Chapter 20 Warships


    The wedding was held on the deck of the cruise ship. The guests could enjoy the evening breeze and


    some fine wine before the brilliant night view above. The only thing missing in the eyes of some male


    attendees was a collection of beautiful youngdies to share the intimate experience with…


    This was Oceania''s main selling point.


    As William and the group walked onto the deck, they could spot some immactely dressed men and


    women chatting with each other in small groups.


    All of them were from well-to-do families, and were very difficult to ess on regr asions.


    William sat down in the spot that was reserved for the Fords. Astonishingly, the Fords were given seats


    at the head table, which was normally reserved for close family friends.


    Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org.


    The other attendees were none too happy about the seating arrangement, of course. "Howe they


    get to take center stage? They almost went bankrupt!"


    Caroline nced at her surroundings, her eyes gleaming with excitement. "It''s still early, Mom. Let''s do


    some recon."


    Reba readily agreed.


    "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Caroline," Reba said in a hushed tone. "There are many


    fine young bachelors here. It''d be nice if you could get acquainted with some of them."


    Caroline smiled at her sweetly. "Don''t worry, Mom. I know what to do."


    William snorted. "Says the one who dated aplete scumbag."


    Reba blushed, knowing that William was referring to Raymond. "We all make mistakes, dear," she


    said. "Look at what happened with Leo. You spoke so highly of him back then, yet he ran off on the day


    he was supposed to marry Kate Lawson. And he''s still as useless as ever, after waltzing back into


    town."


    William''s features hardened as he let out another snort.


    "Speaking of that chatan," Reba said, ncing around. "I wonder if he''s left already." Reba


    snickered. "He''s a fool if he thinks someone like him belongs in a ce like this."


    Suddenly, William''s phone rang.


    William''s expression sobered the moment he nced at the caller ID. "Hello, Miss Ward."


    "Hello, Mr. Ford. On behalf of As Beauty, I''d like to propose a few stiptions regarding our


    coboration..."


    "Sure, sure... No problem." William nodded repeatedly.


    "Who was that?" Reba asked.


    William smiled bitterly and said, "Miss Ward from As Beauty. She has made a few requests to us:


    prepare the marketing n for ''Angel'' in three days; find the right actress to endorse the product in half


    a month; and finally, the representative of the Ford family has to be Leo and no one else."


    "What?!" The first two points were reasonable, but Caroline could not ept thest point. "Why?


    Didn''t we agree that this project would be handled by just the three of us?"


    Reba, too, was far from happy with the news "Does that mean I won''t be able to get any


    professional credit for this project?" she thought.


    William said, "There''s nothing we can do, since As has the final say. I''ll talk to Leo about itter and


    ask him to lend us a hand. If I had known about this earlier, I would have brought him here with us. It''s


    all because of you two and your big clumsy mouths!"


    Caroline and Reba paled instantly, feeling a twinge of remorse in their hearts.


    "Oh, is that Peter Lawson?"


    A tall, handsome man walked in and was soon surrounded by many young men and girls like a myriad


    of stars surrounding the moon.


    There were four families in Emerdale referred to locally as "The Big Four"; the Lawson family, the Smith


    family, the Yason family, and the Duncan family. Only the Lawson family was in attendance tonight.


    Peter quickly became the focus of everyone''s attention. Almost everyone present this evening had


    aspirations of making his attendance.


    But to everyone''s surprise, he was arranged to sit at the same table with the Ford family.


    The moment their eyes met, they were all stunned.


    Peter came to his senses first. He narrowed his eyes at William. "What a small world."


    William snorted in response.


    "I believe congrattions are in order? I heard that you guys snatched a bid from us earlier? Very


    nice..." A dark glint formed in Peter''s eyes. "But believe me when I say that this; you can forget about it


    amounting to anything."


    William, Reba, and Caroline were all terrified. None of them had expected their victory at the


    auction to annoy the Lawsons this much.


    Before anyone could respond, music began to y and Victor, the manager of Oceania, stepped onto


    the stage.


    Victor''s gaze swept across the attendees. "Good evening, everyone. I''m honored to host the wedding


    for tonight''s couple. This is certainly a proud moment in my life."


    "The most regretful thing in the world is a missed opportunity for love, and the most memorable thing is


    a happy reunion."


    His speech was improvised. His soft voice echoed with the music to heighten the atmosphere. "Five


    years ago, he met a woman at his lowest point in life and she gave him everything. Five yearster, he


    came back and promised to make her the happiest woman in the world."


    "Now, let''s wee the bride and groom!"


    The music changed into a solemn and sacred wedding march.


    In an instant, there was thunderous apuse in the hall.


    Caroline and Reba pped for the sake of appearances, but both were puzzled by what they had


    just heard.


    "Mom, are you getting the same sense of déjà vu that I am?" Caroline whispered.


    "I am." Reba nodded but she still looked rxed. "But as I see it, Leo must have heard this story


    from somewhere else, and just giarized it."


    "Yeah, you''re probably right." Caroline regained herposure and pped even harder. She thought,


    "I have to befriend the groom tonight."


    At the moment, shes of light went straight ahead.


    In the center of the spotlight, a beautiful, attractive woman slowly walked out.


    She wore a glowing white wedding dress with the hemline trailing on the floor, and a diamond crown on


    her head. She resembled a holy goddess in the flesh in the eyes of the attendees.


    She was holding hand in hand with a delicate little girl.


    The little girl was wearing a Pronovias custom-made children''s dress, a pair of white ballet shoes, and


    a flower gand on her head. She looked absolutely angelic in her appearance.


    It was none other than Lydia and Emilia.


    Lydia looked ahead, but Emilia gazed around curiously with her big eyes. She was not intimidated at


    all, even though this was her first time attending a real wedding.


    At this moment, everyone focused their attention on the two of them.


    "Ms. Henderson! So she''s the lucky woman today!" William widened his eyes and stared at that


    beautiful woman shrouded in shlight.


    Caroline and Reba dropped their jaws as well as if they had seen a ghost.


    Everyone there was apuding except Peter. Veins were bulging on his forehead and his expression


    was aghast.


    Victor smiled and said to Lydia, "Miss Henderson, will you please go to the observation tower? The


    groom is waiting for you up there."


    "Alright." Lydia nodded with a smile. Under the envious gazes of countless youngdies, she walked up


    to the observation tower ordingly.


    Aside from the banquet site, Oceania had an observation tower which stood about 30 feet high.


    Standing there and looking into the distance, one could see the entirety of Emerdale in all its splendor


    at nighttime.


    Lydia arrived at the observation tower via the elevator.


    The floor was covered with a red carpet, which was paved with red roses.


    A tall man decked out in military uniform was standing to attention; his hands sped firmly behind his


    back and his eyes gazing out onto the city.


    Just as Lydia was about to call out Leo''s name, there was a loud bang from Emerdale River.


    Then, under people''s horrified and shocked gazes, a huge aircraft carrier broke through the river and


    sailed toward them.


    The Odyssey suddenly looked as imposing right now as an ant before this giant vessel.


    Before the guests could calm down, they were startled by another loud noise.


    "There''s more than one ship!" someone eximed in fright.


    "Rumble!"


    The Emerdale River seemed to have been overturned from the force of it. The water shook violently as


    50 warships that were each more than 330 feet long surrounded Oceania.


    This group of ships upied the entire river.


    On the warships, there stood a grim regiment of soldiers standing to attention.


    They carried automatic weapons and wore blue-white marine uniforms. Their backs were as straight as


    rods, and their faces were as sharp as cut granite. They stared at the stalwart man who was standing


    at the highest point of Oceania, and awaited his orders.