Chapter 12 Humiliating Christie

• “Did Uncle Elijah say when he'd be coming home, Mr. Ferguson?”
• Xavier headed over to the airport in the morning, but Elijah said he had something else to attend to, so Xavier ended up coming home by himself. The party was starting in less than an hour, and yet no one had heard from Elijah at all.
• Of course, Clarice had his phone number saved, but she didn't feel like calling him at all.
• “Don't worry, Madam Clarice. I'll give him a call to check on things,” Connor said before walking off to make a phone call.
• He then returned moments later and said Elijah was still busy with some errands but would arrive before the party started.
• Clarice nodded in acknowledgment and went off to instruct the housekeepers once again regarding the food and beverages for the party.
• “Is everything ready, Clair?”
• “Almost, Grandpa!”
• Clarice then turned to look at the housekeepers lined up in front of her and said, “You're all clear with my instructions, right? Do your jobs well tonight, and you can all take turns to go on leave this month.”
• “Yes, Madam Clarice.”
• With that, Clarice dismissed the housekeepers before making her way toward Henry.
• “Don't worry, Grandpa, I've got everything taken care of! The guests will be arriving soon, so I'll go standby at the door to greet them. Come on, you should take a seat and rest up before they get here. There'll be plenty of walking around later on!”
• “All right, just make sure you don't overwork yourself now.”
• Henry gave her a pat on the arm as she sat him down at a nearby table.
• Clarice nodded in response before rushing over to greet the guests at the door.
• She gave Xavier a call in the process, but there was no answer.
• Connor was busy ushering the guests in when he noticed her standing there by herself and asked worriedly, “Still no sign of Mr. Xavier?”
• “It's fine, I can handle this on my own.”
• Connor was still a little worried but kept it to himself as he had to carry on ushering the guests.
• Clarice was smiling so much that her face had practically gone stiff from it.
• She managed to get through to Xavier after calling him a couple more times, but all he did was mock her before hanging up on her. For the briefest of moments, the smile on her face turned wry before returning to normal as she carried on greeting the guests.
• It was almost time for the party to start, and there was still no sign of Xavier nor Elijah anywhere.
• Clarice grew anxious as she feared it would affect the party.
• Connor walked up to her and whispered into her ear, “Madam Clarice, Mr. Henry has just given Mr. Xavier a call. He said he's almost here.”
• “All right.”
• I don't want to spend another second standing here like a fool! Once Xavier gets here, I'll go take a break somewhere quiet!
• Xavier did indeed arrive fairly quickly, but he was also accompanied by Christie.
• Clarice happened to be chatting with some of the socialites at the time, and they were talking about her relationship with Xavier.
• “You know, I really envy you two! I mean, childhood sweethearts that end up marrying each other? That's so sweet! I bet you must be so happy with your marriage, Mrs. Zimmerman!”
• Happy? Heh... I wonder...
• Clarice kept quiet as she didn't know what to say in response.
• At that moment, one of the socialites noticed Xavier in the distance and tugged on Clarice's arm.
• “Mr. Zimmerman is here! You should go...”
• She stopped herself mid-sentence, and the smile on her face grew awkward as well.
• Clarice followed her gaze and saw Xavier and Christie standing together. The two of them looked so well together that one would have assumed they were a match made in heaven, especially with Xavier's arm wrapped around Christie's waist.