"I'd rather marry a turtle in the Azure River than marry him!"
Annelise Valentine's voice reverberated through the living room of Valentine Manor, with its nearly five-meter-high ceilings.
At the living room entrance, Butler Carter stood with his eyes lowered, perfectly still.
The security guards stood beside Butler Carter, hardly daring to breathe.
"Annelise, watch your words!"
On the living room sofa, Seth Valentine took off his gold-rimmed glasses and slowly began to wipe the lenses with a soft chamois cloth.
"The grandfather of the 'turtle' you just mentioned was your grandfather's savior. Back then, in Vaskor, if Mr. Westgate hadn't risked his life to block that bullet, your grandfather wouldn't have survived, and the Valentine Family wouldn't exist today."
"The bond between our families has continued to your generation. This marriage between you and Jett Westgate is your destiny."
"Destiny? Dad, what century are we living in? Are you still pulling this nonsense? I don't know the first thing about Jett Westgate! Did you once ask me if I was willing? This is an arranged marriage! A relic of feudalism!"
Ruby Lynn walked in from the adjacent tearoom, carrying a small bowl of freshly stewed bird's nest soup.
"Annelise, don't shout. You'll hurt your throat."
She placed the white porcelain bowl on the coffee table and said unhurriedly:
"That Jett may be far away in Aethelgard, but your father and I have met him. He is exceptionally handsome, and his abilities are beyond question. He was able to shoulder the entire Westgate Family business in his early twenties. Even your father admires his methods and vision."
"So many families in Aethelgard are eager to form an alliance with them through marriage; their doorstep is practically worn down by suitors. Yet, back then, Mr. Westgate chose you and you alone, Annelise. This is a blessing countless people could only dream of."
"A blessing? Mom! Haven't you heard what kind of person Jett Westgate is? He even did that to his own brother—"
"Silence!"
Before she could finish, she was cut off by Seth Valentine's sharp command.
"How much truth can there be in rumors that get passed around?" Seth Valentine said, putting his glasses back on.
"Annelise. You've always been smart. You should know that what you hear might be false, and even what you see may not be real. Don't be led by the nose by a few rumors and end up being someone's pawn."
Annelise Valentine watched her parents play good cop, bad cop, their coordination seamless. She knew then that trying to reason with them was a dead end.
It wasn't as if she hadn't protested over the past month.
She went on a hunger strike, but her mother personally brought over a Michelin-starred chef to feed her six different meals a day, playing the victim card by crying and saying she was too heartbroken to sleep.
She tried to be independent, secretly investing in a tech startup. Just as it was starting to show promise, it was shut down by the authorities for a variety of reasons.
She tried to flee the country, but her passport suddenly vanished. The family's G650 private jet, always on standby, was dragged into the hangar overnight for a supposed "annual deep-dive maintenance," and rumor had it that key components had been removed.
And then there was that young celebrity she'd been flirting with—Ethan Adler. He completely vanished from the face of the earth, his social media accounts wiped clean.
Her sports cars were fitted with GPS trackers. Even the dog holes in the manor walls were welded shut overnight—welded so tight they went THUD THUD when she knocked on them.
Seth Valentine saw the shifting look in her eyes and knew his daughter was already scheming again:
"Annelise, you listen to me. The engagement party is in three days, right here in Veridia. You're not to go anywhere for the next few days. Stay put in Veridia, and don't cause any more trouble for me!"
Annelise Valentine knew she couldn't win against her parents. A fire raged in her chest with nowhere to go, so she spun around and stormed out the door without looking back.
"Annelise! Where are you going?!" Seth Valentine demanded.
"None of your business!" Annelise Valentine shot back curtly, not breaking her stride.
Watching Annelise Valentine disappear around the corner of the hallway, Ruby Lynn sighed and said gently:
"Let it go, Seth. Just let her be. She's upset right now. She's probably just going to find Zane and Chloe."
Seth Valentine shook his head helplessly and pinched the bridge of his nose.
He could handle the biggest storms in the business world with ease, but when it came to the daughter he had spoiled since birth, he often felt powerless.
"'These kids...'" he murmured, his tone complex. "'Every single one of them is so headstrong. They're a real handful.'"
****
「Aethelgard – Nivelis」
The deafening music and the noise from the pool party below were sealed off. Here, in the 'Cloud Top' area on the second floor of Nivelis, only a low, subdued background track flowed, creating a world entirely separate from the one downstairs.
Several men sat in the spacious sofa area, their drinks barely touched as they watched the revelry below through the massive, one-way glass wall.
Kian Miller was the first to break the silence. "Jett, are you really going to... marry into the Valentine Family?"
Jett Westgate didn't answer. He didn't even lift his eyes, merely turning his head slightly to exhale a thin stream of smoke, like an emotionless statue.
Leo Lennox tossed the gilt-edged invitation onto the obsidian coffee table in front of Jett Westgate, where it landed with a soft thwack.
"The invitations have already been sent to all the families. You think it's fake? Three days from now. Veridia. 7 The Promenade."
Hugo Summers said as he dropped ice cubes into his glass:
"What's the big deal about an engagement? Isn't this a happy occasion? If you ask me, this marriage couldn't be more perfect. The Westgate Family has power, the Valentine Family has money. Power and wealth have always been a perfect match. Isn't this a union of titans?"
Kian Miller frowned, his tone clearly disapproving:
"Give me a break. It's not like you don't know how much Jett despises the attitude of those rich playboys from Veridia.
Last time I was in Veridia for business, I ran into a few of them at a cocktail party. My god, decked out head-to-toe in the latest high-fashion luxury brands, strutting around like peacocks. They just have to stuff a gaudy silk scarf in their shirt pockets, their entire being screaming 'I'm rich,' terrified someone might not know it."
"Frivolous. Utterly frivolous."
Hugo Summers replied, "They're a coastal city with a strong commercial culture. Their ancestors fought their way up in the world of business. They don't have as many rules and regulations; they just do as they please. There's a certain authenticity to them, even amidst the stench of money. It's just a different way of life."
The men's words crisscrossed, but all their gazes, subtle as they were, landed on the silent man in the center of the sofa.
The cigarette between Jett Westgate's fingers had burned down to the filter. He deliberately stubbed it out in the crystal ashtray.
'Ever since he was young, he'd looked down on those "second-generation heirs" from Veridia—coddled by their families, ignorant of hardship, and skilled only in squandering wealth.'
'And Annelise Valentine was the queen of them all. Her reputation was widespread, hailed by the public as the "pinnacle of all wealthy heiresses."'
'But in his eyes, she was nothing more than a spoiled, undisciplined "useless heiress" who acted with flagrant arrogance, relying on the Valentine Family's fortune.'
'Marry a woman like that? What a joke!'
'And yet, this marriage had been personally arranged by the grandfathers of both families.'
'The Westgate Family maxim: Honor your word, keep your promises. The rules set by the ancestors must be observed by their descendants, without exception.'
He lifted his eyes, his gaze falling on the gilt-edged invitation, and spoke slowly. "The ancestors' words are as immovable as a mountain. I must accept it."
Then he leaned back slowly, sinking deep into the sofa. "I'll just marry her and leave her at home. Aethelgard isn't Veridia. A caged canary like her... how many days can she last away from her world of glitter and glamour?"