Chapter 554

William even mentioned Jennifer a lot while delivering his speech.

Anyone who could read between the lines would know that he was very satisfied with Jennifer and

wanted her as his daughter-in-law.

Naturally, Jennifer was overjoyed when she heard William declaring his approval of her.

Minerva shook her head when she saw the gleeful smile on Jennifer’s face.

“I know you don’t like to hear me say this, Jennifer, but winning Old Mr. Lombard’s heart over doesn’t

mean anything unless Mr. Tristan likes you.”

However, her advice fell on deaf ears as Jennifer couldn’t care less about that.

“I’ll be able to keep making progress with Tristan as long as I have Old Mr. Lombard’s support.”

I’ll be sure to show Tristan that Sophie isn’t worthy of being with him!

Those who heard William’s words understood full well what he meant and were staring at Sophie with

mocking looks in their eyes.

When it was time to present the gifts, Jennifer presented William with a very beautiful diamond. It was a

one-of-a-kind item that couldn’t be purchased anywhere.

Sure enough, William was very pleased with how much effort she had put into the gift.

“Thank you very much for this wonderful gift, Jennifer. I don’t think anyone else cares this much about

me, so I really hope you will be a part of this family.”

Jennifer simply kept quiet and flashed him a gentle smile in response.

“See? Old Mr. Lombard really likes Jennifer! It looks like she has completely won his heart over!”

“Exactly! Given Sophie’s reputation, I doubt she’d even qualify to marry into a wealthy family, let alone

the Lombard family! Mr. Tristan is probably just fooling around with her or something. There’s no way

he’ll ever marry her!”

“I know, right? Still, she does look quite pretty, though. Maybe I could try to—”

That man was halfway through his sentence when Tristan grabbed him by the throat, shocking

everyone else around them.

How dare he talk about Sophie like that?

“What are you doing, Mr. Tristan? I was just making a joke! You—”

Tristan cut him off by increasing the pressure on his throat. The man felt like he was going to have his

windpipe crushed at any second.

Jennifer quickly ran up to him and said, “What are you doing, Tristan? We’re celebrating Old Mr.

Lombard’s birthday! You wouldn’t want to kill someone at his birthday party, would you?”

However, Tristan ignored her completely as he said, “Who do you think you are, huh? How dare you

badmouth my girlfriend in front of me? You are in no position to judge Sophie at all!”

However, Tristan ignored her completely as he said, “Who do you think you are, huh? How dare you

badmouth my girlfriend in front of me? You are in no position to judge Sophie at all!”

Tristan then turned toward his subordinates and ordered, “Throw him out and terminate all of his

business partnerships with the Lombard family!”

Jennifer went pale when she saw his response.

“Mr. Tristan, what are you—”

“You’d better shut your mouth, Ms. Whitley! You should know better than anyone else than to go

around acting like you’re a part of the Lombard family!” Tristan cut her off angrily.

Jennifer fell silent from shock after hearing what he said.

Wait… What does he mean by that?

“Tristan! There are tons of guests at this party! Are you going to rip all of their tongues out as well?”

William yelled furiously at him.

This is exactly why I hate Sophie! As excellent as she may be today, nothing she does will ever change

her past!

With that in mind, William shot Sophie a glare.

The latter simply stared back at him without flinching.

Tristan walked up to Sophie and wrapped an arm around her waist as he announced, “I will only say

this once. Sophie is the only woman I will ever marry. Those who dare badmouth her shall suffer my

wrath!”

He loved Sophie so much that he would do anything to protect her from harm.

I will become her strongest pillar of support! I won’t let anyone harm her as long as I’m alive!

“Tristan!” William was fuming, but Tristan ignored him completely.

Jennifer quickly rushed to his side to comfort him, “Please don’t get angry, Old Mr. Lombard. It’s your

birthday celebration, after all.”

William shot Sophie yet another disdainful glare.

This woman is nothing but trouble! Tristan has changed completely after dating her! A man cannot

have a weakness, or his enemies will exploit it to get at him! Sophie is clearly going to become his

weakness, so I cannot allow them to be together! I will not let anyone become my son’s weakness!

Sophie held Tristan’s hand as she asked, “Why are you getting so worked up? You told me not to worry

about what others say, didn’t you?”

Well, I bet Jennifer is having a blast right now!

For some reason, Tristan’s anger subsided the moment he heard her voice.

“It’s true that we shouldn’t mind what others say, but I won’t allow anyone to badmouth you on such a

special occasion!”

I have what it takes to protect Sophie, so I will make sure to do so with everything I’ve got!

Ysabelle couldn’t help but admire the treatment Sophie was receiving as she watched from the side.

“Hey, Felix! Isn’t Uncle Tristan just charming?” She liked how Tristan would always take Sophie’s side

no matter what anyone else said.

“Eh, he’s all right! I think I’m a little better than him, though!” As a fellow man, Felix had to admit that

Tristan was very charming when he protected Sophie.

Sophie didn’t come to William’s birthday party empty-handed, but it didn’t seem like William would want

to receive her gift.

“Are you okay, Sophie?” Ysabelle asked worriedly.

No woman would possibly be okay with having their reputation dragged through the mud! There was

nothing Sophie could’ve done about her past!

“I’m fine!” Sophie replied as the butler presented the gift that she had prepared.

William didn’t seem the least bit interested in her gift.

Right as he was about to set it aside, Minerva quickly stepped forward and said out loud, “I wonder

what Ms. Tanner got Old Mr. Lombard!”

“Exactly! Old Mr. Lombard has everything money could buy, so I doubt her gift will be able to impress

him at all! Well, given the Tanner family’s capabilities, we shouldn’t expect much out of her gift!”

someone in the crowd chimed in as well.

“There’s no need to open it. Just put it away!” William ordered.

“Old Mr. Lombard, I think you should at least take a look at her gift. Ms. Tanner would be upset if you let

her efforts go to waste like that!” Jennifer said.

“That’s right! You should take a look at it, Old Mr. Lombard! Who knows? It might just be something out

of this world!” someone said sarcastically.

The look in Tristan’s eyes grew icy-cold when he heard that.

I want to tear all these people a new one, but doing so will only make things worse for Sophie…

Ysabelle walked up to Sophie and took her hand as she said, “Ignore them, Sophie! They’re clearly just

jealous of you!”

Tristan made a mental note of those who made fun of Sophie so he could punish them later on.