At the dining table, both of them sat with a straight posture. Heather focused her piercing stare on Blake and decided in her mind, I won’t care about his image this time!
She whispered in Myra’s ears, “Let’s go for a meal outside. I’ll treat you to a nice meal elsewhere!” The situation at home was in a big mess and she didn’t want to stay for an extra minute.
As soon as Robert heard that, he immediately chided Blake, “This is a family gathering. Why did you invite your friend over? This is unacceptable! Since you’ve invited your friend, then you should just go and have a meal with him outside.” Evidently, he was on Heather’s side.
At that moment, everyone at the scene kept their silence. They knew that it definitely wasn’t a good idea to cross her path. Of course, Blake wasn’t one who could be offended either. Furthermore, Robert had already raised his point and anyone who dared to utter a word right now would likely get into deep trouble.
“Grandpa, that’s so unfair! You can’t just dote on your darling granddaughter! Look at her! She’s also brought a friend back with her. Why is her friend allowed to stay for dinner? Why isn’t my friend welcome here? I guess her friend’s more precious then, huh?” Blake retorted with an indignant expression. The solemn expression on his face clearly depicted the looks of a cunning businessman. In fact, this was much more acceptable than the way he joked earlier.
As soon as Robert heard that, he felt angrier than before. Camille, who was standing next to Blake, stealthily tugged on his sleeve. Although Blake was the one making all the decisions in the company, Robert was well and alive by all means and he was still the Director of Langston Group in name. He still exerted dominance with his presence.
“Blake, you’re right. I’ll be on my way out with my friend then! We’re unworthy to be on the same dining table with you guys!” Heather replied snidely.
Soon after that, she turned to Robert with a smile. “Grandpa, don’t be angry at Blake because of me. I know you dote on me the most. However, my friend’s pregnant after all so I don’t think she can stomach the food here today. It’s just one of these things with pregnant ladies and their food restrictions! This is all my fault! I shouldn’t have insisted on inviting her over for dinner with the family. She’s pregnant with my godson here! He’s quite precious to me! Therefore, I’ll bring her out for a meal that’s suitable for a pregnant lady.” Her words were obviously directed at everyone present. At the same time, she managed to uphold his image. After all, Blake had quite rudely retorted Robert’s words and didn’t even bother to maintain the latter’s image. Ever since Blake took over the company, his behavior toward Robert had been quite rude. Moreover, the whole family chose to side with Blake and made all sorts of efforts to butter up to him.
“I can’t stomach this overly lavish meal either. I’ll join you two for dinner.” Robert glanced at Blake coldly. Over the years, he had lost his hold over both the company and the family. Blake was starting to become ruder with his behavior at home.
Myra had not visited for quite some time, so she didn’t realize that a lot had happened within the Langston Family. Previously, Robert was the absolute decision-maker of the family and there was no way anyone could have challenged him. However, judging by how everyone kept their silence now, it seemed Blake was the one currently in power.
All of a sudden, someone appeared at their doorstep and interrupted the tense situation. He apologized, “Excuse me, am I interrupting something?”
It was Matthias who’d arrived. As soon as Heather heard that familiar voice, she turned to look at his face, which bore a respectful front, before she gave a snide smile.
“I was wondering which friend he had invited. So it’s you, Director. Locke!” she said with clenched teeth. Her eyes smoldered with anger while she directed her gaze on him.
Suddenly, Heather realized Myra’s presence by her side and she hastily suppressed her anger. Meanwhile, Myra shot a perplexed look at Heather before looking toward Matthias.
Matthias was standing against the light and his face suddenly reminded Myra of his younger self from their youth. Myra shook her head in surprise and wondered, What did I just see? I think I saw a young man with features that resembled Matthias! She squinted her eyes and tried to recall what she saw.
“Miss Langston, what a surprise! I didn’t expect us to meet each other again so soon.” Matthias maintained his polite manner and walked toward Heather while speaking.
“Don’t come near me!” Myra suddenly held her head in her arms and said in a terrified tone. Her voice was quite distressed at this moment.
Heather looked at Myra anxiously. “Myra, what’s wrong? Are you not feeling well?” Our casual lunch date is completely ruined! Full of annoyance, Heather looked at Matthias. “Didn’t you hear her words? Stop right there!” she demanded. Right now, her focus was on Myra. She looked at Myra with a pained look on her face as she was quite worried about the latter’s condition.
“Mr. Locke, come on in. Just ignore her!” Blake dashed forward to greet Matthias. He assumed that Heather was currently throwing a tantrum.
Robert, who was seated at the end of the dining table, had a darkened expression on his face and he glared at Blake with a warning. I can’t believe it! He actually invited Matthias Locke over for lunch!
Blake’s action of inviting Matthias over to the Langston Residence at this point had crossed the line. It was not only hurtful to Heather, but also a blatant disregard for the reputation of the Langston Family.
A furious Robert banged his fist on the table and yelled in annoyance, “Everyone, stop eating! Blake, come with me to the study room!” How did he turn out to be such an ingrate? Robert, who always regarded the family reputation to be of utmost importance, was currently close to throttling Blake.
Meanwhile, Matthias looked at the unfolding scene with a stunned expression. He tried his hardest to act as if he was completely unaware of what was going on. Heather shot daggers at him with her eyes. This is all his fault!
Everyone on the dining table heeded Robert’s words and abandoned their meals. As for her, she turned to Robert and responded, “Grandpa, Myra’s feeling terrible, so I’ll bring her to the hospital right away.” Although Heather was keen to stay behind and help him to deal with the messy situation, Myra’s condition needed more urgent care.
“Sure, go ahead!” Robert glanced at Myra with a worried expression. I hope she’s fine! How am I going to explain to Lisa if anything happens to Myra during her visit?
At this moment, Matthias walked up to them and mentioned to Heather, “Do you need my help?” His current expression was full of innocence, which caused her to muse, Great, he’s probably acting dumb to take advantage of the situation!
“No.” She shoved him aside. “If it wasn’t for your presence today, we wouldn’t have this mess right now!”
She then hurriedly escorted Myra out of the house as he gazed at the back of their heads with a sigh. I’ve caught a glimpse of Myra once again. He wanted to focus his yearning gaze on Myra for a little bit longer. If only I had known that Myra would be present, then I wouldn’t turn up at all. I didn’t think she would be affected by my presence and develop a headache all of a sudden! Did I trigger something in her?
At the stairwell, Robert turned his attention to Matthias and mentioned, “Mr. Locke, if you don’t mind, could you wait for me downstairs for a short while? I have something to discuss with you, but first, let me finish my discussion with Blake.” Robert was determined not to let him off lightly this time. Since Matthias had shown up here on his own accord, then he’d better give them a good explanation for his actions.
Matthias nodded in response. “I also have something to discuss with you, sir.” In fact, his main intention here today was to seek a collaboration with the Langston Family. He just never expected Blake to choose such an awkward timing.
Evidently, in this day and age, Matthias was not the only one good at taking advantage of others. Blake was also well-versed at that and it was evident from how he exploited Matthias. He had invited Matthias over today to provoke Heather so that she would lose her composure in front of everyone.
When they were younger, Blake actually had a good relationship with her and he was always glued to her. As they grew older and developed conflicts of interest, their relationship then took a turn for the worse. At that time, Heather attracted all of Robert’s attention due to her outstanding capabilities. Blake, being the oldest grandson in the family, naturally expected to have preferential treatment but he didn’t get the attention he expected. As such, he was discontented and couldn’t control the flames of jealousy that flared up within him. Meanwhile, her attitude toward him was one of complete disregard. As a result, he chose to use other methods to attract the attention of everyone as she was being praised each time. His flirtatious personality was just his way of expressing himself. After all, he knew that there was no way he could win in the war he waged against his sister. I’m such a joke! Can you believe it? A grown man being completely defeated by his sister?
Ever since Heather went abroad, Blake’s life was much more comfortable. He actually was talented at running a business. If it weren’t for him being distracted by women, he could have performed even better. It was what everyone assumed, so each time he heard someone say that, he felt better. However, he was the only one aware that his obsession with women was merely a facade. In fact, he’d given his best in everything, but he could only achieve so much and it was not even comparable to Heather at all! As such, he had no choice but to maintain the facade, pretending that he hadn’t tried his best in front of everyone. Over time, he managed to convince himself that it was true; if only he had tried his best, then he would definitely be as good as or even better than her!
With Heather currently back in town, despite Blake having the power to make decisions at Langston Group and no longer fearful of Robert, everyone at home fawned over him too. Everything seemed to be heading in a good direction for Blake, but with her back home and having to see her on a daily basis was quite a tough pill for him to swallow. She had developed a huge presence abroad and was well-known there. As such, she attracted all of everyone’s attention as soon as she arrived back in town, but he couldn’t stand her blasé attitude—she acted as if it was all quite normal to her. He was quite affected by her behavior because she had easily ruined his efforts that he had built up all this while. There was no way he could be content; he could not tolerate the ‘sunshine’ next to him, especially when she had easily overshadowed him.
Slap. The sound echoed in the room as Robert slapped Blake hard across his face and it brought the latter back to the current scene in front of him. Despite that, Blake maintained a flippant smile and stared at Robert squarely in the eyes. He had all but given up on gaining Robert’s attention. After all, Heather was the best in his eyes. Look at how she proudly declared that she’s Grandpa’s favorite grandkid without any disguise. Their close relationship gets on my nerves!
“You’ve crossed the line here! Tell me, does the Langston Family reputation mean anything to you at all?!” Robert angrily confronted him.
“Grandpa, Matthias is here to discuss a collaboration with us. I invited him here today for the sake of Langston Group.” Blake caressed his face and realized that he was bleeding on the lips. Looks like I’ve angered the old man badly this time.
“Have you considered how the press would speculate on Matthias and Heather at this point if we choose to collaborate with Locke Group?” Robert trembled in anger and jumped to his feet from his armchair.
“I’m just managing the crisis. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. Besides, taking this chance to seal the deal with Locke Group would ensure that Heather’s tabloid news becomes yesterday’s story.” Blake raised an eyebrow. Being a businessman meant that he was excellent at twisting his words with the key being a glib talker.
“You’re just creating a sensation. Not only will you harm Heather’s reputation with your actions, but you’re also ruining the Langstons’ family name. Can you imagine the speculation we will face from the public?” A frustrated Robert banged his fist on the table while saying his words.
“Then, let’s matchmake Heather and Matthias. There has to be some sacrifice on her part in order to gain this collaboration. There won’t be any speculations from the public if they are actually in a relationship. All that would ensue are heartfelt blessings from the public. By then, the public interest would be beneficial to us and this would also further cement our relationship with the Locke Family at the same time. It’s killing two birds with one stone, so what’s wrong with this?” Blake wasn’t aware of the feud between Heather and Matthias, but he could sense that they were not too fond of each other. As such, it would be quite interesting to see how the relationship progressed.
Besides, Matthias had strong tactics and it was just nice to make use of him as Heather’s opponent. Moreover, Blake was quite confident that the man would agree to the proposal to seal the deal. The only person left to convince was Heather. I’m quite keen to matchmake them and watch them come to blows with each other. After all, it’s quite enjoyable to see her in an unhappy state! My darling little sister needs someone to knock some senses into her.
