After Divorce I Married a Tycoon-Chapter 55: Going Crazy with Jealousy

Silas Rowan’s words left not only Cynthia Sinclair stunned once again.

Even Rose Gable and Julian Mercer were left speechless.

"Young Master Rowan, what... what do you mean by that?"

Rose Gable asked, her voice trembling.

Silas Rowan spared her a cool glance before speaking.

"Miss Claire Mercer is my mother’s honored guest."

"And yet, you’ve been keeping my mother’s honored guest outside, doing everything you can to stop her from attending my mother’s birthday banquet."

"I imagine my mother would rather not see any of you."

His words caused an uproar. The group exchanged glances in utter disbelief.

Julian Mercer was the first to come to his senses. Voice trembling, he asked in a groveling tone:

"Young Master Rowan, you... you’re saying... Claire Mercer is your mother’s honored guest?"

Judith Caldwell was the first to cry out in protest.

"How is that possible?"

"She’s definitely never even met Mrs. Rowan. How could she possibly be her honored guest?"

Rose Gable also chimed in cautiously, forcing an apologetic smile. "That’s right, Young Master Rowan. Are you sure you haven’t made a mistake?"

Growing impatient with their questions, Silas Rowan’s thick brows furrowed as he shot back coldly,

"Are you questioning me?"

They all flinched in fright.

’How could they possibly dare to question him?’

"Of course not, of course not! Young Master Rowan, how would we dare question you?"

It was just that...

They simply couldn’t bring themselves to believe that Claire Mercer was an honored guest of Mrs. Rowan.

This was especially true for Rose Gable.

’She’s the wife of the Sinclair family’s eldest son! Isn’t her status far nobler than Claire Mercer’s?’

’Even she had never had the chance to get acquainted with Mrs. Rowan.’

’How could Claire Mercer, the adopted daughter of a fallen family, possibly have the chance to become Mrs. Rowan’s honored guest?’

’No matter how she thought about it, it seemed utterly impossible.’

The group was shocked and bewildered, but more than anything, they were jealous.

The parade of expressions on their faces was quite a spectacle.

’If Claire Mercer is really Mrs. Rowan’s honored guest, doesn’t that mean she’s about to hit the jackpot?’

’Good heavens, in Rhonia’s high society, countless wives and daughters of prominent families were desperate to get on Mrs. Rowan’s good side.’

’But Mrs. Rowan had always been famously low-key and rather mysterious.’

’Even trying to orchestrate a "chance" encounter with her was next to impossible.’

’So how did this Claire Mercer...?’

The more they thought about it, the more resentful they became.

But Rose Gable and her companions weren’t the only ones who were shocked and bewildered.

Even Claire Mercer herself was stunned.

’As far as she could recall, she had never met Mrs. Rowan.’

’So why was Silas Rowan claiming she was Mrs. Rowan’s honored guest?’

’What on earth was going on?’

’What part of this did she miss?’

She looked at Adrian Sutton in a daze.

Her eyes were full of questions for him.

Adrian Sutton gave her a meaningful look in return.

She didn’t understand it.

’Maybe Silas Rowan was just saying this as a favor to Adrian Sutton?’

’Was it just to boost her status?’

’That had to be it.’

’After all, Adrian Sutton had said Silas Rowan would give her a hand with the divorce.’

’If she became Mrs. Rowan’s honored guest, establishing a connection with the Rowan Family, then the Sinclair Family wouldn’t dare to cross them...’

’...and they wouldn’t dare to keep fighting her on the divorce.’

With that thought, it all clicked for Claire Mercer.

Her suddenly becoming Mrs. Rowan’s "honored guest" now made perfect sense.

Seeing that she had figured out the underlying reason, Adrian Sutton shot her an appreciative glance.

’That’s my Claire,’ he thought.

Meanwhile, Silas Rowan’s gaze swept coldly over the others.

He then turned to Claire Mercer and said with great friendliness,

"My apologies, Miss Mercer. I didn’t realize such an unpleasant incident would occur."

"If I had known you’d run into this kind of trouble, I would have come out to greet you personally."

Although she knew Silas Rowan was just putting on an act,

his attitude still left Claire Mercer feeling rather flattered.

’I never expected the great Young Master of the Rowan Family to be such a convincing actor.’

She returned his gesture with a grateful, polite smile.

"You’re too kind, Mr. Rowan."

Silas Rowan shot a look at Adrian Sutton.

It was as if he were asking,

’How was that?’

’Did I give your future wife enough face?’

Adrian Sutton gave an almost imperceptible nod.

He returned the look with one of approval.

’Well done.’

’That’s how you should treat your future cousin-in-law—with respect and courtesy.’

Silas Rowan’s expression froze for a second.

Then he turned to Claire Mercer and said, "Miss Mercer, right this way."

Claire Mercer nodded and stepped toward the banquet hall.

Adrian Sutton and Silas Rowan followed her.

With the two men, both over six feet tall, walking behind her, it almost looked like she was being escorted by bodyguards.

The sight nearly drove Cynthia Sinclair and Scarlett Jewel mad with jealousy.

Seeing Silas Rowan about to get away, Julian Mercer quickly rushed forward and called out to him.

"Rowan..."

Silas Rowan was internally seething with impatience.

However, his good manners compelled him to stop.

"Is there something else, Mr. Mercer?"

Julian Mercer had just finished psyching himself up.

’This banquet is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.’

’If they can’t get in this time, they’ll have even less hope of attending a Rowan Family banquet in the future.’

He immediately plastered on a smile, one full of fawning servility.

"It’s just that... we didn’t realize Claire was an honored guest of your esteemed mother."

"We thought she had gotten a fake invitation from somewhere."

"The only reason we stopped her was because we were worried she would cause trouble and offend you."

"Do you think... you could give us a chance?"

"Besides, don’t you and Scarlett know each other?"

At this, Silas Rowan’s frown deepened.

"It seems Miss Jewel still hasn’t made things clear to you?"

"Huh?" Julian Mercer was confused. "Made what clear?"

’Could there be some secret entanglement between my precious daughter and Young Master Rowan?’

He looked at his precious daughter, questioning her with his eyes.

But he saw her expression was a little awkward, and her eyes were evasive.

’How could she possibly bring herself to talk about something so humiliating?’

’Besides, it’s all in the past. There’s no need to bring it up again, right?’

Seeing her reaction, Silas Rowan knew she found the topic difficult to broach.

He couldn’t be bothered to rehash the past either.

’Humiliating!’

’So vexing!’

He turned to Claire Mercer and asked, "Miss Mercer, your adoptive father and the others still wish to attend the banquet."

"According to your wishes, should we let them in? Or..."

Before Silas could even finish his question, Julian Mercer rushed to Claire Mercer’s side.

He leaned in close to her ear, his voice a mix of coaxing and threats.

"Claire, we truly misunderstood you just now. Father apologizes."

"You know the Mercer Family desperately needs connections right now, and this is a rare opportunity."

"Considering the Mercer Family raised you all these years, you wouldn’t ruin your father’s chances, would you?"

"And if word gets out that you had the Rowan Family bar us from entry over such a trivial matter, it wouldn’t be good for your reputation."

Claire was sick and tired of him using the fact that they raised her to guilt-trip her.

’The Mercer Family may have raised her, but had she not given anything back to them?’

’All these years, whenever Oscar Mercer needed a transfusion, whose blood did they take? Hers.’

’It was no exaggeration to say that at least half the blood in Oscar’s veins was hers.’

’The debt for raising her should have been paid in full by now, shouldn’t it?’