Chapter 286 The banquet 4
Leonardo remained quiet throughout the banquet and observed everyone.
Julie and Jessi had planned to force Mariana and Liam to get married. Then James would be unoccupied, and they would get their chance.
Their initial target was Jonathan, but after several attempts, they had to concede defeat.
Jonathan had a track record of being uninterested in women. Moreover, he had made his affection for his wife plain for everyone to see.
His wife was a big shot and no pushover. Getting Jonathan was a gargantuan task. As much as Jessi loathed to move on from her crush, she had no choice.
Liliana had outsmarted her in every conversation and every attempt to sow discord between them. She had a higher status than Jonathan. Even if she could seduce Jonathan, a clever man like him would never let go of such an affluent wife.
In the custody battle, Liliana would get full custody of their children. They were both affluent, and she had raised them.
Jessi was smart enough to know Jonathan would never leave Liliana, even if their relationship fizzled out.
It would mean leaving behind so much wealth and power and his children.
James, on the other hand, was a known dandy. His relationship with Mariana and love triangle with Liam were not a secret.This is the property of Nô-velDrama.Org.
They had thought being with James would be easy.
They had dared to go to the Millers with a proposal. While the Millers weren’t interested in marriage between James and Jessi, Mrs. Miller had nonetheless collaborated with them to force Liam and Mariana.
But that did not go as expected either.
It turned out that Liam and Mariana were already married. So, their intervention wasn’t needed at all.
Moreover, James cut off his relationship with his family.
In their previous argument, James made his disdain clear.
They had to find a Plan C for climbing up the social ladder.
Seeing Leonardo look like a lost puppy gave them a new idea.
The J sisters shared a look and parted.
Jessi took a glass of wine and approached Leonardo to start a conversation.
Jessi started, “Mr. Petrova, how are you doing?”
Leonardo replied politely, “I am doing well. Miss?”
Jessi replied by giving him his hand, hoping he would kiss her knuckles gentlemanly.
“Miss Jessi! Please call me Jess.”
Leonardo, however, shook her hand formally.
“It’s nice to meet you, Miss Jessi.”
He replied formally and used her full name to show their lack of familiarity.
Jessi wasn’t disheartened. She shrugged and continued as if she did not see what he was doing.
She faltered, “May I confess what an absolute honor it is to meet you here!”
Leonardo chuckled, “Why, Thank you, Miss.”
Jessi tried to delve more into his life.
“Where have you been all these years, Mr. Petrova? If you don’t mind me asking.”
He answered, “I have been around.”
She did not take the hint and continued, “Are you back to P City for good?”
He shrugged, “Who knows!”
She was getting irritated by his flippant nature and asked, “By the way, is there an office for L&L enterprise in P City? I have yet to see one.”
He nodded, “Yeah! You will get to know when the time comes. We haven’t disclosed it yet.”
She asked, “Can you tell me, please?”
He finally looked straight into her eye and asked, “Why should I?”
She was stunned at the change in his demeanor and the offensive question.
She tried to muddle through, “Well, since we are somewhat related already, I was only asking if you don’t mind. Please ignore it if you do.”
He shrugged, “No, I don’t mind. I just don’t wanna tell.”
She was even more stunned. Leonardo was blatantly insulting her.
Before she could reply, Leonardo murmured, ‘Excuse me!’ and left.
He went straight to Mariana and hugged her before carrying her in his arms and spinning her around.
Mariana screamed and shouted at him to put her down, but he only laughed.
He kissed her on the cheeks before saying, “I was waiting for my turn, Mer Bear.”
She laughed and hugged him, “You little brat! You are making me angry again.”
He shrugged, “You love me too much to be seriously angry with me, dear sister.”
They chuckled and joked as he presented her with a gift.
He passed her a set of keys and said, “This is from all of us – Sister and brother-in-law, James, Jacob, Henry, and me. I hope you will live there with Kyle from now on. It’s close to the Petrova Mansion, and the kids can grow up together.”
He turned to Madam Preston and said, “Madam Preston, it’s an honor to meet you! I hope you don’t mind our interference. My sister and we all hope that Mer and Kyle can stay close to us. Liam is always away, and Kyle grew up with my nephew and niece. Besides, Mer is still learning the ropes in the business. It would be good to stay in a close company so we can all look after each other, as we have done until now.”
Liam had already discussed it with his grandmother, so she replied genially.
“That’s wonderful! I was worried she would get too lonely with an old lady like me. I am glad you all thought things through and made such a decision.”
Mariana added, “Grandma, we hope you will stay with us. I don’t mean to uproot you from Preston Mansion, but do spend some time with us and guide us.”
She agreed, and they all continued having fun at the party.
The Prestons were speechless. They had pushed for this marriage to build more roads between them and Petrova-Smiths.
But they had cut off all access.
They wanted to object, but Madam Preston had already warned them against it. They did not want to get kicked out of the family.
Finally, the banquet ended without accidents, and everyone left for their homes.