Chapter 511 People Who Grew Up Together
In the end, Landon got his beating—a scene so common in the Howard household that it barely raised an eyebrow anymore. Victoria had grown accustomed to it as well.
Alexander smoothly redirected the conversation back to the unfortunate Landon. His reasoning was simple: since Landon was already having a bad day, making it worse hardly mattered.
"I've heard Landon has been spending quite a lot of time with the Smith girl lately," Alexander remarked casually.
Landon, still nursing his sore backside, shot a wary glance at Alexander. Seriously? Was Alexander going to use this for revenge too?
"What Smith girl?" Nathan asked curiously.
"The one he had that scandal with a while back," Alexander answered helpfully.
Saskia chimed in, "Isn't she still in college?"
"Yes," Alexander confirmed.
Another booming reprimand followed, "Landon! Are you taking advantage of a college student?"
"Grandpa, you can't just make accusations like that!" Landon protested. "Do you really think I'm that kind of person?"
"You absolutely seem like that kind of person!" Nathan retorted. "Why else would I introduce you to so many suitable young ladies, yet you never get close to any of them? Why only this girl?"
Landon fell silent. What kind of twisted logic was that?
"It's not that I want to be close to her—she's the one clinging to me! What am I supposed to do?"
All he wanted to say was that no one understood his suffering. The girl was impossible to shake off—stickier than gum on a hot sidewalk.
"I don't believe you for a second!" Nathan shot back. "With all your clever tricks, if you truly weren't interested, you'd have found a way to get rid of her. I think you want her attention."
"Grandpa, what makes you think that?"
"I know you well!" Nathan declared triumphantly.
Landon gave up arguing. There wasn't a single ally in the room, and he knew better than to push his luck. He decided silence was the safest option.
Tuesday arrived quickly—the day of Owen's grandfather's birthday celebration.
The event was held at the sprawling Rodriguez estate, with distinguished guests from various circles in attendance.
After days of anxiety, Lila couldn't escape her fate. To her surprise, when Owen brought her to the Rodriguez Manor, no one seemed shocked by her presence—as if everyone already knew about them.
All she encountered was overwhelming warmth—so much warmth that she, who had never considered herself socially anxious, felt the first pangs of social anxiety in her life.
"See? I told you my family isn't scary," Owen whispered in her ear. "They all love my future wife."
Lila gave him a sidelong glance and forced a smile. They weren't scary, true, but they were exhaustingly enthusiastic. She could barely keep up.
Using his grandfather's birthday as an excuse to bring her home was one thing, but just before the celebration began, she spotted her parents. She froze in confusion.
Hadn't they said they weren't coming? What was going on?
Before she could ask, her parents were already presenting their gifts to Owen's grandfather and exchanging pleasantries. Eve immediately struck up a conversation with Owen's mother, completely ignoring Lila as if she were invisible.
"Owen, tell me why my parents are here," she hissed through gritted teeth.
Owen put on an innocent face. "You'd have to ask my mother about that. The guest list wasn't my responsibility."
Lila fell silent as the conversation between their parents quickly turned to wedding plans. So this wasn't just a birthday celebration but also a meet-the-parents event for her and Owen?
She glanced meaningfully at Owen, clearly wanting him to intervene. But Owen pretended not to notice. This was exactly what he wanted.
Only when the celebration officially began did she find an opportunity to escape and seek out Victoria.
When Owen realized Lila had disappeared, Alexander's text message quickly revealed her whereabouts.
In a corner of the venue, two beautiful women were whispering together, while not far away stood Alexander, radiating cold detachment, his handsome face darkened with displeasure.
Caleb and Garrett flanked Alexander, both wearing amused smiles.
"Come on, Alexander," Caleb said. "You and Victoria have been married for quite some time now. Do you really need to be attached at the hip? She's only away for a moment, and you look like someone died. Is it that serious?"
"Exactly," Garrett agreed.
Alexander gave the two perpetually single men a contemptuous glance. "You wouldn't understand."
The bachelors fell silent. They understood his taunt perfectly.
Owen soon approached, but before he reached them, a sweet voice called out behind him, "Owen!"
Caleb and the others turned curiously. The woman was attractive—pristine as a white lily.
Owen frowned slightly but asked politely, "Did you need something?"
"Owen, there you are! I just greeted your grandfather and parents, then saw you heading this way. I wasn't sure if it was really you, so I followed to check. I was right!" She smiled with affected charm.
Caleb nudged Garrett with his shoulder. "When did Owen get such a cute admirer?" he whispered.
Garrett assessed her carefully. "Cute or not, she's definitely not Owen's type."
Meanwhile, Lila, who had been whispering with Victoria, spotted the scene unfolding.
Victoria, noticing Lila's sudden silence, followed her gaze. "Who's that?" she asked curiously.
Lila narrowed her eyes. "A sugary-sweet manipulator pretending to be innocent."
Victoria raised an eyebrow, understanding immediately.
She was about to ask if Lila wanted to intervene when Lila was already striding toward the group.
Victoria shook her head with an amused smile. For all Lila's complaints, her heart was quite transparent.
Victoria followed behind her.
Caleb had just finished saying, "Only someone fiery and straightforward like Lila would be his type," when Lila appeared beside him.
She paused deliberately and turned to look at him. "Mr. Garcia has good taste, even if he gossips too much."
Before he could react, she was already heading toward Owen and Audrey.
Caleb frowned. "What did she just say about me?"
Garrett laughed. "She said you gossip too much. She's not wrong."
"Audrey, what a coincidence!" Lila called out as she approached. She casually flipped her hair and slipped her arm through Owen's. With a dazzling smile on her beautifully made-up face, she added, "Are you here for my fiancé's grandfather's birthday too?"
Lila looked stunning today. For meeting the family, she'd applied subtle makeup and dressed elegantly, but her natural charisma remained unchanged.
By directly referring to Owen as her fiancé, she immediately established her position.
Audrey looked at her, momentarily taken aback, but quickly regained her composure.
"Miss Scott," she replied with an equally pleasant smile, "the Rodriguez and Carroll families have been friends for generations. Owen and I grew up together. His grandfather and mine were war buddies. It's only natural for me to pay my respects. My presence shouldn't surprise you."
Lila feigned a slight frown. "So you grew up together."
A flicker of triumph appeared in Audrey's eyes, but it vanished almost instantly.
"Don't misunderstand," Owen interjected. "We met a few times as children, but we've hardly seen each other since. We're not close."
The words landed like a stinging slap across Audrey's face.
Lila's expression brightened as she turned back to Audrey. "Not close at all. I see."
Audrey remained silent.
"But that's fine—all guests are welcome," Lila continued smoothly. "Audrey, if you're free, you're certainly invited to our wedding."
Audrey said nothing. She glanced at Owen, but his eyes were fixed on Lila, his face glowing with undisguised affection.
Biting her lip, Audrey turned and walked away.
Lila watched her retreat. "She gives up that easily?" she murmured.
When she turned back, she found Owen gazing at her intensely.
"Don't look at me like that," she warned.
"Did you just mention our wedding?" he asked.
"You misheard."
"I'm not the only one here—everyone heard you," Owen said, gesturing toward Caleb and the others.
The group remained tactfully silent.
Lila glared at him. "Owen, did you deliberately arrange for Audrey to be here to manipulate me?"
She couldn't shake the feeling that Audrey's appearance was too convenient.
Every time she acted on impulse, she said things she couldn't take back.
Owen protested his innocence. He genuinely hadn't known Audrey would appear so opportunely.
In fact, he was grateful for her appearance—it had solved a major problem for him.
Otherwise, he would have ignored Audrey completely tonight.
"Would you believe me if I said it was a coincidence?" he asked.
"Do I look like I would?"
"No."
"Then why ask!"
Watching them bicker, Caleb shook his head. "These two are so childish."
"Who are you calling childish?" Lila turned to glare at him.
Caleb quickly backpedaled. "Me! I was talking about myself."
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