Chapter 21: Family Welcome

After we got downstairs, Dax let go of my hand. I felt a little disappointed for some reason. I knew he only had done that to give me more comfort about joining the party.

More people were at the party than I had thought there would be. I didn’t see any familiar faces besides Dax, Jared, and Wendy.

I was in over my head. How was I going to be able to handle all of these people? It was too late to go back to my room now that they had seen me.

Not knowing where else to go, I headed for the table with the ice sculpture and admired it. It wasn’t as if anyone was trying to chat me up.

As I stood there, Wendy came over to me. Her long black hair was styled in an elegant updo that complimented her face. She even had her lips in this bright red color that I could never pull off.

Her dress was a bright red cocktail dress which she paired with six-inch heels. I could barely walk in two-inch heels. She had some courage for wearing those.

I had no other options of company, so I didn’t try to excuse myself from her. Though, something still didn’t quite sit right with me about Wendy. I wasn’t sure what it was but knew I should be careful around her.

Besides, her husband would have inherited the company if Dax hadn’t found me to be his surrogate. I wasn’t sure whether she actually liked me or not. I decided to try to get along with Wendy. We were going to keep seeing each other for quite a while, and I preferred to not have her dislike me.

Wendy smiled and asked, “Would you like to meet the rest of the family? They’re dying to meet you.”

It was kind of crazy I was going to meet the rest of Dax’s family. We weren’t dating, which made the whole situation even more unusual. I just hoped that they would like me.

I nodded my head yes, and she brought me over to a woman who looked like a female version of Dax. She had the same blue eyes and face shape as he did. Unsurprisingly, she was quite beautiful and had an elegant evening gown on with heels.

“Maggie, this is Danica.”

Her face lit up with delight and she said, “It’s nice to meet you finally. I’ve been wondering who my son has been telling me about.”

Dax had talked about me to his mother. I couldn’t believe that. That made me feel extra nervous. What had he said about me? I hoped nothing but good things.

“It’s nice to meet you too Mrs. Ryan.” I added, “I really appreciate you throwing this party for me. You didn’t have to.”

She smiled and said, “It was my pleasure. I thought you deserved one, as you’re carrying a future grandchild for me.” She added, “If you ever need anything else, feel free to contact me.”

“Thank you so much. I’ll be sure to do that.”

Wendy looked around the area and turned to Mrs. Ryan. “I apologize but we must keep moving along. Danica has a lot of people to meet.”

She nodded in understanding as we left her side. Wendy led me towards a man who looked like an older version of Dax. He was still quite handsome for a much older man. I could see where Dax got most of his appearance from.

The man had a glass of champagne in his hand and was talking with someone who looked just like him. It made me confused on which one of them was Dax’s father.

Wendy introduced me to the man with a drink first. “Danica, I would like you to meet James Ryan. This is Dax’s father.”

He held out his hand to me and gave a charming smile, “It’s a pleasure to meet you Danica. I have been wondering who this woman was that my son had chosen.”

Did he mean that in a good or a bad way? I wasn’t sure how to take his words. It seemed that he meant them to be complimentary. He was curious about me at the very least.

I shook his hand before saying, “It is an honor to meet you as well Mr. Ryan. I’m glad that we got this opportunity to meet.”

“I’m also pleased to have finally met you too. Dax has only said kind words about you.”

Wow. He had talked about me to both of his parents. I must’ve had more impact on him than I had originally thought.

The man beside him downed his champagne and looked at me. I assumed this was Dax’s notorious uncle.

He spoke up and said, “Hello, I’m Dax’s uncle.” The man added, “If you get the chance, try some of the champagne. It’s marvelous.”

Mr. Ryan shook his head and said, “I think you’ve had enough already. Maybe you should consider eating
some food soon.”

I could tell he was trying to discreetly give his brother a hint. They were at a family event after all. Dax was right that his uncle would have too much to drink.

We kept walking onwards and came across Dax. His appearance made me breathless. The suit he wore made him look ten times more handsome, and his hair was styled to perfection.

Dax locked eyes with me and gave a faint smile when we got right next to him.

Why was he smiling at me? He had never done that before.

I smiled back at him briefly before we went past him. Wendy led me to the buffet table.

It had quite the spread on it. There was lamb, beef, and turkey as the main choices of meat. Then there were sides of scalloped potatoes, pasta, and brussel sprout salad.

Decadent deserts were at the next table over. I spotted rich looking chocolate mousse cake, cheesecake, and triple berry cake.

I dished up my plate with lamb and scalloped potatoes before heading to a table. Wendy continued to stay by my side and sat with me.

Shortly after we sat down, Dax had come to join Wendy and me. I wasn’t expecting him to sit with me at all.

He had been mingling with other family members after we parted ways earlier. I had to admit that I kind of enjoyed him joining us. It made me feel a little more at ease than being alone with Wendy.

After we had started to eat, I suddenly had the urge to ask a question to Dax. It seemed he was more likely to answer anything in his seemingly good mood.

I asked Dax, “Do you always have these kinds of parties?”

He gave a brief smile and told me, “We do but this one is even more memorable than others.”

“Why’s that?”

Dax took a sip of his champagne and didn’t answer me. I wondered what he had meant by that comment. It was going to drive me crazy not knowing the reason.

I imagined that this party wasn’t that different from others. Unless he meant that it was different because I was here this time. My stomach got a strange butterfly feeling, which I quickly wanted to push away.

As we kept eating, Jared came waltzing over to our table and looked at his brother in a knowing way. This gave me a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. Dax quickly changed the way he carried himself. He went from casual to being back to his usual serious demeanor.

What was he going to tell him? I wasn’t prepared to see any family drama happen but knew it was coming.

“I’ve been waiting to tell you this for a while.” Jared paused before continuing, “I noticed that your company has been declining in net profits for a while. I wonder why that could be the case. I’d hate to see the company go into ruin. Maybe someone else stepping in would be for the best.”

Suddenly Dax got out his chair and walked in front of his brother’s face.

Dax scowled at his brother and sternly spoke up, “I can’t believe what you’re insinuating. You have no idea how much work I do for the company. You need to stay out of the affairs of my company. It is still under my control.”

Jared seemed intimidated and walked away without another word. I could tell Dax was really tense from the way
he told Jared off. He had his jaw clenched while his eyes gave off a cold and distant vibe.

Dax suddenly headed for the front door and left the party without a word to anyone.