Chapter 434: The Scheming of the Sinister Person Never Stops
"Is there anything else, Ms. King?"
Emily paused mid-step and looked at Zoey in confusion.
Zoey walked closer to Emily with a smile. "Didn't I say I'd send you an invitation? I've already called to have someone bring it over. Just wait a bit, it'll arrive soon."
This was clearly intentional.
Emily had wanted to say they could just deliver it to her house, but now that Zoey said it would arrive soon, it seemed hard to find an excuse to refuse.
Zoey wanted Emily to witness her engagement to Daniel tomorrow and give up completely in disappointment.
Fortunately, the invitation arrived quickly.
Zoey personally handed it to Emily, her smile not hiding her smugness at all.
Even though he still wanted to keep up the act, Daniel didn't want Emily to have to endure Zoey's repeated provocations because of him.
He said coldly, "You need to get up early tomorrow for makeup and styling for the engagement. You should head back."
Zoey knew the engagement was the main priority, so she immediately replied, "Okay."
Meeting Daniel's firm gaze, even though Zoey was unhappy, she obediently got in the car and left.
In the car, she received a call from Raina.
"You're getting engaged tomorrow. Is everything ready? I heard you went to 'catch them in the act' today? If I were you, I wouldn't do something so stupid. The engagement is right around the corner - couldn't you just hold back? Going in front of Emily and Daniel like that, aren't you afraid of making Daniel angry and ruining the engagement?"
Raina asked scornfully.
She'd never seen anyone more foolish than Zoey.
At this critical moment, even if you had to pretend, you should pretend not to know.
Men can be rebellious sometimes - the more you try to stop something, the more you make the mistress suffer, the more the man's heart leans toward the mistress.
Zoey frowned. She replayed the whole situation in her mind. Except for almost acting impulsively at the beginning, she thought she'd handled everything else well.
"Don't worry, I didn't go up there to question them or make a scene. Do you really think I'm stupid? And you don't need to act so smart yourself. If you were really smart, you'd have gotten yourself a position at the Smith Group by now with actual power, instead of being timid at home and showing off to me."
When it came to cutting remarks, Zoey's words really hit the mark.
Raina's expression darkened.
But she didn't show it.
Instead, she said, "The Stevens family will also attend tomorrow's wedding to give gifts. Then the other people in the Smith family will be even more convinced that you're the one in power in the Smith family, with enough family background and ability."
Giving gifts in the Stevens family's name was Axel's decision.
He couldn't attend in person, so he had Raina arrange for someone to send gifts on behalf of the Stevens family.
Zoey was delighted, and the sting from Raina's earlier scorn didn't bother her as much anymore.
"I understand. Oh, and I invited Emily to attend my engagement banquet tomorrow, so she'll give up completely."
"Emily's attending too? Does Daniel know?"
Raina was more careful. Hearing what Zoey said, she didn't immediately share her opinion but asked instead.
"What? Are you afraid Daniel will object if he knows, or cancel the engagement? Don't worry. Not only does Daniel know, but he was right there when I invited her. Emily tried to act calm and agreed, and as for Daniel, he didn't say anything at the time. I think he knows what's appropriate - after all, this is a union between two families that affects both families' stock prices."
Zoey's tone was light and smug.
As long as Daniel compromised once, he could compromise a second time, a third time... even more times.
Eventually, she'd make his heart belong completely to her.
Zoey began to feel hopeful and confident.
Raina still felt uneasy.
"This doesn't seem like Daniel's character." Raina could only point out what seemed strange to her.
Zoey thought she understood Daniel well, but in reality, she couldn't see through him at all. She dismissed Raina's words. "She's just a woman. You don't really think Daniel's actually fallen in love with her, do you?"
But Raina still wasn't reassured.
She thought for a moment and suggested, "Then let's make her completely lose her appeal to Daniel."
"You mean...?"
Zoey's eyes widened. Was Raina suggesting what she thought she was?
But thinking it over, that would indeed be best.
For once, Raina and Zoey were on the same page. She knew Zoey had probably guessed her plan.
"Your main focus tomorrow is to get through the engagement smoothly, so I'll arrange this."
"Okay, but arrange the man for Emily after my engagement banquet is successful. I'll keep Daniel occupied, and after it's done, I'll find a way to lead Daniel to witness her embarrassing moment. Then Daniel will definitely be completely disappointed in Emily and stop thinking about her."
Zoey thought this was the best approach.
"Fine, just be careful when the time comes. Don't be too obvious and let Daniel realize you knew about this." Raina gave extra reminders.
"Don't worry, I know."
Zoey thought that no matter how foolish she was, she wouldn't be that stupid.
That night, Zoey was so excited she could barely sleep.
But Daniel and Emily slept very well.
The next morning.
There was a knock on Emily's door.
Violette went to answer it.
Violette had been a bit afraid of Daniel at first, but now she was used to him. Knowing how much he cared for Emily, she'd gradually accepted him.
So now she could treat him almost like a younger family member.
"Daniel, you're here? What's all this?"
Violette welcomed him in, but noticed quite a few people following behind Daniel. The setup was a bit intimidating.
"I'm here for Emily. We're attending an engagement banquet together. These are makeup artists and stylists I brought to do her styling."
Daniel explained patiently.
"Okay, I'll go call Emily. She's still upstairs and hasn't come down yet. Daniel, please have a seat. Tea..."
Violette was alone, and having to call someone while also preparing tea for guests was a bit much to handle.
Emily didn't like having too many servants in the house, so apart from gardeners and cleaners who came regularly, Violette handled everything at home.
Daniel naturally knew this and quickly replied, "You don't need to worry about us. If Emily's not awake, just wait until she wakes up to call her."
Violette knew Emily's schedule and figured she was probably awake by now. She said with a smile, "Okay, but I'm guessing Emily's already up."
Sure enough, when Violette knocked on the door, Emily was a bit surprised that Violette was there so early today.
When she opened the door and heard what Violette said, she poked her head out and looked downstairs, only then realizing that Daniel had personally brought makeup artists and stylists to her home.
"Violette, let me go say hello first."
Emily went downstairs cheerfully like a little bird. "Why did you come in person? Have you had breakfast? Actually, just simple styling is fine - after all, I'm not the star of today's show."
Daniel had his own plans, so he really wanted Emily to appear stunningly in front of everyone.
As for whether it would steal Zoey's spotlight, he didn't care at all.
However, he didn't refuse to have breakfast with Emily.
After breakfast, the stylists and others went upstairs with Emily.
Daniel waited patiently downstairs.
Two hours later, Emily's styling was almost done.
When she walked out of her room wearing the dress specially designed for her, she immediately caught everyone's attention.
Including Daniel's, of course.
So much so that he even forgot about the phone call he was on.