Chapter 651: Chapter 651: You Have Seen It All
Cindy Clarke didn’t mince her attitude about flaunting her status due to her connections anymore, her association with Adrian Zhekova was no longer a secret and she wasn’t trying to keep it one.
She felt a little sorry for the folks in Pingla Academy and apologized to them, “Sorry for the ruckus tonight, we better get going.”
Cynthia Florine and others were quite understanding, Parker Honi replied, “It’s alright. We were planning to leave after receiving the awards anyway.”
Yannick O’Brian, Daniel Vahn, and Aiden Huxley had already received their awards, Aiden asserted, “We were waiting here just to head back to the Academy together.”
Cindy nodded in agreement and said, “Okay, then… I won’t wait for you.”
“That’s fine.” Jasmine Hudson quickly responded.
After bidding them farewell, Cindy and Adrian left.
Without speaking a word to Edward Lopez or Wendy Clarke.
Or even acknowledging their presence.
Seeing this, Wendy hastily followed them outside.
“Cindy!” Wendy called out while trying to grab her arm.
But with Adrian involved, how could he let her touch Cindy?
Adrian promptly pulled Cindy away, leaving Wendy to grab at thin air.
Instantly changing her tactic, Wendy attempted to seize Adrian’s arm.
But Adrian easily sidestepped her, successfully evading her grasp.
He glanced disdainfully at the spot where Wendy had almost touched him, relieved she hadn’t.
It wasn’t tainted.
Wendy paused briefly and then said, “Cindy, mom and dad are here in Belfard. You should take the time to visit them.”
Cindy merely nodded, non-committal.
Observing this, Wendy added, “Cindy, I want to talk privately with you.”
Cindy raised an eyebrow and retorted, “But I don’t have anything to say to you.”
Wendy took a deep breath. With Adrian around, she was uncomfortable saying many things.
However, Edward Lopez had given her Cindy’s mobile number, she could text her later. She resigned to not hurry the process, lest she angered Adrian and took the fall herself.
Upon some contemplation Wendy made her move, “When did you get married?”
“Quite some time ago,” Cindy replied, aligning with the prior pretext Adrian heralded about their secret marriage.
“Quite some time! When exactly?” Wendy’s questions did not let up.
“We should get going,” Adrian prompted from the side.
Once Adrian spoke up, Wendy was hesitant to continue.
Watching as Adrian and Cindy turned to leave, she muttered obstinately, “Cindy, shouldn’t you notify your family about your marriage? As your maternal family, we were entirely in the dark about your marriage and only found out today. Isn’t this inappropriate?”
She was curious to see how Cindy would answer this.
They couldn’t just cut ties with their family right there and then, could they?
“I instructed her not to reveal it.” Unexpectedly, Adrian, not Cindy, answered first.
Wendy was taken aback and looked at Adrian in astonishment.
Cindy also didn’t expect Adrian to reply as he did, but she managed to stifle her surprise, acting as though she had known all along.
Only she could sense how Adrian had squeezed her hand when he spoke, a signal to Cindy.
Cindy, consequently, was even more determined to keep her expression in check.
Adrian continued, “You’re well aware of your family’s situation, aren’t you? Just an ordinary household, your parents aren’t even marketable. It’s a blessing for Cindy to have married into the Zhekova Family.”
“Accepting her into our family was our biggest concession, we absolutely won’t have any involvement with her maternal family. We don’t want to get attached to such an ordinary household or give any benefits to you.”
“Therefore, ever since Cindy married into the family, she has been under the Zhekova Family’s supervision. She can’t contact her maternal family. Even though we happened to meet today, it doesn’t mean you can associate yourselves with our family. Our prestigious Zhekova Family is beyond the reach of ordinary households like yours. From now on, don’t go about claiming to be our in-laws because we find that disgraceful.”
“If I ever hear equivalent claims about being from Clarke family and having ties with the Zhekova family, don’t blame me for being rude.”
Adrian’s response was ruthless yet Wendy found it, strangely enough, to be somewhat normal.
Cindy marrying into the Zhekova Family was an abnormal occurrence, only when the Clarke Family was scorned by the Zhekovas did it seem reasonable.
Although this meant that everyone from the Clarke Family, including her, were scorned by the Zhekova Family.
Nevertheless, Wendy perceived it to be a consolation. From this perspective, Cindy’s status in the Zhekova Family was precarious, not as wonderful as how others envisioned it.
Wendy then questioned Cindy, “Cindy, to get married into the Zhekova Family and enjoy all the wealth and honor, have you forsaken your own family? Don’t you recognize your parents or your sister anymore?”
Cindy, who seemed fearful of Adrian, shrank back and hesitated before silently shaking her head. “I had no idea it would come to this,” she said, her voice feeble, “Adrian didn’t say anything else but hurriedly dragged me away.”
Wendy pondered for a moment and decided not to follow her or stop her.
She just watched as Cindy and Adrian got into the car and drove away.
With her gaze downcast, Wendy fell deep in thought, too engrossed in her own world to acknowledge that Edward Lopez had emerged.
Edward Lopez had just arrived by her side.
“Didn’t I embarrass myself in front of Adrian tonight?” Edward suddenly uttered in a cold tone.
Startled, Wendy quickly regained her composure and turned to stare at Edward.
Regardless of how appalling Edward appeared to Adrian, Wendy knew better than to oppose him.
Edward turned, his grim expression and cold complexion making him unapproachable. Suddenly, he muttered with a cold laugh, “You saw everything tonight; how disgraceful I was.”
A chill ran down Wendy’s spine, so intense that she shivered, and she replied, “Young Master Lopez, why would you ever think that?”
Wendy failed to find any good excuses to reassure Edward, though.
She realized what had transpired. Wendy had borne witness to Edward’s humiliation, and it was highly unlikely he would still be interested in her afterwards. Who would want to be with a woman who had seen all their embarrassing moments?
Just being with Wendy would remind Edward of his disgraceful encounter.
Edward, who was used to female adoration and flattery, would never stand for such humiliation.
Wendy never anticipated her plan to woo Edward would fail at this juncture.
She had taken advantage of tonight’s occasion to meet Cindy, to apply some pressure and make Cindy anxious.
If possible, she’d even like to intimidate Cindy. However, she realized she hadn’t seriously affected Cindy tonight. On the contrary, she faced significant losses.