Chapter 1005 Eightieth Birthday (Part One)

Holding Steven's hand, Lucia asked him with concern, "Are you feeling better? I mean, look at you. You're sick, but you're still helping me when you should rest."

Her sweet words brought a sense of closeness that kept everyone wondering if they were in an intimate relationship.

"I feel much better now. Don't worry about me," Steven reassured Lucia.

His eyes then fell on Carla. She noticed that indeed his face seemed a bit pale.

"Mom, let's go inside,"

Carla quickly said to Andrea in an effort to avoid eye contact with Steven.

"Let's go."

Andrea nodded as she breathed a sigh of relief. She was more at ease now that she saw how intimate Steven and Lucia were.

A hint of sorrow flashed through Steven's eyes while he watched them go. But as soon as they were gone, he cleared his throat and pulled his hand away from Lucia's grip.

"Let's go inside." Steven echoed Carla's words.

Lucia agreed with a nod. Almost all guests had arrived by then.

"Let's go, Mom," she told Dorothy.

Dorothy, however, barely heard her daughter before she absentmindedly followed close behind. She was somewhat uneasy after seeing Andrea. Maybe the things that she had done so many years ago still weighed on her conscience.

--

Inside, Carla couldn't believe her eyes.

The Phoenix Palace was surrounded by all kinds of people. Yet they weren't randomly placed. The lowest rows were designated for the commoners while the upper rows were reserved for those who belonged to the highest social spheres.

Layer by layer, the rows ascended all the way to the ceiling.

As the Phoenix Palace was built on the top of a mountain, opposite to where Carla stood, she could see a semicircle area swarming with people. It was a spectacular vision.

"Mom, are Grandma's birthday parties always like this? This is so magnificent,"

Carla commented in awe, unable to take her eyes from the crowd inside the Phoenix Palace. 'This may be the greatest honor and respect the matriarch can get, ' she thought.

"Yes. The matriarch is the soul of the entire Yu Clan and of Yu Sea City. The management and protection that she provides is the reason behind the prosperity of entire generations.

Your gran

in advance for not being able to congratulate you in person. But... She has also requested that I would bring the birthday present she's got for you!"

Arthur concluded with his head bowed with uttermost respect.

Eleanor glanced at Arthur sitting beside her.

He nodded, proud of Carla's cleverness.

"Since Callie and Andrea's gift is already here, let's see it!"

Arthur stood up and removed the cloth that covered an oil painting. "Eleanor, Callie herself painted it.

She told me she didn't have anything special to give you, so she decided to do something on her own to show her love and appreciation."

Arthur stroked his beard as he admired the result.

He had deemed Callie was too confident about her talents, but now he realized that she wasn't exaggerating.

No wonder Steven admired her so much.

"Really? Did she really paint this?"

Eleanor analyzed the portrait. It indeed held an undeniable resemblance to her. Although she already possessed many paintings of herself, none of them had been drawn by one from the family before.

Lucia also looked at the portrait and then at Steven, who was standing beside her quietly.

"Yes, her foster father was very fond of painting, so she must have learned those from him," Arthur told her with a smile before requesting his assistant to bring one more thing to them.

"Eleanor, this one... Callie had found it for Andrea and is now giving it to you in Andrea's name,"

Arthur said sternly.