Chapter 263 An Official Announcement
Wendy pulled Nicole by the hand all the way up on stage.
The Gardners had built a massive stage in the garden in front of the residence, and Anna happened to be giving a speech on stage at the moment.
Benjamin, Olivia, Colton, plus the esteemed guests and representatives from the media were all listening to Anna’s speech from below the stage.
Anna started off with polite remarks, but the more she spoke, the weirder it made Nicole feel.
“As it is Wendy’s birthday banquet today, I would like to take the opportunity to make an announcement—the Gardners are officially welcoming a grandson into our family!”
There was an uproar immediately after the news broke out. Not one person in the audience was calm, and the reporters quickly started clicking away on their cameras.
What exactly was happening?!
A grandson of the Gardner Family?!
Wendy had barely come of age. There was no way Anna would happily make such a scandal public if Wendy gave birth at such a young age.
That left them with only one other possibility, and that was that Colton had a son!
He had only broken things off with Queenie yesterday, but they were announcing that he had a son now?
This was another story that all the reporters eagerly recorded.
Nicole was standing backstage when all this happened. Her body froze and a hint of panic flashed across her eyes. Just what was Anna talking about?
She started to leave, but Wendy quickly stopped her by grabbing onto her.
“Please don’t deny it anymore, Miss Nicole. Richard has already gotten the paternity test result from the hospital. It is confirmed that Hayden is Colton’s son.”
Nicole didn’t spare a moment to think as she blurted out, “But that is impossible!”
There was no way it could be true. If the one she had spent the night with five years ago was Colton…
As Nicole thought about it, she suddenly jerked. She had heard somewhere that Queenie had become Colton’s fiancée exactly five years ago…
Could it be that the one Nicole slept with was Colton and not Joseph?!
Just the thought of that shocked her so much that blood immediately drained from her face.
Anna was holding a report in the air for the audience to see. “The Gardners will officially welcome the child into our home after Wendy’s birthday banquet,” she announced.
This announcement was far more exciting than Wendy wearing jewelry by Triton Studio.
Olivia was the first one whose face fell. As soon as she heard Anna’s words, she jumped out of her seat and turned to yell at Benjamin. “Are you going to let her make a fool of us like that? Since when did Colton have a son? Don’t tell me it is that b*stard child!”
Like Nicole, Colton was also caught off-guard by the announcement his mother suddenly made, but he was obviously displeased when he retorted Olivia for saying those words. “Aunt, Hayden is not a b*stard. It doesn’t matter whose child he is. You can’t say something like that.”
Seeing Colton go against her, Olivia sneered as her expression turned into an angry one. “Look at how rebellious you’ve become! Since when did we become so depraved? Even if the child is yours, I will never let that woman become one of the Gardners!”
Benjamin was also surprised by the news that his wife did not discuss with him prior to the announcement.
With a dark expression, Olivia stomped her way onto the stage and snatched the microphone from Anna.
Anna must have figured something out as she in turn glared at Olivia. Still, it was Wendy’s birthday banquet. They didn’t fight or argue further, and only peered at each other wordlessly.
Anna left the stage after she made her announcement, leaving the upset Olivia by herself. Olivia proceeded to sweep her eyes across the audience before she huffed, “Let’s talk inside. What the hell is going on?! You are going to embarrass our family!”
Worried that Olivia would do something to ruin the happy occasion, Anna didn’t say no to her.
Olivia then got the bodyguards to bring Nicole into the residence as well.
The reporters and invited guests were going to congratulate them at first, but they figured things would escalate for the worse after the huge argument. The Gardners even got their bodyguards to block off the path to the residence.
Wendy might be young, but she was responsible enough to quickly react by going on stage and making an announcement. “It is my birthday banquet today. Since my mother has announced it and the elderly of the family all happen to be here, the members of the family shall have a discussion. You all may ask your questions after they are done.”
