The truck stopped at the scenic spot. Leedon then directly took me to the hotels and restaurants there. On the way, he gave me a terse explanation about the place.
As I didn’t get much sleep yesterday, I fell into slumber while waiting in the hotel lobby.
Fortunately, Leedon was there to wake me up just in time. “That’s enough snoozing. We need to go and escort Mr. Featherstone’s customers once they arrived.”
I nodded and followed him outside the hotel. While we were waiting at the entrance, Anthony and Rachel were slowly striding toward us.
It seemed like what I’ve said just now had offended Anthony. He didn’t even bother to look my way as he approached us.
A while later, a black Bentley stopped in front of the hotel. An old man in his seventies alighted from the car, looking amiable.
“Anthony, how long has it been? I can barely recognize you now!” The old man’s voice was pleasing to the ear.
Anthony smiled and made a hand gesture to invite him inside the hotel. “A lot of things have happened in the past few years. I apologize for not being able to come and visit you during that time.”
Clueless about who that old man was, I asked Leedon, “Do you know him?”
Leedon nodded and answered, “His name is Channing Oberick. He’s a powerful man here in A City. That being said, he’s very humble. He bought a piece of land in Lavelian Village and he often comes here to take in the greeneries. Every other famous person in A City holds him in high regard.”
Oberick?
Curious, I queried, “Are there other people in A City who shares the same family name, Oberick?”
He shook his head. “No, there’s only one family with the name Oberick here. What’s the matter?”
I shook my head. The incident between Nora and Derek at the bar came to my mind.
Come to think of it, the Grandpa mentioned by Nora must be referring to Channing Oberick.
After we entered the hotel lobby, Anthony and Channing walked into a private room in the restaurant. After they sat down, the waiter served them a bowl of soup.
Channing was delighted to see a table full of people. He gazed at Rachel, who was sitting beside Anthony. “Anthony, you should introduce her to me!”
Anthony smiled and responded, “Yes, I do intend to do so. But since we’ve just sat down, we should take it easy first.”
After that, Anthony kept on rambling. Upon hearing the name Rachel Zimmer being mentioned, Channing uttered, “I heard from your Grandpa on the phone before that your wife’s family name was Stanhope. Why has her family name changed to Zimmer?”
Rachel stood up and smiled. “Mr. Oberick, my family name is Zimmer. You can call me Rachel!”
That still didn’t answer Channing’s question. Anthony didn’t bother explaining to Channing either. He only glanced at me before moving on to introduce the others.
Since Channing was quite old, he didn’t notice that I was skipped over during the introductions. After the dishes were served, Anthony and Channing continued with their chit-chat.
On the other hand, I was lost in my thoughts. Channing mentioned Grandma just now. Maybe he knows her?
Although I had a lot of questions, I squelched the urge to ask them in the end. When will Nora take me to visit Channing privately?
My intention was not to get on his good side. Rather, I was curious about my Grandma’s past as I thought she had always lived in R Province.
However, it was strange that she knew George. Not to mention, she always carried a mysterious and exquisite box with her. Seeing as even the Oberick family in A City knew her, it was highly likely that Grandma was not from R Province.
“Sienna!” Leedon had been calling out to me quite a few times now. He pulled on my arm and said, “Channing is talking to you!”
I paused for a while before gazing at Anthony. His dark eyes were directed at me with his lips pursed.
Channing was holding back his laughter as he glanced at me with his gentle eyes. “This lady here blanked out!”
I immediately got up to bow and apologize. “I didn’t mean to, Mr. Oberick. I’m so sorry!”
Channing burst out laughing. “It’s fine, it’s fine. You young ins prefer a more cheerful atmosphere. I get it! Eating with an old man like me is indeed quite boring.”
My face turned red as the awkwardness consumed me. Before I could explain to Channing, Anthony interrupted and uttered, “She has always been like this. Pay no mind to her, Mr. Oberick.”
Channing glared at me with a smile on his face and replied, “This lady here seems rather familiar to me. I’m not sure where I’ve seen her before.”
“Mr. Oberick, I heard that you are quite fond of tea bowls. I’ve brought a set of tea bowls from K City as a gift to you. Please have a look if you like them or not.”
At that moment, all eyes in the room were drawn to the tea bowls.
Rachel’s tea bowls looked delicate and refined. Any old man with a love for antique tea sets would be very happy to receive them.
Everyone started gathering around the antique tea set and was chatting fervently with each other.
Leedon moved his chair closer to mine and queried, “Are you close to Mr. Featherstone?”
I paused for a second before shaking my head. “Why?”
“Nothing. It’s just that he seems to be staring at you most of the time!” He grinned. “Mr. Featherstone tends to be cold toward others. It’s rare to see him direct his attention all on one person. Besides, he already has such a beauty beside him!”
I smiled in response.
While Rachel talked to Channing, she inevitably moved closer to Anthony, who stood in between them. It looked like she was clinging on to the latter.
I took a sip of water and smiled as Rachel and Channing were still having their conversation. Rachel, who was also getting thirsty, drank from the glass of water that was in front of Anthony. A lipstick mark was left on the side of the glass.
Unperturbed by it, Anthony continued talking to Channing.
While the waiter was serving the dishes, everyone was talking to each other happily. Rachel helped Channing to get some food on his plate before uttering, “Mr. Oberick, you must visit K City when you’re free. The food made by Aunt Sally is very delicious. You must try it for yourself.”
Channing nodded and replied, “Sally refused to even step foot in the kitchen when she was young. It must’ve been quite hard for her.”
My mind blanked out for a second. When did Rachel and Sally get this close?
After leaving K City for so long, it would make sense for me to miss out on minuscule things like this.
Leedon toned down his voice and said, “I’ve heard before that Mr. Featherstone was married, but I never found out who his wife is. Could his wife be Ms. Zimmer here?”
I lowered my head and continued eating my food. “I’m not sure!”
Leedon murmured, “Ms. Zimmer here always acts coldly toward other people except for Mr. Featherstone. That being said, she can be quite caring when it comes to the elderly. I think she’ll be a great fit for Mr. Featherstone.”
I remained taciturn and continued munching my food.
Channing probably misunderstood the relationship between Rachel and Anthony as he was exhorting them to live the rest of their lives happily with each other.
Anthony pursed his lips and gazed at me with his cold eyes. Seeing as I was rather calm, he was getting even more irritated. He did nothing to clear Channing’s misunderstanding.
Unsurprisingly, Rachel was very happy about the situation. She listened attentively to Channing and agreed to everything he said.
As Channing was busy eating, I got up and went to the bathroom. On my way out of the bathroom, the outdoor swimming pool caught my eye.
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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