ebookslot Chapter 530 - 502: Returning to Her Family (Part 2) (Third Update)
Chapter 530 - 502: Returning to Her Family (Part 2) (Third Update)
Instinctively, Gage Grant walked over to Maeve and stood beside her, almost touching.He still smiled, "Singing and smoking at the same time, aren’t you afraid of ruining your voice?"
Maeve placed the cigarette butt into her mouth, took a deep drag, and slowly exhaled white smoke.
Amidst the swirling smoke, she smiled faintly, "I don’t rely on my voice for a living."
Gage was about to ask her "then what do you rely on for a living," but before the words left his mouth, the sliding door behind them moved.
Tobias Blackwood stood inside the doorway, frowning at him from a distance of several meters, "Come in and help."
Gage sucked in his cheeks, flashed what he thought was a charming smile at Maeve, and followed Tobias inside.
As soon as he stepped into the living room, Gage leaned over to Tobias’s ear and laughed, "The girl just now was pretty special, huh."
Tobias turned his head to glance at him, didn’t respond for a moment, then after several seconds, quietly warned, "That’s the bride’s best friend. You better not mess with her."
Upon hearing this, Gage felt both aggrieved and angry, retorting, "Why? Don’t you want me to find a girl and settle down? Do you want me to become a single old dog when I’m old?!"
Simon Forrester showed a look of disdain, like "I believe you want to settle down only if pigs fly," and strode towards the dining room.
The bride and groom were serving tea to the bride’s parents.
Melinda Linton was wearing a vermilion cheongsam with apricot embroidery today, paired with a bright red cardigan, light makeup, and her hair styled up, looking gentle and elegant.
She smiled with her eyes crescent-shaped and occasionally turned her face to whisper a few words to Quentin Thorne. They seemed to have a great rapport, chatting continuously.
Looking at Quentin Thorne’s relaxed and cheerful demeanor, Gage shook his head and walked toward the other two groomsmen.
At this moment, Simon served tea to the bride’s elders, and the whole family cheerfully took photos.
After taking a few pictures, Sienna Thornton asked Aurora Buckley to invite Maeve in from the balcony to join the group photo with the newlyweds.
Due to the large number of people, they arranged into two rows.
Seeing Maeve entering and standing in the back corner, Gage stealthily moved to her side, just as the photographer pressed the shutter.
Everything was perfectly timed. Gage felt smug and was just about to chat with Maeve a bit more when Sienna Thornton came over, intimately took Maeve by the arm, and led her into the room. Then, the three bridesmaids also went in, closing the door behind them.
Gage withdrew his gaze, feeling deflated, and was about to join the men for some fun when Simon came over, nodded towards the balcony, "Wanna chat outside?"
With that, he proceeded to the balcony.
Gage followed and offered him a cigarette, but was declined, so he lit one himself.
Simon watched him for a while, then asked, "Don’t mess with my wife’s friend."
Gage, "?"
Simon repeated seriously, "The one who was smoking out here earlier, don’t mess with her!"
Gage lit his own cigarette, raised an eyebrow and chuckled, "Alright!"
He was direct.
Simon looked at him skeptically, doubting he’d be this easy to handle.
He took a deep drag from his cigarette, exhaled a cloud of smoke, chuckled softly, but said nothing.
Since Simon and Tobias both warned him not to mess around, if he did, wouldn’t these two harass him to death?
There were plenty of women around; tackling challenges wasn’t Gage’s style.
He always backed off when things got tough.
.
The girls shut the door and began chatting without restraint.
Although Sienna Thornton and Maeve hadn’t seen each other for half a year, and often video-chatted, nothing beats the joy of face-to-face interaction.
Sienna held Maeve’s hand to sit on the bed, just like old times, lying down to talk about everything under the sun.
Compared to Sienna’s flourishing career, Maeve seemed to have hit a bottleneck over the past two years. Despite releasing albums annually and actively participating in various music festivals, tours, and commercial performances, she just couldn’t make it big, always remaining lukewarm.
Aurora Buckley, who once fought lawsuits for celebrities, candidly said, "Nowadays, for a star to become super popular, it not only takes talent but also the right team and investors."
She spoke rather vaguely, referring to sponsors as investors. Everyone understood. Sienna Thornton added, "Maeve doesn’t want to be like others; she just wants to make music seriously and sing well."
Aurora nodded, thought for a moment, and suggested, "Doesn’t The Forresters have hotels and department stores? Maybe you could negotiate with some brands in the malls to get Maeve a few endorsements. If successful, her national profile would instantly rise."
"Makes sense!" Sienna hugged Maeve playfully, jokingly saying, "Let me be your sponsor then!"
Everyone burst into laughter.
They stayed in the room chatting for quite a while. At around one o’clock, Quentin Thorne came over to invite them to eat.
The passage between the dining room and living room had been extended with a large round table. Adding the original dining table, it could now accommodate twenty people.
Today’s ingredients and chefs were all called over by Simon from the old Forrester Family residence.
The newlyweds, the bride’s family, three bridesmaids, and Maeve sat at the dining room table, while the groomsmen and other men sat at the outer table.
Gage was already seated, seeing an empty seat at the dining room table and feeling slightly eager to join the girls for some fun.
Just then, the cameraman had no place to sit, so Gage gallantly offered up his seat, shamelessly moving to the dining room table.
Simon was busy toasting the father-in-law and after finishing there, went off to toast his friends at the men’s table.
Gage leisurely enjoyed the gourmet feast, occasionally chatting and laughing with the three bridesmaids next to him, at other times rising to toast with Quentin Thorne.
Quentin Thorne thought Gage had specifically come over to monitor him on behalf of The Grant Family, but after observing for a while and seeing him focused only on eating and joking with the bridesmaids, he ignored him.
Quentin continued to look after Melinda Linton meticulously, helping her deal with unfamiliar seafood shells and teaching her what sauce to dip sashimi in or how to taste red wine.
Melinda seemed like a diligent student, continuously asking questions, and Quentin happily helped her unravel mysteries, as if they had endless things to talk about.
The two sat next to each other, appearing to maintain a certain distance, their interaction slightly more intimate than between friends, but somehow, Gage always felt that the atmosphere between these two was more like a married couple than between Quentin and Ian Grant.
Although not fond of Ian Grant, she was still his aunt, and not wanting his cousin Mina Thorne to end up in a single-parent family, Gage considered having a serious conversation with Quentin Thorne after today’s feast.
Due to Quentin’s close relationship with Melinda Linton, Gage seemed a bit preoccupied during the meal. Originally intending to join the girls for some fun and joy, he ended up emotionally burdened instead.