Chapter 59 The Birthday Gift
“God, please bless my family with longevity and prosperous offspring. May everything be smooth sailing for us all.”
With a walking stick in hand, Demi looked at her children and grandchildren happily.
Today was her seventieth birthday, and incidentally, her family business had revived which made her day even better. It could be said that today was the happiest she had been.
Besides her family members, the other people who attended her banquet today were influential figures in Nebula City.
“Granny, I wish you a long and happy life ahead! Here is a red packet for you,” Jacob wished Demi.
“Granny, I wish you health and a good life! These are some jewelry and jade carvings for you,” Henry followed.
“Happy seventieth birthday to you! I have a gold plague for you,” the manager of the Great Sea Corporation said.
The greetings went on.
All the guests that came brought expensive gifts with them. Anyone would be envious of her for being able to receive such presents.
The total value of these gifts would probably exceed a million.
Just then, a voice suddenly caught everyone’s attention.
“Granny, may you be forever youthful. I have a painting here that was drawn by the late Edric Clifforde for you,” Alex spoke as he stepped forward to give her the piece of artwork.
Everyone, including Heather, was surprised to hear that Alex bought an ancient painting from the renaissance era.
An authentic painting from the late artist would have cost him at least five hundred thousand. Did Alex really buy her the original one?
In shock, everyone curiously looked at the painting in his hands.
The guests knew that Alex was just the Jennings family’s live-in son-in-law and they wondered how he could afford to buy a genuine painting that costs this much.
Certainly, he looked like he could not afford it.
On the other side, Henry and Harper glared at Alex with hatred.
Last night, Alex had shoved broken pieces of a phone down Henry’s throat, and he had to rush to the hospital to get them out.
Even so, his throat got cut by the broken shards, and it still felt sore.
“That’s enough, that must be a knockoff from a flea market. Are you trying to embarrass Granny?” When Alex went forward to pass his gift to Demi, Jacob stopped him.
Jacob knew what had happened last night and was unhappy with Alex.
Not only was Henry his brother-in-law but he was also part of the Hale family. Besides, Jacob had planned on riding on the Hales’ coattails in the future.
Never would he expected that Alex would dare to hurt Henry.
Nevertheless, this was an opportunity for Jacob to stand up for Henry.
Demi took a glimpse of the painting in Alex’s hands and frowned. She did not believe that it was the original painting either.
It was humiliating for her to receive a knockoff.
“You think I bought a fake painting from a flea market?” Alex looked at Jacob and scoffed.
“It must be fake. Do you really think you could afford to buy the original painting?” Jacob mocked.
Harper chipped in and sneered, “He’s right, some people just don’t know where they stand. You are just a useless bum who relies on his wife, so how would you have enough money to buy it?”
Everyone else nodded their heads as they cast doubtful looks at Alex.
As a live-in son-in-law, it would already be good enough if he managed to buy something that costs a few hundred. To say that it was an original art piece seemed like a joke.
At that moment, the guests felt sorry for Alex.
They looked at Heather, a woman known for her pretty looks in Nebula City, and wondered why she picked a man like him.
They could not understand.
The guests racked their brains trying to come up with a reasonable explanation as to why Heather would marry a man who was a live-in son-in-law.
“Move away.” Alex could not be bothered to explain to Jacob and merely pushed him aside to walk forward.
“Granny, I have seen it with my own eyes and can attest that it is the original painting by Edric Clifforde. You can unveil it and see it for yourself,” Alex said as he passed the gift to Demi.
“Nonsense!”
The moment Demi received it, she immediately threw it onto the ground. She raged, “I would have felt better if your family came empty-handed rather than receiving a cheap painting from a flea market. By doing this, you have humiliated the Jennings family!”
