“Okay," Bennett replied, gunned the engine, and slowly drove away.

He rolled his black Bentley out of the hotel entrance and disappeared into traffic in just a couple of seconds.

Anthony didn't have the energy to chase after Claudia anymore. Casting one last glance at the general direction Bennett and Claudia went, he lowered his head and made his way back to the banquet hall.

The banquet hall on the second floor was in chaos. Backstage, Kristy was shaking with anxiety, her face bone-white. Sitting on her dressing chair, she kept silent. She held onto her mobile phone like it was a lifeline or something.

The members of both the Nixon and the Murray family had on stern facial expressions. Anthony knocked on the door and muttered, "Sorry. I just had a terrible stomachache."

Hearing Anthony's voice, Kristy looked in his direction.

She pursed her lips and finally held herself up. Suppressing her emotions, she asked, “How are you feeling now?"

“Much better, thanks. I can go through with the engagement ceremony now."

When Anthony said this, his complexion wasn't very good. He indeed looked sickly and weak.

But that gave the Murray family the perfect excuse.

Some of the guests might not buy that Anthony suddenly disappeared because of some stomach issues. However, that was still better than Anthony actually ditching Kristy, so Kristy chose to proceed with the ceremony.

When Kristy and Anthony returned to the banquet hall, most of the guests had already left.

The engagement party was a fiasco. Although things didn't escalate beyond control, those fifteen minutes of confusion would surely be the talk of the town for a while.

The Nixon family and the Murray family later issued an official statement, saying that the delay in Kristy and Anthony's engagement ceremony was caused by Anthony's sudden illness. In the same statement, they thanked everyone who came to the banquet and asked for their forgiveness and understanding.

Of course not many people believed this explanation, but since only a few knew the truth, people just kept gossiping.

When Claudia saw the screenshot Aurora sent her, she couldn't help smirking.

“Such phenomenal liars!" she thought.

“So is it true? That good-for-nothing jerk Anthony tried to break off his engagement with Kristy because of you?" Aurora asked.

"Can we not talk about him anymore? I feel Like I'm getting jinxed," Claudia pleaded.

“Okay, fine. Forget it," Aurora replied.

“I'm on my way to grab a midnight snack," Claudia said.

She kept her guard up at the banquet the entire time, afraid that Kristy would slip something into her food or drink and make her Lose control. She hardly ate anything at the banquet, and not long after she and Bennett left the hotel, her stomach started grumbling.

Claudia's tummy was growling so loudly, she considered jumping out of the moving car just so that Bennett wouldn't hear it.

Then, Bennett brought her to a barbecue house.