Roselynn, what are you doing? It hurts!" When Roselynn stepped out after changing, she was
shocked to discover that her brother had a band–aid
on his body and a bandage on his back. She couldn't
help but impulsively reach out and give him a slap on
the shoulder.
Emmanuel was a living, breathing human being, and it
was only natural for him to cry out in anguish when he
was unexpectedly struck by sudden pain.
Alessandra had been engrossed in matters regarding
her daughter–in–law and paid no attention to her son.
Belatedly realizing he had been concealing his injuries,
she asked anxiously, "Manny, how did you get hurt?"
Not wanting his family to worry, Emmanuel lied, "Don't
worry, Mom. I accidentally fell down, that's all."
"Fell down? This is a lie. You obviously got hurt. Did
someone hit you or throw something at you?"
Roselynn snapped. Her voice grew increasingly
agitated as she demanded, "Manny, be honest with
me. Did your wife beat you? Is this domestic violence?"
Emmanuel nearly coughed out blood in exasperation.
He quickly replied, "Roselynn, how could you think that
way about my wife? This has nothing to do with her!"
He couldn't bring himself to say that Mackenzie hadn't
hit him, since she had quite obviously kicked him twice.
His waist was still aching as a result.
"Manny, be honest with me. How did you get hurt?"
Emmanuel was Alessandra's only son, so she was
determined to get to the bottom of things. She was
afraid that her son's stubborn pride would prevent him.
from confiding in her.
"Some scoundrels tried to take advantage of
Mackenzie, so I fought with them and ended up getting
hurt," Emmanuel explained.
He wasn't entirely fabricating the story as the ruffians
were indeed stirring up trouble on Mackenzie's project.
She was the reason he had to fight them.
"Oh, I see. Good job, Manny! I love that you're so
protective of your wife!" Roselynn relaxed and gave
him the thumbs–up.
After all, the male leads in TV dramas were all manly.
"It's almost time, Roselynn. Let's go!"
Emmanuel didn't want to hear his mother's nagging
and instantly changed the topic by urging Roselynn to
leave.
Alessandra grabbed his arm and said, "Manny,
remember to find Roselynn a good man at the party.
He doesn't have to be rich as long as he's a person of
integrity!"
A mother knew her daughter best. Naturally,
Alessandra knew why Roselynn was still single and
unmarried despite being in her thirties.
Before arranging blind dates for Emmanuel, she had
already introduced a lot of men to Roselynn.
Alas, Roselynn was harsh in her criticism of all those
4/6
men, declaring that none of them measured up to the
male leads of her favorite television shows. She said
they were either too short, too ugly, or too meek.
Naturally, all those men were scared out of their wits
and quickly made their escape.
If she was unwilling to be flexible and open to different
possibilities, she would never get married, ever.
"Got it, Mom," Emmanuel hastily replied.
Finding Roselynn a suitable husband would be a more
difficult task than finding me a wife.
The siblings hailed a taxi and went on their way.
Throughout the journey, Roselynn was already
swooning over the possible eligible bachelors at the
party.
Chapter 24 HOW DID You Get hurt
"Manny, have you heard of the four prominent families
in Yeringham?"
"Yeah."
Emmanuel nodded and gave a cursory reply, but he
knew that the four prominent families of Yeringham
didn't exist.
This was not a television show, so it was impossible to determine the number of families in Yeringham that were involved in commerce. The corporate world was ever–changing. The rise and fall of families happened in the blink of an eye, so it was impossible for any family to remain one of the four
prominent families forever.
Therefore, the four prominent families of Yeringham
were nothing but a term for the convenience of the
gossipmongers. They were only meant to describe the
four wealthiest families of the current time.
"Do you know which four families they are? I heard that
the outstanding young heirs and heiresses of those
families will be joining the banquet this time."
Roselynn was thirty years old, and she was a beautiful
and mature woman. Yet, she was fawning over men
like she was an eighteen–year–old girl.
"Um, I only know about the Quillen family," Emmanuel
replied honestly.
He was only a gynecologist who had just retired from
the army. How could he possibly know everything
about the corporate world?
He only knew about the Quillen family because that
family had remained the wealthiest family in
Yeringham for ten years.
"You dummy! The rest of the four prominent families
are the Verkade family, the Zelinsky family, and the
Lenoir family!"
Roselynn poked Emmanuel's head. "Remember this: My
employer is the daughter of the Lenoir family, and
she's the one who gave me the invitation."
"Oh, I
See."
Emmanuel nodded. He had seen his sister's supposed
employer by chance before.
She was a woman in her early twenties named
Claudette Lenoir. Although she came from a
prestigious family, she had chosen to work her way up
from the bottom of the ladder after her graduation.
However, the position she was in was not her actual
position. She was only starting from the basics to
familiarize herself with the company. Everyone in the
office knew that she was the heiress of the company.
Back then, she had some gynecological problems
which she had trouble seeking doctors for, so Roselynn
recommended she visit Emmanuel.
Emmanuel did not know why she had actually gone to
him instead, but regardless of everything, he cured her.
Back then, Emmanuel had expressionlessly asked her
to take off her pants. Claudette had been
embarrassed, but Emmanuel was unfazed. In fact, he
could barely remember her because he had seen too
many women's bodies.
"Is that your only response? At least pretend to be
jealous!" Roselynn grumbled, displeased with her
brother's reaction.
Her employer was young and rich, and that was something many people strived for and dreamed of.
Still hearing nothing from Emmanuel, Roselynn shot him a glare before crying out, "Oh, your wife is called Mackenzie Quillen, right? Could it be that she's the
daughter of the Quillen family?"
How could people of their status know many details about the wealthiest families?
They could only make guesses.
Emmanuel shook his head in amusement right away, however. "How could that be? She's worlds apart from them."
The Quillen family was the richest family in Yeringham.
If Mackenzie was the daughter of the Quillen family, she would have a net worth of more than tens of billions. How could she possibly be living in a house of two hundred square meters?
Even though it was still a big house, it was nowhere near as luxurious as the houses that the tycoons lived in.
"But I hear that the daughter of the Quillen family is also twenty–seven years old. Apparently, she doesn't like men; she likes women…" Roselynn trailed off, finally
registering what she was talking about.
How could her sister–in–law be a lesbian if she had married her brother?
Furthermore, Emmanuel told her that he had been previously dating his wife for many years. If the daughter of the Quillen family had been dating a man for so many years, the media would have caught wind of it a long time ago, and there wouldn't be any rumors about her sexuality.
Emmanuel was amused at how easily his sister was persuaded. He did not even need to explain anything else to her.
Even though Terence Group was the Quillen family's business, he was certain that it was nothing but a coincidence that his wife had the family name of Quillen. After all, even Daniel Quillen, the "prime architect" of higher algebraic K–theory, also had the family name of Quillen. It was not as if all Quillens were mathematicians.
That was simply impossible.
However, what he did not know was that Mackenzie was currently in a Bentley, heading toward the location of the banquet–Regal Hotel.
The truth was that the banquet that night was a celebratory dinner for her aunt's promotion to Yeringham's deputy mayor.
Besides Terence, there were no other men in the Quillen family. However, all of the women in the Quillen family were capable individuals who were either the top dog in the corporate world or influential figures in the political world.
Mackenzie did not like being in crowded places, and she rarely attended social events like these. However, the Quillen women were always supportive of each other. For the sake of her aunt, she had to be there.
The Lowe siblings soon reached Regal Hotel. The banquet that day was grand, and several floors of the hotel were reserved for the occasion.
The guests were all dressed to their nines with
branded clothes and accessories. It was almost as if
they were at a fashion show instead.
in contrast, Roselynn's appearance was dull, and
Emmanuel's was even shabbier.
When they arrived at the entrance, Roselynn handed
the guard her invitation.
The guard let her in after a glance at it, but he stopped
Emmanuel. "Mister, where is your invitation?"
Emmanuel quickly turned to his sister. I thought she
said she can have a plus–one with her invitation.
Roselynn immediately put her hands on her hips and
glared at the guard. "Did you see what kind of
invitation this is? This is an invitation from the Lenoir
family. Is there any problem with me bringing a relative
in?"
"Miss, no one other than the host is allowed to invite
irrelevant individuals to the event," the guard insisted,
but his coworker soon gave him a look to gesture him
to drop the case.
If things were to blow up, the guard would be
embarrassing the Lenoir family.
Furthermore, there were plenty of guests that day. It
would do no one any harm if they were to let a few
more people into the area.
"Go on in, then," the guard finally said, relenting.
"Hmph! I'm glad they're smart enough. I would've gone
to my boss otherwise."
Roselynn was still angry after entering the building. Yet,
she could not help but think about how prestigious the
Lenoir family had to be for her to get special treatment
just by saying that her invitation was from the Lenoirs.
Even though Claudette was technically her employer,
she was often working alongside Roselynn. The two of
them were so close to each other to the point they
were almost best friends if not for their status
difference.
If Claudette were to find out that Roselynn had a bad
time at the event, Roselynn was sure that Claudette
would stand up for her.
"Calm down, Roselynn. We're in here now, aren't we?"
Emmanuel consoled her, and Roselynn finally let go of her anger.
In the next second, she spotted the scrumptious dishes on the table, and she lunged over as if she was a starving lion.
Emmanuel could not help but shake his head at the sight of that. It's one thing for her to gobble down her food like this at home, but it's another to throw all care about her image to the wind out in the public!
In no time, Roselynn was forcing her brother to take plate after plate of food. After that, he put them all down on a table in the corner.
Wiping the beads of sweat on his forehead, Emmanuel said, "Roselynn, you came here to eat until the end of the event, didn't you?"
"Why else would I be here?" Roselynn shamelessly admitted.
"But Roselynn, aren't you here to check out handsome fellows? Mom even asked me to help you size them up and to play the wingman if there's someone suitable for you," Emmanuel exclaimed.
Not knowing how to deal with a serious Emmanuel, Roselynn frowned and said, "I can eat and check out handsome guys at the same time."
Left without a choice, Emmanuel took a seat beside his sister and started digging into the food. It was free, after all, and he would be a fool to refrain from all food that night.
Not long after the two of them started polishing off the plates before them, a commotion broke out in the area.
Everybody was walking toward the doorway,
screaming enthusiastically. "What's the matter? Who's here?"
Roselynn was curious. She wondered if a rich attractive man was making a grand appearance like those romance shows she watched.
Emmanuel had no idea what was going on, and he curiously rose to his feet like his sister to take a better -look at the situation.
Alas, the crowd up ahead was large. Even though Emmanuel and Roselynn were tall, they still could not see who was in the middle of the crowd.
Meanwhile, Mackenzie and her cousin, Beatrix, were being escorted by a group of bodyguards as they walked up the stairs while the guests of the banquet surrounded them.
Mackenzie radiated beauty, and she was also tall, slender, and exuded a captivating aura. Every time she made an appearance at social events, she would make heads turn.
Even though Beatrix was not as beautiful as her, her sweet and endearing looks made her the target of many scions' courtships.
Furthermore, the star of the night was their aunt, who had recently been promoted to the city's deputy mayor. The two of them were the daughters of the wealthiest family in Yeringham, and they were also the deputy mayor's nieces. Naturally, they would also be in the spotlight. "Ms. Quillen! Ms. Quillen!"