Chapter 140

“Madam Grace is really blessed. With your younger daughter securing this project, it looks like we’ll all be counting on you in the future.”

“Oh, not at all,” Grace replied politely.

All evening, similar compliments had been endless.

But no one mentioned the situation between Aurora and Joseph in front of her.

No one wanted to be that foolish.

After all, things between them had already soured publicly at the banquet.

Between Hunt Enterprises and the Walton Corporation, everyone knew which held more weight.

Rather than waste time on irrelevant gossip, it was smarter to strike up a conversation with Grace.

Who knew? Getting on her good side might just lead to smoother business dealings down the line.

Tessa withdrew her gaze and exhaled slowly.

The scale in their mother’s heart had already tipped.

If she didn’t start fighting for herself now, there would be no place for her in the Walton family at all.

“Aurora, you must be feeling proud, aren’t you?”

With that thought, Tessa glanced at a server nearby holding a tray of drinks.

She motioned to one of them.

The young man approached obediently. “Miss, would you like a drink?”

Tessa picked up a glass, then leaned close to whisper a few words in his ear while Julian wasn’t paying attention.

The man looked hesitant. “Miss, I’m not sure about this…”

“What are you afraid of? Once you’re done, it’s none of your business. I’ll pay you the rest afterward.”

Tessa shot him a sharp look.

How could people nowadays be so timid?

Couldn’t even handle something this simple?

After a moment of hesitation, he finally nodded.

He had no choice–the amount she offered was too tempting to turn down.

Besides, it wasn’t anything too difficult.

“Alright then, Miss, I’ll head off now.”

Tessa gave a soft “Mm” and let him go.

After saying a quick word to Julian, she took her wine glass and headed straight toward Aurora.

Julian watched Tessa’s back as she walked away, lost in thought.

He’d noticed her whispering to the server just moments ago.

Though he hadn’t interfered, he had his suspicions.

And those suspicions were likely related to Aurora.

Tessa had never shown this much interest in anything else.

Watching her now approach Aurora only confirmed what he was thinking.

Aurora and Lucas were chatting with guests when Tessa approached, smiling.

“Congratulations, sister,” she said warmly.

“You’ve successfully become the general manager, and Mother even announced your status. From now on, Walton Corporation will be counting on you.”

Aurora’s smile froze just slightly at her words.

She looked at Tessa, who was holding up her glass, head tilted as if waiting–clearly not planning to take the drink back unless Aurora returned the toast.

Not wanting to make a scene, Aurora lifted her glass and tapped it lightly against hers. “Thank you for the kind words, sister. I appreciate the sentiment. And I have you to thank for your care and support throughout.”

She placed extra weight on the word “care,” making the tension between them obvious to anyone paying attention.

But Tessa pretended not to catch the subtext and changed the topic with a smile. “I didn’t expect Joseph to follow you all the way to Ravenshore. It seems those three years of yours weren’t completely wasted after all.”

Her words drew a wave of murmurs from the nearby guests.

So, there was more to their breakup after all.

Otherwise, no one would just walk away from a three-year relationship just like that.

Lucas' expression darkened noticeably.