All Too Late

However, just as this thought ran through Ashley’s mind, Kathleen coldly stated, “I’ve no interest in

crashing this event or ruining it for you. Furthermore, I didn’t come over to look for you.”

At this, Ashley furrowed her brows and countered, “That may be true, but you’re here for Samuel! Isn’t

that the same?”

Kathleen scoffed lightly before she declared, “Ashley Zeller, if I truly intended to stop your engagement

with Samuel, I didn’t have to go through the trouble of turning up here physically at all. I could simply

have gone over to find him at Florinia Manor.”

This stumped Ashley as she realized that Kathleen did have a point.

Kathleen momentarily swept her gaze across the place and it involuntarily fell upon Luna. The latter

returned the favor with a cold glare.

As they locked eyes, an indescribably cold glint flickered across Kathleen’s eyes.

She marched forward and strode over to take a seat right next to Luna.

Kathleen’s eyes narrowed as she asked, “Is it all right if I sit here? We’re fairly well acquainted after all.”

However, Luna only snorted coldly in reply.

Well acquainted? In your dreams!

Kathleen glanced over at Trevor, who had acted as if the entire situation was none of his business, and

her red lips curled slightly.

Back where she had been left standing alone, Ashley clenched her fists tightly as she fumed over this

new development. She was sure that Kathleen’s presence here would surely affect Samuel later on. As

such, she knew it was imperative that she get rid of Kathleen as soon as possible.

Ashley swiveled about on the spot and looked about anxiously. Finally, she called a bodyguard over

and muttered a series of instructions in a low voice into his ear.

Following that, the bodyguard nodded and strode off, presumably to perform as instructed.

Ashley directed her gaze back toward Kathleen and glared venomously at Kathleen’s back.

At this moment, Samuel suddenly strode in. Ashley let loose a sigh of relief as she daintily threaded her

way over to him and greeted, “Samuel.”

However, he didn’t even bother to look at her. His eyes, sharp as they were, had immediately noticed

Kathleen’s presence and locked onto her.

She’s here!

His handsome and elegant face suddenly took on a darker and more solemn look.

At this, Ashley quietly murmured, “You’re finally here. You’re almost late.”

However, Samuel didn’t pay her any heed and instead made his way over to Kathleen.

He had only arrived this late because he had been waiting for Kathleen to head over to find him.

Despite the entire situation, he held a glimmer of hope that Kathleen would seek him out to stop him

from proceeding with the engagement.

However, she didn’t turn up at all, and he was left with nothing but an overwhelming sense of

disappointment.

As such, he hadn’t expected that Kathleen would make her way here directly, let alone sit calmly at her

seat without so much as a hint of any intent to stop the engagement from proceeding.

Samuel grabbed a chair and sat down.

This left everyone present dumbfounded as they struggled to understand what was unfolding before

their eyes.

After all, despite being the male lead and the star of the show, Samuel had elected to take a seat

among them. If that was the case, that invited the question of exactly who Ashley was engaged with.

Ashley started to feel uncomfortable about the entire situation. She approached Samuel and began,

“Samuel, don’t you think we should…”

“What are you doing here?” asked Samuel coldly all of a sudden as he interrupted Ashley and directed

his question toward Kathleen.

Kathleen knew that Samuel was speaking to her.

“Here to watch the show,” explained Kathleen tersely.

“There are so many other forms of entertainment available in Jadeborough. Did you really have to

come here for that?” demanded Samuel as his eyes filled with rage.

However, this didn’t seem to faze Kathleen. She casually replied, “Whatever’s going on here seems

pretty entertaining. Just look at all the attendees’ faces and their hungry gazes. I simply can’t wait for

them to devour you completely until there’s nothing left of you.”

A hint of fury flashed across Samuel’s eyes and a vein on his forehead started to bulge and throb

fiercely.

Trevor was the first to speak up. He exclaimed, “What do you mean by this, Kathleen? This is not

somewhere that you can do as you please! That’s especially so for today, of all days!”

“Just look at what you’re saying now, Trevor,” remarked Kathleen as she laughed mirthlessly. She

continued, “How can you speak to me this way when I helped you get your hands on Ronald? Given

our close ties, don’t you think you’re being too much of a stranger here?”

Trevor was caught off guard by her comment. He hadn’t expected that Kathleen would actually say

something like that and was worried that Samuel would start to become suspicious of him.

After all, Trevor had already dumped the mess on Kathleen, and it seemed like Samuel had bought the

story.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” mumbled Trevor as he feigned ignorance.

Kathleen chuckled coldly before she explained, “You don’t understand? What a joke! Weren’t you the

one that went around telling everyone that I was the one that paved the way for Ronald to take his

entire team with him over to Hoover Group?”

Trevor frowned deeply in response to her words.

“This is making me really curious. With how you’re behaving right now and pretending like you don’t

know me, it seems like I have nothing to gain from our relationship. If that’s the case, then why should I

continue to help you?” asked Kathleen as she continued to gaze at Trevor. She continued, “Should I do

so just because we’re related by blood? But you never intended to acknowledge our biological

relations, right?”

At this point, Trevor’s face had darkened and become sullen with rage.

Kathleen smirked coldly once more and added, “Why are you keeping quiet, Luna? Didn’t you send a

couple of men to get rid of me just a few days back?”

“Are you really that desperate for us to chase you off the premises?” retorted Luna as she glared at

Kathleen.

Kathleen sneered upon taking in Luna’s words and countered, “Chase me away? I’m here at the

behest of the Macari family. If you kick me out, you’ll only be hurting the Macari family’s reputation and

offending them. I dare you to give it a try!”

At this, Luna’s face turned even uglier and she glanced sideways at Ashley in a bid to prompt her to

take action quickly.

Ashley understood what Luna was hinting at and immediately called some bodyguards over in

preparation to force Kathleen to leave.

Following this development, Yadiel and Rory brought their men over and stood staunchly behind

Kathleen.

Once they had gotten themselves into position, Yadiel sternly declared, “Let’s see who dares to lay a

finger on Dr. Johnson!”

Kathleen narrowed her eyes as she looked at Ashley and said, “Ashley, do you know who Marjory

Garner is?”

Taken by surprise, Ashley paused for a moment as she gave the question some thought. Her

expression was frantic when she finally replied, “I don’t know her.”

“Ah! You’re truly merciless to the core. To think that you’ve forgotten all about her now that you’re done

making use of her,” remarked Kathleen as she rose to her feet. She continued, “Since that’s the case,

let me explain everything.”

She strode over to Ashley’s side and slowly circled her once as she maintained the icy cold smile on

her face. Finally, Kathleen began, “Approximately three months ago, Marjory went to Smealand along

with a group of people. These comprised the students under her charge. After commencing with a full

week of preparation, the day finally came for this group to execute their plan. They hid along the side of

the road before they seized the opportunity to ambush and assault a passing businessman.”

Ashley’s face turned ashen pale as she took in Kathleen’s words.

Kathleen’s cold gaze next fell upon Samuel as she continued her story. “This businessman had only

gone over to help deal with his good friend’s aftermath. Not only did he have a stake in several mining

business ventures in Smealand, but he also managed to maintain a fairly amicable relationship with

some of the local organizations as well. With all that in mind, it wouldn’t be a stretch to claim that a trip

to Smealand for him was analogous to him visiting his very own backyard. He was fully comfortable

and familiar with the working environment. It was for this reason that he elected not to have a full

security detail with him for that particular trip. In the end, this only contributed to his downfall. After he

got assaulted by the group lying in wait, he suffered grievous injuries and was taken away as a result.”