Chapter 168


    Chapter 168


    Lily had initially thought that not many people woulde. But as she looked around, she found that everyone had shown up.


    She didn’t invite Bobby and Poppy. This kind of event wasn’t suitable for them. They might draw unwanted attention with so many people around


    Ian snapped out of his astonishment. Nodding with understanding, he said, “Lily, you go ahead. We’ll take care of ourselves <b>”</b>


    Lily didn’t say anything further. She headed to the cen


    center of the banquet hall alongside Loid and Mnie.


    Many prominent figures attended the Lauriers banquet. As the head of the Woodley family, one of the Four Great Families of Bridgeport, Joseph had received their invitation early on. <b>He </b><b>arrived </b>at the venue fairly early


    He usually avoided such events unless absolutely necessary, so his presence was a rare urrence. However, he had to be present on this <b>asion</b>. He couldn’t refuse the Laurier family’s invitation. More importantly, it was because Lily would be there. Thus, he needed to be there to show support for her.N?velDrama.Org: text ? owner.


    Maxwell was the top official of Lagersfield Of course, he was present too, with Beatrice in tow. Both he and Joseph saw Lily from afar but didn’t approach her. Tonight was her night, so they thought they should refrain from stealing her spotlight.


    Mnie started to speak into the microphone. “Thank you all for attending our banquet. I would like to introduce my daughter<b>–</b>inw to you. Everyone, this is Lily Brooks.” Lily nodded at everyone quite indifferently.


    Knowing her personality, Mnie smiled and said, “She’s feeling shy, so please don’t mind her. I won’t keep dragging on with unnecessary words. Let’s start <b>the </b>banquet. Enjoy yourselves<b>, </b>everyone!”


    Mnie had initially nned to introduce Lily to some business elites. But knowing Lily’s aversion to such interactions<b>, </b>she didn’t force her.


    Lily grabbed a bottle of wine and headed straight for her ss 18 ssmates.


    <b>Most </b>attendees had done some background research on Lily. To them, she was a country bumplin <b>with </b>no family backing who got lucky.


    Though the Laurier family’s act of publicly acknowledging Lily as their daughter–inw surprised many, none of them saw her as someone Important or useful to them. They were here towork with those who could benefit them, so they focused on toasting Loid and his family and paid no attention to Lily.


    Upon noticing this, Joseph and Maxwell were visibly displeased. They were well aware of the snobbish nature of the elites of Bridgeport. They were neglecting Uly because they believed she wasn’t beneficial to them.


    Infuriated by their cold treatment toward Lily, Joseph picked up a ss of wine to approach her, only to sex


    see Maxwell heading in the same direction at the same time. They exchanged a nce and paused when they noticed Shannon approaching Lily.


    Lily was chatting casually with Anya andn when Shannon approached them. She gave Shannon a perfunctory nce before looking away.


    Shannon was dressed in a light yellow dress with her hair pinned back. <b>She </b>looked every bit the sensual beauty.


    She raised her ss with a smile, “Congrattions on finally being recognized by the Laurier family.”


    Before <b>Lily </b><b>could </b>respond,n cut Shannon off, “What do you mean by “finally? The Laurier family <b>has </b>always recognized Lily. Stop vying for attention!”


    Shannon ignored Ian and continued to talk to Lily, “I think <b>there </b>were some misunderstandings between us. I believe there’s no need for sisters <b>to </b>keep holding grudges. I hope you can forgive me for any wrongs I’vemitted in the past.”