Secret Scion

In all the households, there would always be one amongst the younger generation that was

favored by their seniors. For example, Garrett from the Schmidts, Asher from the Crawfords, and Sebastian from the Macquoids. Alistair already rushed out even before he had finished his

sentence.

When Jeremiah saw what happened, he shook his head and faked disappointment, saying, "I wonder if Grandpa would treat me just as well as he treats my brother. For my grandpa to personally greet him... I'm so envious."

Selena could not help but smile and say, "You could leave for a few years too."

"Well... Let's not go there. With my brother's ability, he'll always be the cream of the crop no matter where he goes. I'm different, though. If I go out just like this, I might end up dead in the gutter somewhere," Jeremiah said with a bitter smile. At least he knew his own limits. When she heard his response, Selena could not help but blurt out a laugh. She then seemed to have remembered something as she asked, "Jeremiah, I heard that you and Griffin got into a scuffle? But I think I saw him here today. He's a guest today, so don't start any trouble with him." "Now that you mentioned it, you've just reminded me of how mad I was. Last time, Griffin crashed my car in front of everyone! He didn't show an ounce of respect to me. Oh, right. There's also that bastard, Asher..." When he reached that juncture, Jeremiah then asked in a whisper, "Aunt Selena, do you still hate Asher? Now that Sebastian is back, I'll have him avenge you." When Selena heard that, her expression changed, and she said, "Why are you talking about that, Jeremiah? Stop talking about it. Pretend nothing like that had ever happened."

Jeremiah could suddenly feel chills in his bones. He quickly nodded and said nothing else. Afterward, Selena quickly chased after Alistair. Meanwhile, Juliette could not help but ask, "Jeremiah, what did you say to her? Why did she look so angry?"

"Well, it's all Asher's fault." Jeremiah suddenly changed the topic and said, "Don't ask anything you're not supposed to."

At the gate of the household, a young man wearing a casual outfit exited the car. Seth and everyone else quickly approached him to greet him.

At this time, Rose was standing right behind the crowd. Her eyes were locked on Sebastian's face. It had been a few years, and Sebastian still had the same pretty face as he had in the past. A face that was prettier than any woman's. He still wore the same smile on his face, a faint smile that carried absolute confidence. It was as if everything was under his control, and he was surrounded by the aura only someone from a high social standing would have.

Very quickly, Sebastian then saw Rose from the crowd. He slowly walked over with a faint smile on his face. "Long time no see. How are you?"

Alistair's courtyard, half an hour later.

As there were simply too many people, they had no choice but to move the seats to the courtyard. Even then, Rose and the others had no place to sit. Alistair then had the butler take the youths from the households to the living room to take a breather first.

Alistair did not expect that there would be so many guests here today. However, he knew that this was not simply because of the Macquoids' social status in Alexandrius. Most importantly, it was because of Sebastian himself. No one could surpass his social standing in this circle.

As the patriarch of the Macquoids and Sebastian's grandpa, Alistair was very happy that there was someone as excellent as Sebastian in the household. With Sebastian being present, the Macquoids would prosper for the next few decades at least.

"Aunt Selena, I heard that you were promoted again. Congratulations." Sebastian looked at Selena. While they were of similar age, their seniority was different. Even Sebastian had to call her

aunt.

They had merely not seen each other for a few years, but his aunt had become even more attractive. Every single step she took was full of elegance.

"You know what they say. Male: Sebastian, Female: Rose. Just based on this alone, I can't be compared to you," Selena said. As their eyes met, Selena shifted her gaze and then said with a smile, "You should be staying for a while, right? Spend more time with your brother and in-law, as well as Alistair. Everyone has missed you a lot since you haven't been back for a few years." Sebastian nodded and said, "I'm not in a rush this time. I don't know when I'll leave again either. At the very least, I can stay for a month or two. I feel bad for not coming back the past few years too."

Sebastian's mother, Iris, looked at him lovingly and said, "Don't say that, Sebastian. We can understand that you wish to put more emphasis in your work. Meanwhile, you must have suffered a lot since you've been alone out there."

"You're thinking too much, Mom. With my master around, I haven't suffered much at all," Sebastian said.

The Macquoids had prepared a feast in preparation for Sebastian's return. When it was time for lunch, five tables were set up in the space in the middle of the garden. Once Rose, Griffin and the others had taken their seats, the tables were all fully seated.

After they had eaten and drunk, only then did Sebastian walk over to Griffin and the others with a wine glass in his hand.

When they saw Sebastian approaching them with a smile, Savannah and the others quickly stood up. Only Griffin was still sitting down. Sebastian glanced at Griffin. He was not mad at all, instead, he said with an apologetic smile, "Griffin, I heard that Jeremiah angered you earlier on. Jeremiah is one of the younger ones in the family, so we have been lax toward him. I hope that you can forgive him. I'll use this chance to apologize on his behalf. Cheers."

With that, Sebastian gracefully finished the drink in his hand.

What Sebastian did was basically show plenty of respect to Griffin. Even if Griffin was still angry,

he could not unleash it upon him. He had no choice but to stand up and say, "Don't worry about it. I'm not someone that petty."

With that, he too finished his drink.

"That's for the best. While Alexandrius can be a large city, it's not really that big. We always see the same people in our social circle. Everyone here is a reputable scion of Alexandrius. If we can unite and work together, it will be best for Alexandrius. It will also bring us more benefit and no harm," Sebastian said with a smile. "I've spoken a little too much. Everyone being here today is already showing me a lot of respect. Don't leave after lunch. I'll be the host later in the evening, and we should go and have a gathering. I've missed all of you so much the past few years." No one would dare reject Sebastian's invitation.

Everyone drank while they had their meal other than Rose.

Due to her busy work schedule, Selena had to leave after lunch. Sebastian, Rose and the others said their goodbyes at the gate. After Selena had left, Rose then said, "Ms. Selena has already managed to reach such height despite her youth... Her accomplishment will no doubt surpass Mr. Horton's."

Sebastian nodded and said, "Everyone can see how capable she is. Perhaps others believe that she only managed to get this far thanks to Mr. Horton paving the way for her, but it can't be further from the truth. All everyone can see is what a great life she has, but they never see the amount of hard work she puts in. That's the society we live in. The end justifies the means. No one cares about the process. I heard from Jeremiah that Asher has been having quite the life. I haven't seen him for a long time... He's still the same, huh?"

Rose shook his head. "A lot has changed. He's in trouble."

"Yes. Jeremiah told me about it too. While Asher can be quite arrogant, he has a bottom line. I think this must be a trap." Sebastian smiled thoughtfully. "Seems like I've missed a lot of interesting things when I wasn't around. Luckily, it seems like I've caught up just in time. If I'm late for just a few more years, there's nothing in Alexandrius for me anymore, haha." Rose felt like Sebastian wanted to say something. After some hesitation, she then said, "Everyone wants to reach for greater heights. The same goes for the households. I believe that the Macquoids might have some misunderstanding regarding this with us Schmidts. The Schmidts only want to establish ourselves... Perhaps, it's better to say that we want to develop in the long run. We don't want to become enemies with the Macquoids, not to mention that the Schmidts have no such ability. However, there have been people spreading rumors saying that the Schmidts want to replace the Macquoids. It's obviously done to ruin our relationship." Sebastian lit up a cigarette and said, "I believe that my grandpa knows what's going on, so don't worry. Oh, right. Is Asher still after you?"

Rose's face blushed a little, and she shook her head. "That was two years ago."

"To be honest, I do admire him. He dares to dream and dares to work toward that dream. Most importantly, he could always get it done successfully. It's alright, let's not talk about him. I've asked Jeremiah to book a hotel. If you have time this evening, let's go out and have another gathering."

"Sure." Rose nodded with a smile. Maybe because they had not met with each other for a long time, even when Rose was walking by Sebastian's side, Rose did not have that familiar or relaxed feeling she had in the past. It was like the two of them were intentionally playing pretend.