Chapter 254 Proper Introduction
Yuliana turned away and regained her composure, but she did not look back.
However, Christopher saw this and his face darkened. He stared at Yuliana stonily for a moment, then left to look
for Raymond and Leonard.
Sensing that something might have happened between Yuliana and Christopher, Xandria asked the former, “Did
you and Christopher get into a fight?”
Stumped, Yuliana looked up to meet Xandria’s imploring gaze before answering hesitantly, “No.”
It had been a while since she last quarreled with Christopher.
During their early days, quarreling was almost a daily activity for them, if not second nature. But, as time went on
and they got to know each other, they couldn’t seem to find the drive to pick fights with each other anymore.
To be fair, Christopher treated her decently enough. He certainly never abandoned his responsibilities and fooled
around aside. He even took care of the household and Rowan during his free time.
In any case, he was a good husband; better than Yuliana expected.
Alas, human nature was such that one simply would not be satisfied with what one had, and high expectations
would only lead to greater disappointments.
Dinner began shortly after.
Christopher returned to escort Yuliana to dinner. They were seated at the same table as Xandria and Raymond.
There were other familiar faces at the table as well, and being younger than Christopher and Raymond, they
greeted the two men politely.
Given their similarity in age, the group got along well.
Christopher was a man of few words, but he seemed particularly quiet this evening. Normally, when he was among
friends, he wouldn’t mind voicing his thoughts during a conversation that was on a topic of interest, and he would
appear more laid-back as well.
However, he kept to himself the entire evening, and if Raymond had not initiated small talk with him, he would not
have uttered a single word at all.
All the more concerning was the stormy look on his face,
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtThat being said, he was still an attentive partner to Yuliana, and he made sure to taste every dish before he gave
her helpings.
When the others at the table noticed Christopher’s considerate gesture, one of them teased, “The award for
Husband of the Year goes to Chris!”
Yuliana had just set her spoon down after taking a sip of her soup when she heard this. She looked up at the person
who spoke and saw that it was a young man in his twenties. He seemed like the childish sort.
Christopher glanced at Yuliana, then at the young man. “Be quiet when you eat.”
The young man who had spoken earlier was Emmett Fuller, Leonard’s younger cousin. More accurately, they were
distant cousins, but Emmett had always been close to Leonard and would stick to the latter like glue when they
were children. That was how Raymond and Christopher got to know him as well.
Presently, Emmett grinned. “Oh, come on, Chris, are you shy? You were never this sweet with the other girls
before!”
“Oh?” Xandria chimed in jokingly, “How many girlfriends did Chris have?”
Emmett’s expression froze when he heard this, and his gaze flickered past Yuliana. Flustered, he quickly added,
“Uh, maybe I was exaggerating. There was Annabelle, for sure, but they were abroad and…”
His voice gradually died down halfway through the sentence, for he dared not continue speaking. Christopher was
staring at him now, and while his gaze was not threatening in any way, Emmett knew better than to push the man’s
limits.
As such, he cleared his throat and went on eating in silence.
Xandria, on the other hand, grew anxious at the mention of Annabelle’s name. She glanced at Yuliana only to see
that the girl was perfectly composed, her expression as placid as ever.
Raymond immediately changed the subject. “By the way, Chris, when will we get to meet your son?” Christopher
looked at him with a raised brow. “Why would I let you meet my son?”
Taken aback by this, Raymond pressed, “Can’t I meet him as your friend?”
Christopher replied bluntly, “No.”
Raymond was rendered speechless.
Meanwhile, Emmett was simmering in guilt. When he heard the others at the table moving on to a different topic,
he looked up and sneaked a glance at Yuliana.
He was staying abroad for a while before this, and he happened to be in the same place as Christopher and
Annabelle. At the time, the only woman Christopher was close with was Annabelle, and those two had a rather
strange dynamic between them, too.
Emmett would later ask Leonard about this, but instead of getting a straight answer, he got an earful from Leonard
asking him to stay out of others’ business and focus on his academics.
Halfway through dinner, Yuliana excused herself and went to the restroom.
Raymond watched as Yuliana left and took her seat next to Christopher. He clinked his wine glass against
Christopher’s and asked, “Did you and Ms. Livingstone get into a fight?”
Christopher didn’t answer him and merely raised his own glass to take a sip of wine.
Raymond didn’t need Christopher’s answer to see through the situation at hand completely. “Chris, the both of you
are married with a child now. Can’t you just move past this fight?”
Christopher eyed him frostily and retorted, “Do I have to move past this just because we’re married and have a son
together?”
There were plenty of couples out there who filed for divorce after spending decades together.
Christopher looked grim as the thought crossed his mind, and he tightened his grip on the stem of his wine glass.
Raymond shook his head in mild exasperation and clicked his tongue. “Stop being so melodramatic. At this rate,
you’ll only end up pissing her off and losing her.”
Having said that, Raymond took his wine glass and returned to his own seat.
While this was happening, Yuliana was coming out of the restroom. She was making her way down from one end of
the corridor toward the banquet hall when she saw a figure standing by the window around the corner. The man
was speaking on the phone and had his face turned to the glass.
Yuliana’s gaze lingered on the man for a moment, but just as she was about to walk away, the man suddenly
glanced in her direction.
Their eyes met.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmFinding herself with no choice other than to acknowledge him, Yuliana stopped in her tracks and smiled politely at
the man.
“I’ll talk to you later,” the man said to the person on the other line and hung up. Then, he sauntered up to Yuliana
and stopped just two feet away from her.
He smiled and said, “So, we meet again.”
“Yes, what a coincidence,” Yuliana replied.
He laughed. “Well, it’s not really a coincidence. The company I work at has business relations with Solace
Corporation and Baleygr Corporation; I’m just attending this banquet on my company’s behalf.”
Yuliana nodded pensively at this and said, “I see.”
The man smiled again and offered Yuliana a handshake. “I’m Oliver Solace.”
Surprised, Yuliana repeated, “Solace?”
Oliver raised a brow. “I know. What are the chances, right? Unfortunately, my last name is about the only thing I
share with the Solace family in Juxshire. I couldn’t hope to compete with the Solace family’s reputation.”
She snapped out of her bewilderment and only then shook his hand. “I’m Yuliana.”
Even as she shook Oliver’s hand, she couldn’t help but feel a little unsettled. She looked at him and guessed he was
in his thirties, but Yuliana couldn’t be sure of his exact age.
The first time she met him, she thought he bore some resemblance to Christopher.
“Is Oliver really not related to the Solace family?” she wondered to herself.
Then again, Zachary and Winnie were so tight-knit that it was hard to imagine the former fooling around outside of
his marriage and siring illegitimate children.
“Mr. Ziegler!”
Yuliana was still in deep thought when she heard Oliver call out to someone.
She followed his gaze and saw Harry walking toward them from the direction of the restroom. Harry saw Oliver
first, and only then did he notice Yuliana. At the sight of her, he stopped in his tracks and slowly turned to Oliver.
He addressed Oliver formally. “Mr. Solace.”
Thinking this was a good time to interject, Yuliana said, “Excuse me, Mr. Solace, but I’ll be returning to the banquet
hall now. Have a nice evening.”
Oliver smiled and nodded.
Just as Yuliana was about to leave, Harry suddenly pulled her to a stop.