"Hahaha, this young lady is pretty shrewd, huh? You're a good judge of character, accepting such a perfect lady as your goddaughter, Petra. Mr. Grant is really lucky to have such a clever and beautiful wife.” Mr. Zach happily raised his glass.
Theo stood up and took the wine glass from my hands, giving Mr. Zach a professional smile. "Thank you for the kind words, Mr. Zach. My wife is pregnant and can't drink, so I'll toast on her behalf."
"You’re too polite, Mr. Grant. Cheers!” Mr. Zach clinked glasses with Theo with a wide grin.
"Alright, you don't have to worry anymore now. Since Mr. Zach has agreed to help you out, he'll definitely get everything settled soon. Sit down and have something to eat. You’re pregnant, and you shouldn’t starve yourself." Petra pulled me to my seat with a smile, sounding just like a loving mother.
I finally breathed out a sigh of relief. I softly said, " Thank you, Petra.”
She smiled, not saying a word, and turned around to chat with the others.
After another round of toasting, everyone started chatting about the past.
Mr. Zach looked me up and down and asked Petra, " Petra, have you gotten any news about your daughter yet? I've been asking around in Salt City but..."
Petra, who had been smiling, suddenly revealed a pained expression. She dropped her head and said," I've been looking for her, but I've not received any news so far. It’s been so many years-it’s really tough!"
"Your efforts will pay off one day. As long as you don’t give up, I'm sure you'll find her." Mr. Zach patted her shoulder, comforting her.
Petra’s voice was slightly choked up. She looked at me and said, "If she was still alive, she would probably be around the same age as Wanda now."
"Now that you've mentioned it, Mrs. Grant’s features d o bear a slight resemblance to yours when you were younger, Petra. Now I know why you accepted her as your goddaughter-it was fated!" said another middle-aged man, looking at me. 2
The rest nodded in agreement. All of a sudden, everyone's eyes were on me.
I was a little unsure of what to do. I could only keep quiet and eat, my head bowed in embarrassment.
Fortunately, everyone soon moved on to chat about other things. The crowd's attention shifted away from me.
As I was eating, I felt some discomfort in my stomach, so I got up to walk to the bathroom. I propped myself u p with the sink and dry-heaved for a long while before I finally felt much better.
The moment I looked up, a glass of water appeared in front of me. "Rinse your mouth. It’ll help you feel better." 1
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