"Even if the Lambert Family used to be glorious, how did their son end up like this? I heard Shania invested in his startup 99 times and he still failed, what a hopeless case. Totally unworthy of such a good wife!" the crowd sneered.
Just as they finished speaking, Luke arrived with his entourage.
People on both sides immediately stepped aside and the security guard rushed to open the door to welcome him, "Mr. Hudson, welcome! The venue is all set up. If anything isn't satisfactory, just let us know, we'll fix it right away."
"Please also put in a good word for us with Miss Timberson. We hope to host more of the Timberson Group's events in the future," the man said.
"Get out of the way already! Didn't we tell you to leave? Don't block Mr. Hudson's path. You're not welcome here, freeloader! Don't drag down our class!" The guard shoved me aside, his fawn attitude now nothing like the arrogant posture from earlier.
Luke looked at me, eyes full of triumph. He said, "Stop! Is this how your hotel treats guests? I welcome anyone who wants to attend my event. Besides, Gabriel is my benefactor. Without him, I never would have met Shania. After so many failures, he's already having a hard time. I won't let you speak about him like that!"
"But Gabriel, if you want to see my new product, you could've just asked. I can send you an invitation. Please don't sneak a peek again and copy it like last time," he said again.
At the mention of plagiarism, the just-quieted murmurs rose again. Countless disdainful eyes fell on me.
A person mocked, "We almost forgot, do you know why he still amounts to nothing even with the Timberson Family behind him? It's because all his work is plagiarized! Even when he supported Mr. Hudson back then, it was just to leech off his ideas!"
"Disgusting. I actually felt bad that he was an orphan," someone said.
In the past, I would have fought back fiercely to protect Shania's reputation. But now, I only wanted to break free.
The crowd jeered at me while praising Luke, calls him grateful and successful at a young age.
I was completely cut off and a cold laugh rose in my heart. Luke, let's see if you can still smile later.
A long while later, Shania finally emerged. She walked through the crowd and naturally took my arm and asked, "Why aren't you inside? What are you doing standing here?"
Luke rushed over as soon as he saw her. He pretended, "Gabriel, let's go in together. It's all my fault, I forgot to send you the invitation."
Shania pulled me into the banquet hall and turned to introduce my presence as someone here to learn from Luke.
The people in the industry already looked down on me. Now, no one even wanted to talk to me.
Meanwhile, Shania accompanied Luke, introduced him to all kinds of high-level connections. Their laughter kept floating over. Several times, Luke even leaned intimately on her.
The out-of-place atmosphere made it hard for me to breathe. On my way out of the restroom, Luke suddenly appeared in front of me.
Seeing the discomfort on my face, his grin grew wider while he said, "Gabriel, feeling terrible, aren't you? Fortunes really do change. Bet you didn't expect this day to come. Come to think of it, I should thank you. If you hadn't taken me in back then, I never would've met Shania."
I clenched my fists and stared at him, expressionless.
I sneered, "What do you mean? Don't forget how you begged me for help. Is this how you repay someone who helped you?"
Hearing that, he dropped the pretense entirely and mocked, "Benefactor? Please. You call that help? You tossed me your leftovers like I was some beggar. You never treated me like a real person, so now I'm letting you see what it's like to be looked down on. And you can't handle it?"
