A Wedding Night Gone Terribly Wrong novel Chapter 149

"No."

Without missing a beat, Annie rejected the billionaire and buried her face in Winifred's chest.

The sheer contrast between the innocent little girl and the incredibly powerful man she had just shut down sent the entire table into a fit of laughter.

"I bet this is the first time you've ever been rejected, Mr. Lockwood!" Mrs. Channing joked. "How does it feel?"

Leland just smiled warmly. "The princess is very smart. It's good to be cautious around people you don't know well."

Hearing his gentle response, the little head buried in Winifred's chest shifted slightly. Leland noticed.

He turned and gestured for his assistant. "Fletcher, go buy some nice hair accessories for the princess."

"Right away, sir."

Annie's little hand slowly reached up to touch the rough, yellow rubber band holding her hair in place. It was thick and tugged uncomfortably at her roots. But this man had noticed. He had cared enough to do something about it.

That felt... different.

She slowly lifted her head and peeked over her mother's arm. Her eyes met Leland's.

"Your nickname is Annie, right?" he asked softly, smiling.

"Mhm," Annie mumbled, quickly burying her face in her mother's chest again.

Fletcher returned shortly, carrying five large shopping bags from a high-end boutique, setting them down next to Winifred.

"You bought this many?" Winifred asked, stunned.

The bags were overflowing with every type of beautiful, colorful hair clip, bow, and tie imaginable. It was enough to last Annie until she went to college.

She pulled her mask down, revealing a striking, flawless face.

Mrs. Channing gasped and nudged Winifred's arm. "Oh my god, a celebrity!"

Winifred, who spent her days working herself to the bone to provide for her kids, had zero time for pop culture. She just stared blankly.

Eager to gossip, Mrs. Channing leaned in. "That's Aurora Anson! She's the lead actress in the hit drama Whispers of the Wind, and she's super close with Iris Morgan. It was all over the news today that Orchard TV invited her as a special guest on their new reality show!"

"Oh," Winifred replied flatly.

Birds of a feather. If she was friends with Iris Morgan, she was poison.

Thinking Winifred didn't grasp the magnitude, Mrs. Channing kept going. "It's a massive show. And Iris Morgan is a permanent cast member. You've heard of Iris, right? She's huge right now. Though, honestly, she got ridiculously lucky. She used to be a nobody from Seaport City until Holden Lockwood took a liking to her and poured millions into her career. Overnight, she went from a nobody to a superstar."