With the way the music was playing, I didn't even realize that a few vehicles had strolled in—and more seemed to be coming at the moment and much later—though the ones who had just walked into the main hall were a family of four followed by a 3-man group that seemed to be their security detail.
And if it wasn't already obvious, they all looked to be a little tense—even more when Sal approached them and offered her greetings.
But yeah, Sal didn't need to display the reinforcements she had to these people at this very moment though she quickly walked them over to Elsa and Mauro who were having a pretty nice and sweet chat by themselves.
We could barely hear what they were talking about earlier but seeing Mauro's facial expression change when they were disturbed was enough for this poor family and their bodyguards to shake on their boots.
However, it didn't stop there when I saw them making their way towards me and Edith—and to my surprise, Edith locked arms with me and caressed my face before attempting to give me a peck on the lips which was interrupted by Sal and this family arriving at the most inopportune moment.
'I guess we'll be improvising a lot this time...'
Sal cleared her throat before smiling at us two then turning to the family she came with, "Mr. and Mrs. Vidal, this here is our guest of honor, Mr. Ishiyama. He's one of our— one of the newest family heads in existence and one of the most ruthless businessmen I've butt heads with.
Don't let his appearance fool you though, those guards of yours would've been useful guarding your home instead of following you around..."
As soon as she said that, the Vidal Family's guards were definitely ticked off but the head of the family dryly chuckled as he waved them off:
"Funny as always, Sal... I did hear of a new family head in the grapevine and it's so nice to finally meet you. I'm George Vidal, this is my wife Cindy, my eldest Erica, and my youngest, Gregory..."
I faintly nodded as I smiled and offered a handshake, "Pleasure to meet you all... I would've apologized for this party's very~ late notice but I suppose the Vidal Family were not only quick on their feet but also punctual to be the first ones here and appear well-dressed as everybody present..."
"Haha... It might seem so but we are pretty late and we could've dressed more appropriately for such an occasion..."
I chuckled, "Just from me visiting? C'mon, you probably have something going on at your household and you were caught off-guard by this invitation and had to rush here."
"A-Ah— That's—"
"For that, I apologize... sincerely..."
"T-That's not a problem at all... There's no need for an apology since all we wish for all our families is a harmonious relationship with everyone."
Sal cut in with a smug face, "Harmonious, eh? You're funny too, George... Anyway, let's leave these two— Oh! If you want, you can let your daughter chat with people her age for the time being as I introduce you to everyone and little Gregory here could have a juice or a snack prepared by Edith here... They're really good! You should try them too!"
"A-Alright..."
At this point, a few more guests had arrived and Sal made sure to introduce them as much as she could though on our side of things, Erica was awkwardly sipping on her glass of wine as we tried to maintain a casual conversation.
Erica shook her head, "I-It didn't end there exactly... Since Madam Rivas knew of the problem, she asked us and all the other landowners for help—even though she knew we were stealing from her, and the deal was partial to future ownership of the land that's right next to ours in exchange for a generous cut of 70-30 favoring us for the produce we harvested from her land."
I couldn't believe my ears, "Are you serious? That's a fucking steal—"
Erica never looked more apologetic and afraid, "I-I'm sorry, I had no power—"
"It's not your fault though, don't worry..."
Edith added as she nodded at my statement, "In the future, the land Aunt Sal will have left will just be the walled areas around this estate and everything else will belong to our neighbors or the dead... It gave Auntie plenty of problems because we couldn't do much because we lost most of our workforce and took our land with them... And if we tried negotiating, they'll either ask for more or just destroy what they've worked on for years... It's really sad it came to that..."
"Came to what?"
"Y-You know... violence... it's not like we only brought laborers over, right? They've exhausted all the options and it's come to that... You see, having enough is not enough... It's supposed to but they've taken more than a mile from the inch—no, inches Aunt gave them..."
"..."
Edith continued, "B-But you see, Aunt Sal did nothing of that sort to the families around us... only to our past workers that refused to apologize and go back to where things were... With that said, this party is to... you know... to bridge the gap and communicate once more so we'd get back to—"
Then Erica almost dropped down to her knees as she started crying.
But since the main hall was starting to get crowded and as the chatter and music were overpowering almost everything, no one noticed this young woman bawling her eyes out and asking for forgiveness for something she didn't even do.
However, as much as Edith and I tried to stop her from making a ruckus, she couldn't stop the tears from flowing so we brought her over to one of the empty balconies and closed the glass doors behind us.
It was then that she broke down to her knees crying, begging Edith to forgive her parents' transgressions:
"P-Please L-Lady Edith... I-I beg you, d-don't h-hurt us a-and G-Gregory... M-My l-little brother, I-I'll do anything you ask— A-Anything! A-As long as y-you don't h-hurt him a-and—"
"Erica!" Edith exclaimed as tears were also forming in her eyes.
"I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY—"
"Erica! Listen! I'm not— We're not here to hurt you, alright?! I promise you! We won't do such a thing!"
"B-But the i-invitations! T-The invitations! T-They're— I saw! T-They're— T-The invitations a-are—"
"What invitations?" Edith and I asked at the same time.