Chapter 358: Chapter 358
Richard drummed his fingers on the steering wheel thoughtfully for a moment before responding.
"You know what, that might actually be exactly it," he said, nodding slowly as the idea took shape. "Maybe that’s her entire plan - she’s going to go and literally purchase an invitation from someone on the guest list who is willing to sell theirs or swap it with her. It’s not unheard of. People do it all the time with exclusive events. That could genuinely be what she’s counting on."
At that moment, something shifted in Penelope’s expression, and slowly, a smile began to spread across her face - not a warm smile, but the kind of cold, satisfied smile that came from someone who had just realized that the person they considered a threat was actually walking straight into a wall they couldn’t see yet.
"Well," Penelope said, her voice dropping into that silky, dangerous register that Richard knew meant she was feeling completely in control again, "if that is truly what she is planning to do, then she is even more foolish than I originally gave her credit for. Extremely foolish, actually."
She let out a soft laugh that contained absolutely no warmth whatsoever.
"Because what Cora clearly doesn’t know - what she has absolutely no idea about - is that every single invitation card that was sent out for this wedding has a unique scanned signature embedded directly into it. Each card is individually coded to match the specific person it was issued to." Penelope’s smile widened with the pleasure of someone revealing a checkmate. "So when guests arrive at the entrance, every single invitation is going to be scanned and cross-referenced against the signature of the person it was originally issued to. And if that signature doesn’t match the person presenting it at the door, they are not getting in. Period. They will be turned away at the entrance without a second thought, without any negotiation, without any exceptions."
She settled back into the plush leather seat with the serene confidence of someone who had just confirmed that all her bases were covered.
"So if buying or swapping someone else’s invitation is genuinely what Cora is planning to do, then I have been sitting here troubling myself and worrying myself completely for nothing this entire evening." She smoothed her dress with one hand and gazed out the window with a look of supreme satisfaction. "Because it is simply not going to work. It is never going to happen the way she thinks it will, and at the end of all of this, I will definitely have the last laugh."
At that moment, Richard had opened his mouth and was just about to respond to something Penelope had said when his phone suddenly cut through the comfortable silence of the Rolls-Royce with its distinctive ringtone, the vibration buzzing against the center console where he had placed it earlier in the evening.
Richard reached over and picked it up, glancing at the screen for just a fraction of a second before his expression shifted with recognition.
"It’s my father calling," he announced, holding the phone up briefly so Penelope could see the name illuminated on the screen.
Penelope’s eyebrows lifted slightly and then she smiled - a genuine smile this time, warm and knowing, very different from the cold calculated one she had been wearing moments ago.
"Well, they must be back in the country now for them to be calling at this hour," she said simply, waving her hand in an encouraging gesture. "Go on then, answer it. Pick it up."
Richard nodded and accepted the call, bringing the phone to his ear.
"Father," he said warmly, a smile already forming on his face at the sound of the ringtone cutting off. "I’m very sure that you are back in the country now. Like, I can feel it - I’m absolutely certain that’s where you’re calling from."
There was a brief moment of animated response from the other end of the line, and then Richard’s father’s voice came through clearly, carrying with it an energy and excitement that was immediately palpable even to Penelope sitting on the other side of the car, who could hear the faint enthusiasm radiating through the phone’s speaker despite not being able to make out the exact words.
"Yes, yes, I am literally back in the country now," his father confirmed, his voice brimming with barely contained excitement. "But that’s not even the main reason why I’m calling you at this hour, son. The reason I’m calling is because of something that has just happened that I simply could not wait until morning to tell you about. This is about the most important guest of honor who is going to be gracing your wedding with their presence."
Richard’s brow furrowed slightly with curious attention.
"What about them?" he asked carefully.
"He has just accepted my invitation!" his father practically burst out, and even through the phone speaker the joy in the older man’s voice was unmistakable and infectious. "He has finally, finally accepted! Son, you have to understand - I sent that invitation to this man a very long time ago. I have been waiting on his response since the very first day those invitation cards came out."
His father’s voice took on a tone of deep significance as he continued.
"And I want you to understand something - I didn’t just casually mail that invitation card to him like I did with the others. No. I personally, with my own two hands, went there myself to deliver that invitation card directly because I understood from the very beginning exactly how important it was to have this particular man at your wedding. I knew that this wasn’t the kind of invitation you could trust to anyone else or send through any ordinary channel. So I went there personally to deliver it before your mother and I traveled out of the country."
Richard was listening intently now, his hand tightening slightly on the steering wheel.
"And since then," his father went on, the excitement in his voice building with every sentence, "I heard absolutely nothing back from him. Not a single word, not an acknowledgment, nothing. I had honestly begun to wonder whether he was going to respond at all, whether he was even going to consider it. You know how these great men are - they receive countless invitations every single day from people all over the world, and most of them never get a response."
