Chapter 56 She Is the Joke
As she spoke, Yasmin sniffled, wiped away tears that weren't there, and continued,
"But a few days ago, I found out they were throwing a welcome party for Amelia. I immediately tried to warn them that given the Richardson family's current situation, no one would come even if they held a banquet."
"Who would have thought they wouldn't listen to me at all? For the sake of Amelia's reputation, they ignored my advice and went ahead with this big banquet anyway."
"Now the whole of Goldenvale must be laughing at the Richardson family, right?"
She lowered her eyes, speaking with a worried expression.
But several seconds after she finished speaking, the room was dead silent.
Yasmin couldn't help feeling strange. She looked up in confusion, only to see her two friends staring at her with their mouths hanging open, looking like they wanted to say something but didn't know how.
Yasmin felt even more confused, and at the same time, a bad feeling rose in her heart.
She paused, couldn't help asking: "What's wrong?"
One of her friends pulled at her lips and said: "Yasmin, if this is what's making you upset, you can relax now."
"Relax? What do you mean?"
The other friend said: "Because the Richardson family's banquet the other day wasn't at all like you said, with no one showing up. Actually, it was packed. People who arrived a bit late didn't even have seats and had to stand."
Yasmin's eyes suddenly widened.
"That's impossible!"
But she quickly realized she was losing her composure and hurriedly added: "If you're saying this to comfort me, there's really no need. I know the Richardson family has already become everyone's joke."
"No!"
The two women quickly explained.
"I'm not trying to comfort you, I'm telling you the truth."
"Almost every notable family in Goldenvale went."
Yasmin's face instantly turned pale.
The Richardson family didn't become a joke?
Then didn't that make her the joke?
One of the women said: "I actually went that day too, but my family forced me to go. They insisted I go meet Mr. Crawford. Too bad that bitch Amelia wouldn't even introduce us to him, wouldn't even tell us a single thing about Mr. Crawford's interests."
Her words were full of frustration and disgust toward Amelia.
To them, Amelia from the countryside was like a lowly ant.
An ant should bow down to them, tell them everything, not compete with them for Samuel.
However, the woman's words reminded Yasmin.
That day, people from the Sullivan family and Samuel all went to The Richardson Manor.
How could she have forgotten?
With the Sullivan family and the Crawford family showing up, how could the other wealthy families sit still?
Even if just for show, they had to give the Sullivan family and the Crawford family respect.
No wonder no one had been mocking the Richardson family's banquet for having no guests these past two days.
Damn it! Why didn't she think of this earlier?
Yasmin pressed her lips tightly together, her beautiful eyes flashing with cold light.
The women chattered on about Amelia's faults, not noticing the change in Yasmin's expression for the moment.
But soon, the topic returned to Yasmin.
The reason was that someone mentioned the charity exhibition hosted by the Crawford Group.
"Yasmin, I remember you're really good at oil painting, and you even got praise from the oil painting expert Geraldo. I heard Geraldo will be at this exhibition too. Since you know Geraldo well, can you get us invitations?"
The other girl immediately said: "If you can get invitations, could you get us one too?"
"Yeah, I want to go too. But my family didn't receive an invitation."
Yasmin's first instinct was to refuse.
Because she had only met Geraldo once, they weren't really close at all.
And back then, she had participated in an oil painting competition and won first place, which was how she met Geraldo McGinnis.
But that painting was copied from Grant's work.
She had a good talent for imitation, but no ability to create original work.
Every time she participated in an oil painting competition, she would secretly go to Grant's room to find "inspiration."
Grant wasn't particularly talented in other areas, but he was excellent at painting, though few people knew this.
"I've been really busy lately, so I won't be attending." Yasmin made up an excuse.
Because Geraldo would never give her an invitation.
Much less give her several extra invitations to share with these friends.
One of the girls heard this and quickly said: "No matter how busy you are, you should still go. I heard the exhibition will also hold an oil painting competition. Yasmin, if you go and participate, you might win first place. I heard the prize for the winner is really generous! Yasmin, you really have to go."
Yasmin's smile was stiff.
Now that she had left the Richardson family, there was no way she could get "inspiration" from Grant.
If she went and participated in the competition, she wouldn't be able to paint anything.
Then everyone would know that her so-called oil painting talent didn't exist at all.
"I'm really busy, otherwise I'd definitely go."
The girls looked disappointed.
"That's such a shame."
Another girl wouldn't give up: "Yasmin, if you're not going, can you at least get us some invitations? You could even forgive the Richardson family, so this little thing, you'll definitely help us with it, right?"
Yasmin responded vaguely: "I'll ask for you, but whether I can get invitations depends on whether Geraldo has any extra ones."
"Okay, whether you can get them or not, at least you asked for us. We won't blame you if you can't get them."
Although they said that, Yasmin knew in her heart that if she couldn't get the invitations, these people would probably distance themselves from her in the future.
After all, she was no longer the daughter of the Richardson family.
Yasmin's smile became even more stiff.
She hastily ended the afternoon tea and drove back to Steven's small villa.
The small villa was empty, with only one servant cleaning.
Yasmin asked hopefully: "Has Steven been here?"
The servant shook her head: "No one's been here, Ms. Richardson."
The light in Yasmin's eyes dimmed.
Since they parted at The Richardson Manor that day, Steven hadn't come here, and he wouldn't even answer her calls.
Was he disgusted with her now?
Yasmin paced back and forth anxiously in front of the floor-to-ceiling window.
She had left the Richardson family and lost her last support. If Steven didn't want her, she would have nothing left.
Suddenly Yasmin stopped in her tracks.
She couldn't just sit and wait. Steven had feelings for her, but if they didn't see each other for a long time, those feelings would definitely fade. She had to go find him!
Thinking this, Yasmin took out her phone and made a call.
This number belonged to one of Steven's subordinates.
The other party answered quickly.
"Yasmin?"
Yasmin got straight to the point: "Where is Steven now?"
"Sorry, Yasmin, I can't tell you."
"Fine, you don't have to tell me, but when Steven and I make up, the first thing I'll do is have him fire you."
The blatant threat finally made the subordinate on the other end give in.
"Mr. Sullivan has been staying at The Sullivan Manor lately, but he's about to go out. If you want to see him, maybe wait until he's done with his business."
"Where is he going?"
"To attend the charity exhibition hosted by the Crawford Group."
"I see." Yasmin hung up the phone.
It seemed she had no choice but to attend this exhibition.