Chapter 253

As Jane was lost in thought, Matteo arrived. After greeting the Brown and Green family members, Raven introduced Jane to Matteo, saying, “This is my aunt’s daughter, Jane.” Matteo glanced at Jane and smiled politely, offering a friendly greeting, “Hello.”

Jane had only seen Matteo in Raven’s social circles before. But now, seeing him in person, she immediately understood why Raven had chosen him. Despite the fact that the young and talented men who had pursued Raven in the past were all impressive in their own right, none of them could hold a candle to Matteo. Whether it was his personal achievements, education, family background, or just his overall presence, he surpassed them by far. Many of Raven’s previous suitors were already exceptional, but now, Jane realized how vast the gap was between them and Matteo. It was as if there was always someone better out there—someone beyond what she had thought possible. Moreover, she had to admit that Matteo and Raven made an incredibly good match.

However, thinking back to the complicated situation with Freya and Matteo, Jane lowered her gaze, speaking softly, “You… Hello.” After Matteo finished greeting everyone, he settled down on the sofa. Raven had managed to find herself a boyfriend from the capital, and with his help, the Brown family had easily gained entry into the top-tier circles of the capital. This news had spread like wildfire among the upper echelons of Y City’s social scene since last year.

Today, some of the Brown family’s old friends from Y City had come to visit Brown Old Madam. At first, they hadn’t believed that the Brown family had managed to break into the upper echelons of the city’s elite. After all, no matter how outstanding Raven was, the Brown family itself had always been considered a middle-class family in Y City. Even if Raven were trying to marry into the top tier of Y City’s circles, they didn’t have the connections or the financial backing to make it happen, let alone break into the elite circles of the capital. However, after seeing the Brown family’s luxurious villa and meeting Matteo in person, they had no choice but to believe it. When they saw them looking at Matteo in awe, Raven casually explained, “They’re old friends of the Brown family.” Matteo nodded politely as he shook hands with everyone who greeted him. After that, they moved to the dining area to have their meal.

Jane was about to graduate with her master’s degree. Lauren had asked her to come to the capital to look for work, hoping Raven could help her find a suitable match while she was at it. Matteo had been very courteous to everyone in the Brown and Green families. After the meal, Lauren, noticing that Matteo seemed to be in a good mood, couldn’t help but bring up the topic. She knew that Jane didn’t really want to come to the capital to work and didn’t want to impose on anyone. But as a mother, she felt it was her responsibility to nudge things along. Before she could finish speaking, Jane nervously interrupted, “You… You don’t have to trouble yourself.”

Before she could finish, Matteo turned to her, smiling gently. “It’s no trouble,” he said, pausing for a moment before looking at her and continuing, “Cousin, is it? What kind of expectations do you have for your work here?”

Jane was stunned. She hadn’t expected Matteo to be so respectful, so attentive toward her. She hadn’t expected him to show so much interest in her personally. Was it because he cared so much for Raven that he extended that same consideration to her, just because she was Raven’s relative? Earlier, at the dinner table, she had heard Sophia say that Matteo had been so jealous of all the other outstanding men who admired Raven that he had transferred a large portion of his company’s shares to Raven, just to keep other men away. Jane had thought that this was already a huge gesture of how much Matteo valued Raven. But she hadn’t expected him to care this much about Raven’s family and relatives. She was surprised he would treat her, a distant relative whom he’d only met once, with such attention.

She’d also heard that Matteo and Freya hadn’t officially divorced yet, and that Matteo and Raven weren’t married. When she had heard Sophia call him “brother-in-law” earlier, it had made her uncomfortable. But now, she was completely caught off guard. He had just called her “cousin” so easily.

Jane was flustered. She had always been shy and self-conscious, especially when compared to Raven, who was so outstanding. People rarely paid this much attention to her. And now, with Matteo personally speaking to her like this, she didn’t know what to say.

Raven gently patted Matteo’s arm, saying, “Don’t scare her.” Matteo smiled and nodded, saying, “Okay.” He turned back to Jane and said, “Just let me know when you’ve made a decision. Don’t feel embarrassed.”

Jane, flustered and unsure how to react, hurriedly nodded, “Okay… I’ll… I’ll let you know.”