Bennett’s face grew dark again.

Ariana quickly made something up.

“Oh, nothing.

It’s just that the crowd today isn’t the typical rough-and-tumble sort.

Some faces seem familiar like I’ve seen them on the news or something.

”

Bennett didn’t seem convinced.

He leaned in, locking eyes with Ariana for a solid minute.

After sizing her up, he said in a low voice, “Don’t start guessing who these people are, and don’t wander off.

Stick with me.

You don’t want to cross anyone here tonight.

If you do, I can’t save you.

”

“Got it.

” Ariana nodded and edged a bit closer to Bennett.

Noticing that his mood had lightened a bit, she decided to ask, “What’s the deal with these people? They seem important, but they’re all buttering you up.

Why’s that?”

“Are you really that clueless?” Bennett shot back.

Ariana hesitated, not sure how to respond.

Before she could, Bennett grinned and said, “It’s because they all want something from me.

”

“Then you must be really powerful,” Ariana said, continuing to play dumb.

‘s BunnyBookery

Bennett gave her a long, hard stare, smirking but not saying a word.

That stare sent a chill down Ariana’s spine.

She was sure he was onto her act, so her mind raced, trying to come up with a plan.

But then, Bennett turned away and started chatting with one of his men.

Ariana breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

At that moment, the doors to the banquet hall swung open again.

Ariana heard the commotion and turned to see a middle-aged man strolling in.

He had a friendly face and a sophisticated air, but the longer Ariana stared, the more she felt like she had seen him somewhere.

It wasn’t until the man started chatting with the people nearby and Ariana caught a bit of his voice that it hit her-—this man was Fraser Walsh, the political commissar in Eleymond.

She had seen him on the news many times.

Ariana was stunned.

What was a high-ranking official like him doing here with the Olson family?

Now, it made sense why Bennett had said that she couldn’t afford to offend the guests tonight.

Bennett appeared to value Fraser greatly.

Upon Fraser’s arrival, Bennett personally greeted him.

Although their initial conversation made it seem like they were close friends, they quickly shifted to more meaningful topics.

Despite not comprehending their conversation, Ariana had an intuition that they were covertly exchanging information with each other.

She hoped to eavesdrop on their conversation for any useful information, but she was surprised when more political figures from Conata joined Fraser, and everyone seemed familiar with Bennett, conversing with profound implications as if they shared a long history of acquaintance.

The evident collusion between officials and businessmen was.This content © 2024 .

clearly indicative of corruption.

Ariana abandoned the notion of eavesdropping since she realized that even if she managed to uncover some secrets, she wouldn’t be able to do something to these individuals.

This was also why these people didn’t avoid discussing sensitive matters in her presence while conversing with Bennett.

Ariana’s mind wandered as she came to terms with the situation.

In the grand scheme of things, these matters held little importance for her;

Ariana’s main concern was simply to locate Holden.

Before, Holden had shared with her his plan for her to sneak into the banquet hall, where he would join her, allowing them to escape together.

However, with a multitude of guests present and the imminent start of the banquet, Holden had yet to make an appearance.

Ariana couldn’t shake her worries about whether Holden would actually arrive and whether he was safe at the moment.