Chapter 15 

Clad in a sheath dress, Elsa stood at the entrance of Platinum Corporation. Not only was she charming and alluring, but many paparazzi also took pictures of her and assumed that she was a new rising star.

Even the security guard thought Elsa was a celebrity and were cautious not to stop her. She went all the way up to the President’s office, chancing upon Pearl walking out when she was just about to knock on the door and enter.

Pearl was going to pour tea for Darryl at that time. The moment she opened the door and saw Elsa, she immediately ejected the latter from the building after knowing that she was sent by the Lyndon family.

Was there anyone who did not know who Elsa was? As a renowned beauty in Donghai City, she had many suitors and always rejected them. On that day, however, she was the one who experienced rejection, and she felt lingering displeasure.

The old lady was beyond anxious when she learned of what happened.

----

The next day, at the Lyndon family villa.

It was Grandmother Lyndon's birthday and the atmosphere was lively in the villa.

Family members rushed back regardless of where they were and news of Grandmother Lyndon's 70th birthday also made its rounds throughout Donghai City.

It was only natural to invite plenty of people to her 70th birthday. Although the Lyndon family was a second-rate family, there were still quite a number of people who were invited to the birthday banquet.

A fleet of cars was seen parked outside the Lyndon family villa.

In front of a Land Rover stood Lily and Samantha, who were both looking impatiently at their watches.

Very soon, they saw an electric bike driving over slowly. Once the vehicle stopped, Darryl hurried over.

"There was a traffic jam. It was a bad traffic jam," Darryl explained breathlessly.

‘Damn it!’ Pearl was supposed to drive him there, but the traffic was far too congested! After being stuck for more than an hour on the viaduct, he promptly took out the electric bike from the trunk and rode it over as the banquet was about to start soon.

As it were, the Lyndons were a prominent family, prompting many guests to look over and begin laughing when they saw someone riding an electric bike.

"Look, isn’t that Darryl? The Lyndons’ live-in son-in-law."

"You bet it's him! Haha!"

"Such a prick. He’s lucky to get married to a beauty like Lily!"

"Haha, you don't know anything. I heard that this kid had been sleeping on the floor even though he lived with Lily for three years. Haha!"

Several juniors from the White family gathered together to gossip. The Whites and the Lyndons have maintained good relations for generations and were linked through several marriages. They thus had intimate knowledge of the Lyndon family.

Lily felt a little embarrassed after hearing those loud discussions. She said to Darryl, "Could you park the bike a bit farther next time? Didn't you notice that there are plenty of guests here?"

"Oh."

Darryl nodded indifferently.

Samantha was infuriated to see his attitude. It was such an important day, yet he still wore some street stall clothes? How could he be so shameless?

"Have you prepared Grandma’s present?" Lily asked in a low voice.

"Yes." Darryl chuckled and took out a very shabby-looking wooden box.

"You!" Lily stomped after seeing the box. "What kind of gift is this? It’s Granny's seventieth birthday today. You can’t just give her some junk!"

"It's not junk," Darryl responded succinctly.

Not junk? That box was practically broken. Unable to hold it any longer, Samantha pointed at Darryl to curse at him, only to be interrupted by a voice.

"Calling all the Lyndon family children to wish Grandma a happy birthday!"

As soon as the person finished their words, hundreds of people from the Lyndon family swarmed into the villa.

Samantha glared at Darryl. She suppressed her intention of scolding him and hurried in.

At that moment, the guests were already seated inside the villa.

The old lady was dressed in a very festive manner. She sat on the main seat and looked incredibly jubilant.

"President Sohn of the Skybrook Group, please come forward and offer your birthday wishes!" The host held a microphone and called out.

A middle-aged man walked up. He was Albert Sohn, who was worth hundreds of millions and had a very good relationship with the old lady.

He was followed by his female secretary, who held a big box in her hand.

"Haha, may you have a blessed birthday and a long life, Grandma Lyndon!" Albert laughed and opened the box.

Gasps were heard from all around!

It was a Cloisonné from the Qing Dynasty!

Cloisonné, also known as cloisonné enamel, possessed a noble history. The vase in front of her looked like it was from the Qianlong period. At first glance, it appeared to be a premium item with a value that was probably no less than one million!

Such respect! A million-dollar birthday gift!

"Alright, alright, President Sohn, please have a seat. You don't need to spend so much next time. My heart will always remember you. Thank you, President Sohn!" The old lady was so happy that she nodded repeatedly and could not even close her mouth.

As everyone knew, Grandmother Lyndon liked antiques and she loved the gift!

After that, all the other gifts looked much plainer in comparison.

It was not until William appeared that everyone in the audience paid full attention.

Everyone heard that William would present a momentous gift for Grandmother Lyndon's birthday. After all, he was her favorite!

William held a box, then tucked his hair before walking to the center and bowing to Grandmother Lyndon.

"Grandma, I, William Lyndon, hereby wish you a long and prosperous life!" William grinned.

No one cared about what he said. Their sole focus was the box in his hand.

The box was not that big, but it was entirely green and was crafted from the highest-quality jade!

So luxurious! A gift box made of pure jade!

William gave a lengthy speech before he finally got to the point and snapped his fingers.

The lights within that initially bright room immediately went out. The curtains were also drawn and the room plunged into complete darkness.

The crowd was becoming restless when William assured, "Don't panic, everyone. My gift to Granny requires the light to be switched off."

As he said that, he opened the jade box swiftly, eliciting gasps of awe!

There was a fist-sized night-shining pearl inside the jade box! When the night-shining pearl made its appearance, it did not shine as bright as day, but it was at least as bright as eight or nine candles.

Just how much would this huge piece of night-shining pearl cost?

Probably upward of two million!

"Okay, okay, okay!" The old lady laughed. "William, Grandma didn't pamper you in vain!"

Everyone joined in the applause. His gift was nothing short of spectacular.

Such a huge night-shining pearl was a rarity in Donghai City!

At that juncture, however, Darryl unwittingly chuckled out loud.

‘Haha, is William trying to be funny?’ Others might not have the eye for it, but Darryl could see that the night-shining pearl was worth no more than 10,000 bucks. It was obviously synthetic.

Was there any treasure that Darryl never came across growing up in the Darby family? The office of the family company’s general manager had a fist-sized night-shining pearl too.

That pearl cost more than two million. Although it was not expensive, money alone could not buy it.

Natural night-shining pearls had always been regarded as priceless. In ancient times, it was only emperors and empresses who could own such pearls.

Since the demand for it was high, some devious individuals used chemicals to artificially fuse the smaller pearls together to make it big.

Synthetic night-shining pearls were easy to spot, they were glued in the middle.

The traces of glue in William’s night-shining pearl were too obvious!

"What are you laughing at?" At that moment, William jumped out and yelled at Darryl.

For a brief moment, all eyes were on Darryl.

"Sorry, I couldn’t control myself." Darryl covered his mouth. "Your pearl is just so fake."

"You, what the hell are you talking about!" William blushed and shouted.

He knew that the night-shining pearl was fake, but no one from the Lyndon family had ever seen one before. Therefore, no one present could tell the genuine product from the counterfeit one. Darryl’s comment that it was fake only served to increase William’s anxieties.

"Quit your nonsense, Darryl."

Lily nudged Darryl lightly.

Darryl would be made a victim if he provoked William.

Sure enough, William sneered, "You’re a live-in son-in-law. You only get two hundred bucks daily for your pocket money. Understandably, you wouldn’t know what a night-shining pearl is. I won’t argue with you, but I’m curious to see what gift you’ll be giving Grandma!"

William had secretly glanced over and seen Darryl holding a broken box in his hand. ‘Haha! The box is so shabby that it's worthless!’

Darryl did not speak either, but he really could not control himself from laughing.

On one side, Samantha gritted her teeth angrily before looking at Darryl and warned, "Get out of here if you don't stop laughing!"