Chapter 156 Della and Ava's Malicious Intentions
At night, the banquet hall on the second floor of Elysium Hotel was brightly lit.
Those who had attended the expo during the day had all accepted the invitation from the host Cecilia, dressed in their finest to attend this reception.
People mingled in the luxurious banquet hall, raising glasses, exchanging fake smiles and compliments, testing each other out... The air was thick with an ambiguous, restless atmosphere.
Until two figures appeared, breaking the brief, delicate balance in the banquet hall.
Everyone turned their eyes to the two people now entering the hall.
James, with his stern expression, sat in a wheelchair wearing a well-tailored custom suit, slowly being pushed in.
Although in everyone's eyes, this once high-spirited James had become a cripple, at this moment, this "cripple" in their eyes sat in his wheelchair radiating a cold, powerful presence that was more commanding than anyone else in the room.
So much so that the guests around instinctively stepped back, clearing a path for James to pass through unobstructed.
Behind James, Emily, wearing a white dress with stunning features, attracted even more attention.
One in black, one in white—colors that seemed to clash but stood together in perfect harmony, becoming two pure streaks of color in this luxurious banquet hall.
Cecilia stood outside the crowd, holding a wine glass and taking a sip of red wine, watching the two who had captured everyone's attention in the banquet hall with great interest, her lips curling up slightly.
Indeed, these two standing together were too eye-catching.
Cecilia signaled a waiter carrying a tray to approach Emily and James, and followed along herself with her wine glass.
"Mr. Thomas, Ms. Johnson, welcome. Your presence has added quite a bit of fun to this otherwise dull reception."
Cecilia raised her glass to Emily with a fake smile and flattering words.
"You just want to watch the show, don't you?"
Having been pursued by Cecilia for years, James had long figured out her personality.
He knew very well that although Cecilia was pursuing him, she didn't actually like him that much.
Cecilia just enjoyed the thrill of the chase. After all, for a successful but bored single career woman like her, she needed external stimulation to keep herself active.
What a crazy woman!
Cecilia ignored James's sarcasm. She just stared at Emily without blinking, the provocation and mischief in her eyes completely undisguised.
Emily smiled faintly, picked up a glass from the waiter's tray, and raised it to Cecilia.
"Ms. Thorne, thank you for the invitation."
With that, Emily also took a sip of wine in return.
Afterward, Cecilia warmly invited Emily to chat in the corner. Emily didn't refuse, leaving James alone to sulk.
Hearing the footsteps gradually fade away, James felt deeply frustrated.
Emily just listened to Cecilia like that and abandoned him?
As for the surrounding guests, after seeing the host Cecilia personally greet James and Emily, apart from their initial amazement and shock at the pair's entrance, they paid them no more attention.
"Mr. Thomas, should we follow?"
Marc had been following behind James and Emily to protect them. Seeing Emily leave without regard for James, Marc stepped forward and stood where Emily had just been standing.
"No need. She's not Mason's real mother anyway, I can't be bothered to care about her."
James said coldly.
But while his mouth spoke harsh words, his hands gripping the wheelchair tightened slightly with unease, making his fingertips turn white.
Marc looked at James's fingers gripping the wheelchair, white from the pressure, and sighed softly.
James was saying one thing but meaning another. He clearly liked her, but always instinctively rejected this feeling.
Marc was really worried. Emily was obviously the type who responded to kindness, not force. Would James's unpredictable attitude really not drive Emily away?
......
At this reception, the Johnson family was also among the invited guests.
Just when Emily was talking with Cecilia, behind her through the crowd, a pair of venomous eyes were staring at her intently.
Emily, how dare you appear before me!
Ava's eyes were filled with malice as she watched that slender, delicate figure ahead.
New grudges on top of old ones—if the occasion didn't forbid it, she would have rushed forward regardless of everything to tear apart Emily's hypocritical face.
"Ava, what are you spacing out about here?"
Della walked over with a wine glass, looking at Ava with dissatisfaction. "I brought you to this party to meet promising young men."
"Mom."
Ava turned to look at Della with grievance, pointing in Emily's direction.
"Look over there."
"What's over there?"
Della looked up in the direction Ava was pointing, just in time to see Emily's back as she left with Cecilia, and her expression immediately changed.
How is it Emily again? Like a ghost that won't go away!
"Mom, now that Emily has the Thomas family backing her, she's getting more and more arrogant. If this continues, I'm afraid she'll overshadow us."
Ava said unwillingly.
"What's there to fear? We still have leverage over her."
Della's face darkened as she said viciously, "Worst case scenario, we'll fight her to mutual destruction. Who's afraid of who!"
Della knew that besides Sable, the person Emily cared about most was Verity.
Now that Verity was in her hands, if the Johnson family really had no way out in the end, they could only push Verity out to take the fall.
Thinking of Verity at home, Della's expression became even darker.
Recently, the Johnson Group had been going through a turbulent period, with problems in various projects, especially with the company's cash flow. Originally, as long as they got the Gibson family inheritance and sold the Gibson Group at a high price, the company could come back to life.
But Verity was so stubborn, refusing to hand over the key to the Gibson family inheritance no matter what.
This couldn't go on forever. It seemed they still needed to use a harder approach to make Verity talk.
Della thought venomously.
"...Mom, seeing Emily so pleased with herself, I really can't stand it. Why don't we take this opportunity today to embarrass her in front of everyone?"
Della came back to her senses, hearing Ava's unwilling whisper in her ear.
"Those who want to accomplish great things must stay calm."
Della said coldly.
"But I can't stand it."
Ava tugged at Della's sleeve, saying in a low voice, "Don't you want to teach that arrogant Emily a lesson? It's because of her that the Johnson family has been embarrassed several times. It's because of her that John and I are having relationship problems, that we have to come to places like this to meet new young men."
Speaking of this, Ava felt deeply wronged.
She really liked John, had liked him since high school, which was why she had snatched him from Emily regardless of everything.
But now, because of Emily's troublemaking several times, she and John had become a laughingstock in high society. Even her parents, who had previously supported her relationship with John, had changed their attitude, no longer favoring John, and forcing her to come to this reception to pick a new fiancé.
Emily, since you've ruined things for John and me, I won't let you off easy either!