Ariel seemed to have caught the eye of the person leading e group. That person halted in his tracks as his gaze fell on Ariel’s smiling face.

Then, he glanced over his shoulder at Ariel’s receding figure.

The people around him were puzzled. “What’s the matter, Mr. Pryce?”

ས་ས

When they reached the top deck, the guests were socializing and enjoying their drinks.

It was a grand event where Lucas Sanderson of Jadeon Tech was celebrating his engagement.

Many people were invited to the party. The atmosphere was fun and lively.

Ariel spotted Lucas, who stood in the distance. He didn’t seem nervous in the slightest even though it was an important day for him today.

With one hand in his pocket, Lucas appeared calm and laid–back. On the contrary, Wendy, who was beside him, looked bashful and cheery.

Suddenly, Lucas looked in Ariel’s direction. For a moment, those eyes that held an overly aggressive and flirtatious look were locked onto hers.

Then, Lucas smiled enigmatically. He had a rather brazen, scornful look on his face.

Ariel acted as if she hadn’t noticed the expression on his face. She turned around and tried to check if Liam had come to the engagement party.

However, she happened to notice Jayson, who was somewhere behind her. Beside him was Nancy, who had dressed up to the nines for the occasion.

Ariel had no idea when these people had arrived. They were already surrounded by a crowd.

Ariel was not sure if it was just her imagination, but Jayson had slowly lifted his gaze and cast a glance in her direction.

The light reflected in his eyes felt really cold and foreign to her.

With the lights against his back, Jayson exuded a calm and reserved demeanor, which was typical of someone with high status, whilst having casual conversations with other guests.

Ariel eventually recalled that Nancy and Wendy were good friends. Naturally, Jayson and Nancy would come to the

engagement party.

She paid no mind to these people as she turned slightly and headed toward Chad and Janice.

She had spotted a few familiar faces today.

Janice had obtained the WhatsApp contact details from a bunch of people after she went around and spoke to different people for a while.

Chad excused himself from a friend who came over to greet him. “You can stop looking already. Mr. Spencer isn’t here today. Zach and the others have come to the party, though.”

He pointed in a certain direction and said in an overly sweet voice, “He’s enjoying a nice chat with your ex- husband and his mistress. It’s as if he sees those two as his parents. He’s always following them around like a lost

child

Veye Solutions‘ team recruited Seth by claiming that he had approached them of his own will.

Unfortunately, they would inevitably run into people from their side on different occasions. Chad felt that he had been extremely patient and courteous with how he had held back from shouting at those people.

Ariel remained silent. She couldn’t be bothered to look in the direction Chad was pointing either.

She reckoned there was no need for her to act courteous around Zach anymore after they had that incident the other day.

Liam didn’t attend the engagement party. Even though she failed to meet him, Ariel figured she could just look for another opportunity some other time.

Zach actually spotted Ariel the moment he got there.

After attending the birthday banquet held by the Spencer family, Zach felt increasingly annoyed the more he thought about it. He just could not wrap his head around it.

“Who does she think she is to talk to me like that? She made it sound as though I was absolutely worthless and that she was a much better person than I was!” Zach grumbled internally.

He took a glance at Ariel. Then, Zach smirked and downed his drink.

Today’s engagement party was rather different from the usual engagement parties, as the event began with a dance session. Wendy had probably come up with this relatively new idea.

Morgan had made sure that Lucas received elite education since he was still a child. Naturally, Lucas had learned how to dance. With Wendy in his arms, they both did the first dance.

Wendy’s voice was tinged with excitement.

“Everyone, Lucas and I are celebrating our engagement today. We’re lucky enough to have found each other. I hope that everyone here can share our good luck and find their other half soon too. Please go ahead and ask the gentleman or lady who’s caught your attention for a dance,”

Ariel wasn’t looking at the stage. She sat in a quiet corner beside Chad as she had no plans to participate in the

event.

Suddenly, Janice poked her and snickered. “Look over there.”

Ariel turned her head.

Jayson and Nancy were seated next to each other.

Several men had gone up to Nancy to ask her for a dance. Meanwhile, Nancy seemed to have gotten used to being so popular and receiving so much attention.

She appeared completely calm and composed as she smiled elegantly.

Nancy scanned her surroundings. Her gaze landed on Ariel, who sat in a corner not too far away.

Ariel looked really sad and pathetic when compared to how crowded and lively it was over on Nancy’s side.

Nancy gave a soft snort and averted her gaze. She turned her eyes to Jayson; he couldn’t dance tonight because of his arm injury.

With a gentle expression on her face, she said teasingly, “Jayson, would you mind if I danced with someone else tonight?”

23

The guests around them realized Nancy must be asking for Jayson’s permission first since she was worried her boyfriend might feel jealous.

Jayson slowly lifted his gaze. However, before he could say anything, a clear voice with an earnest tone said, “Ms. Walker, may I have the pleasure of having this dance with you?”