Jasmine hadn’t expected Julie to come to the party. But what was bothering her most, was that she came accompanied by such an amazing man!
Jasmine stared at Lord P., and Andrew sensed how she felt for him. He sneered at Julie.
“Julie, this man must be some actor you hired. I know you want to ruin my engagement party, but don’t forget that everyone here knows who you really are!”
Andrew tried to convince himself that this man wasn’t from a rich family. There weren’t too many big wealthy families in Seattle that he didn’t know. Plus, he couldn’t believe that man could afford a Knight XV.
After hearing those words, Jasmine finally stopped looking at Lord P. with great admiration. Instead, she felt sorry for Julie. “Sister, you can hit me if you hate me. But please don’t ruin your reputation...It could damage your career...”
Then she really cried.
But Julie smiled with great happiness. “He may be an actor to you, but he’s the one I love most. And you...”
She shook her head. “Since you just proposed to Jasmine, why do you even care who I’m with? Do you want both of us?”
Her question made Andrew so embarrassed. He was furious about being humiliated. He raised his hands, to call security: “Take these two away.”
Elliot, one of the guards, was about to step forward, when someone loudly announced: “Mr. Parker is here.”
Matthew Parker was about fifty years old, and looked amazing for his age. His wife, Taylor, and their daughter, Nicole, were standing next to him.
After seeing his father, Andrew became more confident, and quickly walked towards Matthew Parker.
He stood up straight. “Dad, Julie Finch brought a man to destroy my engagement party.”
When he heard Julie Finch’s name, Matthew’s face darkened.
As a businessman, he only cared about profit. Jasmine Finch was her father’s favourite and obvious inheritor, so Matthew had agreed to this engagement.
But Julie Finch had loved Andrew for five years, and every rich family in Seattle knew about it.
So the Parker family really owed Julie an apology, and Matthew knew this. His eyebrow twitched, and he turned his head around. But when he saw the man standing beside Julie, he froze in place.
Andrew sneered, and pointed at Lord P. “Dad, it’s him. He’s the actor hired by Julie.”
“Shut up!” Matthew Parker raised his voice, and it frightened Andrew. But Andrew continued to say: “It’s him...”
When Matthew Parker approached them, Julie stood in front of Mr. P, and stretched out her arms. No matter who he was, or whether he was a friend or an enemy, she’s the one who had put him in that situation, and she wouldn’t allow anything bad to happen to him.
After seeing how protective she was, Lord P.’s eyes darkened. He wanted to push her aside, but she refused to moved.
“You should blame me for this.” Julie stretched her arms out further, like a protective mother.
“Move.” Matthew Parker sounded angry.
“No,” Julie said with certainty. “He’s with me. Please don’t hurt him.”
Even though Lord P. looked like he might be a good fighter, he one alone against all the Parkers.
Matthew wanted to push Julie out of the way, but when he glimpsed Lord P.’s eyes, he put his hands down.
“Andrew,” Matthew instructed.
On hearing his name, Andrew immediately went to his side. He stared at Julie, and said: “Dad, today is a big day for me. Let the guards kick them out.”
“Nonsense!” Matthew said angrily.
Andrew was shocked. He began to think that his father wouldn’t kick them out because he was worried of embarrassing himself in front of all the guests.
He wanted to punch Lord P., but Parker was an important name. Something of that sort couldn’t be done in a public place.
Julie acted like she felt calm, but she was terrified the whole time. She knew that they didn’t like him, and their only reason for not saying anything bad about her was due to her relationship with Andrew.
She was at the banquet; they must have thought she was just there to destroy it.
Although she was very agitated, the hands on her shoulders were warm, and provided assurance.
That’s when Julie finally learned something about Lord P.
Even though he didn’t say anything the whole time, his power was so strong that everyone felt ill at ease. Julie almost believed that those guards didn’t throw them out because they were afraid of him.
As she struggled about what to do next, Lord P. spoke:
“Brother.”
Matthew suddenly began to laugh, and Julie thought the sound was disgusting. “I was thinking about sending people to pick you up, but here you are—good...”
Had she heard right? Brother? They were brothers? So he was Andrew’s uncle? That mysterious man?
She had heard stories about him. Some said he had joined special forces. Some said he had become a terrorist. Anyway, everyone in Seattle was terrified, and in awe, every time they had heard his name.
Why had he returned to such a high profile?
Julie and Jasmine were lost.
“Uncle?” Andrew kept saying it. He looked so guilty to have not recognized his own family. Thompson Parker was like a god in their family. What had he accused him of? That he was an actor hired by Julie? What’s wrong with him? How could he have said such things about Thompson Parker?
Andrew felt so nervous and afraid. He grabbed Jasmine’s hands with so much strength that she had to pull back in pain.
Jasmine ground her teeth. She had thought Julie would cry after losing Andrew. As Julie had cried when Jasmine had become part of her family.
Jasmine was Laurence Finch’s illegitimate child. Laurence had eventually married Jasmine’s mother, Linda White; and he loved them both very much.
But Julie’s existence simply reminded him of his embarrassing past. After his first wife, and Julie’s mother, had committed suicide, Julie had been kicked out of the family due to disobedience.
Jasmine had not expected the best moment of her life to be ruined by Julie.
But Julie was totally lost; she couldn’t hear anything that was being said between Matthew Parker and Thompson Parker.
She was totally lost. All of it had happened so quickly. She licked her lips, and wanted to run away.
She had gotten herself caught in a messy situation. If Thompson Parker were to tell the others about her lies, her career would be over. And she didn’t have the means to mess with rich people like him.
But Thompson Parker gripped her arms, and didn’t let her leave.
He lowered his upper body, and softly said: “An ugly girlfriend must still meet the family. Why are you so nervous?”