Chapter 779 - Wedding day (J&J) (8)

On the resort grounds, people are gathering.

Sounds of chatter and laugh are covering up the low volume soothing background music, and the overall mood is good.

Julia and Heather are standing in the middle of it all with big smiles on their faces. Weeks of their hard work turned out… perfectly.

Everything is well arranged, tables with delectable bite-sized snacks and luxurious drinks look amazing, flowers everywhere, and decorative columns which are separating areas are decorated with ribbons and balloons. Tables for guests to gather around have amazing flower centerpieces which are releasing faint sweet seductive scent. And that is only outside!

The inside of the banquet hall is even more impressive, but that will be open after the wedding ceremony. Right now, guests are enjoying the outdoor space.

Resort staff is skillfully weaving through guests while offering snacks and beverages on large trays, without disturbing anyone.

The whole place screams that it's hosting a sophisticated and elegant wedding!

"Even if the Queen shows up, she will find no faults here.", Julia excitedly whispered to Heather.

"Which Queen?", Heather asked.

"Any! It's that good!", Julia laughed.

…

Elanor and Oscar are seated with Stella and Edward at one table next to the garden area.

They are observing Oscar's and Edward's parents who are happily chatting few tables away.

Stella reminded other three to focus on going over latest updates, because she needs to be somewhere else. "My brother will arrive soon, and I need to give him instructions before he starts talking with people."

"I didn't find any signs that THEY are planning to prevent the wedding.", Edward informed them. He didn't want to mention specifically who 'THEY' is, but everyone present knew that he is talking about Lebedev family.

Stella added: "My men caught two spies who tried to get into the resort grounds on two separate occasions since this morning. THEY maybe don't want to prevent the wedding, but THEY definitely want to know what is happening."

"If THEY are just scouting, why did you capture them?", Oscar asked.

"After their attempt to kidnap Sophia, I will not let them have their way. I will hinder them any way I can. Their action was an act of war. If we don't retaliate, THEY will take that as a sign that we can't fight back, and it will make everything much worse.", Stella resolutely responded.

"Our men are hidden within the guests, and so far, everything looks normal.", Elanor shared her status.

"Did the kids get any of their security in place?", Oscar asked.

Edward shrugged. "How much we know, only some of Jeffrey's men are here. It seems they are keeping their people away from this and relying on us and the drones."

"Did you find out more about these drones?", Oscar pointed up.

Edward proudly smiled. "They are watching, but I don't know more than that. I found traces that Sarah perfected the ones from Sophia's wedding with help from Aiden, Felix and JoAnna. But I can't find the details without alerting them that I'm snooping."

"Our guess is that Aiden helped with coding for modified behavior, Felix did hardware upgrade, while JoAnna… we are not sure about what her role was.", Stella elaborated.

Edward nodded, agreeing with Stella, and added: "For Sophia's wedding, drones had the capability of paralyzing people before they caused a scene, and that was JoAnna's contribution at the time. We have no idea with what she came up this time."

Oscar and Elanor exchanged glances.

"Our kids are amazing!", Elanor exclaimed.

"Of course, they are amazing.", man's voice came from the side.

Elanor turned toward the voice and narrowed her eyes. "Jarred! How NICE to see you!"

"Hey, we are invited. You should treat us well." Jarred grinned and gestured toward himself and his nephew, Charlie.

"We are not interrupting anything, are we?", Charlie asked while they approached the table.

"No, you are not. Please, join us.", Oscar was the polite one compared to Elanor.

…

Not far away, Sophia is talking with Mr. Turner, Madison's father.

"CEO Hill, it's always nice to meet in a casual setting, don't you agree?" Mr. Turner showed his best smile.

"Yes, Mr. Turner." Sophia saw his overly-enthusiastic smile and guessed that he wants something. A favor maybe? She didn't need to wait long to find out what that he is after.

"CEO Hill, there is something I wanted to ask you about." Mr. Turner looked slightly embarrassed.

"Please ask, Mr. Turner." Sophia wanted to be done with it as soon as possible.

"Do you accept interns at this time?"

Sophia didn't find anything wrong with his question, and she is more than happy to talk about her company. "Orion Enterprise takes pride in accepting interns all the time. If they are promising, we will give them a chance. Our programs and benefits are well received and in last year more than 92% of interns decided to apply for full time jobs in our company."

"Good, good. Very good." Mr. Turner was happy with Sophia's attitude. "Do you mind if I forward you the resume of my daughter? She just graduated with a degree in Bachelor of Arts in computer design, and I am trying to make sure she does her internship in a respectable company."

"Sure, no problem, Mr. Turner."

"Excellent!", Mr. Turner pulled his phone and within seconds sent an email with Madison's resume to Sophia.

Sophia was surprised with how fast he did that and wondered if he already had that email saved as a draft. He probably did.

"Thank you, CEO Hill!", he beamed.

Sophia showed her most polite smile. "No, Mr. Turner. Thank you. We always appreciate good referrals. I will look at her resume when I get back to work on Monday and forward it to our Human Resources department for processing."

"Good, good. Thank you…", Mr. Turner smiled widely, obviously pleased with how this all went.

Since he achieved his goal with Sophia, he was glancing around… probably looking for an opportunity to go and talk to someone else. His eyes landed on his daughter. Thinking that if Sophia meets Madison in person it will increase Madison's chances to get that internship. He called Madison to join them.

"CEO Hill, it is my pleasure to introduce you to my daughter, Madison.", he turned to Madison. "Madison, dear, this is CEO Hill. She is CEO of Orion Enterprise, and she just informed me that they are accepting interns. Their headquarters are in Seattle."

Madison forced a smile. "Dad, I thought I told you that I want to be in Los Angeles."

"Los Angeles? We are in the process of opening offices here.", Sophia informed both Madison and Mr. Turner.

Madison was interested. "Where? If it's not a secret."

"We are finalizing negotiations for office space, downtown Los Angeles, nearby Pershing square."

Madison's eyes lit up. "That is close to White corp. HQ!"

Sophia was surprised by Madison's sudden enthusiasm. "Yes, I believe it is. May I know why you are interested in proximity to White corp. HQ?"

Mr. Turner awkwardly cleared his throat. "Ignore her, CEO Hill… she is still young, and her priorities are a bit twisted."

"Twisted? How can you say that my priorities are twisted? I just know what I want." Madison protested.

Sophia was not willing to give up on the topic so easily. "And you want to be close to White corp. HQ, Miss Turner, because…?"

"Because of Aiden White!", Madison proudly declared.

"Madison!", Mr. Turner warned Madison to stop talking.

"Why are you raising your voice, daddy?" Madison felt wronged. "Aiden is not taken. What is the problem in me saying that I'm interested in him?"

Suddenly, pieces fell into place for Sophia: Madison Turner… interested in Aiden… list of women who were taken down by Eve… video from last night… she is one of three women who were acting lewdly in that VIP room!