Chapter 43 Not Again
Crystal smiled sweetly as she asked. They were not alone. There were two other women with them. Catherine Garner and her sister-in-law, Mrs. Tina Garner.
Ariadne recognized them right away. Looking at the three women, she knew they were going to humiliate her. She sighed before composing herself. Crystal had already ruined the previous dinner. She wouldn't let anyone ruin her evening today. She mentally prepared herself. Lady Linda didn't sit with her today, as she joined another table with her relatives.
"Oh, that will be our pleasure, Miss Miller. Please take your seats. Good evening, Mr. Blake." the woman from earlier said.
They moved to the empty seats on the opposite side of Ariadne. The three women and three men sat in a line, with Xander and Crystal in the center, next to each other.
"Are you okay?" Mark asked, concerned.
Ariadne nodded with a smile. He gave her a knowing smile to assure her that he was with her. Xander glared at them after sitting in the chair, then averted his gaze.
After a while, everyone began to eat the delicious food in front of them.
"Your engagement is next week. How is the preparation going?" a woman asked, looking at Crystal and Xander.
"It's still going. There's a lot to do." Crystal replied, while Xander focused on the food.
Ariadne gave him a quick glance. They had no engagement before their marriage. It was a sudden and, of course, forced marriage. This time, Xander and Crystal had everything planned. It made her sad a little, but she ignored it, focusing on the food. Some of the people at the table gave her curious glances as they were discussing Xander's engagement in front of her.
"We have hired the best decorator to complete the job for us. I hope you will like it." Crystal added.
"We are certain that nothing will go short. After all, this's Xander Blake's engagement." the woman commented.
"I'm so excited. We will have a lot of fun." Catherine exclaimed excitedly, like a child, making everyone laugh.
Crystal, on the other hand, kept saying things to Xander while eating her food. Xander simply nodded at her words, remaining silent.
"Life is really unpredictable. The last time we met, you were Mr. Blake's wife. And now you two are divorced, and Crystal will soon become engaged to Mr. Blake." Mrs. Garner said while looking at Ariadne, drawing everyone's attention.
They all listened silently because they knew little about the marriage and were curious at the same time.
"Don't mind but they always appeared to be the ideal pair for me. I don't want to comment on your marriage, but it's the truth. It didn't work between you two, clearly. Mr. Blake is happy with Crystal, and I am happy for her. She truly is a worthy woman. They both deserve each other." she added.
Everyone was stunned by her direct insult to Ariadne. Crystal and Catherine, on the other hand, smiled, suppressing their smirks, and looked at Ariadne.
Ariadne recalled Crystal hosting a party five years ago, after she became CEO of Miller Group, and how Mrs. Garner had insulted her in the party. She had clearly stated that Crystal was more deserving of being Xander's wife than she did. Mrs. Garner assumed she was the same humble Ariadne, who could be trampled by anyone. However, she was wrong. Ariadne smiled at Mrs. Garner with a calm expression.
"You are right, they deserve each other. Sometimes we make the wrong decision. That's what it was... a wrong decision. Though it began as an arranged marriage, I did have a choice. Maybe I was not mature enough at the time, and wasted two years of our lives." Ariadne said and Xander immediately glanced at her.
"I should have focused on my career rather than marrying someone. Anyway, we realized it and got divorced. We are now both happy in our lives and have obtained what we desired most." she added.
"Well said." Mark whispered into her ear, making her smile.
Everyone admired her for being so confident. However, the three women appeared to be furious.
"You have changed your date today." Mrs. Garner commented after a while, looking at Ariadne, unable to hide her hatred.
"Mrs. Garner, Your cousin, Tom Cooper, wasn't my date last night. I arrived alone at the party yesterday. We just happened to sit at the same table. You can ask Crystal. She knows everything as she was present all the time. Mark, however, is my date tonight." Ariadne clarified.
Mrs. Garner and Catherine arrived on the second day, so they missed the dinner incident. Tom Cooper was sent home after the incident, as Xander demanded. Mrs. Garner was furious with Ariadne after learning the news.
"I missed the drama last night." Catherine remarked with a disappointed expression.
Mark and Xander both frowned at her comment.
"It's completely immature of you, Miss Garner, to call the previous night's incident a drama. An attempted humiliation of a woman appears to you as a drama! That's shocking." Mark said, and the others nodded in agreement.
"I didn't mean it. It was an unfortunate incident." Catherine's face turned pale as everyone looked at her.
She turned to Crystal for help.
"Yeah, and you shouldn't call it a drama." Mark replied sharply.
Crystal gritted her teeth after seeing Mark defending Ariadne.
"It wasn't a pleasant experience. We are happy that Ariadne is fine. We should forget the incident and move on." she said, and everyone nodded.
She whispered something into Mrs. Garner's ear, and the woman nodded.
"So, when will the Autumn Collection's showroom in Zavion City open? We are excited." a woman asked Ariadne.
"I am grateful for your enthusiasm for our jewelry. But it will take some time. We are working on it." she replied.
The topic shifted, and everyone began talking about Autumn Collection, which irritated Crystal and her two minions.
"I am curious, Miss Miller....how you managed to build such an expensive jewelry brand without any help." Mrs. Garner spoke again. "I have a jewelry line, too. Despite coming from a business family, it took me a long time to achieve success. When I last saw you, you were only a housewife. You didn't have any qualifications either. Even though you were Mr. Blake's wife, no one knew you back then. Now look at you. You have become a successful businesswoman in such a short time. I am curious how you did it. Is there any other way to achieve success in a short time?" she said suggestively. Silence fell as everyone understood the underlying meaning. The environment became tense.
"I mean your story is an inspiration for the younger generation. We would love to know." she added with a fake smile, gesturing at everyone.
She glanced at Crystal and Catherine, confident that they had found the weak point. Xander clenched his jaw, visibly pissed by Mrs. Garner's constant targeting of Ariadne. Mark, too, became enraged at the underlying suggestion. He was about to say something, but then he felt Ariadne's hand on his knee. When he looked at her, he saw her looking at Mrs. Garner with her charming smile.
"You are right... support is required for building a company, especially financial support. But one thing you have forgotten is that I'm Aaron Miller and Emily Miller's daughter. My mother was a businesswoman and an important figure in the Miller Group. She had her own clothing company. Although her shares were given to Emma, my father's second wife, her hard-earned money was transferred to my name after her tragic death. I used all of that money on developing my jewelry line. However, money would do nothing. We need to work extremely hard." she paused to look at everyone who was paying close attention to her story.
"In Purple City, I had no family to support me. But I was never alone. My nanny, Mary Cook, was with me from the start. She's now the president of Autumn Collection."
"A maid?" Catherine commented, making a disgusting face.
"That's where you make mistakes. She was never a maid. She was my mother's best friend. After a tragedy, my mother brought her into our home and she began to stay with us. She's a qualified jewelry designer. Many of the Autumn Collection's products were designed by her. I was also joined by two other women. We all worked hard to make our dreams come true. It wasn't difficult to get the people's attention. The difficult part was getting them to appreciate your work.. And I think we were able to do so. People loved our products, and we kept growing." she paused again and returned her gaze to Mrs. Garner with a stern expression.
"But these things will come later. First, you must stop criticizing other people's success and concentrate solely on your own work, because only hard work can lead you to success."
"I think you dislike me, Mrs. Garner. I've no idea what I did to offend you. You always try to insult me whenever we meet." Ariadne said directly, causing Mrs. Garner to pale as everyone looked at her.
"You misunderstand her, Aria. She didn't mean to insult you." Crystal interjected.
"Oh, really? Then you don't need to worry, Crystal. I am just answering her questions." Ariadne said mockingly, leaving her speechless.
She looked at Mrs. Garner and went on.
"You said I had no qualifications. That was your thought. In this city, design is not given much importance, but that doesn't mean I don't have any qualification. I am standing here because of my qualification as a designer."
Mrs. Garner gulped and looked around. Mark smirked while Xander ate his food unconcerned. Jose and Toby both smirked and exchanged looks. Everyone seemed to enjoy the show, except for the three women.
"You said about being a deserving woman." Ariadne continued, and Xander raised his gaze from the food. "No matter how attractive or successful you are, there will always be someone better than you. Should your partner leave you for them? Does this imply that you don't deserve your partner, but they do? No. There's something called love. More than being deserving in terms of appearance or success, you should be in love with your partner, share a bond, respect each other, and, most importantly be loyal." she looked at Xander as she spoke these words.
Xander's expression was hard as he held her gaze.
Ariadne averted her gaze before adding, "Other things don't matter. Looks will fade one day, and success is unpredictable and often fleeting."
She finished talking and resumed eating her food, as if nothing had happened, leaving everyone stunned.