After Rebirth, I Accept The Arranged Marriage-Chapter 172: Unseemly

Jessie Sterling was startled, but she quickly calmed her pounding heart.

Because Victor Morgan had taken her hand.

"Don’t be afraid." Victor Morgan’s voice was composed, and somehow, it calmed Jessie Sterling down too.

Just then, the melodious sound of a violin drifted through the air.

A spotlight fell on a young man playing the violin, moving slowly with him as he walked.

Jessie Sterling began to understand what the power outage was about. She tried to pull her hand away from Victor Morgan’s, wanting a better look at the story about to unfold before her.

But Victor Morgan had no intention of letting go. She struggled a couple of times but couldn’t free her hand from his firm grip.

Jessie Sterling: "..."

The violinist had now made his way to a nearby table. He gazed lovingly at his girlfriend, whose eyes were a little red, and then, under everyone’s watchful eyes, he slowly got down on one knee.

A waiter appeared from somewhere behind, pushing a small cart. The cart was covered in vibrant red roses, with tiny twinkling lights nestled among them.

"Will you marry me?"

As the man finished speaking, a diamond ring appeared in his hand. He looked at his girlfriend.

The girl, who was clearly just as surprised by the evening’s events as everyone else, couldn’t hold back her tears when she heard his words. Her already red-rimmed eyes welled up and spilled over as she choked out a hurried, "Yes."

The happy scene of the proposal made the other diners break into applause and cheers.

In an instant, the restaurant was filled with the sounds of congratulations and well wishes.

The lights came back on.

The young man, his proposal successful, was already locked in an emotional kiss with his new fiancée.

A little while later, every table in the cruise ship restaurant received a small dessert, supposedly a small token of compensation from the groom-to-be for the disturbance.

"You knew all along, didn’t you?" Jessie Sterling asked Victor Morgan, snapping back to the present.

Victor Morgan always had bodyguards with him. When they went out shopping or for a meal, the guards would blend into the crowd behind them. For a sudden power outage like that to happen without any of his men rushing forward clearly meant Victor Morgan had arranged things in advance.

Hearing this, Victor Morgan nodded. The customer planning the proposal had coordinated with the restaurant in advance. The restaurant, in turn, had contacted all patrons with reservations—including them—by email and phone to ask for their consent. Only after everyone agreed did they give the groom-to-be the green light.

’Seeing others happy can make you happy, too.’

Jessie Sterling was very pleased with Victor Morgan’s arrangements for the evening. So, when she scooped up a spoonful of Black Forest mousse with her small spoon, she didn’t hesitate to bring it directly to Victor Morgan’s lips.

Victor Morgan: "..."

He instinctively glanced around. After confirming that no one was looking their way, he put on a serious face, opened his mouth, and ate the bite of cake Jessie Sterling had offered him.

’So improper.’

But...

’Oh, well. As long as she’s happy.’

Wendy Lawson was currently feeling that her "good luck" was a bit of a mixed blessing.

She was also at the cruise ship restaurant tonight, having booked a table months in advance. When the restaurant staff had called to ask if she would mind a proposal taking place, involving a "blackout period" of several seconds, Wendy Lawson had agreed almost instantly.

As an internet celebrity in the self-media space, this kind of unexpected material was a godsend—novel, eye-catching for her followers, and perfect for increasing exposure and views.

So, when she went out that evening, Wendy Lawson brought plenty of photography equipment with her.

She had a Fuji camera for its color rendering, a Canon for portraits, and even a film camera—she was thoroughly prepared.

Combined with the restaurant’s ambiance, Wendy Lawson felt that even without her assistant, she could take plenty of beautiful photos by herself.

And in fact, the scene had played out just as she’d imagined. Wendy Lawson had already taken many photos during the stranger’s proposal.

When the lights came back on, Wendy Lawson didn’t even think about eating. Instead, she immediately started browsing through the pictures she and her assistant had just taken.

The lighting and atmosphere were captured perfectly, and very few photos were out of focus. Wendy Lawson was very satisfied.

But then, as she was scrolling, her eyes were inadvertently drawn to a couple in the corner of one of the photos.

A truly handsome man and beautiful woman are the kind of people you spot instantly in a crowd. In any group photo, even strangers will notice them first.

Victor Morgan and Jessie Sterling were clearly that kind of couple.

They weren’t the main subjects, but once they were in the frame, it was hard for any viewer to ignore them.

Wendy Lawson was about to chalk it up as a pleasant surprise, but on closer inspection, she suddenly found the East Asian face in the black evening gown very familiar.

The slightly blurry photos she had stared at for so long last year suddenly flashed through her mind.

Wendy Lawson: "..."

’I think I know who I just took a picture of...’

For them to land in her lens so coincidentally every time... for a moment, Wendy Lawson didn’t know whether to celebrate her good luck or lament her bad luck.

After all, every time Jessie Sterling appeared in a photo, she looked absolutely stunning.

If she posted photos like these online, they would probably attract a new wave of traffic. But after what happened last time, Wendy Lawson didn’t have the nerve.

"Hello, excuse me, are you Miss Sterling?"

Just as Jessie Sterling was tilting her head to look at the night view outside the window, a woman’s voice came from above her.

She looked up, a little surprised to see the person standing before her.

"Hello," Jessie Sterling nodded. "And you are...?"

She had almost no impression of Wendy Lawson; the woman’s face was completely unfamiliar to her.

Victor Morgan’s gaze also fell on Wendy Lawson, tinged with scrutiny.

Wendy Lawson took the initiative to introduce herself. "I’m Wendy Lawson. I’m not sure if you remember me, Miss Sterling, but at the fashion show in New York last year, I accidentally took your picture..."

Hearing this, Jessie Sterling let out a small "Ah!" and looked at Wendy Lawson with surprise. "It was you!"

Clearly, she now remembered who the other woman was.

Wendy Lawson nodded. "I also received an invitation to the fashion show the day after tomorrow, so I came to Paris as well."

Understanding dawned on Jessie Sterling, but she didn’t respond to that part of the conversation, wondering why the woman had approached her now.

Wendy Lawson took out her phone. She had already imported the photos from her camera and held it out for Jessie Sterling to see.

"I was photographing the newly engaged couple just now and happened to notice that you and President Morgan were in the shot as well..." As Wendy Lawson spoke, her gaze shifted between Jessie Sterling’s and Victor Morgan’s faces.

’I just happened to capture them by accident, it’s not like I was taking candids.’

When she saw the expression on the stern-looking man darken at that moment, Wendy Lawson’s heart tightened.

In truth, the safest course of action upon capturing Jessie Sterling and Victor Morgan would have been to delete or crop the photos they appeared in, thereby avoiding any potential conflict. But she harbored other ideas, which was why she had taken the initiative to approach them and try her luck.

After all, Wendy Lawson felt she was quite skilled when it came to portrait photography.

Even if she couldn’t compare to internationally renowned photographers, her photos were still quite presentable within her own circle.

Victor Morgan’s current glare suddenly reminded Wendy Lawson of the two months she had spent consumed by fear. Her heart was in her throat, and she wondered if she had just made a terrible mistake.

Just as Wendy Lawson was about to say she would delete the photos, Jessie Sterling, who was sitting across from her, suddenly spoke.