Chương 24: The Banquet

The Banquet that Adrian had mentioned had finally arrived. Avians got ready to go there with the help of Elena who dressed her up. Meanwhile, Adrian was waiting by the front door, waiting for his wife to come down from the second floor and meet him.

Not long after, Elena came down the stairs to her brother.

"Where's Avi?" asked Adrian.

"Avians will be down in a minute, she's just getting ready," Elena replied and glanced at the stairs. "Oh there she is."

Adrian looked towards the stairs and found Avians coming down the stairs. She was dressed in an elegant and shiny purple dress, with her calves slightly exposed due to the openness of the dress at the bottom, and her back as well. Her long hair was up in a bun and adorned with a beautiful hairpin.

Adrian's eyes could not escape his wife's elegance. As Avians slowly descended the stairs, she was immediately greeted by Adrian's helping hand who helped her down the stairs and pulled her close.

"You look very beautiful, Avi," he said.

"Really? Does the dress suit me?"

"Far more than it fits, you're perfect," Adrian replied placing his hand on Avians visible back. He could feel her smooth back.

Seeing her brother and sister-in-law making out together, Elena snapped her fingers, telling them it was time to go to the banquet or they would be late.

They finally left in their respective cars. Adrian was with the Avians, while Elena was in her own car.

Off they went to the banquet which was quite far away, in a large and luxurious building in the city. When they arrived, there were many journalists taking pictures of them.

Elena got off first and gave a small wave to the cameras before walking inside. When it was Adrian's turn, he came out first before opening the door for his wife. He placed his hand on the top of the car door to prevent her from hitting the door.

As the Avians came out of the car, more and more reporters took pictures and filmed them. Given that she was the Cinderella who married a rich and famous billionaire, Adrian Foster.

Once outside, Avians was surprised by the crowd. 'Why is it so crowded? I didn't expect to be greeted with such a crowd all of a sudden,' she thought.

"Avi," Adrian called, extending his arm to Avians.

Avians accepted her husband's hand, she wrapped her arms around him and smiled because she knew they would include the photo in their news. She didn't want to look bad, so she forced herself to smile as she followed Adrian who led her into the party.

Inside the building, many people had already arrived. They were provided with tables and chairs to sit in the center of the large room. On the left and right sides, many people came and chatted with each other. Avians could see how rich and famous they were from how they were dressed and groomed.

'I feel like I don't belong among them,' she thought.

"Do you want to sit down right away, or should we go around first, hmn?" asked Adrian.

"Umn... I'll just go with your decision. I'm fine with you walking around and... chat with the guests here," replied Avians.

Hearing that, Adrian nodded. They wandered around for a while meeting other company leaders. Adrian tried to make a good impression on them. Avians thought, maybe it was for his business too. So he just listened to their conversation until they turned to him.

"You look very beautiful, Mrs. Foster," said the invited guests who had chatted with Adrian. They said the same to the Avians.

She just nodded and smiled, thanking them for the compliments.

Adrian was happy to see that Avians could communicate a little with the other guests. She also looked quite confident after receiving such compliments on her performance tonight.

'Good, she looks better than she did when she arrived here,' he thought.

Even so, Adrian was also aware of the stares from other guests who kept looking at his wife. Especially those who saw her from behind, where Avians' back was clearly visible.

Adrian's arm was wrapped around her waist, as if he was blocking people's view of her back. His eyes occasionally glanced at those who continued to stare at Avians.

The banquet was about to begin, the invited guests began to occupy their respective seats according to the names that were already on the table. Adrian, Avians and Elena got the same table as one of the other men who introduced himself as Noah.

"Oh? You're the son of the toy company, right? I've heard of you," Elena said.

"Yes, my father runs the Time Toys company. I replaced him temporarily because he was sick," Noah replied.

"Time Toys? Oh... That company. I loved seeing the toys you guys produced as a kid," Avians said in awe.

"Really? Thank you. We're glad you like them. By the way, your name must be Avians, right?"

She nodded, and Noah invited Avians to shake hands. The woman accepted Noah's hand and they chatted about the toy Avians had mentioned.

To be honest, she had never bought or played with it. But she had seen the commercials on television and her friends playing with them in front of her.

Her parents had bought one of the toys that Avians liked, but they gave it to Zoey instead.

Their conversation was quite good because Noah seemed to be able to bring a relaxed atmosphere and looked into Avians' eyes when he spoke. It was a nice, warm look.

Plus by talking about something Avians liked, she felt quite comfortable.

"Yeah, I like Puff Bear, he makes funny noises," she said.

"Oh that one, I really like it too. It's my favorite toy until now," said Noah.

Soon, the event began. The host or leader of the company holding the party began to speak to his invited guests.

He gave his speech and then he mentioned Adrian's name which made all the guests look at him. Avians sitting nearby were indirectly in the spotlight as well.

"Thank you to Mr. Adrian Foster for supporting our company so far. A round of applause for Mr. Adrian and his wife!"

The guests gave their applause to Adrian and Avians. Both nodded and smiled at the applause.

Although it was only applause, their gazes as they looked at Adrian and her made Avians feel nervous even though they only looked at her for a moment.

Her mind was constantly filled with negative thoughts.

Did she look good or not?

Or did she look weird when they saw her?

Did they see her feeling nervous earlier?

At that moment, Avians reached for the glass of drink on the table and took a sip. Adrian who saw that tried to hold Avians' arm. Reflexively, the woman turned to Adrian.

"Ian?"