Chapter 12 The Prestigious Families

• Everywhere I go, I see him. How annoying!
• At that moment, Natalie felt an unexplainable rage surging in her. The previous day, she had seen him in a downtown café. At that time, he was with Bethany and was having a disgusting smile on his face. Bethany was her best friend, so she had tolerated and excused his behavior at the time. Nevertheless, she ran into him again that day at the grand banquet attended by the prestigious figures.
• Natalie took a deep breath as she reckoned that he had won the favor of Bethany, the heiress of the Winston family.
• Zachary was dressed in a camouflage outfit and wore combat boots at the time. He appeared out of place at the banquet in comparison to the well-dressed young men and women. Despite that, he displayed a confident smile. He strolled around the banquet hall with his hands behind his back, as if he were the most distinguished guest that evening.
• No matter how many times Natalie viewed him, she found his confident smile detestable. Knowing that Bethany came from a distinguished family, Natalie thought that Zachary was only displaying such a confident smile because he was proud of the fact that he had successfully won the favor of Bethany, an influential scion in the city.
• Luckily for Zachary, Natalie was a cultured lady. Otherwise, she would have walked up to him and kicked him hard.
• He has no idea I'm staring at him, and he's still admiring those delicacies from the banquet's buffet supper.
• “Who is this man?” Finley followed Natalie's gaze and saw that she was looking at Zachary, who was dressed in a camouflage outfit. Seeing that she was staring at the man with her beautiful, icy eyes, and the expression on her beautiful face was constantly shifting, Finley frowned slightly.
• “I'm not sure. Your family hosted today's event. Is he not one of your friends?” Samuel was taken aback. He, too, rarely saw Natalie staring at a person in such a manner.
• “Why would I befriend such an insignificant man?” Finley spoke in a low voice.
• Since Natalie's father retired from the police department, her status among the city's wealthiest scions had gradually diminished. Nevertheless, she was still someone influential, for the annual income of the seven cosmetic chain stores owned by her mother's family was still rather substantial. In addition, she had a beautiful face and an elegant temperament, which made many wealthy men still swoon over her.
• Finley and Samuel were two of these individuals. The wealth of Finley's family ranked second in the city. No one could compete with Finley if he wanted to pursue Natalie. Samuel was inferior to Finley. Therefore, he kept his feelings for Natalie to himself. He knew that Finley was a playboy. Finley desired Natalie, but he had been messing around with numerous women. Until recently, he still had ambiguous relationships with a number of gorgeous ladies. Samuel would seize every chance to get close to Natalie in the hope that Natalie would notice him and fall for him one day.
• Right then, when they noticed that Natalie was staring unblinkingly at Zachary, their facial expressions darkened at once.
• Samantha, who was the fifth richest person in the city, stood at the side and crossed her arms over her chest while smiling evilly. She was happy to see the jealous duo being mean to others.
• “Finley, your father is the second richest person in the city. All the people he knows are in the same league as him. Everyone who is invited to today's event comes from a noble and powerful family. Even the poorest ones have family assets worth at least tens of millions. That man can't even afford Adidas or Nike. I think he's here to get a free meal,” Samuel said sarcastically after thinking for a moment.
• The banquet that night was hosted by the second wealthiest person in the city with the purpose of making more wealthy and influential friends and strengthening relationships with existing powerful acquaintances. The tycoon hosted a buffet supper for all of his guests. The food and beverages were complimentary. All the food and drinks were of premium quality. When Samuel saw Zachary wearing a camouflage outfit, he thought the latter had come here to get a free meal.
• “Samuel, your family's security system is getting worse.” Finley sneered.
• “What?” Suddenly, Samuel's face became as dark as thunder.
• Finley's family owned several businesses in the city, including real estate, automobiles, and maritime trade, and possessed a fortune of two billion. However, that hotel was all that Samuel's family owned, and its value was only two hundred million. The hotel flourished only because Finley's family and many of the city's tycoons had been frequenting the place. Therefore, there was no way Samuel would feel good when Finley mocked him that way.
• Just as he was about to snap, he saw Natalie and Cecilia walking toward Zachary.
• Natalie remarked icily, “Felix, I guess it's fate that we get to meet each other here.” She held Cecilia's hand and stood behind Zachary when he was smiling and appreciating the food at the buffet.
• “Well, we wouldn't have married each other if it wasn't for fate, right?” Zachary smiled with his hands behind his back.
• He had long noticed Natalie at the banquet, but he pretended not to see her. Natalie had always looked down on him. Regardless of what he did these days, she always belittled him. Consequently, he was holding some grudges against her. Anyway, in her eyes, I'm just a useless man, so why do I have to try so hard to impress her? It is pointless to explain myself to her as well. Why don't I just let her witness my strength with her own eyes?
• “Haha. You're right. Otherwise, how else could we be a married couple?” Natalie was slightly moved by his words. She felt there was some truth to what he stated as she reflected on their unexpected encounters these two days.
• However, whether it is fate that brings us together, it doesn't matter, does it? In addition to being a loser and a thief, he is a toy boy and even hooked up with Bethany, my best friend. I bet our marriage is an ill-fated marriage!
• Natalie felt ashamed and angry as that thought crossed her mind.
• She felt embarrassed by her husband's pursuit of Bethany. Natalie believed that Bethany was still unaware of their relationship. Otherwise, it would be such a humiliation to Natalie. At the same time, Natalie was enraged by his depravity, for she thought that Zachary had snooped on her phone to get Bethany's contact number just so he could win Bethany's favor and did not have to work hard to earn a living.
• Natalie desired a wonderful life with him and did not want to make her father furious, but she felt indescribably disappointed with the man in front of her. She laughed in exasperation. “Felix, you just never fail to amaze me. Ever since you returned after you went missing for some time, you have become a despicable and scheming man. Not only are you a useless and lustful man as you used to be, but you have also become devious. You stole my money to buy things for Cecilia to please her and buy things for yourself to improve your life quality. And now, you also attempt to get close to Bethany so that you can climb the social ladder and have her provide for you.”
• She paused for a brief moment and continued, “I don't mind if you divorce me. In fact, I want a divorce badly. If you can be with Bethany, I will give you my sincere blessings. However, I'd like to warn you that not everything is as simple as you think it is. You believe you can win Bethany over, but actually, you cannot. Today's banquet is not one that you can attend. You want to use Bethany as a stepping stone to befriend some wealthy and influential people, don't you? It is not as easy as you think, and you can never be a part of their social circle.”
• Natalie looked at the man in front of her disappointingly. “Zachary, just leave before you embarrass yourself.”
• “I'm not leaving.” Zachary smiled faintly.
• In fact, Natalie's response was within his expectations. The previous day, when Natalie saw him with Bethany, he knew she had assumed he was attempting to develop a close relationship with Bethany.
• Hearing Natalie's tone of disappointment at that very moment, he felt indescribably amused.
• I am an influential man with a vast fortune in an overseas bank. Do I still require Bethany's support? Mr. Winston will be overjoyed if I'm willing to take Bethany as my disciple.
• At that moment, Tobias was bringing Bethany with him to help him purchase medicinal herbs, and he had even claimed that he wanted to befriend Zachary no matter what.
• You can be disappointed with me all you want, and I will show you what I've got in a moment. Even if I do not disclose my name, my status as a divine-level fighter is enough to attract a large number of affluent individuals to curry favor with me. One might wonder why Zachary would be so confident. It was because grandmaster-level fighters were uncommon. Those who were recognized as grandmasters were basically the people who had influence over a region of territory. One of the examples was Bennett Lawson, who was admired by the public. Furthermore, there were only a handful of divine-level fighters in the world. In the eyes of commoners, the strength possessed by a divine-level fighter was practically godlike. The existing divine-level fighters on the planet were either illustrious giants or respectable elders who were supported by a wealthy consortium. Godly Squad was in Chanaea. There were a total of seven divine-level fighters, and all of them were treated as important figures at the ministerial level.
• Those present at the banquet were the city's most powerful tycoons. Them being able to achieve their current status had proven that they were no ordinary individuals. If they knew that Zachary was a divine-level fighter, they would definitely try their best to curry favor with him. They knew that even a down-and-out divine-level fighter might become a prominent figure. If they could befriend a divine-level fighter, they would be greatly benefited from the friendship in the future.
• If Zachary had not been besieged and defeated by foreign forces, those wealthy and powerful tycoons could not have acquired the chance to befriend him even if they had spent hundreds of millions.
• Zachary slowly turned around and regarded her with a complicated look that comprised mixed feelings of embarrassment, helplessness, and confusion.
• “Are you sure you're not leaving?” Natalie noticed that Zachary was actually staring at her with an odd expression, and she instantly furrowed her eyebrows.
• “Ms. Winston invited me, and I am the most esteemed guest here. Why should I leave?” He grinned.
• “Well, I've warned you. Since you refuse to leave, you'd better look out for yourself.” Natalie cast a faint smile helplessly, then she took Cecilia's hand and turned to leave.
• Felix, do you think that a close relationship with Bethany will allow you to have a great life? You're so ignorant. Bethany is the descendant of a prestigious military family, and her two uncles are military dignitaries. Even if you have a stunning physical appearance, you can never be with her. Perhaps you are still young at the moment, but in the near future, you will realize that there are a lot of unspeakable things going on in a prestigious family.