“Maybe they think you''re beautiful, so they want to keep looking at you," Lucaforted her with a


    joke.


    "Don''t joke around. I know they''re staring because of that news headline." Nina was well aware that


    even if the news was kept under wraps, everyone else still knew of her dark past.


    Not to mention that she was still together with Percy. This banquet was the perfect time for everyone to


    gossip about her.


    "That didn''t affect your rtionship with Mr. Mallory, so why does it matter what other people think?"


    Luca consoled.


    "Thank you." Nina smiled at Luca gratefully. It was thanks to Luca''sforting words that she


    managed to recover from that incident so quickly.


    She wanted to live for her own sake and not care about what other people thought.


    Luca looked around. More people have arrived since she sat down, and most of the seats in the


    banquet hall were filled.


    It should be another half an hour before the banquet began.


    "What a splendid banquet," Nina eximed beside her.


    "Mhmm. It''s Young Master Louis'' mother, after all. It''s only right to have grander decorations," Luca


    replied.


    "Did you see the ne she was wearing?" Nina''s eyes lit up as she started to gossip.


    "I did. It''s a very pretty set." Luca thought back to the ne she saw Susan wear. The light reflected


    off it beautifully. It must have cost a fortune.


    "The set was only releasedst month. It''s limited, and there are only three sets worldwide," Nina told


    her. To improve herself and better match Percy, Nina fostered the habit of reading fashion magazines


    frequently.


    Among the magazines was an article introducing the set of jewelry, and it reported how two duchesses


    had physically fought each other over it. She was shocked to read such a thing, so she kept in mind the


    design of the jewelry set.


    "Only three worldwide?" Luca frowned.


    Sure, Louis was a Crawford and held shares of T Corporation. He also had his ownpany.


    However, his ownpany was more of a workshop than a corporation. Louis might earn more than


    ordinary srymen, but he was far from being extremely wealthy.


    Since Louis'' business was under his own name and not his family''s, the money he earned from his own


    company was about the same as the dividends he earned from T Corporation.


    Where did Louis get his hands on so much money to buy this set of jewelry from someone else?


    “Yeah, and this incident urred overseas too. I think Susan put in a lot of effort just to get her hands


    on this set of jewelry," Nina said. She saw a lot of wealthy housewives surrounding Susan when she


    arrived, so she looked over and happened to see the jewelry Susan wore.


    The fact that she allowed so many people to take a closer look meant Susan was wearing the real deal.


    Nina could not help but exim how wealthy Susan must be to spend so much money on just a jewelry


    set.


    "Young Master Louis has many connections," Luca replied. She had never heard Luke say anything


    about the jewelry, so it must have been from Louis.


    "Regardless, she''s truly be the spotlight of all the wealthy housewives tonight. Thank goodness


    Luke''s mother isn''t here, or she might faint from anger." Nina knew a considerable amount about


    infighting within the Crawford family.


    After all, when Susan and Allison used to fight, her best friend Bianca was the one who ended up


    suffering the most. As Bianca''s good friend, it was only normal for Nina to know more about it.


    Luca nodded. She was not interested in Susan''s matters, but Nina had brought Allison up.


    Luca felt ufortable.


    Susan was holding a banquet happily while Allison was undergoing treatment for her face outside the


    country. It was certain that any treatment was just a stopgap measure and no amount of treatment


    could truly fix the issue.


    Meanwhile, Luke was alone and silently suffering.


    Luca looked over to the man sitting at the main table.


    More attendants started to fill the banquet hall, including the other members of the Mallory family.


    Madam Mallory had no idea that Nina had arrived too, not when Percy was the only one sitting at their


    family table.


    She only saw Nina when someone at the adjacent table brought it up.


    Madam Mallory frowned. Not wanting to cause a scene, she whispered to Percy, "What''s going on?


    This is an important event. How could you bring her here? Are you trying to turn against the whole


    Mallory family in public?"


    Percy looked up cooly and irony shed in his eyes. "Nina was invited."


    "Why would the Crawford family invite her? Who does she think she is?" Madam Mallory refused to


    believe him. Then, she recognized Luca who was sitting beside Nina.


    In Madam Mallory''s eyes, both of them did not have the status to be in the banquet hall. She believed


    that Luca was only invited because of Luke.


    However, she knew that Luca was not the kind to invite Nina, so she assumed that Nina was here


    because of Percy.


    "Nina is Old Master Crawford''s god-granddaughter," Percy reminded her coldly.


    Madam Mallory red at him. When they went to ask for an exnation, Old Master Crawford had


    admitted Nina as his god-granddaughter on a video call. Then, there were no further updates on the


    matter.


    Madam Mallory initially believed that the news was fake and something Luca had asked for from Luke,


    so she did not pay it any mind.


    “What kind of nonsense are you spewing?" Madam Mallory did not believe him.


    “If you don''t believe me, you can see for yourselfter. Old Master Crawford personally invited Nina,"


    Percy stated.


    On the other end, the butler walked over to Old Master Crawford and whispered in his ear.


    This is the property of N?-velDrama.Org.


    Old Master Crawford stood up with the help of his walking cane. He had been entertaining people of


    high status from various industries and was rather tired, but there was still something important that he


    had yet to do.


    "Where are you going, Grandfather?" Luke asked.


    "Off to do something good," Old Master Crawford said with a mysterious smile. He waved off the


    people who approached to greet him and made his way to Luca and Nina''s table.


    Everyone watched the old man make his way through the hall before stopping at Luca and Nina''s table.


    Guests who arrived early knew that Luca had arrived with Luke.


    "Old Master Crawford!" When Luca saw the man stand by their table, she quickly stood up to support


    him.


    Old Master Crawford waved her off and quickly said, "There''s no need to be so nervous. I just decided


    toe and say hi since I saw that you''ve arrived. How are you doing, Nina?"


    Nina stood up as well and smiled at Old Master Crawford. "I''m doing great, Old Master Crawford.


    Quick,e sit."


    "No need, it''s alright. I just came to greet the two of you. You''re both extremely beautiful today," Old


    Master Crawford praised the two of them.


    Nina knew that the man was helping her and looked at him with gratitude.


    "Nina, you muste more often to the Crawford Manor when you''re free. Spend more time with your


    god-grandfather, hmm?" Old Master Crawford continued.


    "I promise," Nina replied. Their conversation was heard by the few tables around them.


    "Alright. The banquet''s about to begin, so I''ll go back first. Eat more tonight, alright? We''ve got a lot of


    good food in store." Old Master Crawford winked at them mischievously before he made his way back


    to the main table.