Chapter 7

Medea turned around and met Gordon’s deep gaze.

The fact that he actually made it here did catch her by surprise.

Logically speaking, after finally getting the chance to keep him close, Sharon and Annie shouldn’t have let him leave so easily.

Before Medea could speak, Tina was already smiling sarcastically from the side.

“Earlier, Medea was telling us your company had some earth-shattering emergency and that you couldn’t possibly make it.”

She tilted her head mockingly.

“What happened? Did the two of you forget to get your stories straight before coming here?”

Gordon paused for a second, his gaze sweeping across Medea’s situation.

A trace of displeasure appeared between his brows.

He stepped forward naturally, wrapping an arm around Medea’s cold shoulders and half-pulling her into his embrace before looking meaningfully toward Tina.

“There was an emergency, and I really couldn’t get away.”

His tone remained calm. “But then I thought about how, if I didn’t come tonight, Dea would probably end up being ordered around again. No matter how important work is, it can wait.”

Tina’s expression instantly stiffened, her forced smile nearly cracking.

“Gordon, what exactly do you mean by that?

“Medea was the one who volunteered to handle the gifts, and now she's acting like we've wronged her? She really knows how to make herself the victim.”

Before leaving, Tina shot Medea a vicious glare.

Medea quietly pulled herself away from Gordon’s embrace, avoiding his touch.

She lifted her eyes, her expression distant and calm.

“Did you finish dealing with everything?”

“I’m sorry,” Gordon said softly. “Annie’s wound has already been treated. I had someone send Sharon and Annie home.”

He paused briefly before asking while studying Medea’s cool profile, “My secretary said he didn’t find you on the road. How did you get here?”

Medea lowered her gaze and continued cataloging the gifts without a word.

“I’m already here, aren’t I? Why ask so many questions?”

Gordon’s brows furrowed slightly, a flicker of irritation surfacing in his eyes.

But remembering that he truly was at fault today, he eventually forced the anger back down.

The Watts family was quick to read the situation.

The moment Gordon arrived, their attitude toward Medea changed completely.

Karina, who had been ordering Medea around moments ago, now approached with a bright smile plastered across her face.

“Gordon, you’re here! Come, come sit at the main table. Honestly, Medea should know better than to let you stand around here.”

Medea watched as Gordon was immediately surrounded and welcomed by the Watts family toward the main table.

The same Gordon who dominated the business world with ease was now skillfully exchanging polite conversation with Hedworth, Karina, and the others.

Countless memories suddenly surfaced in Medea’s mind.

During the first two years of their marriage, the Watts family behaved exactly the same way—snobbish and calculating.

Whenever they made things difficult for her, Gordon would always step forward quietly like he did today, shielding her from every insult and hidden jab.

Truthfully, he had not treated her badly all the time either.

But that kindness came from responsibility.

From the dignity expected of the heir of the Begum family toward his wife.

The only thing it had never come from was love.

Soon, the banquet officially began.

Karina casually brought up how one of her nephews had graduated from a prestigious university but still hadn’t found a suitable job because his standards were too high.

Gordon immediately understood what she was implying and smoothly picked up the conversation.

“After the banquet, have him send me his résumé. If his qualifications and major fit what the company needs, and there happens to be an opening right now, I can ask my people to arrange something for him.”

Karina instantly beamed with delight, praising him repeatedly for being thoughtful.

From the seat of honor, Hedworth watched the scene with visible satisfaction.

He was pleased to see Gordon investing himself in the Watts family’s matters.

In his eyes, it meant the marriage alliance between the two families remained solid, along with the interests tied to it.

After taking a sip of tea, Hedworth turned his gaze toward Medea and Gordon before smiling warmly.

“You two have been married for years now. Careers are important, of course, but it’s about time you started considering having a child.”

Medea’s grip on her fork tightened instantly, her expression turning slightly unnatural.

However, Gordon remained perfectly composed.

He calmly placed food onto Medea’s plate before lifting his eyes toward Hedworth.

“Grandpa, we don’t have plans for that yet. Dea’s been preparing to open her own studio recently, so I’d rather have her focus on her career first.”

What a flawless excuse.

What a considerate husband.

Medea sneered inwardly.

In six years of marriage, Gordon had never touched her—not because he was faithful to his wife, but because his devotion belonged to another woman.

How could he possibly want children with her?

He would rather become another man’s substitute father than allow her to carry his child.

The thought barely crossed her mind when Annie’s tearful voice suddenly sounded from behind them.

“Gordon…”

Medea’s heart sank instantly.

She turned around stiffly, only to see Sharon standing at the entrance of the banquet hall with Annie in her arms, looking fragile and pitiful.

White bandages were still wrapped around Annie’s forehead.

Gordon’s expression changed immediately.

Almost instinctively, he stood up and strode toward them quickly, shock obvious in his voice.

“Why are you here?”

Sharon’s eyes were red, as though she had been crying for a long time.

Her voice trembled with helplessness.

“I’m sorry, Gordon… I really had no choice.

“Annie kept crying at home, insisting on seeing you. No matter what I did, I couldn’t calm her down, so I had no choice but to bring her here…”

She bit her lip weakly. “Did we interrupt your dinner?”

Annie stretched both arms toward Gordon and sniffled pitifully.

“Gordon… My head hurts so much… Am I going to die like Daddy did…?”

In the end, Gordon’s heart softened.

Under the gaze of the entire banquet hall, he skillfully lifted Annie into his arms and comforted her gently, “It won’t hurt anymore. I’m here. You’re going to be alright.”

Sharon naturally moved to his side and gently smoothed down her daughter's tousled hair.

At that moment, the three of them truly looked like a real family.

Medea’s face turned deathly pale instantly.

Beneath the table, her fingernails dug so deeply into her palms that blood nearly surfaced, yet she felt no pain at all.

Almost everyone’s expression changed.

This was the Watts family’s birthday banquet.

Gordon was the Watts family’s son-in-law.

Yet in front of all these guests, he was openly holding another woman’s child with such natural intimacy.

And as if the situation still wasn’t chaotic enough, Sharon deliberately walked over to Medea and spoke softly in a fragile voice.

“Miss Watts, I’m truly sorry.”

She lowered herself humbly. “I never meant to interrupt your grandfather’s birthday banquet. It’s just… Annie’s become too attached to Gordon.

“She can’t bear to be apart from him even for a moment. I really had no choice but to…”

She trailed off deliberately, but the implication couldn’t have been clearer.

She wanted everyone present to know that Medea’s husband now shared a bond with her daughter deeper than that of an ordinary father and child.

The surrounding whispers merged into a buzzing wave of gossip as countless eyes moved back and forth between the four of them.

Medea felt as though every layer of dignity had been stripped away, leaving her exposed beneath everyone’s judgment with nowhere left to hide.

At the head table, Hedworth finally let out a heavy cough.

His weathered eyes revealed nothing of his emotions.

“A guest is still a guest. Since they’re already here, arrange seats for them.”

The butler immediately understood and stepped forward to lead Sharon and Annie toward one of the empty nearby tables.

But Annie instantly refused.

She clutched tightly onto Gordon’s shirt and whined tearfully, “No! I want Gordon to sit with us!”