Chapter 126

Vera was making a gamble. She was betting that with both the Smiths and the Blakes working together, standing here in front of all the cameras, Julian wouldn't just leave her hanging. After all, the 30th anniversary of Apexera wasn't some small occasion. They had intertwined business interests, and Julian was a businessman, through and through. Her move shifted the mood in the room—things got tense real fast. Upper-class circles had no secrets, and it was pretty much common knowledge that Miss Smith had been into Julian since they were kids. What caught people off-guard was that, instead of marrying her—the obvious choice—Julian suddenly brought home an ordinary woman. Now, everyone held their breath and subtly stepped aside, waiting to see what the young, successful Julian would do. "Julian, how could you leave Vera standing there all alone by the stairs like that?" Charles's words made his stance pretty clear. "Wait for me downstairs, okay? Don't run off. I'll go say a few words and