Chapter 10 Meet Again At The Banquet

It was quieter in the back garden. Lily sat down on a stone stool, feeling the gentle breeze blow over her head. The familiar fragrance of the flowers wafted, and she noticed that there were a lot of purple roses. Frank's mother, Jade, had these flowers as her favorite.

Lily remembered a time in her previous life when, after marrying Frank, she accidentally dropped two of these flowers. Jade scolded her.

"Mr. Eric, the party is about to start. Your grandfather expects you to be there." A voice interrupted Lily's moment of peace.

Turning to the source of the voice, she saw a servant bowing respectfully to another man who was lying on the grass. She immediately knew it was Eric, as the Gu family only had two sons: one was Frank, and the other one was apparently on the grass just in front of her.

Frank and Eric were not very close. Unlike his eldest brother, Eric rarely participated in family activities. Not many people knew him.

"Seen enough?"

"Hey..." Lily paused to calm down, and saw that Eric had sat up. "What a coincidence," she said.

"Yes. Indeed a coincidence to see me at a Gu family party," Eric said, smiling playfully through his black eyes.

She felt stupidly embarrassed upon hearing his answer. Of course, this was his home! Meeting him here would be no coincidence at all!

"Did you leave your brain at your house again?" Eric asked.

"You..." She felt so angry at his unnecessary remark. Couldn't he be less mean? It was true that he saved her on more than one occasion, but was it really necessary to call her "stupid" every time?

"Haha." Eric lowered his head, feeling an unexplainable happiness. He had only met her thrice. Each time, when he saw her unable to speak, he thought her eyes and her reddened face looked very cute.

"Eric," Lily said flatly, "I'll forget your words because I am grateful that you saved me. But if you continue to be rude, then you will find the same treatment from me, as well."

"Okay," Eric responded as his smile faded. When he turned around to leave, he said, "With your IQ, not even ten of you can compete against me."

Lily took a deep breath and said nothing.

When she regained her calm, she decided that she would pay back his rudeness, whenever they would meet again in the future.

With her mood ruined, Lily stood up and went back to the banquet hall.

Just before she could join the crowd, Claire grabbed her by the arm and said, "Lily! Where have you been? The party's about to start, and Dad's been looking all over for you."

Lily brushed Claire's hand away and replied, "I know."

She then walked past her sister and headed towards Dillon. Lucia and Eden were already with him.

Claire clenched her teeth and followed.

Before she could even reach his father, the party officially began. They saw Simon Gu appear first, followed by Frank.

"Everyone! Thank you so much for coming to my son's birthday party..." Simon Gu started his speech. Frank stayed close beside him, wearing a bright smile on his face.

The mood was festive, but Lily could only feel a raging fire when she saw Frank. Her hands clenched into a fist, her eyes narrowed. It was as if she wanted to burn a hole in him.

Frank somehow felt her burning gaze, and he met eyes with hers.

This caught Lily by surprise, so she tried her best to act normal. She smiled.

When Frank saw Lily delighted, he smiled back. She was just another girl who fancied him, he thought.

Soon, Simon Gu finished his speech, and again the crowd began to talk amongst themselves. The gathering was clearly not an ordinary birthday party. It was also a business meeting of sorts, wrapped in today's celebration.

After exchanging a few pleasantries with the crowd, Simon Gu pulled Frank aside and whispered, "Listen, that girl you saw just now is Miss Lily, from the Qiao family. It would be best to do everything you can to get her into a conversation."

"Lily, you say? Of the Qiao family?" Frank replied, frowning. "Isn't she the daughter of a mistress, raised by Qiao?"

"No, no, she's not. That's just a rumor," Simon Gu answered. "She is the legitimate daughter of the Qiao family. I hear Dillon doesn't like her much, but the head of their family is very fond of her. She's poised to inherit a large chunk of the Qiao family's properties."

Frank nodded, already formulating a plan in his mind.

Lily already anticipated Frank's approach, and while she felt disgusted, she tried to endure. She forced herself to face him with a smile.

"Miss... Lily, right? I was wondering if I could have the honor of being your partner of the first dance." Frank stretched his hand, being a gentleman.

Lily acted as if she was flattered. She lowered her head, blushed slightly, and smiled shyly. "I'm not very good at dancing, I'm afraid," she replied. "I might just step on your toes."

"Don't worry about that. Let me guide you," Frank said with warmth. Lily knew what she felt inside, but she was still a little girl. She couldn't help but blush when a man spoke to her like this.

"Well, I'm not really sure... What if I seriously hurt you?" Lily asked, genuinely worried.

At this moment, Claire appeared so suddenly, almost out of nowhere. "If you don't mind, Mr. Frank? Seeing as my sister is being shy, let me dance with you instead."

'What a way to steal attention,' Lily thought. It really was just the same as the previous life.

"Oh. I don't mind, of course, but..." Frank looked at Claire, being careful not to offend her. He smiled and said, "I would really love to dance with Miss Lily first."

"I'm okay with that," Claire said. Then, with a smile, she added, "In any case, would Mr. Frank grant my request and indulge me with his second dance?"

"Of course. It would be my pleasure."

"I'll wait for you, then."

When they were finished, Frank once again reached out his hand towards Lily. "Miss Lily, will you dance with me? This would be an honor... and I will consider it a birthday gift."

"Sure." Lily nodded shyly. She took Frank's hand and said, "I really don't know how to dance; I wasn't just being modest. Please go easy on me."

"Of course. Just follow my lead." Hand-in-hand, Frank led the young miss towards the dance floor.

Claire could only clench her teeth as she watched the scene unfold in front of her.

Now on the dance floor, Lily mostly kept her head low. She managed not to step on Frank at all, at the same time following the rhythm that he had set.

"You always keep your head down. Are you looking for treasure there or something?" Frank whispered into Lily's ear.

"No, I... I'm just looking at my feet. Just being careful. I don't want to step on you." Lily took an effortless back step as she looked up for a moment.

"That's okay. You're so small that I probably wouldn't feel it," Frank said jokingly.

She couldn't help but blush at his words, but still, she could not suppress her disgust. If she only had the ability to crush him now, there would be no dancing.

The music finished, and Lily felt relief as she freed her hands and walked away from the dance.

Frank smiled and took her actions for her being just shy. He escorted her until she was out of the dance floor.

Seeing this, Claire made her approach. Frank, being a man of his word, held Claire's hands and took her to dance.

With Frank and Claire out of sight, Lily hurried to the bathroom. She washed her hands and rubbed them several times with a sanitizer, as if Frank was infested and getting in contact with him gave her some kind of bacteria.

"It's obvious you didn't like it. Why did you dance with him?"

Lily was startled with the sudden voice and was surprised when she saw Eric. Somewhat relieved, she furrowed her eyebrows. "Don't scare me like that!"

Eric regarded Lily, who looked like a princess in her dress. He leaned lazily against the door frame and said, "You almost rubbed your skin off."

Lily ignored him and continued to wash her hands. Then, she turned around and headed for the hall. She learned from past experience that there was no point in talking with him. He would only get her upset.

Eric didn't seem to mind and continued to follow her.

The funny thing was, he never really had plans to attend tonight's party. But when he saw Lily, he felt compelled to be with her.

Dillon was still having a good time. With Eden at his side, they continued to talk with the guests and other powerful people in the business circle. Lily managed to find a quiet corner and sat down.

Eric followed suit and took the chair next to her.

"You never liked one moment of that dance. I wonder, why didn't you just refuse?" Eric asked as he leaned against the chair; his sleepy aura never left.

A suspicious thought raced across Lily's mind and she replied, "How did you know I didn't like it?"

"I saw you with my own eyes," Eric answered.

"You don't know anything. Don't think that you know me." Lily glared at him.

"I think that I can't find another girl as stupid as you."

"Wow, you're really..." Once again, she tried to talk back, but this time Eric interrupted her. "If you didn't want to dance, you could have simply refused. It's very straightforward, see? Do you understand?"

"You know nothing. Don't tell me how to do things because you don't know anything about me, alright?" Lily was seriously getting angry, and she was done holding back. "Whether I liked the dance or not, that's on me. It's none of your business."

Eric didn't reply, but it was clear that the sleepiness had left him. No longer lazy, he trained his deep black eyes at Lily, as if he was trying to see through her.

He was still puzzled when he saw Frank invite her. She didn't like it. He could clearly see that she wanted to resist, but she still danced.

Lily was starting to feel uncomfortable with Eric's stares. She took a sip of juice and started to leave, but then she saw Claire walking towards them. "Hey, Lily," Claire greeted.

Lily wanted nothing more than to leave them there, but in order to save face, she had to act as gracefully and cordially as she could. Why couldn't Claire just ask Frank to dance for a little while longer?