Chapter 874

“I’m an expert when it comes to food, drinks, and having a good time. Why don’t we exchange numbers, and I can take you out sometime?”

Claire smiled, an enigmatic look in her eyes, but she made no move to give him her number.

Standing nearby, Irma cursed her brother’s incompetence.

Who hits on a girl by bragging about being good at partying?

Was he worried people wouldn’t realize he was a useless trust-fund baby?

“I’m going to be very busy soon, so I probably won’t have time to go out,” Claire said, smoothly sidestepping the request for her number.

But Lyle was nothing if not thick-skinned. “That’s okay, I’m on standby whenever you’re ready.”

Claire was just about to tell him it wasn’t necessary when Dane walked over.

“Claire.” Dane called her name and stepped up beside her, creating a striking contrast with Lyle.

Lyle was Ophelia’s nephew, so he naturally wasn’t bad-looking.

But compared to Dane, he was completely out of his league.

“Dane,” Claire acknowledged, looking up at him.

With Dane present, who would even bother paying attention to Lyle?

Having failed to get her number, Lyle opened his mouth to try again, but Dane cut him off. “Can I help you, Mr. Dean?”

Lyle hesitated. Ultimately, he didn’t have the guts to go toe-to-toe with Dane. He forced a smile. “Oh, nothing. Just chatting.”

Lyle grabbed his sister’s arm, wanting to make a quick exit.

He had crossed paths with Dane before and had seen what the man did to people who crossed him; he absolutely did not want to make an enemy of him.

Irma, on the other hand, had stars in her eyes the moment she saw Dane. Claire saw it immediately and guessed exactly why she had brought Lyle over. Did Irma really hope Claire would fall for Lyle so she would hand over Dane, her fiancé? She had to be out of her mind!

Any woman who had set eyes on Dane would never settle for a guy like her brother. “Dane,” Irma said, greeting him with a deeply longing gaze.

All she got in return was an icy, indifferent stare.

“I’m sorry, who are you?”

Dane’s few words plunged Irma straight into hell.

It wasn’t her first time meeting him, but she never expected him to flat-out state he didn’t know her.

That was infinitely more crushing than him simply ignoring her.

Dane frowned, having no idea what this woman standing in front of him wanted.

“Claire, let’s head over there. My

word with you Dane toet

grandfather and the others wanteet

Claire

away without a second glance

It wasn’t just Baldrick waiting over there; a few other patriarchs had gathered as well.

Even Padgett was among them, making it perfectly reasonable for Dane to come fetch her.

“Sure,” Claire agreed without a second thought.

She excused herself from the other girls and left with Dane.

“What’s going on? How does Claire know him?”

Dane was the ultimate prize that countless women in their social circle desperately wanted to snare.

But Quinn thought he was too aloof and boring, and the Quincy family could never match his status anyway.

As a result, she harbored no romantic delusions about him.

Yolande knew a little more, but it wasn’t her place to share.

She simply said, “Claire’s grandmother and Dane’s

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grandfather were apparently good friends They’ve known each other for a while.”

It meant she hadn’t met Dane through the Churchill family.

This revelation stunned the people eavesdropping nearby.

So Claire’s background actually came with that kind of elite network? Wasn’t she

supposedly from some remote rural village?

Hearing Yolande’s explanation, Quinn nodded in understanding.

No one was paying attention to Irma, but she inserted herself into the conversation anyway. “Yolande, speaking of which, you knew Dane

How come he seems so much closer to Claire?”

Yolande looked at Irma. “What’s the matter, are you jealous?”

“I just think it’s unfair to you.” Irma hadn’t expected Yolande to fire back so sharply.