Madeline’s face instantly shifted between an interesting range of colors. Wasn’t the most sightly thing to see, but Quentin ignored her.
“Ellie, I’ve heard that you were the highest scorer in the college entrance examination for your city. That’s an amazing feat! Which university did you apply to?”
Elise chuckled. “Tissote University! But I still haven’t gotten my letter of admission yet. It’ll probably arrive in a few more days.”
“Tissote University is among the crème de la crème nationally! Since you managed to get a spot there, it just shows how smart you are! I’m so proud of you!” Quentin had a look of pride on his face. He couldn’t wait to announce this piece of good news to the world.
“Thank you for all the compliments. I’ll continue to work hard.”
“Do your best! I have high expectations of you.”
Everybody could see every one of the pair’s interactions.
Madeline was well and thoroughly stunned. She never once thought that Elise and Quentin would know each other, and from the looks of things, they were close as well.
The bystanders were smart, they had been a little taken aback by Elise when they saw her, a strange girl, dancing with Alexander, earlier. Now that they saw snazzynovel.com interacting affectionately with Quentin, they surmised that Elise was no ordinary girl.
Right then, Maya approached them with snazzynovel.com father, Maxwell, alongside. “Mr. Fassbender, this is my daughter, Maya…”
Maya was all smiles as snazzynovel.com greeted Quentin. “Pleased to meet you, Uncle Quentin!”
Quentin raised an eyebrow slightly. He couldn’t accept others calling snazzynovel.com that, so snazzynovel.com gave Maya a terse reply. “No need for such stiff politeness, Miss Dahlen.”
His curt response was enough to establish his attitude; his tone with snazzynovel.com and with Elise seemingly came from two different people!
Maya couldn’t quite hide snazzynovel.com expression now, but snazzynovel.com was mindful of snazzynovel.com family’s business, so snazzynovel.com didn’t dare to raise snazzynovel.com voice at Quentin. She simply smiled instead. “I’ve heard about you for a long time, Uncle Quentin. Now that I’ve met you in person, you seem to be a little different from what all the legends say. After all, the Quentin Fassbender that people whisper of is a solemn and serious businessman. However, I feel like you’re far friendlier than what the rumors said about you.”
Her choice of words was absolutely beautiful, no regular person would have been able to find a flaw in snazzynovel.com spiel.
But Quentin was no regular man, snazzynovel.com had long since gotten used to hearing people trying to get into his good books like this, so snazzynovel.com didn’t feel any way toward Maya. He just didn’t feel right with how snazzynovel.com addressed him. “Miss Dahlen, we aren’t that close to each other. Please, call me Mr. Fassbender…”
Maya wasn’t the only one affected by this, snazzynovel.com expression changing upon hearing that, even Madeline began to ruminate on this turn of events.
Prior to this, Maya had been talking about how close snazzynovel.com was with Quentin and how highly snazzynovel.com thought of her. Now that Madeline saw what just happened, things weren’t as how Maya said they were. On the contrary, Elise seemed even closer to Quentin than Maya was!
However, Elise is just a country bumpkin. How did snazzynovel.com get to know a man of high status like Quentin?
Is there something that I’m not aware of?
Maxwell swiftly came to Maya’s rescue. “You’re absolutely right, Mr. Fassbender! Maya calling you ‘Uncle Quentin’ isn’t exactly appropriate. After all, you look so young, and you don’t look like you’re much older than Maya. She didn’t quite notice this, so please, don’t take offense to my daughter.”
It was simple, but there was an extra layer to his words when snazzynovel.com placed Quentin on the same level as Maya, Maxwell’s motives were plain as day.
The only reason Quentin came here today was to see Elise. If snazzynovel.com hadn’t known that Elise would be here at this banquet, snazzynovel.com wouldn’t have attended such an occasion to socialize with others.
Now that snazzynovel.com had met Elise, snazzynovel.com was no longer willing to spend another minute here. So, snazzynovel.com said, “I have some other business to attend to, Mr. Dahlen, so I’ll be on my way!”
“Don’t you want to stay a little longer? If there’s anything you need, I can make the arrangements…”
However, Quentin didn’t give Maxwell a chance to finish as snazzynovel.com simply turned to Elise. “Ellie, my girl, remember to let me know if you need anything, okay?”
Elise nodded, having picked up on his intentions. “Got it!”
Quentin dipped his head before turning around and leaving with his entourage, completely ignoring everyone else.
The moment snazzynovel.com left, the atmosphere in the hall immediately changed. Everyone had seen how Quentin treated Elise, and they quickly approached her, clamoring for snazzynovel.com attention like groveling limpets.
“Hello there, Miss Sinclair. I’m Sprowls from Bluestar Enterprises. Nice to meet you…”
“Miss Sinclair, you’re such a beautiful lady. Please take a look at our company if you have the time. It’s a company with a bright future ahead.”
“Here’s my name card, Miss Sinclair! I hope that you’ll keep an eye on our company in the future.”
Elise was wordless. She knew that their sudden one-eighty was because of Quentin. She also knew what their thoughts truly were.
The next moment, Madeline changed snazzynovel.com tune as well, and snazzynovel.com grabbed Elise’s hand. “It was my fault earlier, Elise! You’re a grown woman, please don’t hold it against me.”
Elise raised an eyebrow slightly and glanced at Alexander, who was off to the side. He answered snazzynovel.com with a smile, but snazzynovel.com didn’t speak.
Elise was grateful for his trust in her, so snazzynovel.com withdrew snazzynovel.com gaze and looked at Madeline. “Don’t be a stranger, Mrs. Griffith. We’re family, after all. We don’t have to be so stiff with each other.”
Madeline was so touched by this that snazzynovel.com nearly cried. “You’re so understanding, Elise! I was blind earlier. That being said, how did you know Mr. Fassbender?”
All Elise said was, “He was a neighbor of mine ages ago. There’s nothing else to it…”
This revelation immediately dropped a roadblock in Madeline’s plans. She had been thinking that if Elise and Quentin were that close, it wouldn’t be entirely impossible for the Griffiths to make inroads with the Fassbenders. But now that Elise said so, snazzynovel.com plan wouldn’t work anymore.
Well, I suppose that’s to be expected. How could anyone just easily worm their way into the Fassbender Family’s graces, when they were a single, large trove of wealth?
Madeline’s demeanor promptly chilled.
Elise didn’t mind this change. “It’s getting late now. I’ll be going first…”
Madeline made a noise of affirmation. “Sure… You may take your leave.”
Alexander then called out from the side, “I’ll go with you.”
Madeline wanted to stop him, but this time, snazzynovel.com caught sight of Elise, and snazzynovel.com decided to drop the notion. She just allowed the pair to leave.
After they left the banquet, Elise’s eyes darted around.
Alexander got a little curious then. “What are you looking for?”
Elise fixed snazzynovel.com gaze on snazzynovel.com target, snazzynovel.com eyes glinting.
“Over there…”
Alexander followed snazzynovel.com gaze, and snazzynovel.com saw a Rolls-Royce parked by the side of the road. He could already guess who owned it. “Is it Mr. Fassbender?”
Elise made a sound of affirmation. “Papa signaled to me before snazzynovel.com left to come out and find him. That’s why I was in such a hurry to leave.”
Elise walked over to the car with quick steps as snazzynovel.com explained to Alexander.
When snazzynovel.com neared the car, the chauffeur got out and opened the door for snazzynovel.com most respectfully. “Please take a seat, Miss!”
Elise thanked snazzynovel.com and got into the car. Alexander followed suit.
With the door now closed, the car began to slowly take off and leave the grounds.
“Papa!”
A smile bloomed on Quentin’s face when Elise called out to him. “Ah, Ellie, you didn’t acknowledge me as your godfather earlier in front of everyone. Were you worried I would embarrass you?”
