Chapter 109: Chapter 109

"Andrea, I'm sorry for arriving late; they were just so much to do, and I didn't get..." Before Sean could explain himself, Andrea interrupted him by pressing her lips against his, effectively silencing him. She then proceeded to suck on his lips.

"I missed you so much," she whispered softly as she pulled away from the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I missed you more than you can ever imagine," Sean replied tenderly, his gaze filled with affection as he stared into her eyes.

"Happy birthday, my love. You look so lovely tonight," Sean said, producing a silver-colored bracelet from his pocket and carefully placing it around her wrist.

Her heart fluttered as she gently traced the tiny words inscribed on the bracelet, which read 'Sean and Andrea 4L' and featured a heart design next to it.

"It's very beautiful, and I love it very much," she complimented with a sweet smile before kissing him on the lips once more.

"I'm just so happy you made it here tonight," Andrea said genuinely as they walked back to the party hand in hand.

...

"There you are! I have been looking everywhere for you. It's time for the announcement," Mrs. Jones said to Andrea with a smile.

Andrea nodded and took a deep breath, responding, "I'm ready," as she returned a smile to Mrs. Jones.

"Great!" Mrs. Jones replied, patting Andrea on the shoulder.

As Mrs. Jones made her way to the stage, Andrea turned to Sean and asked, "Do you think we did the right thing by not telling your parents about my real identity?"

Sean replied nonchalantly, "As long as they honor the invite tonight, they will find out."

Andrea shrugged her shoulders, redirecting her focus towards Mrs. Jones as the latter confidently walked onto the stage. The room fell into a hush as the soothing melody from the background music gracefully faded away, capturing the undivided attention of everyone present.

In the meantime, Mrs. Wilson and Carmen entered the hall hand-in-hand. As they surveyed the beautifully decorated space, Carmen playfully commented, "It seems we arrived late."

The light shone on Mrs. Jones' face as she began her speech, her warm smile visible to all. "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen," she greeted. "I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who has taken the time to join us tonight in celebrating a very special occasion. Your presence here, honoring my invitation, means a great deal as we come together to celebrate the 25th birthday of our beloved daughter. Without further ado, I am delighted to introduce to you the daughter of the Jones family." Mrs. Jones' announcement was met with a round of applause from the attendees.

Sean kissed Andrea on the forehead, which Carmen unfortunately witnessed, causing her to clench her fist in a fit of rage.

As everyone waited to see the daughter of the Jones, Andrea carefully made her way through the crowd of gathered people and climbed up onto the stage.

A loud gasp echoed throughout the room as most attendees now recognized Andrea as Sean's wife. No one had expected her to be the lost daughter of the Jones.

Carmen turned pale as she watched the mother and daughter embrace on stage. "What is going on here?" she exclaimed through gritted teeth. Glancing at Sean, she could tell from his expression that he knew everything was happening tonight. The only emotion on his face was admiration and love for Andrea.

Mrs. Wilson couldn't believe her eyes or her ears; she felt they were all playing tricks on her. She got so lost in thoughts that she didn't know Carmen was talking to her the entire time.

"Aunty, Sean knew about this, but he didn't even bother to tell you," she snapped angrily, causing Mrs. Wilson to jolt out of her daze.

Mrs. Wilson felt utterly ashamed of herself. She recognized that ever since the day Sean introduced Andrea to her as his wife, she had always used her background to taunt her, plus Sean didn't bother to tell her the truth either.

The young ladies standing beside Carmen gushed loudly. "Oh my goodness, she's so lucky! First, she got herself a good-looking man like Sean Wilson, and now she's the daughter of the Jones family."

"I know right, she's indeed surrounded by handsome and outstanding men; I mean, her brother is of course the owner of JJ Entertainment, the biggest in NYC."

"She's so lucky that I can't help but feel jealousy and hatred for her. How could one person get so lucky with all the fine things in the world? Just look at how Sean Wilson is staring at her like she would disappear into thin smoke."

"If my man doesn't look at me the same way Sean Wilson looks at his wife, then I won't get married."

The ladies went on and on, fueling Carmen's anger as her gaze darkened. She looked towards where Sean was standing alone, having a glass of wine. "Aunty, I'll be back," she said, walking over to Sean.

"The daughter of the Jones, huh?" Carmen said with a gracious smile as she picked up a glass of wine from the waiter's tray who was passing by.

Sean ignored her existence completely as he played with his cellphone, noticing his actions, Carmen bit her lip in anger. "Won't you say something? How long will you keep ignoring me?"

"As long as you are here."

"Why do you hate me so much to the extent that you can't even stand my presence? What is so good about her that you keep treating me this way?"

"You can't see what's so good about my wife because your eyes don't function properly. I'm not in the mood to listen to your nonsense about my wife. It's her special night," Sean warned sternly before walking off.

"Sean! I'm sorry. Okay, let's just be best friends." Carmen quickly went after him nervously.

"Hey birthday, girlie. Having fun?" Jacob said with a smile from behind Andrea. She turned around and beamed a smile. "You look very handsome tonight. Be careful before these ladies eat you up," Andrea commended. "Mom and dad really put in a lot of effort organizing the party tonight," Andrea sincerely complimented as her eyes scanned the sea of faces in hopes of finding Sean.

Jacob was wearing a navy blue, custom-made suit tonight, with the shirt underneath his jacket unbuttoned, showcasing his well-built chest.

"Isn't it your job to protect your elder brother from these hungry ladies?" Jacob laughed and squeezed her cheeks playfully.

"Of course not. I should go speak to my friends; they are over there." Andrea lied as she spotted Sean and Carmen talking, and she could tell from his expression that he wasn't pleased.

"Go get your man." Jacob scoffed loudly and rolled his eyes before walking away.

Andrea chuckled softly while shaking her head, and as she walked towards them, a sound of someone whimpering caught her attention. She followed the sounds, which led her to the balcony, where she found Naomi crying while pleading with a fat, middle-aged man with a round gut who was glaring at her with daggers.

Andrea's gaze traveled down to Naomi's small baby bump, and she couldn't help but gasp loudly. She suddenly recognized her as the familiar lady she saw earlier in a purple dress.

All this while, no one knew about Naomi's whereabouts; even after Lachlan passed away, she never showed up. Who would have known that she had gotten pregnant and was in a relationship with an older man?

The middle-aged man threw a heavy slap across Naomi's face, making her fall to the ground. A look of terror immediately crossed her face. "Let me go!" She begged with tears rolling down her cheeks.

He grabbed her chin and gave it a tight squeeze with a sinister smile on his face. "How dare you get angry at me for talking to my wife on the phone? You are just my little slutty mistress, got it?" he said, pushing her to the ground roughly.

Andrea couldn't bear to watch her being treated that way; although she and Naomi were never on good terms, she was still a pregnant lady, and if this continues, she might suffer from a miscarriage. Before she could take a step forward, she was pulled away by Sean.

"What do you think you're doing?" Sean demanded furiously.

"What do you mean? Didn't you see he was mistreating Naomi, and she's expecting?" Andrea retorted.

"I don't want you to get involved. Mr. Denison is a very ruthless businessman, and Naomi happens to be his mistress. I won't let you interfere in their affairs, and moreover, Naomi Graham signed up for this." He took Andrea's hand and walked her back to the party.

"You knew that Naomi was in New York all this time?"

"Yeah, I happened to find out."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because she didn't treat you well while you were at the Graham's, so I figured out you might not want to know," Sean simply replied.

...

Carmen, how did it go?" Mrs. Wallner asked curiously as she barged into her daughter's room.

"Mom, please, I don't even want to talk about it," Carmen responded angrily. If she had known that Andrea was the daughter of the Joneses, she would have remained home tonight.

"It's fine if Jacob didn't give you any attention tonight; you can always try again," Mrs. Wallner encouraged with a smile.

"Mom, did you know that Andrea is actually the daughter of the Jones, and tonight is her birthday party?"

Mrs. Wallner's smile slipped away, and a frown crept up her face. "That lowlife? How is that even possible?" She yelled angrily.

"How am I supposed to know exactly? I went there with Mrs. Wilson, so you can call her and confirm if you think I got everything wrong."

Carmen couldn't forget how Andrea and Mrs. Jones embraced one another on stage, their striking resemblance, which she only noticed tonight, and how everyone was treating her like a queen at the party, most especially Sean.

"Why that bitch again?" Mrs. Wallner snapped frustratedly. She sat down on the couch while raking her fingers into her hair intensely.

She had racked her brain all week thinking of ways to bring Jacob and Carmen close. Who would have thought that Andrea would suddenly appear as the daughter of the Joneses?

"As if getting Sean wasn't enough, the greedy bitch just happens to be the daughter of the Jones. She keeps ruining my plans to win Sean over," Carmen groaned, her tone laced with frustration.

"So what if she's the daughter of the Jones? I think we have been too lenient on her, and it's high time we show her where she belongs," Mrs. Wallner gritted out, with malicious intent in her eyes.