Gordon had long got to the hotel after the Song family's butler drove him there. As the head of the family, Chandler and his wife, Elaine Wen, were chatting with Clayton and Miranda.
Noticing the group of young people coming in one after another, the two couples smiled.
Miranda was thrilled. The fact that James came to the Song family gathering was equivalent to a public announcement that he and Alina would get married soon.
Once James entered the hall, the Song and Tang family couples stood up at the same time to greet him in person.
However, before Elaine could speak to James with her flattering smile, she caught a glimpse of the woman in a red dress at the end of the group. Her gown was so eye-catching that it was difficult not to notice it. As soon as she saw the woman's face, her expression changed.
Chandler realized something was wrong with Elaine, so he followed her gaze and saw a familiar girl smiling at them. As her parents, they could recognize that smile anywhere.
This time, Chandler's face fell slightly, just like his wife's.
Miranda had been paying attention to everyone's reaction the whole time. Faced with this scene, she pretended to be nice and cleared her throat before greeting the young woman warmly, "Good evening, Maria. You came!"
Since the hall was a little quiet at then, Gordon, who was sitting in the host's seat, couldn't help overhearing Maria's name. Excited, he held the armrests on his chair in order to stand up.
Clayton had already seen Maria long ago and knew that she would be at the family gathering. While everyone's eyes were on Maria, he led his daughter and James to their seats.
At first, James wanted to greet Gordon, but once he saw the old man standing up excitedly to see Maria, he chose to sit down for the time being.
Yet Clayton didn't care about his father-in-law's wishes. Pressing Gordon back to his seat, he said, "Dad, James is here."
With no other choice, Gordon had to withdraw his gaze from Maria. Compared with the Song and Tang couples' enthusiasm in regards to James, Gordon seemed not to care much about him. After James greeted him, he nodded slightly in response. No one could tell whether Gordon was satisfied or angry from the way he looked.
It was not that James didn't notice Gordon's change of attitude towards him. A long time ago, on the day he got married to Maria, Gordon was quite pleased with him. He had even asked him to take good care of Maria repeatedly. Nowadays, Gordon was completely indifferent to James. Maybe the old man probably blamed him for divorcing Maria.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the hall, Elaine approached the woman in red and asked harshly, "Maria, what are you doing here?"
Every fantasy Maria had about a pleasant family reunion during the past six years was gone at that moment. A trace of sadness flashed in her eyes, but it was so quickly no one noticed it. She smiled at her mother. "Mom..."
As soon as she uttered that word, Elaine interrupted her, "Don't call me Mom! You lost that right six years ago! You're no longer a member of the Song family!" Elaine didn't deserve a daughter like a Maria at all!
Maria nodded and glanced at the crowd. Then she said coldly, "In fact, I didn't want to come either. If it weren't for Aunt Miranda...I mean, Mrs. Tang's invitation, why would I want to humiliate myself by being here?" Was she so prone to self-humiliation like that?
"I'm glad you're aware of that. Now, get out of here!" Elaine pointed at the door and drove her away mercilessly.
"Aunt Elaine, why are you so angry? People can hear you from outside!" Someone else's voice reached their ears before they could even see who it was.
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