Bethany trembled with anger next to Carrie. Her lips twitched as if she wished to peel Carrie’s skin off,


    tear her flesh apart, and drain her


    blood. ‘Damn her! Does she think having Ryan to back her up makes


    her invincible? The happier she is, the faster she’ll meet her demise!


    I’ll make sure of it!’


    Although Shannon’s birthday banquet was held in a low-profile


    manner, she still leaked information to the media. She believed that


    she was born to be in the spotlight. So how could she celebrate her


    birthday without attention?


    Reporters who caught wind of the news hovered and waited inside


    the hotel. Escorted by bodyguards, the Salvador family approached


    the banquet hall.


    Shannon exuded an air of superiority, adorned with jewels and


    radiance, embodying the style of an affluent and elegant woman.


    “Mrs. Salvador!”


    “Ms. Shannon!”


    The reporters swarmed over, snapping photos of the Salvador family.


    Gregory felt displeased, but he remainedposed and faced the


    media alongside his wife, Shannon.


    “Mr. Salvador, tonight is your wife’s birthday banquet. The whole family is here, but where is Mr.


    Justin?” The reporter skillfully touched


    upon the sensitive topics, showcasing their knack for stirring up


    trouble.


    “Justin had some urgent matters and had to leave in a hurry.” Gregory


    smiled faintly, giving a brief and dismissive response.


    “Today is the birthday of Ms. Celeste, the third wife of Wyatt


    Thompson, chairman of KS Group. Ms. Shannon, your birthday should


    be on Wednesday, but you moved it to Sunday. Is it intentional to


    coincide with Ms. Celeste? Back in the day, you two were once the leading actresses on the same


    tform. There were rumors of


    you let go of past grievances after all these years?”


    “Oh my! Is today also Celeste’s birthday? I didn’t know until you mentioned it.” Shannon pretended to


    be surprised. She covered her


    mouth with a hand adorned with arge diamond ring.


    “It seems I may have overlooked that. I should wish her a happy birthday. I chose today because our


    families and guests are all sy and can’t spare the time on Wednesday.”


    Shannon continued with a smug smile, “After all, we invited many


    guests this time. I also took into consideration the schedules of


    guests. I made sure everyone had ample time toe and gath


    with us.”


    “Guests? Have you invited so many guests?”


    The journalists exchanged puzzled nces. “We’ve been here waiting for two hours, and we haven’t


    seen anyone arriving.”


    Shannon was suddenly rmed. ‘How could this be?’


    She had invited over a hundred guests weeks in advance, and most of


    Change


    them had epted the invitations, promising to attend! Why hadn’t


    anyone shown up?!


    Shannon forced a cheerful smile, her entire body tense and her heart


    pounding like a drum.


    “Alright, let’s go inside first,” Gregory urged in a low voice.


    As the group walked to the entrance of the banquet hall, the waiter


    opened the massive doors.


    The next moment, the poised smiles on Gregory and Shannon’s faces


    froze.*


    Shannon, in particr, turned ashen instantly. She clenched her lower lip tightly, nearly screaming in


    dismay.


    There were only a handful of guests in the vast and luxurious banquet


    Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDra/ma.O(r)g!


    hall. The imagined crowd of distinguished guests, dressed in


    elegance and grace, was nowhere to be found.


    ‘Where is everyone? Where did they go?!” Shannon thought.