"How old are you?” Lue asked, her smile widening.


    She''d heard about what happened with the Wilcox family from Juniper. The girl had walked away from a fortune without a second thought, which took guts. A worthy cousin for Juniper, Lue decided. She liked her.


    “Almost eighteen,” J replied, a bit shy under the gaze of this charming stranger.


    "Just a baby sister," Lue purred, extending a hand. Her smile was decidedly roguish. “Hello, I''m Lue Langley. You can call me... Lue.”


    Melvin''s expression soured. He strode over and cut their conversation short. "J, can you help me with something?"


    "Of course." J stood up immediately, gave Lue a polite nod, and hurried after Melvin.


    As they walked away, Melvin kept looking back, his cold eyes locked on Lue with a clear warning.


    Lue narrowed her eyes, quickly piecing it together.


    Tsk. It runs in the family. They all have a taste for younger women.


    Lue raised an eyebrow knowingly, and as she turned away, her gaze identally met Jimmie''s. The smiles vanished from both their faces, reced by unconcealed disdain. The animosity was mutual.


    Juniper, who had been snacking on pistachios, shifted her attention from Melvin and J to Jimmie and Lue. Was it her imagination, or was there something strange going on between those two as well?


    At seven o''clock, the birthday party officially began. Shanley never celebrated his birthday, but he''d made an exception this year as a pretense for his confession.


    "Shanley, go on, make a wish,” Kurt prompted with a knowing look after Shanley had said a few words. "They say wishes made on your birthday are the most powerful."


    Shanley had promised him a card with a staggering number of zeros on it if he sessfully helped him win over Juniper. Kurt was determined to earn it.


    The three brothers knew Shanley''s real agenda and sat back, ready for the show.


    Shanley''s lips curved into a smile, his eyes fixed on Juniper. But before he could respond, Juniper spoke up. "Who says that?"


    The question hung in the air, and the smiles on the faces of Shanley, Kurt, and Juniper''s three brothers all froze.


    "Uh..." The line was something Kurt hadpletely made up. He never imagined Juniper would ask such a specific question.


    "Some wise old sage, I think," he improvised poorly.


    “Oh?” Juniper tilted her head, her gaze strangely intense, as if she wasn''t joking. "Wise old sages celebrate birthdays?"


    Kurt was speechless, his face flushing with embarrassment. Damn it. Juniper was derailing his entire n.


    Shanley found her earnest


    questioning utterly adorable. She


    wasn''t trying to sabotage the


    moment; she was genuinely curious.


    Couldn''t Kurt havee up with a more logical lie?


    "Just make your three wishes,” Jimmie interjected, unable to watch the train wreck


    any longer. "You can only say one of them out loud."


    “Right.” Shanley closed his eyes for a


    few seconds. When he opened


    them, his gaze was locked on Juniper. "Before I make my third wish, I have something I want to give to Juniper."


    Lue and J instinctively looked at Juniper.


    On cue, Felton and Flint entered, carrying tworge safes. Insidey documents detailing all of Shanley''s assets, including his shares in the Schwartz Group-a fortune of


    incalcble value. On the very top, a document titled "Property Transfer n" was impossible to miss.


    Juniper nced at the contents, popped a piece of candy into her mouth, and narrowed her eyes.


    Tsk. She had a feeling she knew what Shanley was about to do.