the two-faced Adopted Girl Who Melted CEO's Ice-Cold Heart
Chapter 251: The Most Distinguished Socialite of Nanyang Sparks Heated Discussions

Chapter 251: Chapter 251: The Most Distinguished Socialite of Nanyang Sparks Heated Discussions

The incident at the Ancestral Hall of a Hundred Families passed without danger. Following it, Griffith Squire hosted a grand banquet, inviting social elites, formally establishing himself as a member of the South Sea aristocracy.

At the same time, the usually low-profile Cloud Family suddenly sent out invitations to the Leclair Estate, announcing a birthday banquet for their eldest daughter, Melody Cloud, who was turning twenty-two.

In name, it was a birthday banquet, but in reality, it was an announcement—Melody, who had been studying at Cambridge, had completed her education and officially returned to reenter the South Sea socialite circle.

The news stirred excitement among the younger generation of aristocrats.

The South Sea elite rankings began to shift, and even some titles from years past were reassigned. A prestigious magazine reintroduced the "Four Young Lords of the South Sea": Griffith Squire, Sylvester Cloud, Jocelyn Yeager, and Nathan Leclair, who was still in the United States.

Ignatius Leclair’s influence and status far surpassed the Four Young Lords; it was unshakable.

As for the title of the First Socialite of the South Sea, it sparked some heated debate. The Leclair Estate’s eminence was unmatched, and Bessie Leclair was the clear choice for the title. However, in recent years, her only leverage was the Leclair Family’s power. With the emergence of the coldly stunning Leah Squire of the Squire Family, alongside the return of Melody Cloud, the most celebrated talent of the Cloud Family, Bessie’s position as the First Socialite seemed precarious.

Delphine paid little heed to these trivialities. It wasn’t until Leah, after receiving an interview request from a mainstream magazine, came to complain to her that she heard about this gossip.

Leah’s voice was coy and exasperated over the phone: "They’re planning to hold some sort of First Socialite competition and say this interview could boost my popularity and help with the voting. Good heavens, when did I ever agree to participate in this nonsense?"

Delphine was reading a script at the time. Hearing this, she chuckled. All of them carried their share of unsavory histories. The Squire siblings lived on the edge, rarely making public appearances and outright refusing interviews.

If the Squire siblings ever graced the covers of mainstream magazines, it would be a slap in the face to their enemies. What’s more, Leah was breathtakingly beautiful—a fact that had sparked numerous bold claims from unsavory individuals vowing to steal her away. If her presence in the South Sea became widely known, chaos would undoubtedly ensue.

"Then just refuse," Delphine advised, agreeing that Leah should maintain a low profile. Delphine herself was even more low-key, living in semi-obscurity as an actress.

"I’ll definitely pass on the interview," Leah lowered her voice, "but I must attend the Cloud Family’s birthday banquet. They say Melody is a Cambridge-educated genius, and she seems to have quite the ambiguous relationship with Ignatius Leclair." She added slyly, "I’ll help you size her up. Let’s just hope she’s not as dull as Bessie. That would be no fun at all."

Delphine fell silent for a moment. Ignatius clearly treated Melody differently from others. All men admired beauty and talent, and Melody, being both a celebrated intellectual and a stunning beauty, was particularly captivating. Delphine couldn’t help but think back to how her own reputation had been tarnished by scandal right after she finished high school, leaving her name in ruins and ruining any chance for further education. Her lips curved into a self-deprecating smile—truly a world divided by clouds and dirt.

In the past two days, Ignatius had been visibly tense. It wasn’t until he saw Richard Shaw off back to the Imperial City that he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

When the man returned to the Leclair Estate, he searched for Delphine and eventually found her in the courtyard pavilion.

Lazy sunlight spilled over the garden, where vines and wisteria flourished, casting a canopy of green. The pavilion was covered in vibrant wisteria blossoms. Under the shade of a wisteria tree, Delphine had set up a soft chaise lounge. She reclined on it, sipping tea and reading a script, serene and at ease.

Ignatius approached her and bent down to pull the script gently from her hands, flipping through it absentmindedly.

Delphine looked up, caught off guard by his breathtakingly handsome face. Her breath hitched slightly.