, is this the data that has a problem?"
Juniper leaned over, surprised: "Yes, how did you find it? This experimental data uses a large number of control groups. Fixing it might be a bit troublesome. I'll have to make time to go back to the lab."
Catherine's slender fingers tapped on the computer, creating a series of crisp sounds.
"Is it this data value?"
Juniper was shocked!
"Yes, yes, that's it! Catherine, how did you know? This data value is very complex - I couldn't even remember it!"
Catherine said calmly: "I calculated it. You listed all the data earlier. Just apply a few formulas and it's done. Very simple. You were just too anxious and forgot."
Juniper was thrilled!
Charles, George, Richard, and Philip all looked at Catherine with adoring smiles.
Catherine was so smart - practically a genius!
Esme fell silent.
She couldn't even understand what Catherine was saying - she must be making it up to fool people. How could she possibly calculate the data in Juniper's computer? Juniper was just pretending to cover for her!
She completely forgot that she was the one who had modified the data.
Esme's face was practically twisted. Taking advantage of everyone's distraction, she quietly slipped out.
The Windsor family members didn't even notice someone was missing from the house.
Juniper showed Catherine her latest experimental results - when the fireworks went up, flower petals would also scatter across the sky, creating an absolutely romantic and beautiful sea of flowers!
In the sea of flowers, words formed by fireworks would shine brilliantly!
"Catherine, Juniper loves you!"