Chapter 66 Unbelievable
The sun was shining brilliantly today, not a cloud in sight, but Sophia found it rather peculiar.
She eyed Joshua suspiciously, maintaining her polite, composed smile. "Joshua, I don't think we know each other well enough to exchange gifts and birthday wishes, do we?"
Given the atmosphere of their last encounter, she had every reason to suspect that the gift box contained a dead rat.
"Well, we get acquainted through interaction, don't we? I came here to study and build connections. You ace every exam—you're bound to be a formidable player in the business world someday. I want to establish a good relationship with you. What's wrong with that?"
His words sounded sincere and reasonable, but his gaze toward Sophia never held any genuine goodwill. It seemed poisoned, more insidious and cunning than Emily's blatant provocations.
He was like a venomous snake hiding in the grass, concealing himself until he spotted prey, then striking silently with his fangs, waiting for the venom to take effect.
He was too mysterious and dangerous. Sophia had no desire for further contact with him.
"Sophia, aren't you curious about what gift I brought you?" Joshua pushed the gift box forward again.
Sophia raised an eyebrow. "Should I be curious?"
"You'll like it." He sounded so certain, as if despite having barely met a few times, he somehow knew what Sophia wanted.
Sophia stared at the gift box hesitantly for a moment, then reached out to accept it with a gentle smile. "Thank you. This weekend I'm hosting a dinner at the Celestial Peak Hotel for our classmates. Would you like to come?"
"I'd be honored to accept." Joshua curved his lips upward, showing not a trace of actual respect or courtesy. "Mind if we connect on Facebook?"
Sophia nodded, pulling out her phone to add Joshua as a friend.
After pocketing his phone, Joshua said, "I'll head off then. Wishing you a wonderful coming-of-age day."
Watching Joshua walk away, Amelia and Wayne quickly emerged from the classroom, flanking Sophia on both sides.
"Unbelievable? He actually made a special trip to bring you a gift?" Amelia frowned, staring at Joshua's retreating figure while muttering under her breath.
Wayne added, "I don't think he intends that pure. Since we started high school, you've always been first in our grade, and he's always been second. For over two years, you two have barely interacted, and suddenly he shows up with a gift? He's definitely up to something."
Sophia curved her lips into an enigmatic smile. "I'm quite curious about his motives myself."
Rather than passively waiting for Joshua to reveal his true colors, it would be better to take the initiative and probe what secrets this person was hiding.
All their classmates were on her side with no personal ties to Joshua. This weekend's dinner would be the perfect safe opportunity to gather intelligence on her potential enemy.
...
Seven PM at a ballroom in the Celestial Peak Hotel.
The classmates had all changed into designer formal wear and brought gifts to the celebration.
The ballroom was opulently decorated, with tables laden with delicacies and premium desserts, dozens of bottles of champagne worth over a million dollars displayed prominently—more extravagant than a major celebration at their home.
However, with only 49 people present, the massive ballroom that could accommodate hundreds felt eerily spacious, making their voices echo.
Emily wore a pink princess gown with a pink diamond tiara and a diamond necklace featuring a main stone the size of a pigeon's egg around her neck, dressed with extraordinary formality, like a real princess."Thank you all for gracing my coming-of-age celebration with your presence. I don't have other friends in social circles, so I only invited you. To liven up the atmosphere, I specially arranged for a modeling troupe and a symphony orchestra to perform. I hope everyone has a wonderful time tonight."
She gracefully descended from the stage as music began playing, and a parade of tall, attractive models began their fashion show.
Classmates took turns presenting Emily with gifts before settling in to watch the show, eat, drink, and socialize.
Amelia held her champagne flute, lazily watching Emily's artificial performance with the crowd, raising an eyebrow disdainfully. "No modeling show could be as entertaining as the show she's putting on. Forty-nine people in a ballroom that seats five hundred—she's not just rich, she's completely out of touch."
Wayne, standing beside her, chuckled softly. "Emily's mannerisms have developed some semblance of high society polish, but one party exposed her vulgar ignorance. She's like a nouveau riche showing off her wealth everywhere."
"She is nouveau riche." Amelia shrugged, making no effort to hide her contempt for Emily.
Truly wealthy people were actually quite frugal. Elite families sometimes needed to put on displays to maintain their reputation and authority, but they would only arrange events that were impeccably organized and tasteful.
Not like Emily's wild spending—booking the largest ballroom, opening the most expensive bottles was one thing, but who hired entertainment for their own birthday party?
Did she think this was some kind of nightclub?
"Ugh, I was hoping John and Andrew would show up so I could watch some drama unfold. Who knew it would be this boring? I'd rather be celebrating Sophia's birthday instead."
Amelia looked thoroughly uninterested. At times like these, she desperately wished John would appear.
In all of Emerald City, when it came to causing chaos, no one could match John.
Wayne thought carefully before saying, "This is probably the first time Sophia's celebrating her birthday with family, isn't it?"
"Yes, we've always been the ones celebrating with her every year. This year she finally has family to celebrate with." Amelia's lips curved into a brilliant smile, feeling genuinely happy for Sophia.
She felt the Johnson family was all morally upstanding people, and such good people would surely treat Sophia even better.
Sophia could finally experience familial love and affection.
"Where's Michael?" Wayne asked.
Michael never missed Sophia's birthday celebrations in previous years—why was there no word from him this time?
"He's in Black Mountain. Says there are thunderstorms there and all flights have been canceled, so he might not make it back."
Emily was the star of this party, and regardless of any past conflicts, the classmates tactfully approached her with conversation topics.
Though they weren't quite sure what to talk about.
After all, Emily was completely clueless about business matters.
They could only make small talk about trivial topics.
"Emily, your necklace is gorgeous! Is it custom-made?"
Emily raised her hand to touch her necklace, her expression radiating unmistakable vanity. "This is a coming-of-age gift from Dad, worth five million dollars. I'm only wearing it today—with such a large diamond, I wouldn't dare wear it out normally."
"Five million dollars?" Clio Webb raised an eyebrow, exchanging glances with several others nearby, suppressing a smirk. "Your father really does care about you!"
Thinking Clio was genuinely flattering her, Emily proudly straightened her neck. "Of course! I'm his only daughter, and everyone in the family spoils me!"
The others nearly burst out laughing.
Did she really think they couldn't tell? While Emily's necklace did feature substantial carats, the design and cut weren't top-tier, and the diamonds had a slight yellow tint—mediocre quality overall.
The entire necklace was worth at most 1.5 million dollars.
To inflate that to five million dollars—she certainly had some nerve!