Chapter 410: Meeting Gift for Gwyneth's Daughter
Isabella looked at Jasmine and smiled, "Why did the guards let me in? You can go ask them yourself."
Jasmine frowned, "You expect me to go ask them?"
Hestia whispered in Jasmine's ear, "Didn't Isabella get recommendation letters from the seven great families to enter Radiant University? Maybe she really did receive an invitation."
Jasmine thought about it - that made sense.
The fact that Isabella could enter Radiant University meant she had connections with one of the seven great families, so it seemed reasonable that she could get an invitation through those connections.
Jasmine snorted coldly and looked down at Isabella, "So what if you went through all this trouble to attend the Powell family's party? Too bad you're going to die soon anyway!"
The more Jasmine looked at Isabella, the more annoyed she became. Too lazy to say anything more, she let out a careless, cold laugh and left.
She was here to meet Gwyneth's daughter, not to waste time on Isabella.
Jasmine continued searching the banquet hall for Gwyneth's daughter, wondering what she looked like and whether she had arrived yet.
Isabella narrowed her eyes, watching Jasmine's figure disappear, then glanced at the long table filled with desserts nearby.
She casually picked up a small cake and popped it in her mouth.
Axel hurried over and whispered in her ear, "Ms. Isabella Powell, please come with me. Ms. Gwyneth Powell is looking for you."
Isabella said nothing and followed Axel.
——
This public banquet was mainly attended by people from the forty-three families.
Garth arrived at the banquet hall entrance with the Hope family's council of elders. He glanced at the busy scene of people coming and going, narrowed his eyes, and strode inside.
Since Garth had only recently taken the position of family head, he still placed great importance on maintaining relationships among the nobles. If he needed to establish himself among the nobility, he had to be thorough in all directions.
This Powell family public banquet was the first event involving the seven great families that he had attended since taking office.
Especially since it concerned Gwyneth's daughter.
So Garth had prepared very thoroughly. He spent seven hundred million dollars to have a top gem carver create a life-sized phoenix ornament.
It matched the Powell family's totem symbol while being expensive - a perfect meeting gift for Gwyneth's daughter.
When Garth entered with his people, everyone noticed the two bodyguards behind him carrying a large object covered with red cloth, so many eyes fell on Garth.
But they quickly guessed that this red-cloth-covered item was probably the meeting gift Garth had prepared, because Garth wasn't the only one with this idea - other families had also prepared meeting gifts.
A servant in charge of reception in the banquet hall saw Garth and approached him, "Mr. Hope, is what you brought a gift for Ms. Powell's daughter?"
"That's right."
"Then please place the gift in that corner over there, and note the gift-giver's identity on the gift list." The servant had clearly handled many gift-givers and was very practiced at this.
Garth frowned slightly at these words.
He glanced at the gift area - there were mountains of gifts piled up, all kinds of things, but he was certain that none of them were as valuable as his.
Who else would be willing to spend seven hundred million dollars to carefully craft such a gift!
If his gift was mixed in with those ordinary gifts, Gwyneth's daughter might never even notice it, and naturally wouldn't know his intentions.
He didn't spend all that money for nothing.
Garth looked at the servant and said, "Could I personally deliver this gift to Ms. Powell's daughter?"
The servant shook his head, "Mr. Hope, that's not according to the rules. Too many people came to give gifts today. If everyone personally delivered their gifts to Ms. Powell's daughter, she probably wouldn't be able to handle it all."
The servant naturally knew that giving gifts was secondary - mainly, everyone wanted to meet Gwyneth's daughter.
But Gwyneth's daughter wasn't someone just anyone could meet whenever they wanted.
Garth didn't get angry at this but said confidently, "My gift is extraordinary and extremely valuable, so I must personally deliver it to Ms. Powell's daughter!"
As he spoke, Garth gestured for someone nearby to slightly lift a corner of the red cloth, revealing the gem inside!
The servant looked over, and his pupils immediately contracted in shock, "Mr. Hope, you..."
The servant had seen rare treasures before and naturally recognized the value of this gem!
He had seen all kinds of gifts, large and small, including valuable ones, but this gem had clearly exceeded the scope of "gift-giving."
"So? Can I meet Ms. Powell's daughter now?" Garth asked confidently.
"Mr. Hope, please wait a moment. I'll go ask for instructions."
After saying this, the servant hurried away.
——
Second floor of the banquet hall, in a lounge.
Isabella followed Axel inside.
Both Gwyneth and Kennedy were there.
"Kennedy? Why are you here? Shouldn't you be resting in the hospital?" Isabella looked at her in surprise.
Gwyneth said, "Kennedy heard at the hospital that today was your identity reveal party, so she had Saul let her leave the hospital. She said she wanted to come congratulate you."
The hospital Kennedy stayed at was a Powell family property, so the doctors and nurses liked to gossip privately about the Powell family's affairs. If she hadn't overheard, Kennedy still wouldn't know that Isabella was actually Gwyneth's daughter.
But she wasn't surprised.
Kennedy's phone had been lost long ago. When she left the hospital, she was stopped by guards at the banquet hall entrance and happened to run into Gwyneth.
That's how Gwyneth brought Kennedy in.
Later, Kennedy chatted with Gwyneth and learned that Isabella had actually grown up in Lumaria.
"Isabella, congratulations. From now on, you'll be the real Isabella Powell."
Isabella smiled, "What makes me happiest is finding my mother."
As for what surname she had, that wasn't important to her.
"How are you feeling physically?" Isabella asked.
Actually, the reason Kennedy was so eager to find Isabella was that she had something to tell her.
"My body can use ancient martial arts now, and Saul told me that my talent hasn't been wasted despite the past dozen years."
Gwyneth nearby raised her eyebrows, "Speaking of which, this is very strange. Normally, since Kennedy hasn't used ancient martial arts for over a decade, her strength after recovery is quite surprising."
"Surprising? How so?"
"I just tested her - she can withstand fifty percent of my power."
Isabella's eyes widened slightly at this.
The gap between ancient martial arts professionals couldn't be known without sparring. Previously, Gwyneth had also tested her, starting from ten percent power, and Isabella could only barely withstand forty percent of Gwyneth's power. Even so, Gwyneth had already praised her as excellent, saying that peers at her level couldn't even withstand ten percent of her power.
And Kennedy could actually withstand fifty percent of Gwyneth's power.
That was indeed quite impressive.
"This is probably thanks to your father." Gwyneth looked at Kennedy, "Your father, Eldridge, was quite powerful, the youngest genius among the thirty-six families."
If she remembered correctly, Eldridge had secured the position of Hope family head at the age of twenty because Eldridge had the best talent and was the strongest among the younger generation in the family.
Perhaps heaven envies talent - unfortunately, Eldridge died of illness at thirty.
"I also asked Louie just now." Gwyneth turned her gaze to Isabella, "He said the sealed energy channels in Kennedy don't affect her cultivation of ancient martial arts, but they block the release of Internal Energy. Heaven rewards diligence - although Kennedy couldn't demonstrate ancient martial arts these past dozen years, she practiced every day, which led to today's breakthrough. Otherwise, if it were someone else, they would have given up long ago out of discouragement."
"Either way, this is good news," Isabella said sincerely.
Just then, a servant knocked and entered.
"Ms. Gwyneth Powell, Ms. Isabella Powell," the servant said quietly, "The head of the Hope family, Garth, has arrived. He brought a priceless gem ornament and says he wants to personally deliver it to Ms. Isabella Powell. Because the gift is so valuable, I came to ask Ms. Isabella Powell's opinion."
"A gem ornament?" Isabella narrowed her eyes slightly.
"Worth about seven hundred million dollars, and a full person's height."
"He's really willing to spend." Isabella smiled.
She turned to look at Gwyneth, wanting to ask her opinion, but unexpectedly, Gwyneth said, "Ansley, since Garth came to give you a gift, you decide whether to see him or not, and whether to accept the gift or not - it's up to you."
Isabella smiled, "Why wouldn't I accept money delivered to my door?"
"But mainly, I want to see what expression Garth will have when he sees me."
Isabella turned to the servant, "Tell him to come up and find me."
——
Garth waited downstairs and soon saw the servant who had left earlier return.
"Mr. Hope, you can go straight up. Ms. Powell is in the innermost room on the second floor."
Garth's face immediately lit up with joy.
He knew it!
His seven hundred million dollars wouldn't be wasted - it would definitely get him a meeting with Gwyneth's daughter.
He was so excited that he even rubbed his hands together, saying to his people, "Let's go, we're going up!"
Garth was about to lead his people upstairs when he saw Brandon.
Brandon had obviously seen him too. He looked at Garth's setup and didn't need to guess what he was there to do.
Brandon stroked his beard and smiled, "Your gift must be quite expensive, right?"
"Not at all, no gift could match Ms. Powell's daughter's status." Garth said politely, "I'm just showing my sincerity."
"By the way, after these past few days of cooling down, are you still planning to cripple Isabella?" Brandon asked, "Is there no room for negotiation on this matter?"
Garth's expression changed slightly at these words. He thought Brandon was going to plead for Isabella.
"Brandon, my son, is no different from a dead man now. As his father, the only thing I can do is avenge him."
"For the sake of her being a Radiant University student, I can spare Isabella's life, but what she did to my son, I must return to her."
Brandon nodded, stroking his chin, "That's really too bad then."
Garth thought the "too bad" Brandon mentioned referred to feeling sorry for Isabella.
"Brandon, I'll go deliver the gift to Ms. Powell's daughter first," Garth said.
Brandon said nothing more, watching Garth's figure. He shook his head and turned to walk away.