“Oh, I bumped into someone familiar and decided to have a chat with her,” Lacey replied.
“Zeke, is everything all right?”
Nodding his head, Zeke assured her, “Yes, everything is fine.”
The sexy woman that Lacey was conversing with butted in. “Lacey, who is this? Aren't you going to introduce us?”
Apologetically, Lacey quickly gestured to Zeke. “Josephine, this is my husband, Zeke. Zeke, this is my neighbor in Rivermouth, Josephine. However, she married a man in Corleon two years ago, and we haven't seen each other since.”
Out of courtesy, Zeke stretched out his hand and greeted, “Nice to meet you.”
Yet, Josephine ignored Zeke's hand. She scrutinized him from head to toe and gave him a disgusted look.
It made Zeke feel slightly awkward.
Josephine probed, “Lacey, what does your husband do? How many assets does he own?”
“I don't run a business and do not have many assets,” Zeke answered.
All he wanted to do then was get rid of her as soon as possible. Thus, he gave her a short answer to end the conversation.
Indeed, there were no assets under his name.
However, the assets his apprentices owned all over Eurasia could make up roughly ten percent of the country's GDP.
To his dismay, his response only fuelled Josephine's arrogance. Giving him a scornful look, she scoffed, “So you work for others. Lacey, I have to say that your standards have dropped. You used to be the popular girl in our town and could do so much better. Why would you pick a husband who has to work for others?”
Hearing that, Lacey tried to explain, “Josephine, you got it wrong. Zeke doesn't work for others—”
“If he doesn't work for others, I guess he is a farmer then. Lacey, I told you that you could do better!” Josephine cut her sentence midway.
Although Lacey wanted to clarify things, Zeke stopped her. “Lacey, let's go over to pray. It's getting late.”
“Oh, I didn't know you came here to pray, Lacey. You should have told me earlier because I could lead you and Missy there,” Josephine interrupted once again.
“No, it's okay. I'll go there with Zeke.” Lacey rejected the offer.
Looking offended, Josephine stated, “What do you know? If you go by yourself, you will have to squeeze with the rest of the people. You will barely get a glimpse of the temple too. But if you follow me, you can get a VIP seat at the temple to pray. It will be most effective.”
Despite the convincing argument, Lacey still wanted to reject her. “But—”
Before she completed her sentence, Josephine had already pulled Lacey's arm and whisked her away.
“No 'buts'! Besides, I have a small favor to ask of you. My boyfriend is also in the VIP area. Could you assess him for me to see if he is reliable?”
Without a choice, Lacey gave a shrug in Zeke's direction.
Zeke was speechless as well.
Josephine is rather peculiar. If I'm not wrong, she just wants to show off what she has to Lacey.
With Missy in his arms, Zeke followed the two woman.
Josephine Nolan was the manager there.
As such, she could move through the crowd smoothly to enter the VIP area.
This area, specially designed for high-ranking officials, could house up to fifty people.
Not only was it spacious, but one could sit down and enjoy snacks and drinks for free too.
It was worlds apart from the situation outside, where people had to squeeze with one another.
With that said, those seats had long been reserved by others.
Even Josephine did not have a seat, and the security guards eventually stopped her.
“Miss, I'm sorry, but you are not allowed to sit here without a seat card.”
Arrogantly, Josephine scoffed, “My husband is Charles. His father is the head of the Ministry of Sacred, the organizer, and the originator of this fair. Therefore, I have every right to take any seat here. I can't believe you even asked me for a seat card.”
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