The CEO's Beloved Wife (Jenlisa Adaptation)

Chapter 68.1

As the hours passed, Lisa saw guests from a range of different fields and countries. While some of them left immediately after giving Old Master Kim their gift, others left after giving their gift and having a brief chat. Only a few intended to stay for the final evening banquet.

Thus, it could be seen that the guests who arrived were divided into two categories. The ones who were staying for the evening banquet were mostly locals and business partners of the Kim Company. The ones who weren't came from the underworld business.

As Lisa was introduced to guest after guest by Old Master Kim, she tried his best to remember the names and identities of the people she saw. Lisa helped the old master collect birthday gifts and also received quite a few gifts and business cards herself. Most of them were from the elderly guests.

From antiques to mansions, the gifts were so generous that just looking at them was enough to give her a headache. And due to Old Master Kim's insistence, Lisa couldn't reject any of the gifts.

At first, Lisa had felt skeptical, wondering why these people would bring her specially prepared gifts when it was Old Master Kim's birthday banquet that they were attending. But it didn't take long for her to realize that the old master must've informed them beforehand that he would be introducing his new granddaughter-in-law at the banquet. This display of consideration touched Lisa.

Speaking of the elders, the few she recognized were all hegemonic figures. Their acknowledgment, as well as their business cards, were worth thousands of pieces of gold. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that this birthday banquet had brought Lisa into a whole new world, one that was much, much more luxurious and exciting than the "normal" world.

Before the evening banquet began, the Kim family convened to split up tasks and got busy again.

Jennie, Lisa, and Taehyung were put in charge of reception. When the three attractive youths of the Kim family stood together, it was truly an eye-catching sight. Alas, they all seemed capable of becoming living, moving icebergs, each one wearing an expression colder than the last. Lisa, at least, was trying to control his expression, striving for a handsome doorman appearance.

Nearby, Mother and Father Kim watched them speechlessly.

"Say, who do you think our children takes after? With them there, we don't even need to turn on the air conditioner." Mother Kim had a lively personality while Father Kim, though taciturn, was by no means cold. So how did their children turn out so cold?

"Tae wasn't as bad before, but he's become colder since the issue with Nancy." Father Kim was also clueless.

"In that case, should we find our son a girlfriend? Look, Jennie changed a lot. She's still cold, but when she looks at Lisa, a smile would appear in her eyes." Mother Kim was especially observant when it came to her children. Although they were cold, it was good that at least one of them had found happiness.

Father Kim smiled gently, looked at Mother Kim, and suddenly said, "When we were young, I also looked at you the same way."

Mother Kim stared at her with a slightly reddened face. Jeez, he was already over fifty years old, how could he still say such mushy words!

One after another, the rest of the guests trickled in. Among them were representatives from the other three great families, including the Manoban family.

Old Master Manoban was extremely ill, but fortunately, he was not comatose. Knowing that Old Master Kim was holding a birthday banquet, Old Master Manoban had told all three of his sons to attend. Father Manoban was the first representative from one of the three great families to arrive, and when he did, he was immediately spotted by Lisa.

However, she only gave her biological father a brief glance before retracting her gaze.

Jennie, on the other hand, shot Father Manoban a much more hostile look. Soon, all of the representatives from the Manoban family arrived, and she wondered what they were thinking. There was a total of nine people split into groups of threes. Practically the whole family was present.

"I'll go?" Taehyung offered. He could tell that neither his sister nor sister-in-law wanted to deal with the Manoban family. However, his sister responded noncommittally.

"Who sent so many invitations to them? What a waste of food." Still, she had no intentions of entertaining such an unwanted group.

"Mom was the one who sent out the invitations. Everyone was invited, so it would be awkward if we didn't invite them too," Taehyung explained as he stepped forward to welcome them. Jennie looked at them and suddenly, her eyes brightened. She took Lisa's hand and also walked over.

The Manoban family noticed them, of course. Father Manoban unabashedly fixed his gaze on Lisa and made no move to step forward, as though waiting for Lisa to approach her first. Unfortunately for her, Lisa and Jennie had no intentions of doing that, which caused ugly expressions to appear on the faces of all the Manoban family members.

Then suddenly, the couple walked closer. The Manoban family broke out in satisfied smiles, but when the couple moved past them without stopping and greeted the guests behind them instead, those smiles turned into expressions even uglier than before.

"Uncle Bai, it's been a while," Jennie greeted, a touch of familiarity in her cold voice.

Clearly, she had ignored the Manoban family on purpose. She wasn't the type of person to put on a fake smile and politely greet those she despised. Since they had provoked her, they should be prepared to have their faces slapped over and over again.

The "Uncle Bai" she had just greeted was the current elder of the great four family's Bai family. The Bai family and the Kim family shared a friendly relationship because they were long-time business partners. All three members of the Bai family had arrived, and they'd arrived just in time.

Bai Bolun was an astute old man. With only one glance, he was able to figure out what was going on. He played along, greeting her warmly, "Jennie, you've become more beautiful since the last time we met."

"You're flattering me too much, Uncle Bai. Please come in, my parents have been waiting." As she led the Bai family in, they passed by the Manoban family, and she didn't spare them a single glance. It was as if they were mere decorations.

The only son of the Bai family, Jackson Bai, walked ahead of his family and arrived next to her. "Jennie, long time no see," he said with a tone of familiarity.

"Finally decided to return from abroad? How come?" Jennie's tone could also be considered one of familiarity. Since the Kim family and Bai family were friendly with each other, she and Jackson had grown up together. However, when he reached adulthood, he left overseas and rarely came back to visit.

"I heard that you got married, so I wanted to come back and take a look at the man who is able to match you." He sounded somewhat lonely, and he subconsciously glanced at Lisa. In his inquisitive gaze, there was a trace of envy.

Actually, Jennie was one of the reasons behind why he decided to go abroad. He had pursued her and was rejected, leaving her with no choice but to give up. He'd known about her marriage three years ago, but at the same time, he was aware of the Kim family's traditional rule. Therefore, he'd assumed and comforted himself by thinking that she was only married because she wanted to free herself from that rule.

Then to his surprise, he learned that Jennie had recently disclosed her marriage to the public. He understood Jennie's character to a certain degree and knew that he could no longer find excuses to comfort herself. Only after careful deliberation did he decide to return to China.

It was too late for her and Jennie, but nonetheless, he wanted to see for herself if the woman he liked was happy, and he wanted to meet the lucky person who was able to hold her heart.

Lisa met Jackson Bai gaze and instantly, an alarm went off in his mind, and his guard shot up.

Six big words appeared in Lisa's mind: Beware, a love rival has appeared!