The dinner party was being held at the Regalia, the most prestigious hotel in Bright ford. The entire building had been lit to its full glory and resembled a crystal palace.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A long line had already formed at the reception, with ushers respectfully addressing each guest and checking their invitations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The dinner was held by the Bright ford Business Association and gathered bigwigs in finance, technology, real estate, and other industries. It was a lively scene where connections were made and information was exchanged.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The car door swung open, and Sienna instinctively made to part ways with Clayton. However, a firm tug on her wrist had her halting in her steps.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHold my arm,\u201d Clayton ordered in a hushed voice, offering her the crook of his arm to make a point.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After assessing the crowd around them, Sienna reluctantly gripped his arm. She mused inwardly at Clayton\u2019s top\u2013notch performance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She quickly realized something was amiss. In the past, they would either part ways the moment they arrived at a dinner party, or Clayton would walk ahead of her while she tailed him like a lackey.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Why would he bother with putting on an act now? She wondered idly if it was Melody\u2019s idea.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His various acts of chivalry flashed across Sienna\u2019s mind\u2013opening the car door, making tonics, picking out evening dresses, watching Melody\u2019s stage play, visiting Melody on set, buying her an air purifier shortly after that\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sienna\u2019s chest constricted at the thought. She had the distinct, ridiculous sense that her husband had been transformed into the \u201cideal man\u201d by another woman.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She supposed she should be grateful that Melody had to miss the dinner party because of her shoot. If not, Sienna would have been in for a long night of irony.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. and Mrs. Hale, welcome,\u201d the usher greeted them with a respectful nod.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sienna and Clayton entered the hall. It might as well have been daytime in the hall, for the crystal chandelier lit the entire hall brightly. Attendants carrying trays of champagne weaved through the guests while the business elites exchanged pleasantries.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rupert and Irene were already seated at the table reserved for guests of honor. As one of the event organizers, it came as no surprise that the Hales were given the most conspicuous table in the room.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rupert appeared to be in good spirits that evening. He was making animated conversation with a few old friends.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sienna and Clayton arrived at the table, still side by side.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHi, Mom. Hi, Grandpa,\u201d Sienna greeted her elders warmly. Her gaze swept across the room. \u201cWhere\u2019s Dad?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Irene elegantly sipped tea from her cup. \u201cHe\u2019s gone to Orisand for business. He\u2019s a workaholic\u2013there\u2019s no stopping him once he gets his hands on work.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s not talk about him!\u201d Rupert grinned at Sienna as he appraised her. \u201cYou look very nice this evening, Enna. That dress becomes you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sienna blinked. \u201cDid I look bad before?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou looked nice before, but you look especially nice tonight. You look like you\u2019ve walked right out of a movie poster!\u201d Rupert gripped his cane and gestured at Sienna, then turned to glare at Clayton. \u201cYou lucked out, you punk. You should be grateful your wife is this stunning.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cRetirement has warped your taste, Grandpa.\u201d Clayton smirked, picking up Sienna\u2019s slender wrist and pinching it. \u201cShe\u2019s as\u00a0<\/p>\n
X CLOSE\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 75\u00a0<\/p>\n
skinny as a stringbean. I don\u2019t know if I lucked out with her, but I doubt she\u2019s something to be grateful for.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sienna pulled her hand away from Clayton. She was itching to backhand him across the face.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cStop running your mouth, you damn punk!\u201d Rupert struck the floor with his cane. \u201cSeems like you\u2019ve got a proclivity for loose women! I\u2019ll remind you that you\u2019ve embarrassed yourself enough at the Turners\u2018 party the other day.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I bet Enna\u2019s only so skinny because you\u2019ve been starving her! How dare you complain about her when you clearly haven\u2019t seen a mirror in a while?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Irene swooped in with impeccable timing and asked Sienna, \u201cBy the way, why didn\u2019t you send me a video of you taking the herbal supplement last night? Did you miss the dosage?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sienna recalled the events from last night. The memory of Clayton feeding her the supplement flickered across her mind. Somewhat embarrassed, she said, \u201cI did take the supplement\u2026 I forgot to record it the first time, but I already sent you the video from this morning.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou didn\u2019t pour it away, did you?\u201d Irene pressed dubiously.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sienna subtly nudged Clayton with her elbow. \u201cNo, Clayton saw me drink the supplement. Didn\u2019t you, Clayton?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
A playful smirk tugged on Clayton\u2019s lips. \u201cYes. I even fed her myself.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat? What do you mean?\u201d Irene probed, looking keen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The tips of Sienna\u2019s ears grew hot. She quickly explained, \u201cWhat he meant was, the supplement was too hot to drink right away, so he cooled it down for me by blowing on it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 76\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 76\u00a0<\/p>\n
She got the divorce and bolted 75 The dinner party was being held at the Regalia, the most prestigious hotel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-she-got-the-divorce-and-bolted-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20149"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20149\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}