After refusing a second time, Kelsie glanced at the time and proceeded to walk past Jerry when she saw it was getting late.
She was yet to hire a nanny for her children which meant they had been alone for the last three years.
As she strolled out of the door, Jerry Sutton, who was still dumbfounded by her refusal, stomped his foot on the ground and yelled after her.
"Get back here, Kelsie Sutton! Don't you dare walk out on me! Hey!"
However, she paid a deaf ear to him and continued on her way.
After hearing Bryan's words earlier, most of the guests took their leave as soon as Jerry and his family went up to his study.
So the living room was quite empty with the workers tidying it up. She glanced around the house which had numerous portraits of Jerry, Deborah and Laura hanging around in different corners. Not a single portrait containing her.
"Father was going to put a portrait of you in the living room, but unlike today, you were not exactly something very appealing to look at." Kelsie heard Laura's peachy voice behind her as the latter came to stand by her side .
"I guess working out was too hard for you that you had to go under the knife, but do you want to hear something about people who go under the knife to look pretty?"
Laura didn't wait for Kelsie to respond before she continued in a slightly raised voice, "People who go under the knife to look beautiful will always go back to how they looked in the past. Or even become worse. If I were you, I'd…"
She trailed off when Kelsie suddenly walked away from her.
Her plan to shame Kelsie backfired as the remaining guests glanced at her with a funny look on their face.
Although they hadn't said a word, she was very sure they were laughing at her behind her back.
She balled her hands into a tight fist as she seethed in rage.
Kelsie Sutton.
You think you've won, but just you wait for me!
Even if you undergo a thousand surgery, you'll never be able to overthrow a natural beauty like me who has our father backing.
When Kelsie got outside, she immediately forgot what just happened between them and flagged down a cab.
Once she was seated inside, she rested her head against the seat and closed her eyes, her thoughts flashing back to the rumor her aunt had heard a week ago about Jerry plotting to sell Lumen Group.
She knew Jerry was shameless and did things on a whim, but selling the company which makes it possible for him to be friends with people from wealthy families was something she didn't see him doing.
After meeting with him today, she confirmed he was really planning to sell the company. Trying to get her shares transferred to himself would get him a higher percentage out of whatever amount the company was sold for.
Oh, how he never ceases to amaze her. She was so much wiser, but this man who called himself her father turned into a bigger fool the older he aged.
In the apartment building.
Keira Sutton stood in front of the plasma television, hand akimbo on her waist as she changed channels with a childish pout on her face.
She had exceeded the time limit she was to play with her phone, so she no longer had anything to do.
After changing channels for several minutes, she turned off the television and walked towards Jesse.
"Jesse, are you hungry?"
The boy replied without taking his eyes off his computer screen, "No."
"Well, I am. Let's go to the eatery downstairs."
He still didn't pause to look at her. "Mommy said to order food when we're hungry. If you're hungry, order food from the eatery."
The corners of Keira's mouth twitched as she stared at her rigid brother. She knew better than to continue probing since she knew he wouldn't budge.
She turned to look at Zade, but hurriedly shook her head and looked away from him when she saw the bright glint in his eyes. It was a look he only made when he made a breakthrough.
And interrupting him when he was halfway through a breakthrough never ended well.
She slowly walked towards the cushion in the room and the second Jesse took his eyes off her, he suddenly saw a shadow sprint towards the door.
"Keira! Come back here, Keira!" He gasped, dumped his laptop beside him and rushed out after her.
Zade Sutton was too focused on what he was doing to realize his siblings had left him all alone in the house.
He didn't even budge when Jesse banged the door loudly behind him.
Just above their apartment, on the 50th floor, a frightened Daniel Adler slipped out of the apartment then placed a hand on his chest and exhaled in relief.
"Goodness! If he's angry with me, he should reprimand me already! Why stay silent for three hours! I felt like I was walking on pins the whole time!"
He dropped his hand to the side and frowned slightiy with a thoughtful look in his eyes.
"I returned to the city for a bit, I didn't run away from school. I didn't do anything wrong. So why does he act like I did something as terrible as killing someone?"
His stomach grumbled loudly at this moment and he smacked his lips together hungrily as he looked down on it.
"He knows I don't eat well when I'm nervous yet he makes me nervous whenever he's around. What a tyrant!"
He turned to glare at the door behind him, imagining it to be Jett, but suddenly screamed in fright when he heard his name.
"Mr. Adler, are you going somewhere?"
"I wasn't glaring at you. I was just coming inside to make sure you're…wait, Eric?" He was already begging for his life while rubbing his palms against each other pleadingly when he raised his eyes to see it was Jett's assistant.
His eyes settled on the trays the two women behind him had in their hands and he swallowed hungrily.
Right. It was almost time for dinner and as much as he wanted to go back into the house and eat what they brought, he was too scared to do so.
So he swallowed hard and threw his face to the side as he pointed a finger at Eric and chided him.
"Goodness, Eric! Why did you scare me like that! You almost gave me a heart attack just now! How long have you been standing there?"
Eric Lance furrowed his eyes in confusion, but released it the very next second when he saw Daniel clutching onto his stomach.
"It seems I'm right on time. I've brought…"
"I'm eating at the eatery downstairs. If my brother asks of me, tell him you don't know where I am, okay?"
He didn't wait for a response before he bolted into the elevator.