"What are you doing here?" Lucy was surprised to see Theodore. He was the last person she expected to bump into in such a setting.

He was shocked too. He had attended the banquet as the founder of a media agency and had expected to meet innumerable aristocrats. However, the last person he expected to see was Lucy, who he had not met for years. "I didn't know you were the bride, Lucy." He smirked in response to her reaction upon seeing him.

She frowned in displeasure. "What's wrong with you?"

He huffed. It turned out that the rumors were true. Rumor had it that Lucy Roatta was back and was now the COO of Preston and Fort Group. He had thought it was all nonsense—why would she lower her status so much? But now that he saw her at the same banquet that Zaria was attending, he joined the dots. It turned out, she was merely trying to follow Zaria.

"Stay away from my daughter." He glared at her.

She crossed her arms with a laugh and lowered her voice. "She is my daughter too, in case you didn't know."

"Yes I know that. But in case you didn't know, I have full custody of her." He countered. Luckily, everyone was dancing and no one was paying attention to them. It would be embarrassing to be caught having such an argument with a woman like her.

Lucy found his words ridiculous." She's an adult now, Theodore. She can do whatever she pleases and you have no right to stop her."

"I have every right to protect her from people who will harm her—people like you." He frowned, feeling his fury start to surge. "You are emotionally blackmailing her and she has no idea what she's getting herself into. She doesn't know who you truly are."

"Yes, you're right." She shrugged. "She doesn't know who I really am. But what about you?"

"Dad? Uhm…" Zaria paused when she saw the bizarre situation. She had seen her dad while dancing with Desmond and made her way to him, only to see him locked in an argument with Lucy. What kind of situation was this?

"I understand, Theo. I'll stay far away from her if that's what you want." Lucy walked away from them after speaking.

Theodore facepalmed as he watched her leave. "I can't believe her. I was blind before."

Just like before, she was so beautiful that it was impossible to resist her. However, behind that beauty was a cunning, manipulative soul.

As expected, Zaria was puzzled after hearing the words she said before she left. She pulled Theodore to the balcony and ensured no one was watching before she asked, "Did you ask her to stay away from me?"

"Yes." It was useless to deny it anyway, so he admitted it.

"Why would you do that?" She asked in confusion.

"She's manipulating you, Zaria." He slapped his forehead, picking the subtle anger in her voice. She was mad at him for trying to keep her away from her mother.

"All she wants is to be close to her daughter. I think she has that right, doesn't she?" She scolded.

"You don't know what she is capable of." Was all Theodore could say. It was a long story and he didn't want anyone else overhearing it. "I'm mad at you. Why didn't you tell me that she is stalking you?"

"Because she isn't." Zaria shrugged, frowning at his choice of words. Lucy had not stalked her, and neither had she forced her into anything. She had been close to her out of her own will.

Although Lucy agreed to stay away from Zaria, she was not going to do so just because her ex-husband demanded it. She found Zaria soon after Theodore left. "Zaria, come on. I'll introduce you to some of my business partners."

"Okay." Zaria was glad that she didn't stay away, and followed her back into the banquet hall where the dance had ended.

She led her to the other end where a middle-aged woman was drinking champagne.

"Ms. Roatta, you are here too." The woman beamed when she saw Lucy.

Lucy offered her a smile and pulled Zaria over to introduce them. "This is Martina Scott. We were going to meet her tomorrow but it's great that we met beforehand."

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Scott." Zaria shook her hand.

"The pleasure is mine." Martina beamed before her eyes shifted back to Lucy. "Have you met the bride's family yet?"

"I did."

"You have? Have you met Guillaume Black? I wanted to discuss business with him but he is too scarce." Martina complained.

"Is he? I don't think so." Lucy laughed while darting her eyes at Amanda who was a few steps away from them. Guillaume was beside her and looked like he was going to bite everyone who looked at his beautiful sister—including the groom.

Martina grabbed the chance to go over and say hello.

"Is that Dr. Williams?" Zaria asked about a young woman nearby, who turned when she heard her name. It really was her. She was Kara Williams, the doctor who saved her father's life not too long ago. She walked over with a teenage boy in tow.

"Miss Willaims, Ms. Roatta, we meet again." She greeted them with a smile.

"It's nice to see you again, Dr. Williams. Who is the handsome young lad?" Lucy changed the topic lest Kara say something that might cause her trouble.

"Ashton Qin. Leo's son and the precious gem of the Qin family." Kara introduced the young man proudly. It was more accurate to say that he was her precious gem than that of the Qin family.

The young lad blushed at her words. "Kara exaggerates it. Hello."

"Mother!" A woman's scream resounded from nearby, making everyone look over.

"Amanda!" The mayor rushed over to his wife.

Ashton looked over in horror. "Grandma!"

"Someone shot the bride!" Someone exclaimed as a commotion filled the place. Amanda, who was smiling cheerfully a moment ago, was now in her brother's arms with blood oozing from the left side of her chest. Her family was in panic.

Kara had already rushed over and was taking her pulse.

"Call an ambulance." She instructed, intensifying the panic on everyone's face.

The guests were starting to dart for the exit, only to be stopped by a command. "Everyone stay right where you are! Seal all the exits! No one leaves until the police arrive."

It was Leo Qin, and no one dared to disobey him. It must be because they believed that the culprit was still within the building. He ordered a group of his bodyguards to search the entire building, including the banquet hall.

"Ma'am, are you alright?" Zaria asked Lucy who was beside her. Everyone was in panic, which was understandable after such a thing happened out of the blue. The culprit's gun must have been silenced, which made it even more nerve-wracking. It was impossible when the next bullet would be fired and who it would be for.

"I'm alright." Lucy quickly sent a message for her team to secretly find out who shot Amanda. It seemed like there were more than two missions tonight, it was surprising that they didn't bump into each other. She kept her phone away when she realized that Guillaume was looking at everyone skeptically. They had already taken Amanda away but no one was allowed to move an inch yet.

Zaria craned her neck to look for her father. She hoped he was alright, since she was certain that he was still in the hall somewhere.

She noticed a gaze on her and looked beside her, only to see the young lad who was with Kara a moment ago scrutinizing her.

All the guests were under suspicion but why did it seem like Ashton Qin suspected her too much? He was only a teenager but she was starting to get uncomfortable under his gaze.

"Search her!" He suddenly instructed a female bodyguard while pointing at her.

"What?" Zaria was taken aback.

"Are you out of your mind?" Lucy asked him, equally puzzled by his order.

"He definitely is." Desmond appeared out of the blue and shielded Zaria behind him.

"Why are you all sticking for her? Are you protecting her because you're part of her plot?" The teenager asked Lucy and Desmond accusingly.

"You have to give an explanation before you do such a thing." Desmond demanded. How rude of a teenager to hurl such instructions out of the blue!

"Ashton, step aside. I will explain." A man pulled Ashton aside—Leo Qin.

"You better have a good explanation for your son's behaviour." Desmond was on the verge of exploding in anger. He couldn't stand anyone humiliating Zaria in such a manner.

"I do." Leo frowned at Zaria who was behind Desmond. "Aside from the detectors at the door, there are more detectors placed randomly inside the hall and three of them—including the one on my son's watch—detected a microbomb on her."