Chapter 35: David Dawson
Wendy Wynn had a pair of eyes that seemed as if they could speak.
She gazed intently at Henry Sterling, her faint smile somehow conveying a sense of profound, unspoken affection.
Vivian Lowell, sitting a little farther away, took in the scene, her heart tightening.
Previously, she had only ever seen Wendy Wynn in photographs.
Back then, Vivian Lowell had thought Wendy Wynn was noble and elegant. Only now did she realize that a stunner like her was enough to make most men fall head over heels.
Of course, that "most men" did not seem to include Julian Faulkner.
Julian Faulkner was staring quietly ahead.
Even though there was nothing before him, his gaze was placid, not the least bit captivated by the woman.
’Heh, he really is the stoic, ascetic type,’ Vivian Lowell thought, her gaze still fixed on Eleanor Rhodes and the others.
It was a long time before Henry Sterling finally spoke.
He seemed to need a great deal of effort just to process Wendy Wynn’s words before saying, "Right. Sit down. The banquet is about to begin."
"Alright."
Wendy Wynn agreed with a smile and quite naturally took the seat beside Henry Sterling. Then, with perfect poise, she introduced the man she had just been dancing with.
"This is my assistant. My main reason for coming back is to establish a foothold in the finance industry. As you know, I was the general manager of a fund company when I was abroad."
Wendy Wynn struck up a conversation with Julian Faulkner.
All the while, her head and body seemed to be leaning, consciously or not, toward Henry Sterling.
Eleanor Rhodes never found a chance to interject, and Henry Sterling didn’t look back at her. Biting her lip, she had no choice but to return to Vivian Lowell’s side.
"Vivian."
When Eleanor Rhodes returned, she finally noticed Julian Faulkner and said, "President Faulkner, you’re here."
Hm?
Hearing the familiar tone in Eleanor Rhodes’s voice and her unsurprised expression, Vivian Lowell couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d missed something.
But soon, just as Vivian Lowell was about to ask Julian Faulkner if he wanted to get something to eat, her assistant came over.
The assistant was in a rush, their expression grim. They walked up to Vivian Lowell and said, "Boss, the person you mentioned... he’s here!"
"He just came in through the back entrance and tried to sneak into the banquet hall, but was stopped. Just as he was about to try another way, the people you had waiting intercepted him ahead of time."
"We’ve got him now. He’s been taken to the security room. Boss, should we call the police?"
The assistant didn’t know who this person was.
But from his plain appearance, clearly not that of a wealthy young master, the assistant knew he couldn’t be one of the invited guests. He seemed more like a troublemaker.
After listening, Vivian Lowell shook her head and said to her assistant, "No, don’t. I’ll go take a look first."
With that, Vivian Lowell stood up and said to Eleanor Rhodes, "He’s here. Tanya, I’m going to go take a look. You stay right here, don’t wander off, okay?"
Eleanor Rhodes seemed distracted.
She stared blankly at the water glass in front of her, her eyes tinged with a sadness that hid her thoughts.
It took several seconds after Vivian had finished speaking for Eleanor to snap out of her daze. She nodded and said, "Okay, Vivian. I... I’ll be right here."
"Go on, but hurry back. And be safe."
"I will."
Vivian Lowell agreed. Before turning to leave, she glanced at Julian Faulkner.
Julian Faulkner was looking at her, too.
His eyes held a questioning look, as if he wanted to ask where she was going.
But for some reason, Julian Faulkner didn’t voice the question.
Vivian Lowell’s mind was on the matter at hand, so she didn’t offer Julian Faulkner an explanation. After that one glance, she headed for the security room.
Two security guards, whom Vivian Lowell had arranged beforehand, stood guard at the entrance to the security room.
When Vivian Lowell saw them, she pulled two wads of cash from her pocket and handed them over. "Good work," she said. "Don’t tell anyone about what happened tonight."
The two guards took the money, then both departed to return to their posts.
Vivian Lowell instructed her assistant to stand guard at the door and, if anyone came by—especially any of the Lowells—to find a way to stall them.
Then, Vivian Lowell pushed open the door to the security room and went inside.
The security room was cramped.
A man with a sack over his head and his limbs bound was tossed in a corner. He struggled ceaselessly, but with a gag in his mouth, he could only produce muffled, "MMM-MMM-MMM," sounds.
The man tensed up, obviously nervous that someone had suddenly entered.
Vivian Lowell saw him and recognized him at once. It was indeed Shelly Lowell’s boyfriend, a man named David Dawson.
An ordinary name, ordinary looks, an ordinary family, and an ordinary university. After graduating, he became a programmer, slaving away at his keyboard day and night.
He earned money to put Shelly Lowell through school, supported her while she prepared for her graduate school entrance exams, and bought her designer bags and makeup.
Then one day, Shelly Lowell suddenly sent him a message to break up, then immediately deleted his contact information and blocked him forever.
She even packed up everything he had ever given her and sent it all back.
David Dawson was devastated.
It was the first time he had ever loved someone so much, and he just wanted to ask Shelly Lowell for a reason.
But he searched for a long time and couldn’t find her. It wasn’t until news broke that the Lowell Family was formally recognizing Shelly Lowell as their own—and even arranging her marriage to the prestigious Grant Family of Aethelburg—that David Dawson understood everything.
’So that was it. The girl he loved had found her real family.’
’She had become a wealthy heiress, about to marry her Prince Charming, so of course she kicked me to the curb.’
David Dawson was despondent. He had struggled with it, but he couldn’t accept it.
Remembering their past together, he just wanted to come and ask Shelly Lowell if she had ever truly liked him, or if she had just been using him.
’A tool to give her money.’
’Was he just someone to be used when convenient and then tossed aside when something better came along?’
And so, David Dawson had found his way here.
But who could have known that Vivian Lowell, with her memories of a past life, knew that David Dawson was fated to nearly ruin the banquet tonight—and lose his life in the process.
That was why she had arranged for people to intercept and capture him beforehand.
"My name is Vivian Lowell," Vivian Lowell said as she sat down in front of David Dawson. "Before Shelly Lowell returned to her family, I was the Lowell family’s daughter. But now that she’s back, I’m not."
"We were switched at birth. I know you came here looking for her, didn’t you?"
At Vivian Lowell’s words, David Dawson, who had been struggling relentlessly, suddenly went still.
Seeing this, Vivian Lowell pulled the sack off his head. "I don’t mean you any harm," she said. "I just... want to tell you something."