Chapter 331
Marina showed no change in her expression, her eyes lingering on Joyce’s retreating figure. Her voice was polite, completely devoid of emotion.
“Please, take your time, Ms. Milner.”
Joyce paused, turned to glance at Marina, her eyes briefly showing her irritation.
She bit back her words, but in the end, said nothing and strode off without another word.
Just then, Victor came running out. As he passed Marina, he raised an eyebrow at her, then hurried after Joyce.
“Ms. Milner, I’ll take you home,” Victor said.
Joyce looked at Victor, her hands clenched tightly at her sides. She glanced up at the entrance of the winery’s party hall.
There, she saw Verena standing next to Debby, both of them watching her.
Both women wore fake smiles on their faces.
Only Joyce could tell that Debby’s smile carried a hint of warning behind its warmth.
She shut her eyes briefly, then gave a small nod, resigned to letting Victor take her home.
“Sure,” Joyce replied quietly.
The Milner Family and the Zamora family had already arranged their marriage. Even if she hated it, there was nothing she could do to change things.
Allison was about to come back home.
If she didn’t play along now, once Allison got back, her position in the Milner Family would only get even more awkward.
Marina watched Victor and Joyce walk away, her face totally unreadable.
‘So Victor’s the one Joyce is being matched with by the Milner Family, Marina thought.
She always figured the Milner Family would be a pain to deal with, especially since Joyce was so hung up on Daron.
Marina didn’t expect Joyce to cave so fast. That actually caught her off guard.
After Victor and Joyce left, Debby and Verena walked into the party hall together, exchanging pleasantries as if nothing was
amiss.
Deep down, Debby had nothing but contempt for Verena.
After all, Verena was just a secretary in the Zamora family.
The Zamora family had never truly accepted Verena as one of their own.
If Victor hadn’t been officially recognized by the Zamora family, Debby would never have allowed her daughter to marry
someone born out of wedlock.
Verena plastered on a flattering smile, fully aware of the subtle dislike in Debby’s eyes. Still, with Victor now officially
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recognized by the Zamora family, being able to secure the marriage with the Milner Family was already quite an achievement for her.
If Victor could really establish himself in Vrufield one day, that’s when she could finally walk with her head held high.
By now, there probably wouldn’t be any more guests showing up.
Marina checked the time and was just about to shoot Kara a message when Kara’s car pulled up right in front of her.
“Marina, what are you doing out here?” Kara asked.
Marina couldn’t help but smile when she saw Kara. She said softly, “I’m covering for Chloe today, greeting guests at the entrance.”
She hadn’t seen Kara around earlier and figured she must have gone out of town again.
Kara got out of the car and noticed Marina was still in her work suit. She frowned a little, clearly wasn’t too happy about it.
“Come on, you and Daron are already married. Why are you still stuck working at this party?” Kara asked.
Marina smiled faintly and replied softly, “Chloe’s sick, so I volunteered to take over her duties.”
“Besides, we’re not planning to make our marriage public yet, and the Finley family isn’t on the guest list today, so it’s actually kind of nice just working the reception,” Marina added.
Kara frowned, her tone serious. “Who handled the invitations for this Zamora family party?”
Marina and Daron were already married, so Kara wondered why the Finley family wasn’t on the guest list.
Even if the Finley family wasn’t what it used to be, Elnora was now the daughter–in–law of the Campbell family, and all the Finley Group’s debts had been cleared.
There were already signs that the Finley family was turning things around.
Marina just shook her head and said quietly, “I’m not really sure. The guest list was probably set a long time ago.”
To be honest, Marina felt nothing about the Finley family not getting an invitation
Since coming back to Vrufield, she’d noticed the Finley family hardly ever got any invitations anymore.
Back before she moved to Sicester with her mother, the Finley family used to get invitations almost every single day, sometimes even more during the holidays.
Now, she’d been back in Vrufield for over two months.
But the mail slot at home hadn’t seen a single invitation.
Maybe the elite families had already kicked the Finleys out of their circle.
Just thinking about how Elnora had been scraping by in the shadows all these years, holding the Finley Group together. made Marina feel a pang of sadness. And that was just her, watching from the sidelines. She couldn’t even imagine what Elnora herself had gone through.
Kara took a deep breath, thinking the Zamora family had totally crossed the line this time.
The least they could do was send an invite to the Finley family.
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That way, Marina could actually attend as someone from the Finley family, instead of just being stuck here as another Zamora staff member.
“They’re way out of line,” Kara said.
“You married Daron, and now you have to put up with this? Doesn’t that just feel wrong?” she added.
Marina gave a faint smile and said softly, “I’m really not upset.”
“He’s already done a lot for the Finley Group, even gave us a really promising project. That’s already pretty generous.”
Kara frowned and said in a low voice, “He married you, so it’s only right for him to support the Finleys.”
Marina put a finger on her lips and whispered, “Let’s not get into that. It’s a mutually beneficial marriage, Kara. I’m not being mistreated, and no one else is, either,” Marina said.
You’ve been out here so long, the party’s already started. Come on, let’s head inside.”
Kara gently took Marina’s hand, glanced around, and said softly, “It’s late, no one’s coming anymore. Let’s go in together.”
‘It’s getting chilly, and you’re not dressed warmly enough. Your hands are freezing,” she said with concern.
Marina nodded. She’d only stayed outside because she hadn’t seen Kara yet.
The coworkers who’d been out front with her earlier had already headed inside.
Kara took Marina’s hand, and the two of them strolled down the path toward the party hall, swinging their arms and chatting just like they used to when they were kids.
Recently, Kara’s parents had been relentless, setting her up with guy after guy.
She was telling Marina all about the bizarre guys she’d run into on these dates.
You have no idea, Marina. I did a full background check on him, but he still showed up putting on this fake gentleman act, acting all high and mighty. It was honestly hilarious,” Kara said.
“Then I whipped out a photo of him with another guy, and he looked like he’d seen a ghost,” she added.
“Seriously, if he already has a boyfriend, why is he out here messing with good girls like us? Is it really that hard to admit he likes guys? If I ever had a crush on you, I’d tell my parents straight up, no secrets!”
Kara was dead serious about it.
Marina playfully acted all panicked and jumped in.
“You better not fall for me! I’m a married woman, totally off the market!”
Kara shot her a mock glare. “If I can’t have you, then I’ll just ruin you!”
They kept laughing and joking all the way to the party hall entrance.
Marina suddenly got the feeling she was being watched. She looked up on instinct, and there was Daron, standing alone on the upstairs balcony, his gaze locked on her and Kara.
For a split second, Marina froze. The scene felt eerily familiar, like she’d been thrown back to her teenage years, back when she and Kara visited the Gross family, and she’d first seen Daron standing on Finn’s balcony, watching her from above.
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Just one look, and it was as if a lifetime flashed by in an instant.
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
