A Touch of Sweetness novel (Finnick and Vivian) novel Chapter 274

"Remember those photos from the party last time? It seems like not only is she indecent, but she also can't act the part of Mrs. Norton properly either. What a disgrace to the family."

"What on earth is Mr. Norton thinking? What exactly did he see in her? And all that talk about the V.M Fund... Unbelievable."

The ruthless comments flooded Vivian's ears, leaving her hot with shame.

Never had Vivian felt so out of place until this moment. Indeed, the upper-class social circle never had a place for her. She did not even know what gift would have been appropriate for such an occasion. Vivian rationalized that she deserved to be shamed.

Finnick, enraged by the remarks, was all ready to defend Vivian. However, the elder Mr. Norton beat him to it.

Evidently pleased with the gift in hand, he beamed at Vivian and said, "This is the best present I've received thus far. In fact, it's very much my favorite. You're too lovely, Vivian. Please accept my sincerest gratitude."

The room instantly fell silent. Everyone was dumbfounded at the elder Mr. Norton's high praise.

Exchanging incredulous looks, the indignant crowd sneered at the elder Mr. Norton's explicit bias toward Vivian.

Did the old man seriously praise the gift like it's some priceless artifact?

Mark could not help but throw in a jibe. "Finnick, why don't you consider sponsoring your wife a little? Look at this sad massager that probably costs just a few thousand dollars - it's rather unbefitting for a company president's wife, don't you think?"

Finnick coolly replied, "Well, I prepared this gift with my wife. I've always trusted her judgement, and it has evidently been the right choice - look at how happy Grandpa is. And also, a good gift isn't just about the value - the sincerity behind it matters too. Not sure if you can understand that though."

"Oh, shut up!" Mark was ready to throw hands.

The elder Mr. Norton was not ready to deal with a fight today. "Oh come on, this reunion is so hard to come by - don't be at each other's throats all the time, alright? You two are already grown-ups, so don't act the same way as you did when you were still kids. It's embarrassing."

The mention of the old days hushed the brothers up immediately.

The old man was right - the brothers were indeed at odds with each other ever since they were young. When one became ranked first in school academically, the other wanted to dethrone him. When one got into car racing, the other followed suit.

Amidst the commotion, Ashley fumed silently to the side. The elder Mr. Norton's liking toward Vivian was much to her chagrin. But since she was under the scrutiny of others, she kept her composure.