After hesitating all afternoon, feeling lost and dispirited, she was finally coaxed out by Kay Forrest in the evening.
Kay said that her relatives were just too terrifying.
Instead of staying here and exchanging silly grins with them, it would be better to meet some young people.
He was dressed in a burgundy suit he had bought that morning, while she wore the beige dress he had bought for her.
Even without makeup, in this small town of Rongford, she still looked quite pretty.
Rongford wasn’t all that large, and the place they were going for the class reunion was in the new district over there.
Kay had been to the new district before, which held no particular appeal to him.
In his eyes, it was just a new type of urban-rural fringe area.
The reunion venue was called a bar, but in reality, it was just an ordinary restaurant.
In his eyes, a bar should only contain fine wine and beauties.
But this bar here... really left him speechless.
They were coming from the old town and set off a bit late, so by the time they arrived, more than twenty classmates had already started eating.
There were a few others who hadn’t arrived yet, saying they were going to be late due to overtime work.
Jane Quinlan’s sudden appearance instantly quieted the lively hall.
Everybody was surprised to find that Jane had changed, no longer the same as before.
After not seeing her for six or seven years since high school graduation, the once plain country bumpkin had also been slightly touched by the elegance of the big city.
As soon as Adriana Golden saw Jane, she put down her wine glass and rushed over.
"Jane," she gave Jane a big hug, which even Jane found awkward.
After all these years, Adriana was still the same social butterfly.
"Wow, haven’t seen you in six years, are you trying to ascend to heaven or what, you look stunning."
Kay’s mouth corner twitched slightly. Stunning? Was there something wrong with his eyes?
Jane looked sideways at Kay, knowing he must be mocking her. She pursed her lips and said to Adriana: "You’re the only one who flatters me, I know what I look like."
"No, really, you look so much lovelier and classier, and this hair... oh my, has the tomboy reformed?"
Jane bit her lip, contemplating whether to cover Adriana’s mouth with her hand.
"Tomboy?" Kay turned his head to look at her.
Jane gritted her teeth: "Can you just not interrupt?"
Adriana sneakily glanced at Kay and asked Jane in a mysterious tone: "Hey, is this your boyfriend? He’s so handsome."
"Handsome? Just average."
Kay extended his hand towards Adriana and nodded: "Hello, Kay Forrest."
Adriana opened her mouth wide in awe, hastily extending her hand in embarrassment: "Hello, I’m Adriana Golden, I used to be Jane’s deskmate."
Kay pressed his lips together, smiled without saying a word.
Adriana pulled Jane into the crowd: "Come on, old classmates, our Princess Jane Quinlan’s back."
There was a chorus of cheers from the crowd, but Kay noticed that a few people didn’t react at all.
Adriana said: "This is Jane’s boyfriend."
Kay smiled faintly and greeted everyone, and they were both pulled into the crowd to eat together.
They had barely taken a few bites when a man and a woman made their way behind Jane with wine glasses in hand.
Jane had actually felt their presence in her periphery all along, but she pretended not to notice.
She didn’t want to attend the reunion to avoid such awkward encounters.
But these two were always good at causing her distress.
The woman stood behind her and said: "Jane."
Jane turned around with a smile. With so many people here, she had no need to confront the other party.
After all, it had been so many years since the matter.
"What’s up, Savannah?" She remained seated while the other stood.
"Well... Rowan and I wanted to come toast to you," Savannah said.
Jane turned back, picked up her glass, and stood up: "Sure."
Rowan Golden had his eyes fixed on Jane’s glass the whole time, never once looking at her face.
"Jane, there’s something... I should tell you first, Rowan and I are getting married next month.
Do you... have time to come?"
Jane looked at Savannah Golden and pressed her lips into a smile without a word.
Adriana Golden, sitting beside Jane, stood up, put her arm around her shoulder, and said to Savannah: "You’re getting married, so get married, there’s no need to inform Jane, isn’t this like a display of aggression."
"No, no, Adriana, you’ve misunderstood me, I..."
Rowan put his arm around Savannah’s shoulder: "Adriana, why are you always popping up everywhere?
If Savannah really wanted to show off, she wouldn’t have come to talk to Jane in such a humble way."