「A few minutes ago」

A man in a suit stopped in front of Sylvia Lancaster.

He was young, probably in his twenties.

He wore a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, and when his eyes behind the lenses fell upon Sylvia Lancaster, they unconsciously revealed a mix of astonishment and delight. "Miss Lancaster, I never expected to run into you here!"

Sylvia was taken aback. She studied the young man before her but found that she had no impression of him at all.

But she knew that anyone who could get into this banquet was likely either rich or powerful, so she put on a polite smile and replied, "I’m sorry, and you are...?"

The young man with glasses didn’t seem to mind that Sylvia didn’t recognize him. Seeing her speak to him, he replied with a slightly excited smile, "Don’t you remember me, Miss Lancaster? I’m Wendy Sheffield’s older brother, Winston Sheffield. We met before at Wendy’s birthday party!"

Hearing this, the smile on Sylvia Lancaster’s face gradually faded.

’I thought he was the young master of some prominent family, not Wendy Sheffield’s brother.’

The Sheffield Family was of average means. Although her parents worked in the public sector, they didn’t hold high-ranking positions, and the family had no businesses to speak of. Ultimately, they were just a working-class family with stable jobs.

Winston Sheffield was young and still grinding it out at the bottom of the public sector ladder. ’He’s probably only here,’ Sylvia thought, ’because he’s the government liaison for Paige Walsh’s research institute. That must be how he got an invitation to this banquet.’

A man of Winston Sheffield’s standing was not even in the realm of consideration for Sylvia Lancaster.

’Even if he gets promoted in the future, that’ll be a long time from now. I’m not about to spend half my life waiting for a man to grow into his potential.’

So Sylvia raised a hand to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear and asked perfunctorily, "Oh, it’s you. Long time no see. How is Wendy?"

Ever since the Lancaster Family went bankrupt, Wendy Sheffield had never contacted Sylvia again. Sylvia had almost forgotten about her little hanger-on.

But Winston Sheffield nodded happily, replying earnestly, "Wendy is doing great. She’s just a little afraid to go out after dark, so she’s been staying home. If you miss her, Miss Lancaster, you’re welcome to come over and visit anytime."

Sylvia found this rather amusing. ’Me, visit the Sheffield Family? Who are they to deserve a visit from a lady of the Hayes Family?’

Sylvia just gave a noncommittal response and walked away with Lily Adler.

After Sylvia left, Winston Sheffield stared after her, a gentle and lingering look in his eyes, his face a picture of pure adoration.

’He’d liked Sylvia Lancaster for a long time. Unfortunately, when she was the young lady of the Lancaster Family, she was out of his league. Now that she was a lady of the Hayes Family, she was still out of his league...’

Nina Summers had just gone to get some dessert and returned to see Winston Sheffield chatting up Sylvia Lancaster.

Seeing Winston now, staring blankly at Sylvia’s departing figure, Nina bit her lip in frustration. ’Winston was always so reserved and distant with her. He’d never once looked at her with such a tender and lingering gaze!’

Nina Summers walked up to Winston Sheffield, dessert in hand, and asked reproachfully, "Winston, what are you looking at?"

Her voice snapped Winston back to reality. He turned to glance at Nina, his gentle, fawning expression from when he faced Sylvia gone, replaced by a cold look. "...Nothing."

Seeing his distant and cold demeanor, Nina tightened her grip on the small porcelain dish. "Don’t lie to me, I saw everything. You were talking to that woman... Who is she? Do you know her?"

Winston shot Nina an impatient glance, a trace of disgust showing in his eyes.

Nina was wearing a pale yellow dress today. Although just managing to look presentable was difficult in these apocalyptic times, her attire seemed far too plain for a banquet like this, even giving off a cheap impression.

Compared to the other young ladies around them, dressed in magnificent gowns and dripping with jewels, she looked like an outsider who had accidentally stumbled into their world.

Winston suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of shame. He felt that his girlfriend, Nina, was utterly unpresentable.

’If his family didn’t all like Nina, and if his parents hadn’t already approved of her as a future daughter-in-law and insisted he take her out to socialize, he never would have brought her to this banquet.’

Winston loosened his tie and said impatiently, "Just a friend I know. I already told you, it wasn’t easy for me to get into this banquet. I need to make more connections. Just go sit down and eat something, and stop getting in my way."

A wronged look filled Nina’s eyes. She said to Winston, "But I want to be with you. I’ll just stand quietly by your side. I won’t get in your way."

Then Nina took a few steps forward, holding the dessert up to Winston’s mouth. With a concerned look, she said, "Oh, Winston, drinking on an empty stomach is bad for you. Have some dessert to line your stomach. I got you your favorite, mango cake."

Winston frowned at the sight. The thought that his goddess, Sylvia Lancaster, might still be watching nearby made him anxious. He snapped at Nina, "I don’t want any! Just stay away from me for a bit!"

Nina tilted her head in confusion. "Why wouldn’t you want any? We haven’t had a chance to eat fruit desserts like this since the apocalypse started. Now that we finally have the chance, we should eat as much as we can."

Listening to Nina’s unsophisticated words, Winston was both anxious and angry. He felt like she was deliberately trying to embarrass him. He could almost feel the mocking laughter from the wealthy guests around them who had overheard her.

He shoved Nina away and hissed with disgust, "I said I don’t want it! Stop embarrassing me here!"

Nina was wearing stilettos. Thrown off balance by Winston’s push, she stumbled and fell wretchedly against a table.

The drinks on the table were knocked to the floor, creating a crisp shattering sound. The dessert in her hand fell onto her dress, the frosting and fruit staining the fabric with messy blotches.

Hearing the commotion, many of the guests turned to look their way. Nina was instantly mortified, and her face went beet-red in a flash.

Melody Summers had been observing the situation. Seeing Nina get pushed over, she hesitated for a moment, then stood up. Under the puzzled gazes of the others at her table, she started walking toward Nina.

Winston looked at the disheveled Nina, his eyes filled with disgust. He looked down at her on the floor and scolded in a low voice, "What do you think you’re doing? Do you have to embarrass me?! Are you doing this on purpose?!"

Nina looked up and clearly saw the thick disgust and loathing in Winston’s eyes. Tears instantly welled up in her own, and she was so embarrassed she wished she could find a hole to crawl into.

Seeing this, Winston’s frown deepened. As more and more guests turned to look, all he wanted was to get Nina out of there as quickly as possible.

He took a few steps closer to Nina and said, "Get out of here now! Go straight to the underground garage and wait for me. I’ll take you home when the banquet’s over. Don’t stay here and be a laughingstock! You’ve completely humiliated me!"

After his tirade, he reached out to pull the fallen Nina up, but suddenly, a figure stepped in front of him.

Melody Summers gave Winston Sheffield a cold glance. As he stared in slight surprise, she bent down and helped Nina to her feet.

Nina hadn’t expected to see Melody Summers here and was still in a daze as she was helped up.

Before Nina could speak, Winston cut in, asking Melody in a slightly puzzled tone, "Excuse me, miss, but who are you?"

Melody didn’t bother with Winston. She spoke quietly to Nina, "Let me take you to the restroom to get cleaned up."

Nina bit her lip and gave a quiet "mm-hmm."

Winston quickly said, "You don’t need to bother with her. She’s just being dramatic and throwing a tantrum at me."

Without even a glance at Winston, Melody supported Nina and led her out of the banquet hall, leaving Winston standing there alone.

Under the curious stares of the surrounding guests, Winston grew even more embarrassed. He lowered his head and quickly slipped away to another part of the room.