Chapter 61

Emily’s eyes lit up the moment she caught sight of Jonas.

“Mr. Jonas!”

For whatever reason, Jonas suddenly recalled what Lilly had said just now, and his heart sank. His niece had clearly displayed her disapproval of Emily earlier. If he decided to pursue a relationship with this woman, Lilly would have his head in a trice!

He said nothing at all, merely watching as Emily approached. Her silver gown was exactly the same shade as his swallow-tail coat. When she came over and stood beside him and Lilly, they looked just like a cozy little family of three.

Like trained bloodhounds, the tabloid reporters sensed a story and immediately began snapping photographs. If they were to publish these pictures, next week’s headlines would be guaranteed!

Emily turned her eyes to Jonas, tears still glistening on her lashes. Her expression was one of utmost sincerity. “Mr. Jonas, did I inadvertently offend you just now? If so, I’d like to apologize…”

Jonas smiled politely at her, but the smile did not reach his eyes. “Mm. Has anyone ever told you that you’re extremely annoying?” He lowered his gaze away from her, but the hint of mockery was unmistakable.

Emily’s face froze! “I…” She bit her lip, then hurried on, “Is it because you dislike my voice? This is how it actually sounds, Mr. Jonas, I swear. If you don’t like it though, I’ll start taking voice lessons to modulate the tone and color…”

Jonas did not comment, merely gave a derisive snort of laughter.

Lilly blinked and looked from Jonas to Emily, her expression pensive. She curled up against Jonas’s shoulder, then turned to Ivan, who was standing next to them, and asked abruptly, “Ivan, isn’t this like a poltergeist that won’t go away?”

Ivan nodded. “Yes.”

“Miss, you’re like a poltergeist that won’t go away,” Lilly piped up immediately, using her newly-learned phrase on the spot.

Emily bit her lip and protested tearfully, “Lilly! Please don’t say that…” In truth, she already knew that Jonas and Lilly disliked her, but she remained there like the proverbial poltergeist that would not go away because she wanted to set tongues wagging and ignite speculation.

The reporters were still snapping plenty of photographs, so she just needed to hang on for a little longer…

Once the paparazzi pictures were published, she would go viral in no time, especially since she would be with Jonas, the film industry’s golden boy! She would do anything to keep the inevitable gossip spreading like wildfire; she would be paired with Jonas in the tabloids, no less!

Yes, she would do anything at all for that!

Furthermore, with Lilly in those pictures, her own popularity would soar!

The next moment, however, she heard Jonas saying coldly and calmly, “If any of you publish a single one of those photographs you’re so busy taking now…”

The actor glanced around blandly, his smile not reaching his eyes as he pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses.

A chill ran down the reporters’ spines. Hurriedly, they all replied, “Y…yes, of course, Mr. Crawford!”

“In that case, Mr. Crawford, would it be alright to publish the photos you took earlier with Ms. Lilly…?”

One of the reporters persisted.

Jonas smiled charmingly. “Yes, that’s fine.”

The looks that the reporters gave Emily were very odd indeed, as a realization slowly dawned upon them. The golden boy of film had never been scandalously linked to any of the actresses in the industry. However, he had never turned down any actresses who asked to take photographs with him during any press conferences or red-carpet events. In fact, he had never objected even though they had hung onto his arm, generously allowing them to do so.

He must truly dislike Emily…

“Tsk tsk.” It was evident that the reporters relished this startling revelation.

Emily felt as if someone had slapped her hard on the face. Oh, the sting…

Jonas did not bother waiting for her reply and turned to leave. He had initially wanted to take a stroll to get some fresh air, but he was in no mood to enjoy it now. He ruffled Ivan’s hair lightly. “Let’s go.”

This left Ivan’s meticulously styled hair in sudden disarray. Looking completely out of sorts, he trailed after Jonas.

Lilly draped herself over Jonas’s shoulder and giggled in delight. “Ivan, your hair looks like a bird’s nest!”

Ivan just stared at her, unable to come up with a suitable retort.

The reporters’ cameras immediately began clicking when they saw this! They might not be able to spread gossip about the golden boy of film, but they could certainly fuel speculation about the possible connection between the Crawfords and the Shaws. If the two families were truly going to join hands and work together, there would be a massive upheaval in the city’s business community…

Jonas and Lilly returned to the ceremony venue, where both uncle and niece settled themselves onto a couch and lounged, relaxing. Jonas, in particular, looked like a dashing rogue as he crossed his long legs, exuding an air of elegance.

Lilly, on the other hand, completely relaxed against the back of the couch like a deflated balloon.

Rubbing her stomach, she looked sorrowfully down at it and said, “There, there. Uncle Jonas won’t let you eat cake, how can you act up like this? He won’t allow you to have sweets, and he didn’t get you anything to drink either! Poor tummy!”

Jonas was left without a word to say. The little minx was truly a drama queen!

Both of them had barely settled in before they were suddenly swarmed by enthusiastic people who chattered non-stop.

“Ms. Lilly, could you please read my daughter-in-law’s fortune and tell me when she’ll give birth? Will the baby be a boy or a girl?”

“Ms. Lilly! Ms. Lilly! I want to know my fortune, please! When will I become wealthy?”

“Ms. Lilly…”

Everyone was clamoring for Lilly’s attention.

The noise nearly drove Jonas mad, but he resolutely remained where he was. Today his task was to be Lilly’s bodyguard. He closed his eyes to calm himself, shutting out the hubbub around them.

Once in a while, he could hear Lilly’s clear, childish voice rising above the confused babble of voices.

“Granny, your grandson will be born in three more days!”

A venerable old matron in the group looked stunned, a denial slipping out before she could stop herself. “Nonsense! My daughter-in-law is only eight months pregnant!” There was still a month before the due date! She felt rather disappointed; this was really too big of a stretch. Shame on her for believing that Lilly might actually have the gift of second sight; if the little girl had said half a month instead, she would have believed her! Grumbling, she pointed out, “My daughter-in-law still has at least a month to go before she gives birth. This is really too far-fetched…”

Lilly’s prediction was a month early unless the old matron’s daughter-in-law was hiding something from the family and the child was actually another man’s…

Lilly just shook her head. As Pablo had said, in divination, people either believed the predictions or they didn’t. If they didn’t, then it was best not to waste time on them.

The old matron departed, muttering.

The rest of the people kept asking for their fortunes, and Lilly answered them painstakingly one by one.

“Oh? Miss, you said you wanted to become wealthy. What’s your idea of becoming wealthy, though?”

A fresh-faced young lady answered eagerly, “Suddenly becoming rich overnight! I want to have lots and lots of money, more than even Mr. Anthony Crawford!” Worshipfully, she stole a glance at Anthony, who was standing nearby.

However, she was abruptly brought back to reality by Lilly’s young, yet stern, little voice. “In that case, Miss, you’ll just have to dream!” There was absolutely no way this young lady could hope to become richer than Uncle Anthony! Uncle Anthony was very, very good at making money!

The young lady stared at Lilly, then wailed, “No! I don’t believe it, that can’t be right!”

Everyone kept swamping Lilly with questions. The people who received good fortunes departed, full of smiles, while others who were not so lucky kept on repeating, “No, that’s impossible! It must be a fake prediction!” like broken records.

Jonas folded his arms and gave a derisive smirk. “Modern-day superstitions indeed.”

Lilly looked up curiously. “Modern-day superstitions? What does that mean?”

Ivan’s face was wooden as he rested his hands primly and properly on his knees. “It’s like if you have a bad dream and wake up and say, dreams aren’t real. But if you have a good dream, then you think, oh, this is a lucky dream! It’s like people say, if your left eye twitches, you’ll have good luck, but if your right eye twitches, it’s bad luck. When their right eye twitches, most people think that something good’s about to happen. But if their left eye twitches, they’ll say they’ve just been too tired lately, and it’s only a muscle twitch. That’s modern-day superstition.”

Lilly blinked. Abruptly, she looked over at Ivan, her eyes shining.