Janice listened carefully to her older sister's story. After Jenny finished, the little sister laughed and shook her head.
"That's very interesting news, Sism" she said. "This kind of thing rarely happens in our life. The chances are too small,"
But after saying that, Janice couldn't help herself and glanced at Lilia. An idea suddenly crossed her mind, but Janice hastily rejected it. She couldn't believe that something like that could happen to her.
Jenny, who was sitting beside Janice, turned to look at her sister. She followed Janice's gaze and immediately added in a covert tone, "Sometimes, the less likely it happens, the more likely it will be to us,"
"Jenny must be kidding." Janice said with a chuckle. "What do you think, Lilia and Jean?" She turned her head towards the young couple.
Jean glanced at Lilia and saw that her wife was gripping her teacup tighter. He opened his mouth to change the subject, but there was a knock on the door.
A maid entered the room and said, "Mrs. Janice, you are asked to go to the back hall with Mrs. Jenny, Miss Lilia, and Young Master Jean,"
"Now?" Janice didn't know what had happened, and her expression looked surprised.
Seeing the maid nod, Janice became even more suspicious. The back hall could be more accurately described as a conference room located behind the main house. The room was rarely used except for large gatherings in the Irwan family.
Beside the back hall was a special room where they placed portraits of their ancestors and family members who had died. Over the years, outsiders were never allowed to set foot in the back hall. Then why were they gathering there tonight?
Janice racked her brains, but she couldn't understand what Richard meant. She nodded at the servant, then turned her head towards the other three. "Then why don't we go there together?"
Jenny stood up gracefully and said in a warm voice, "Let's go, it just so happens that I haven't visited and prayed for my ancestors. Lilia, Jean, let's go there together,"
*****
At half past eight, Lilia and the others arrived at the back hall of the Irwan Family's main house. A servant who was standing in front of the back hall door immediately straightened his body when he saw them coming. The servant opened the double wooden door respectfully.
The back hall was a rectangular room containing only a long conference table. A chair with beautiful carvings rested at the head of the table, while another chair with simpler carvings was at the other end of the table. On each side of the table, eight chairs were placed in a row.
Lilia entered the hall together with Jean. She looked around and saw Richard sitting at the head of the table. Hardy, the butler, stood beside him.
Robert and Sylvia sat on the left side of the other end of the table. They looked very uncomfortable, as if they were sitting on pins and needles.
"Richard? What's wrong?" Janice asked confused.
She and Jenny walked into the room first. Just like Lilia, Janice immediately looked around the room as soon as she crossed the doorway.
Before Richard could answer, Janice's gaze fell on Robert. Even though they didn't know each other, she still nodded her head gracefully. Then her eyes fell on Sylvia who was staring at her. For an instant, Janice's expression froze.
Richard looked at his wife's stunned face, then quietly sighed. The man said, "Janice, have a seat. Daddy will be here in a moment. After we all gather, I'll explain what happened,"
At this meeting, Janice and Jenny sat on the right side of the table, while Lilia and Jean sat across from them. To be precise, Lilia was sitting beside Sylvia. The woman who claimed to be her mother looked at Lilia with a mixture of shock and hatred.
In this strange atmosphere, Lilia turned her head and looked at her parents. "Father, Mother, I told you that I'll see you again later. Now, what do you want to tell me?"
Hearing that, Janice looked at Lilia even more in surprise.
Sylvia snorted and didn't say a word, while Robert only nodded slightly. But both of them avoided answering Lilia's question.
It could be seen that the two of them looked very displeased. Even though they had reunited with their daughter, Robert and Sylvia still couldn't help but stare at her with such hatred.
However, Lilia just shrugged and didn't care about their anger. If this happened before Lilia met Jean, she wouldn't have been so cool. Lilia would definitely do everything for her parents to forgive her. However, thanks to Jean by her side, Lilia realized that she didn't need recognition from those who didn't love her.
Meanwhile, a servant came with a pot of tea and several cups of tea on a tray. Jenny took the teapot and opened the porcelain lid to pour out the tea.
Suddenly, Jenny looked at Robert and Sylvia. "I didn't expect to meet Lilia's parents here. I feel lucky enough to meet you. If Lilia didn't say anything just now, I would definitely have mistaken you. After all Madam Sylvia and Leila share a similar face," Jenny said in a light voice.
"Sis Jenny!" Richard spoke up quickly. He frowned and his gaze at Jenny revealed his disapproval.
Jenny's words felt like thorns in Richard's heart. He didn't want to admit it, but he couldn't deny the truth either. Sylvia and Leila did look alike… almost like mother and daughter.
*****
After about five minutes, there was the sound of footsteps outside the back hall. The voice was accompanied by several bursts of energetic laughter. The double wooden doors swung open, revealing Grandpa Simon and Grandpa Anton. Next to them was Leila, who had played tricks to make them laugh.
Behind the three of them were Randell Irwan and his wife. The man was the third son of Simon and the younger brother of Jenny and Richard. Randell had just returned from driving the guests home.
Simon corrected his glasses and asked out loud, "Richard, why did you call all of us here? What happened?"
Anton walked through the doorway and teased the head of the Irwan family. "Try not to keep this discussion too long, okay. I haven't competed with Simon tonight,"
Leila's face, which was following behind them, looked a little drunk. That's why she walked in with an innocent smile. However, as soon as she saw Sylvia, all her drunkenness vanished. Leila stood dumbfounded and her smile faded. She even forgot to react.
Why were they here? After Richard asked them to toast, weren't they supposed to be gone?
At this time, when Sylvia saw Leila, she felt touched and wanted to talk to her so much. But before Sylvia could move, Robert suddenly grabbed her hand.
Sylvia furrowed her brows and turned towards her husband. She saw Robert shaking his head slightly, his eyes filled with warning. Only then did Sylvia remember her own position. Because of tonight's thrilling incident, Sylvia didn't dare to cause trouble.. So she could only hold back the desire to talk to her daughter.
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