Chapter 33
Everyone’s jaws nearly dropped in disbelief. They all knew that Jonathan had never shown any interest in the socialites of Betrico; the reason was that he harbored feelings for another woman.
For her, he had even remained a virgin. To escape the arranged family marriage, he had moved to Roncrity, a small city far away from Betrico,
Jonathan had lived in Roncrity for three years–partly for the Paradise Resort project and partly because his father had betrothed him to Celine Sexton, the only daughter of the Sexton family, one of the four major families in Betrico.
“Girlfriend? How can you have a girlfriend? What about me?” Celine got mad.
Jonathan smiled, but his gaze remained icy. “My dating life has nothing to do with you.”
“Jonathan, I’m your fiancée,” she protested.
“I’ve never acknowledged that,” Jonathan said nonchalantly.
“You know very well that your father values me the most. He has already proposed to my family privately; it just hasn’t been announced publicly,” Celine said.
Jonathan flashed a cold smile. “If it’s my father’s decision, then you should marry him.”
Celine looked at the man before her in disbelief. “Jonathan, you’re heartless.”
As tensions began to escalate, Tommy hurried over to mediate. “Celine, your engagement isn’t set in stone. Stop causing a scene.”
Celine was furious. “Tommy, whose side are you on? Are you really going to let your brother–in–law have a secret lover?” Brother–in–law? I wouldn’t dare think of Jonathan as my brother–in–law, Tommy thought. He stepped in front of Jonathan. “Jon, she’s my sister. Just do me a favor and don’t hold this against her.”
He then turned to Cynthia, his eyes lighting up with surprise. “Oh, you’re Ms. Jones! We met at Royal Golf Field last time.”
Cynthia responded graciously. “Mr. Sexton, I happened to be here for dinner, and Jon told me that you are celebrating your birthday today, so I came by to snag a piece of cake and wish you a happy birthday.”
Tommy seemed happy. “It’s an honor to have you here.”
All of Jonathan’s childhood friends in the room looked at Cynthia with meaningful glances, speculating on Jonathan’s intentions for bringing her along.
Is it that he can’t stand Celine’s harassment, or has he truly moved on from Naomi and decided to be with someone else? Regardless, this woman, acknowledged by Jonathan as his girlfriend, has the weight of that title to ensure her a life of luxury and comfort, they thought to themselves.
But Celine was seething with anger. At the previous birthday party for Susanna, Jonathan had completely ignored her. She had even given up the opportunity to study abroad, traveling all the way to this small city just to catch a glimpse of him. But now, to her surprise, he had brought a woman and openly introduced her as his girlfriend.
Jonathan really made her lose face. If the Betrico socialites found out about this, they would surely laugh at Celine.
Celine sat on the sofa, her eyes locked onto Cynthia, who was seated at the table playing poker with a group of men. Cynthia was smiling brightly, charming everyone around her.
Chapter 33
Jonathan sat beside her, his eyes full of affection, even peeling fruit for her. He had never done anything like that for any woman before.
The flames of jealousy and rage burned fiercely in Celine ‘s heart. In the end, she couldn’t contain herself. Seizing the moment when Jonathan stepped outside to take a call, she grabbed a piece of cake and headed straight for Cynthia.
Everyone in the room was busy with their own affairs, completely unaware of what she was doing. Celine walked step by step behind Cynthia, raising her hand, ready to smash the cake onto Cynthia’s head.
But Cynthia, who was sitting at the poker table, seemed to have eyes on the back of her head. Just as the cake was about to come down, she suddenly stood up, her shoulder colliding perfectly with Celine’s elbow.
The impact made Celine’s arm shoot up, and the huge piece of cake landed squarely on her own face. Celine’s face and hair were smeared beyond recognition with cake.
She shouted madly, “Bitch, you did this on purpose!”
With that, she lunged to grab Cynthia’s hair. However, Cynthia had practiced boxing, so she wasn’t going to be an easy target.
She deliberately dodged left and right, causing Celine to crash onto the table and trip over a wine bottle on the floor, leaving her in a disheveled mess.
The men at the poker table exchanged glances but did nothing. One was the birthday boy’s sister, and the other was Jonathan’s girlfriend. Helping either one would offend the other.
Since Celine was notorious for being domineering in Betrico, the men decided to sit back and enjoy the show.
It was clear that Celine was no match for Cynthia. While it seemed Cynthia was merely avoiding her, she clearly had some skills.
Her evasive movements were even somewhat elegant, while Celine, who was attacking her, appeared wild and clumsy, even bumping her forehead and raising a large bruise.
At that moment, Jonathan walked in. Cynthia quickly hid behind him, adopting a look of grievance. “Jon, Ms. Sexton seems to be drunk.”
Her voice was soft and sweet, tinged with a hint of flirtation, as if she were whining. Those nearby felt their hearts soften at her tone.
However, this only enraged Celine further. “Bitch, who do you think you are to call him Jon? I’m going to tear your mouth apart today!”
Celine charged forward, ready to slap Cynthia. But Jonathan caught her arm. “Celine, don’t go too far. Otherwise, you’ll bring humiliation to your brother.”
The atmosphere suddenly turned icy. Celine trembled with anger. “Jon, didn’t you see her bullying me? Look at my face, and here.”
She pointed at the bump on her forehead and the cut on her knee from the bottle, tears streaming down her cheeks. But Jonathan merely turned to Cynthia and asked, “Did you get hurt?”
Cynthia shook her head, looking as innocent as a kitten, “I’m so scared; I want to go home.”
Jonathan took Cynthia’s hand. “Alright, let’s leave now.”
With that, he led Cynthia out. Celine, infuriated, sat on the ground and cried loudly.
Tommy shook his head from the couch. He had deliberately stayed out of it when Celine approached Cynthia earlier, but it
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was clear that Celine was no match for her. Whether it was intelligence or fighting, skills, they were on entirely different levels.
Everyone could see that Cynthia was toying with Celine like taunting a doy, It was obvious that Cynthia was not a simple
woman
Once they left the private room, Cynthia tossed her wavy curls and shot a sidelong glance at Jonathan with her striking eyes. How do you like my performance?
Jonathan chuckled. “You almost ruined the birthday party, making the birthday boy’s sister a mess, and you’re asking me how I like it?
Cynthia shook her head and tutted. “You’re the wicked one here. Since Ms. Sexton is your friend’s sister and comes from a wealthy family, you can’t just tell her to go away. And that was why you needed to shift the responsibility for the broken engagement onto someone else, while also giving her a good hun, making her feel utterly disappointed and stop bothering you
The interests among these powerful families were intricately intertwined, and they naturally had to maintain each other’s appearances. Since an engagement had already been set, if Jonathan wanted to break it, he needed someone to take the blame.
Cynthia was undoubtedly the best candidate. Even if the Sexton family had grievances, they would direct their resentment towards her, rather than Jonathan, the actual person involved.
Jonathan chuckled but said nothing. ‘She was thinking too much, he thought to himself.
SEND GIFT
