"Elder Hawthorne, good evening." Nathaniel Quinn approached Julian Hawthorne and bowed respectfully. "I’m Nathaniel Quinn from the Quinn Group. This is our company’s collaboration proposal. Please take a look."

Julian Hawthorne took the proposal and casually flipped through a few pages.

His face was expressionless. The entire time, Nathaniel Quinn’s heart was in his throat, and fine beads of sweat had even formed on his forehead.

After about two minutes, Julian Hawthorne closed the folder. "Not bad."

Those two simple words were like music to Nathaniel Quinn’s ears.

A jubilant smile instantly spread across his face as he bowed repeatedly. "Thank you, Elder Hawthorne! The Quinn Group will give it our all and not betray your trust!"

The expressions of the other company representatives around them changed, and they began to whisper amongst themselves.

"Elder Hawthorne said it was ’not bad’? Does that mean it’s going to be the Quinn Family this year?"

"Looks like the Quinn Family is about to make a comeback."

"Not necessarily. Elder Hawthorne hasn’t made a formal announcement yet."

"But getting Elder Hawthorne to say ’not bad’ is already high praise."

Wren Wynter was about to leave.

Nathaniel Quinn glanced at her, his face filled with unconcealed smugness and arrogance. "Cole, did you see that? Elder Hawthorne said my proposal was not bad. The Quinn Family is determined to win this project!"

Kaden Xavier reminded him coolly, "Don’t celebrate too soon. Elder Hawthorne hasn’t made his final decision."

"It’s close enough!" Nathaniel Quinn lowered his voice and shot Wren Wynter a vicious glare. "Certain people had better not try to sabotage this. Otherwise, even if the Quinn Family has fallen on hard times, I won’t let her off the hook. I, Nathaniel Quinn, keep my word!"

Everything the man said was a thinly veiled jab at her. The smile vanished from Wren Wynter’s lips as she stared grimly at Nathaniel Quinn.

Her gaze was as cold as ice, making Nathaniel Quinn subconsciously take half a step back.

"Nathaniel Quinn, you really think too highly of yourself." Wren’s voice wasn’t loud, but it reached the ears of the few people nearby. "I don’t have the time to meddle with your family’s pathetic company. Besides, for you to think I could influence Elder Hawthorne’s decision is, without a doubt, an insult to him."

Everyone, both inside and outside their circle, knew that Julian Hawthorne was famous for his impartiality and refusal to practice favoritism or nepotism.

"Instead of wasting time threatening me, you should think about how to clean up your company’s act. After all..." Wren paused, then raised an eyebrow with amusement. "The truth will always come out."

With that, she didn’t bother to see the look on Nathaniel Quinn’s face and elegantly walked toward her senior brothers.

’Wasting another word on scum like him would be a waste of breath.’

’As for what he did to my aunt, once the police gather enough evidence, he won’t escape, not even with Kaden Xavier protecting his own.’

Nathaniel Quinn was stunned by Wren’s imposing aura for a few seconds. When he came to his senses, his face was ashen.

"Cole, look..."

He was about to complain to Kaden Xavier, but after meeting his cold, dark gaze, Nathaniel Quinn ultimately shut his mouth.

"Nathaniel Quinn, do not test my patience."

This was Kaden Xavier’s final warning.

Just then, another person entered the banquet hall, flanked by two rows of bodyguards.

The man was dressed in a well-fitted, dark gray suit. He appeared to be around forty years old, with a steady gait and a capable air about him.

He held an exquisite red sandalwood gift box and walked straight toward Julian Hawthorne.

A new wave of discussion rose from the crowd.

"Who is that? What an entourage!"

"I don’t know. I’ve never heard of or seen him before. Maybe he’s a friend of Elder Hawthorne’s."

"You can tell he’s someone important."

"..."

Everyone who came today was a powerful and famous figure; any single one of them would be enough to stun the public.

Wren Wynter could feel Kaden Xavier’s intense, unignorable gaze on her, but she paid it no mind.

Ho-ran Park stood beside Wren Wynter. He said something that made her eyes curve into crescents as she smiled, and she even gave him a light push.

Their intimate and natural interaction caused an uncontrollable surge of bitterness to well up inside Kaden Xavier.

Julian Hawthorne’s right-hand man, Leo Crowe, walked onto the stage, took the microphone from a staff member, and scanned the crowd with a broad smile.

"Distinguished guests, friends, thank you all for attending my master’s birthday banquet tonight."

Leo Crowe’s voice echoed throughout the banquet hall via the sound system.

"As the banquet reaches its climax, in addition to wishing our master a happy birthday and a long, healthy life, we have a special event planned for tonight..."

He paused intentionally, keeping everyone in suspense.

The murmurs from the audience grew louder.

"A special event? What kind of special event?"

"I don’t think they’ve had this in previous years."

"I heard Elder Hawthorne is going to officially announce the project’s partner tonight."

"That can’t be it. How would announcing a partner count as a ’special event’?"

As if afraid people couldn’t hear, Leo Crowe raised his voice. "Everyone knows that our master has dedicated his life to the field of medicine. Not only are his medical skills superb, but his students are now all over the world. He has cultivated a great number of outstanding medical talents and made an indelible contribution to the development of our country’s medical industry."

The audience broke into enthusiastic applause.

Leo Crowe waited for the applause to die down slightly before continuing in a dramatic tone, "And among all of our master’s students, there is one who is the youngest and also the most mysterious! This student has truly inherited our master’s teachings—the apprentice has surpassed the master. But for certain special reasons, she has never made a public appearance. Tonight, on the special occasion of our master’s sixtieth birthday, he has made a special arrangement to have this student formally meet you all!"

The discussions below the stage reached a fever pitch.

"The youngest and most mysterious student? Who is it?"

"I’ve never heard that Elder Hawthorne had a student like that."

"Anyone valued so highly by Elder Hawthorne must be extraordinary."

"Could it be a genius from one of the prominent medical families?"

"What are you all talking about? Elder Hawthorne only has five students. He must be talking about the youngest one who’s never appeared in public!"

Someone stated the obvious.

That’s right. Elder Hawthorne had always publicly stated he only took five students, so why would he take more? And everyone had only ever seen four of them.

Leo Crowe looked at the expectant faces in the audience with satisfaction. He took a deep breath and announced in his loudest voice, "And now, let us give our warmest round of applause to welcome our master’s youngest student, our little junior sister!"

As his voice faded, a spotlight slowly swept through the crowd.

Finally, the beam of light came to rest on a single figure.

Her wine-red gown shimmered under the light. Wren Wynter stood in the spotlight, momentarily stunned, before breaking into a poised smile.

The entire venue fell silent in an instant.

A deathly silence enveloped the entire banquet hall.

All eyes were on the breathtakingly beautiful woman bathed in the spotlight.

Kaden Xavier’s eyes were filled with shock and disbelief.

Seraphina Sutton and Nathaniel Quinn were equally astonished.