The lavish banquet hall bustled with a constant stream of guests and noise.
The girl standing in the place of honor at the center drew everyone's admiring attention and an endless stream of flattery.
Jin Xia thoroughly enjoyed being surrounded by the spotlight, the star around whom everyone revolved...
It all felt a little unreal, like a dream.
"Wishing Miss Jin and Mr. Lu a lifetime of happiness together."
The woman standing before Jin Xia raised her champagne glass and offered her a perfectly measured, polite smile.
Jin Xia slowly raised her own glass to clink it against hers. As the two exchanged drinks, more guests arrived.
They all offered Jin Xia their congratulations.
Amid the toasts, quite a few people also whispered among themselves.
"It's already this late, and Mr. Lu still isn't here. Miss Jin is the only one at this engagement banquet..."
"Mr. Lu's affair with that young model is already trending. This Miss Jin really knows how to keep her composure!"
A wealthy lady nearby cast Jin Xia a sidelong glance and remarked, "This heiress from Harbor City really is blinded by love. How can she stay so calm?"
Everyone around her was talking about Jin Xia, but not a ripple crossed her face. She remained poised and elegant.
Others thought she was good at keeping her composure and mocked her for being blinded by love.
Only Jin Xia knew how hard-won it had been for her and Lu Mingchuan to get this far.
The Lu family's old madam descended the spiral staircase with someone supporting her, followed by Mrs. Lu and Mr. Lu.
At last, the engagement banquet returned to its main purpose.
Everyone turned to look at the old madam. Smiling warmly, she immediately waved to Jin Xia.
Jin Xia stepped forward and took her arm. "Grandma, take it slowly."
Old Madam Lu nodded with a gratified smile, then sighed and lowered her voice. "Sweet child, you've been wronged."
Mrs. Lu came to the center of the banquet hall with a faint smile. "Welcome, everyone, and thank you for attending my son's engagement banquet with Xiaxia today. A small problem arose with our overseas trust investments, and Mingchuan had to fly to Country M at the last minute to deal with it. We're truly sorry..."
A last-minute problem with the trust investments?
Jin Xia stared steadily at Mrs. Lu but remained silent.
Even a three-year-old could spot the holes in such a clumsy lie.
The guests cast glances at Jin Xia, some deliberate, some seemingly casual, as though waiting for her to erupt.
On the eve of her engagement banquet, her fiancé's late-night rendezvous with a no-name model had become a trending topic.
And beyond that, just a month earlier, a woman at Lu Group had sobbed and threatened to jump off the building, shouting that she was pregnant with Lu Mingchuan's child.
He was a notorious playboy in their circle. Almost everyone knew it.
It wasn't that Jin Xia didn't know. She also knew perfectly well that Mrs. Lu was lying, yet she had no choice but to put her excellent acting skills to work and play along.
"Auntie Lu, is everything all right on Mingchuan's end? My uncle might be able to help. Should I give him a call later?"
Jin Xia looked at Mrs. Lu with feigned anxiety.
She shook her head and explained calmly, "It's nothing serious. Mingchuan just called me back and said everything has already been resolved."
"We've wronged Xiaxia today. This is my engagement gift to you. To make it up to you, I'll also give you ten percent of the shares in the trust, as security for you and Mingchuan after you marry."
Old Madam Lu held Jin Xia's hand as she spoke earnestly.
Jin Xia, however, looked as though she was holding back her feelings. "Thank you, Grandma. I know you love me most."
And so the engagement banquet came to a "perfect" end.
Jin Xia also became the daughter-in-law publicly acknowledged by the Lu family.
She was consequently thrust into the eye of a public-opinion storm, becoming a topic of conversation throughout Jing City's elite circles.
Some even mocked her behind her back. "Is she a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle? How can she put up with so much? Lu Mingchuan didn't even attend their engagement banquet. Who here could tolerate that? I bet even if those two get married, they'll end up divorced!"
It wasn't that Jin Xia didn't know those people were mocking her.
But she had no choice at all!
How much effort had she put in to get this far and win the Lu family's approval?
Even if she got divorced after marrying him, her efforts would still have been worth it!
But...
Before that, she had to clear every stumbling block out of her path!
After the engagement banquet, Jin Xia didn't even have time to change out of her gown. Handbag in hand, she hailed a taxi at random by the roadside. "Lanting Garden."
Lanting Garden was Jing City's largest villa community, filled with luxury homes, any one of which was worth over a hundred million.
That residence was also the marital home the Lu family had prepared for her and Lu Mingchuan.
Some time earlier, she had told Lu Mingchuan she wanted to move in sooner and take a look at the furnishings while she was at it.
Lu Mingchuan had made every excuse to refuse, speaking with righteous conviction. "The house has just been renovated. The formaldehyde hasn't dissipated yet. It's bad for your health, so leave it for now."
She had begun to grow suspicious from that moment.
The driver stopped at Lanting Garden's back gate. Jin Xia scanned to pay the fare, gathered up her skirt, and quickly got out.
It took her only three minutes to get from the side gate to the villa's front door. In her sixteen-centimeter heels, she practically ran, not daring to slow down for a moment as she rushed to the entrance.
Lu Mingchuan's Rolls-Royce was parked outside the villa's front entrance.
Her heart lurched at the sight.
Jin Xia stood outside for the facial recognition scan, then rushed straight from the first floor to the master bedroom on the second. Her hand was trembling as she turned the door handle...
With a click of the lock, the carved, solid-wood European-style outward-opening door was pulled open.
The sight that greeted her was obscene. The man lay stark naked on the large bed, his arms around a pretty, charming beauty-Coco, the very no-name model whose secretly snapped photos from the night before last had gone viral.
She switched on the bedroom's main light. Only as the light came on did the two people sleeping soundly in bed open their eyes in alarm.
Lu Mingchuan shielded his eyes with his hand and cursed irritably, "Jin Xia, what the fuck is wrong with you?"
Jin Xia took a step back, one hand clenched tightly into a fist. "I can let your usual reckless behavior slide, but today was our engagement banquet. Lu Mingchuan, you've gone too far."
The man grabbed a cushion from beside his pillow and hurled it at Jin Xia in a rage. "My grandmother arranged for me to marry you. All we have to do is get married. She found me a wife, not a mother! Get out!"
Even after hearing his abuse, Jin Xia remained rooted to the spot, not moving an inch.
Right in front of Jin Xia, Coco picked up the robe from the floor and casually draped it over herself. "Miss Jin, right? I've heard so much about you. I'm really sorry. Mingchuan went too hard last night... I was so tired today that I didn't get up to attend your engagement banquet. You're not angry, are you?"
The way she said it made it sound as though Lu Mingchuan were merely an uninvolved outsider at this engagement banquet!
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