Chapter 737

No one else said a word, and Dane didn’t explicitly refuse.

Claire furrowed her brows. As far as she was concerned, there was absolutely no reason for Latham to be here.

She hadn’t even invited him.

But since he was here, she couldn’t just kick him out.

After all, Mary was still present, and tossing Latham out like that would be terribly disrespectful to her.

But him acting so familiar and demanding a chair right next to Dane made people quite uncomfortable.

“What chair are you adding? There’s an empty seat at that table over there, go sit there,” Mary snapped, offering her eldest son zero leeway.

Since she had spoken, Latham didn’t have the nerve to force his way in.

However, the feeling of being marginalized was hard to swallow, and it completely defeated the purpose of his visit.

The moment he heard from his brother that Shirley was attending Claire’s celebration, he had rushed right over.

Who knew that even after making the trip, he’d still miss the start of the celebration.

Latham was furious on the inside that Claire hadn’t invited him, but he couldn’t show it, making him feel unbelievably stifled.

Sitting at a table with strangers, Latham’s rationality slowly returned.

Watching the main table laugh and chat, he only felt it was an eyesore.

Yet, he couldn’t help but keep glancing in that direction.

Did Dane come alone?

Who was that old man? Sitting next to Pandora, could it be a new partner she had found?

This partner had quite an imposing aura. And what was the relationship between those younger folks and Claire?

Octavia had previously mentioned that Claire already had a fiancé.

Who was it?

Could it be one of those young men?

Then the identity of that old man warranted further investigation.

He was very likely a relative from Claire’s biological mother’s side, or family from her fiancé’s side.

Except, the more Latham looked, the more something felt off.

That old man looked somewhat familiar.

Where had he seen him before?

Latham barely ate anything at the table, entirely consumed with trying to figure out

who the old man at the main table was.

It wasn’t until the celebration

concluded that he tried to approach Dane for some smalltalk,

temporarily forgetting the oldman’s existence.

Latham sought out Dane, hoping to get a clear answer.

Dane stated that the company was still conducting a risk assessment.

Investing in a project wasn’t

something done on a whim; they et

always had to see if the project was worth it and what the return rate would be content

The James family’s project was like a hot

wereto, and right now, they

were simply looking for looking for someone to take it off their hands.

Others would naturally be even more cautious.

Did Latham not understand this logic?

He was simply worried that the more Vertex International thought about it, the less likely they were to invest.

The answer Dane gave made Latham’s heart jump into his throat.

He tried to list the benefits of taking over the Westside Heights Project again, but Dane unceremoniously cut him off.

“Latham, this is a private itinerary today. Discussing business isn’t appropriate.”

With just that one sentence, the man shut Latham down completely.

He had no choice but to retreat.

Since all the leverage was currently in Dane’s hands, if he offended Dane, there might truly be zero opportunities left.

Latham didn’t dare say another word, so he could only retreat to his mother’s side. “Mom, which one is Claire’s fiancé?”

Mary shot him a look. “If you’re asking me, who am I supposed to ask?”

Didn’t he want to sit right next to Claire’s fiancé the moment he arrived?

Why was he acting like he didn’t know who the man was now?

Mary didn’t point it out; she didn’t want Latham using this connection as a bargaining chip.

Mary had heard a thing or two about the Green family from Cabinda.

It wasn’t something an ordinary person could just latch onto for their own benefit.

They had a marriage pact with the Churchill family, and Claire was simply inheriting that arrangement.

Whether it would even hold up in the future was still up in the air.

Latham?

He knew it. Asking his mother was as good as asking a brick wall.