Even though it was just a pre-birthday celebration, Reuben and Ingrid put in so much effort for everyone. There were so many foods and drinks to choose from as if it was really the day of the event.
At first, Cayenne thought that only her family and Jillyanna's came to this party. However, one after another, more people came who were her father's business partners and some of Ingrid's friends.
It turned out that some of their invited guests couldn't find time to join the party tomorrow, but they have time today, so Reuben and Ingrid decided to invite them to come over.
Jay's first birthday became a two-day celebration.
Some of the guests were interested in meeting Cayenne for the first time as Reuben's only daughter. Some of them even thought that she would most likely get a huge share of Reuben's business as the only daughter. They had no idea that Cayenne had already received such a gift from her father on her wedding day.
Unfortunately, she couldn't accept such a huge gift knowing that she never contributed to her father's business and she didn't want Ingrid's family to hate her even more once they know about the gift. So, she returned the documents to her father after her honeymoon phase with Stefan.
After debating for quite some time with her father, the 15% share became 1%, and that was the only time that Cayenne agreed to accept the gift. One percent of revenue every year was already too much for an ordinary woman like her.
"You have grown into a fine lady," commented one of her father's business partners. "Stefan is truly deserving of having a wife like you," he added which made Stefan happy. If the man said that she was deserving of Stefan, Cayenne could not even imagine the consequences of his words. Thankfully, he didn't.
"My wife is the best," Stefan said and even kissed Cayenne's temple in front of them. "I wouldn't become magnanimous if not because of her."
"Well, I honestly wanted to say that you were magnanimous in the first place, but I guess your wife just intensified that side of you."
"You bet. She's my compass and I always believe that with her guidance, I will be standing in a great place," Stefan answered causing other women around to feel a little bit envious.
They also married successful men, but they weren't as sweet as him, and it was because they were married out of convenience. They didn't have the freedom to marry anyone they love like Stefan.
As they continued to chat, their conversation shifted to many different topics and not long after, Cayenne decided to excuse herself so she could spend time with other women and not involve herself in business talks.
Cayenne was unfamiliar with most of the guests, so she went over to Jillyanna who was chatting with other women. In that way, she would be able to associate herself with other people and won't feel out of place since Jill was there.
"Good thing that you are here with us," Jillyanna said while pulling Cayenne to sit next to her. "I'd like you to meet Mrs. Santos and Mrs. Nadera, by the way," she said while waving her hands to each woman respectively. "They're Ingrid's friends."
"Auntie Ingrid's friends?" Cayenne responded with an awkward smile on her face. She was unsure what to do in front of these two women. "Hi. I'm Cayenne. Nice meeting you."
It was Mrs. Santos who accepted Cayenne's hand first and gave it a gentle shake. "The pleasure is mine. Don't feel nervous. We won't eat you."
Cayenne's gift was a rare blue jade bangle which was considered very expensive depending on the carat, but Cayenne's gift didn't state how much the carat was. She took out the small piece of jewelry and put it on her brother's left wrist. "I wish you a happy birthday, good health, and a long life."
Unexpectedly, Jahzara threw a soft rubber ball toward her mother and her little uncle. Everyone saw what she did, but instead of Jay crying because his foot was hit by the soft rubber ball, Jahzara beat him to it.
She cried so hard and started throwing things. Even when Cayenne wanted to pick her up, she refused and wriggled in her mommy's arms. It was only when Stefan came to the rescue that the little princess stopped her tantrum.
*
MINI THEATER
"Happy birthday, my dearest little brother," Cayenne greeted cheerfully when Ingrid handed Jay to her.
Amidst the noisy chatters from many guests, the triplets still heard their mother's voice and they both turned in her direction.
They saw another little guy perching in their mother's arms who looked so happy while Cayenne put on the jade bracelet for him. Their mother was delighted, too. She even kissed the little guy's cheek after putting the bangle on his wrist.
"I don't want to see that child ever again! I'm protesting!" Jahzara told her brothers and threw a soft rubber ball toward her mother and the little boy.
"Cry!" Aziel told his sister. "If he cries first, Mom will be upset, so you have to cry first."
Thus, Jahzara cried so hard and started throwing things.
When Cayenne picked her up, Aziel told her to move around and throw a tantrum. She only stopped when Stefan came to hold her and coax her.
"She will grow spoiled because of you," Zeki told her older brother while flipping the pages of the veggies and fruits book. "You are teaching her to do bad things."
Hearing her brother's words, saying that she was doing something bad, Jahzara started crying again. She didn't want to be a bad girl, but Zeki said she was.
In the end, Stefan had to bring her outside the house and roam around the place just to make her forget about the incident inside.
"Were you jealous?" Stefan asked his child even though Jahzara couldn't answer him properly. "Mommy was bad, right? She was holding another baby instead of you. Don't worry, I will punish Mommy when we get home."
Cayenne had no idea that she did something wrong. After all, it was perfectly natural for her to hold Jay, her little brother.