Not A Small Town Girl (Danielle and David) novel Chapter 169

"The Stuart family was such a large family business, yet it went bankrupt overnight. Only a few families have the power to bring them down like this."

"The capital world is really tough. It's better to be an ordinary person with no big ups and downs."

"It seems the Stuart family must have offended someone powerful to suffer such a heavy consequence."

"The Stuart family isn't exactly innocent either. If you're still living in poverty, don't concern yourself with others living in luxury homes."

The trending topics online were full of speculation.

*****

Night fell.

As one of the five great families, the Barnes family's patriarch's birthday banquet was naturally grand and extravagant.

Many celebrities and wealthy families went to the Barnes family residence to celebrate Giancarlo's birthday.

It was said to be a birthday celebration, but it felt more like a social event to network.

On the other side, Danielle had finished her styling, and it was almost time for the banquet to start.

The assistant came over with a gift box.“Mrs. Harrington, a gentleman asked me to give this to you.”

Danielle took the gift box and was about to say thank you when she heard David say sourly, "Which gentleman gave you the gift?"

"It's a gift I prepared for Mr. Barnes, and I had someone send it over. Why are you getting jealous over everything?" Danielle said with a smile, realizing she had underestimated the man's ability to be jealous.

"Okay," David said, pressing his hand to his nose, feeling a little embarrassed for being jealous just now.

"Nathan placed a gift box in front of David and then left.

David opened the gift box to reveal a sparkling sapphire necklace. The necklace was made up of hundreds of diamonds arranged in a way that resembled butterflies, glowing gently. At the center, there was a sapphire weighing 108 carats, intricately set in the design.

The whole necklace could be described as extremely luxurious.

The most important thing was the meaning of this necklace was beautiful. It represented mutual love.

Danielle recognized the necklace at once. It was the Butterfly Dream that had caused a sensation in the entire auction world some time ago. The final anonymous buyer had purchased the necklace for ten billion dollars.

But Danielle didn't expect that the person who finally bought the necklace was David.

"You bought this necklace?" Danielle was a little surprised. All she wanted to say at the moment was, "How extravagant."

David nodded, took out the necklace, and put it on Danielle's neck. "The first time I saw it, I thought it suited you perfectly. Do you like it?"

"Can you even describe this with the word 'like'?"

No woman wouldn't like it, and Danielle was no exception.

"I like it, but it's too expensive," Danielle said as she tried to take the necklace off.

"As long as you like it, it's yours." David took Danielle's hand and stopped her from taking the necklace off.

"If you really think it's precious, then love me a little more each day."

Danielle now felt that David must have watched some TV series about a domineering CEO. He used to be quiet, but now he was getting more and more talkative.

"Isn't my love for you enough?" Danielle asked back. Although she had never been in a relationship, she felt that she already loved this man very much.

"We should get going," David said, reaching out to caress Danielle's hair, but when he saw her new hairstyle, he pulled his hand back.

The Rolls-Royce motorcade drove down the road, creating a very impressive scene.

Usually, David and Danielle didn't have the motorcade follow them, but with recent events, he decided to put Danielle's safety first.

Soon the motorcade stopped at the Barnes family residence.

Many CEOs rushed over when they saw that it was David's motorcade.

David stepped out of the car in a black suit.

As the head of the largest family in Aleria and the richest person in the world, he rarely appeared in public.

Some people thought the two were a perfect match, while others claimed that Danielle was the third party, boldly showing up despite knowing that David had a fiancée.

Some people were waiting to see what would happen, wondering if the Darling family's daughter would cause a scene when she arrived.

At that moment, the Locke family's car arrived at the scene.

Cheryl appeared in a white V-neck haute couture gown, her hair styled back. She looked confident and elegant.

As soon as Cheryl appeared, she attracted everyone's attention. No wonder she was the most favored child of the Locke family, she truly had an impressive presence. People whispered among themselves.

"David," Cheryl greeted with a smile.

Everyone watched the scene, curious. They knew Cheryl had secretly liked David for a long time, but because of the engagement with the Darling family, they were more than friends but not quite lovers.

David's lips barely moved as he said, "You're back."

Cheryl walked up to David and gave a proper smile. "I just came back and brought you a gift. I wanted to see you, but I've been too busy these two days."

Cheryl completely ignored Danielle and only chatted with David. In the eyes of others, Danielle was like an outsider at that moment.

Even Joshua, who was usually unruly, was wearing a suit today. "David, Miss Darling, what are you doing standing here? Come on in."

Joshua acted as if he didn't see Cheryl and didn't greet her.

"Joshua, you look very handsome today." Cheryl said softly, unfazed by Joshua's attitude.

Joshua glanced at Cheryl and said coldly, "I don't need your opinion."

Danielle was surprised. She didn't expect Joshua to be so indifferent to Cheryl.

Just then, Andrew and Cameron's cars arrived. They walked the red carpet, both wearing tailored suits.

Cameron looked roguishly handsome, while Andrew had a devilishly charming look.

"Why are you all standing here? Are you guys welcoming me?" Cameron asked in a roguish tone. "Oh, Miss Locke is back?"