For Stevie, this was also a good opportunity to let everyone know that Ashlyn was his daughter. Going forward, no one would dare to look down upon his lovely daughter anymore.
Although the two of them had different reasons why they wanted the party, they both agreed that it must be thrown. And Stevie went ahead to plan the hosting of a very elaborate event in celebration of his 50th birthday.
Stevie had been in the business world for many years. As a result, he knew a lot of people. So, his birthday party was expected to be well attended.
To make sure the celebration would be nothing short of a huge success, Ashlyn came back to Bluepond two days in advance to supervise everything about the event.
The Ramos family was rich, but they always kept a low profile. In fact, this was the first time they would be hosting such a grand party.
A lot of people had always wanted to meet Stevie and establish a good relationship with him. This party presented them with the perfect opportunity.
But the catch was that it was strictly by invitation. The Ramos family would carefully select the people they deemed worthy of attending their elaborate event.
In total, there were one thousand invitation cards to be given out. Ashlyn had already asked Talia to send several of the cards to close friends of the family. As for the rest, it was up to her to consider carefully and decide who would receive them.
It was an easy task for Talia, though. She had been close to the family for a long time. Before she became Ashlyn’s secretary, she had previously served as Stevie’s secretary for years.
It was a well-known fact that the Ramos family had come into wealth quite late. Before Stevie got married to Vivien, he was not rich. Stevie had to build up his business empire from nothing.
The Palmer family was different. Vivien’s brothers were both politicians, and her cousins, too, were not ordinary people.
Compared with the Ramos family, the Palmers were much more powerful and influential.
Since both families were connected by marriage, the Palmer family would be represented at Stevie’s 50th birthday party.
This was the reason why virtually everyone wanted to get invited to the party.
A family like the Jones family, for instance, given their position in society, would expect to be one of those invited. But before sending an invitation card to them, Talia went to Ashlyn to seek for approval.
Deep down in Ashlyn’s heart, she wished that the Jones family would not be invited, but she didn’t want to do anything that would cause disaffection and compromise the Ramos family’s reputation in any way. So, she approved the invitation.
Stevie had done business with Nathaniel several times. If they chose not to send an invitation card to the Jones family, the matter would quickly become a topic of discussion among them.
The same applied to the Stanley family, which had an even deeper relationship with Stevie.
But so much had happened in the last few days that it was hard to say whether or not Devin would attend the party.
Likewise, after everything that had happened with the Jones family, Ashlyn felt Nathaniel would not send anyone to the party.
So when Talia told her that Gordon had come, Ashlyn was quite surprised.
But she didn’t show it. Instead, she acted as if she had expected it all along.
As far as she was concerned, he was no different from a stranger now.
To her surprise, she saw Devin come in not long after Gordon arrived.
As Stevie’s daughter, Ashlyn had a duty to welcome every guest with a smile. That was the courteous thing to do.
She could also avoid Gordon and Stevie by slipping away, but she knew that if her father saw the men, his mood would turn sour.
To keep them from him, Ashlyn decided to meet them herself. So, grabbing a glass of champagne, she went over to welcome them.
Since it was such a grand and important event, Ashlyn had donned a very beautiful dress and applied a touch of make-up for the occasion. As a result, she was quite a center of attention.
“Gentlemen, we’re glad to have you here.”
Ashlyn smiled politely at Gordon and Devin.
When Gordon looked at her, he saw the faint indifference in her eyes. It felt like he had been stabbed in the heart with a knife.
Devin clinked his wine glass against Ashlyn’s and said, “You look absolutely stunning tonight.”
Ashlyn grinned and replied, “Thank you.”
Gordon tightened the grip on his wine glass. It annoyed him to see Ashlyn enjoy Devin’s compliments. He wanted to say something, but he wasn’t a sweet talker like Devin.
He ended up saying nothing.
The circle of elites was a tight-knit group with only not many members and everyone knew each other.
Many people turned their heads to Devin and Gordon as they stood next to each other. The fact that Ashlyn was in front of them made everyone more curious. The three of them naturally drew a lot of attention.
Gordon was Ashlyn’s ex-husband and Devin courted Ashlyn.
They looked like the typical love triangle in TV shows!
No matter who Ashlyn chose to be nice to, people would still talk and gossip about them.
After they greeted each other, Ashlyn nodded politely and smiled. She saw Talia from the corner of her eye and thought to use her to escape the tricky situation she was in. “Talia, come over here. Please entertain the two gentlemen for me.”
After that, Ashlyn turned to Gordon and Devin. “Please excuse me. I need to entertain other guests.”
She then turned around and left.
Coincidentally, as soon as she turned around, she saw Jessie and her parents entering the hall.
How fortunate! She now had the perfect excuse to leave Devin and Gordon.
She quickly ran over to them with a glass of wine in her hand and greeted, “Hello, I’m so glad that you all could come!”
The Walker family and the Ramos family had always been on good terms. So much so, that Ashlyn and Jessie practically grew up together and were best friends. Without a doubt, her parents would come to Stevie’s fiftieth birthday party.
“Ashlyn, you look so beautiful!” said Lula Walker, Jessie’s mother. liked to judge people based on their appearance. She only married Hans Walker because she thought that he was handsome.
When Ashlyn was a child, she had soft skin and a lovely face. She aged like fine wine and was now more beautiful than ever. Jessie was also pretty, but Ashlyn’s beauty outshined hers whenever they stood next to each other.
Lula felt happy every time she saw Ashlyn. She wished Ashlyn was her daughter. Fortunately, Jessie and Ashlyn had a close bond and were like sisters. It was good that Vivien treated Jessie well, too. Otherwise, Jessie might be depressed.
Lula smiled at Ashlyn. She was quite fond of her.
Jessie was used to her mom fawning over Ashlyn. She rolled her eyes and whined, “Mom, come on! Stop staring at Ashlyn like some sort of pervert! People might get the wrong idea!”
Lula chuckled. “I don’t care what they think! I’m just admiring how good-looking Ashlyn is. I feel so much better now that I’ve seen her face. I haven’t seen Ashlyn wear an evening dress in so long. What’s wrong with me staring at her?”
Ashlyn’s cheeks turned slightly red as she escorted Lula and Hans inside. “I’ll take you upstairs so that you can sit down and rest. The party hasn’t started yet.”
Lula thought that Ashlyn must have been exhausted from all the party planning. “Oh no! Ashlyn, it’s alright. We can find our own way upstairs. You go on ahead and greet other guests.”
She then turned to Jessie and continued, “Jessie! Don’t just stand there. Help Ashlyn with the guests!”
Jessie frowned. “Am I really your daughter?”
“If you weren’t, you would have starved to death a long time ago!”
Lula was the one who raised Jessie. So when Lula said that, Jessie simply didn’t know what to say.
Jessie’s sad face made Ashlyn laugh.
“What are you laughing about, Ashlyn? Why don’t you think of a way to get rid of Gordon and Devin? They are real pests!”
“Pests? You can’t be more right.” Ashlyn nodded.
She then grabbed Jessie’s hand. “I’ll just pretend that they don’t exist! Now, don’t just stand there! Come and help me greet the guests!”
The banquet was so grand it took two hours for all the guests to arrive.
Almost all the guests had arrived by eight that evening. It was then that Ashlyn and Jessie went to the lounge to have a rest.
Both Fred and Vernon were in attendance, but Ashlyn did not spend much time talking to them. She only greeted them briefly when they arrived.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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