Winona gracefully walked to the center of the garden, where Zachary and the others were standing She greeted Zachary and Nellie sweetly, then turned to Robert and his wife. “Mr. Carter, Mrs. Carter, hello”


    Although Richard didn’t need to show too much deference to the Carter family, since Winona was soon to marry Victor, be still maintained a cordial attitude.


    Yulia stepped forward, took Winona’s hand, and showered her with praise. “Winona is my ideal daughter-inw-good family background, talented, and now with Richard as her mentor. She’s perfect in every way. Any lingering guilt Yulia hard about Yvette disappeared with everyone’spliments for Winona. Only a girl like her is worthy of being our future daughter-inw


    Robert, equally pleased, nodded and smiled at Winona, but he didn’t immediately respond. Instead, he extended his hand to Richard with a fawning expression. “Ah, Mr. Griffin, you’re as vigorous as ever! Thest time I saw you was at the Betrica auction, where one of your paintings sold for 660 thousand dors. That event is still vivid in my memory! It was such a shame mypany had an issue at the time, or I would ve gone for 3.3 million, maybe even 7 million-I regret it so much Robert’s tone sounded genuinely regretful.


    Richard enjoyed hearing this, and his attitude toward Robert warned. “Mr. Carter, you’re too kind. That painting only fetched such a price because the elite of Betrico were being generous. It’s nowhere near as great as you say. But with Winona soon to join the Carter family, we’ll all be family soon. I happen to have an earlier piece of mine. If you don’t mind, Mr Carter, you cane by Betrico and pick it up whenever you like.”


    Robert was overjoyed. As expected, Winona is the bridge that’s changed Richard’s attitude toward me. A few years ago in Betrico, Richard wouldn’t have even looked at him. But now everything was different. This shift in attitude strengthened Robert’s resolve to announce the engagement today. To make sure nothing could go wrong, he had already had Yulia firalize the engagement details with Nellie beforeing.


    Victor’s lecherous eyes were fixed on Winona.


    From the moment Winona entered the garden, she could feel Victor’s gaze on her. She deliberately pretended not to notice, teasing him by keeping him on edge. Once she felt he had waited long enough she shot him a shy, fleeting nce before quickly looking away. This whole act had Victorpletely hooked, his eyes glued to her.


    All this time, Zachary, who had been standing silently, nced toward the garden entrance. Not seeing the person he was waiting for, he furrowed his brows. Ignoring the ongoing conversation, he called Lucas over. “Go check upstairs. Why hasn’t Yvettee down yet at this time?”


    Lucas nodded and quickly walked out of the garden to look for Yvette.


    Nellie overheard Zachary’s words and smirked coldly from a spot where he couldn’t see. Come out? Yvette’s face is probably ruined by now. How could she have the nerve to show her face to the guests?”


    Winona, Zachary, Nellie, and the Carters greeted Richard, and then she and Victor joined the younger group.


    The Chambers family and the Carters dispersed, while Zachary and Robert each went off to chat with acquaintances in


    business.


    Nellie and Yulia stayed by Richard’s side, one on each side, looking very much like his guardians.


    “Wow, Winona, you’re stunning today! Who are you trying to charm?” one of the girls, decked out in luxury jewelry, said while ncing at Victor-it was obvious what she meant. Everyone in their circle knew about the engagement between the Carter and Chambers families. Winona and Victor had long been recognized as a couple by them.


    “Exactly” The moment you walked in, you could see everyone’s eyes light up That dress is Louis Vuitton haute couture, isn’t it? Must have cost at least 2 million dors-absolutely gorgeous!”


    Compliments were flying around nonstop like free gifts, and though Winona appeared shy on the surface, she humbly replied to everyone’s praise, Come on, you guys, stop teasing me. She even blushed and hid behind Victor.


    At this moment, Victor’s macho pride was fully satisfied, and he quickly stepped in to speak for Winona. “Winona’s shy, you all know that. If you keep going, my wife might just run away, and then what? You’ll have to find me a new one!”


    Winona blushed even more at his words, and the crowd burst into cheers again, praising the couple as a perfect match. But amidst the excitement, someone suddenly mentioned Yvette’s name, and the whole scene fell silent, bing awkward The girl who brought it up instantly regretted it and didn’t dare to speak anymore.


    Victor gave the girl a sharp look, his tone disdainful. “Why bring her up?”


    The crowd exchanged nces and started speaking.


    Yeah, yeah, everyone knows this party is for Winona. That Yvette is just an extra.”


    “Exactly, Winona, you’re the star today. Besides, it’s gettingte, and we still haven’t seen your sister. She’s probably hiding in some corner, never been to a party like this.”


    “I bet she hasn’t even tasted the desserts or wine here before!”


    “She’s a country bumpkin. Aren’t you giving her too much credit by even discussing her?”


    “Yes, yes, let’s raise a ss to Winona. After tonight, Winona will officially be Mr. Griffin’sst student! When you make it internationally famous, don’t forget us!”


    Hearing everyone belittle Yvette made Winona feel much better inside. This is exactly what wanted-to show Yvette the difference, the insurmountable gap between us today!” “My sister is actually really nice, so please don’t have any prejudice against her.”Content provided by N?velDrama.Org.


    The more Winona defended Yvette, the harsher the crowd became, saying even nastier things about her.


    Winona picked up her ss of wine, watching the group’s heated discussion, where everyment was a put-down of Yvette. She briefly curled her lips into a sinister, satisfied smile, but when she looked up again, her face was innocent and harmless.


    In less than ten minutes, Lucas, whom Zachary had sent to find Yvette, stiffly walked back into the garden.


    A few people close by had overheard Zachary’s instructions earlier, and soon, word spread-everyone in the garden knew that the Chambers family’s Lucas had gone to fetch the rumored Yvette from the countryside.


    Now, seeing Lucas return alone, with a strange expression on his face, people felt puzzled. “Isn’t he just fetching someone? What’s with that look? Most of the guests figured Yvette must have chickened out, overwhelmed by the event, making them take her even less seriously.


    Zachary was distracted while chatting, frequently ncing towar