HEIRESS REBORN: MARRYING HER EX-FIANCÉ-Chapter 89: Noah’s public appearance (1)

’’It is President Kingston!’’

’’Her photo was on Tales’ magazine.’’

’’Who’s that man with her?’’

’’Her lover, perhaps?’’

’’That can’t, right. They don’t even seem that way.’’

’’True. I heard the Young master Kratos is her lover.’’

’’Who knows if that’s really true...’’

’’Neither have clarified the rumors.’’

The whispers spread like wildfire, quickly catching the attention of everyone in the banquet hall.

At the sight of her cousin along with a new face, Arabella remained calm and did not notice how her mother suddenly froze on the spot in utter shock.

Meanwhile, Liam, Madam Hitson and some other few madams noticed her oddity. Arabella’s focus was mainly on her cousin with a new man.

Over the years, she had been hearing rumors of her cousin dating the Young master Kratos. Apparently, some have allegedly seen them looking intimate in a restaurant. Some have even spotted the two holding hands and taking a walk.

With these rumors here and there, Arabella could not continue deceiving herself into believing that there’s nothing going on between her cousin and the Kratos family. If not, those rumors wouldn’t have sprouted on its own.

Supposedly her cousin was dating the Young master Kratos, what if rumors spread of her cousin bringing another man to her mother’s birthday banquet?

Wouldn’t her cousin indirectly be cheating on the Young master Kratos? Even if her cousin wasn’t dating the Young master Kratos, the Kratos family wouldn’t have any intention of proposing a marriage to her cousin.

And she wasn’t the only one who witnessed their appearance. The rumors would surely spread.

Arabella felt giddy at the thought. She held a composed smile towards her cousin, who headed her way along with the mysterious man.

As Arabella took a good look at his features, she couldn’t shake off the feeling that he looked familiar. But her attention did not linger much on him and focused more on her cousin.

’’Welcome sister! I wasn’t really expecting you here at mother’s banquet.’’ Arabella greeted, her smile wide and bright as she held her cousin’s hands intimately. ’’By the way, congratulations on the award. I’m the cousin of one of the youngest female billionaires in the world. My friends will certainly be jealous.’’

Indeed, one would be certainly jealous of honor and recognition. Her gaze shifted slightly.

’’...Thank you, cousin.’’ Ayana being Ayana would never act along with Arabella’s pretense. The distance in her tone was quite obvious.

Honestly, she wondered why her second cousin still acted as if they were close when many knew of their actual relationship.

’You’re still the same.’ She glanced down at her held hands and then up at the bright smile. Nothing about Arabella’s character had changed at all.

Although her second cousin had matured outwardly and resembled more of the Arabella in her past life, the inner self still remained as childish as before. Even if she had somewhat mellowed on social media, Arabella was still the same thorough and thorough.

’’And who is this Young, handsome man?’’ Arabella shifted her gaze to her goal of the moment. ’’Care to introduce me to him, sister? Is he perhaps....your lover?’’ She glanced back at Ayana with a mischievous grin.

Her cousin and the Young master Kratos have never confirmed the rumors over the years. There’s still a chance that the two never even bothered with the rumors and just continued their lives without paying attention.

This was what she hoped deeply from her heart.

’’Arabella!’’

Arabella got immediately startled by the sharp tone of a familiar voice. It clearly belonged to her mother, without doubt.

She quickly turned her head, her puzzled gaze meeting her mother’s, who had emerged from the circle of spectating madams to stand by her side.

’Mother?’ Arabella became confused. Her mother rarely called her by name in such a loud and commanding tone, especially in public. No....her mother would never do such to humiliate her. Her mother’s voice had always been calm and composed with affection toward her. But now, something seemed off.

Had her mother not yet calmed down from the earlier exchange with Madam Hitson? Arabella briefly wondered.

’’...Y-You...’’ Lucinda stammered, her voice and eyes trembling just slightly.

Arabella observed this, and what caught her off guard more than the tone was the direction of her mother’s gaze. She was neither staring at herself nor cousin, but the strange yet familiar man on the side.

Arabella could see the shock, confusion and recognition battling within her mother’s eyes, as if the stranger was somehow both unfamiliar and hauntingly familiar.

’’Noah.’’ Another person joined them a beat after, calling out an unexpected name and that was her father, who must have left his acquaintances.

However, Arabella did not bother with the presence of her father. Her ears rang repeatedly with the name that she had not expected to hear from him.

Noah?

Did she just hear the name of her insignificant elder brother? And who did her father refer to with that name? This mysterious man with her cousin?

’’F-Father...’’ Arabella looked towards her father with a mixture of confusion and disbelief, silently seeking confirmation.

But before her father could answer, a light and amused chuckle flowed to her ears. ’’You can’t even recognize your own elder brother, Arabella?’’

Her body froze on the spot at the sound of her name. She felt a chill run down her spine as her eyes widened slightly, locking onto a pair of bright hazel eyes—eyes that run in the Kingston family between her father and her cousins.

’Then this man...’ Her gaze and lips trembled ever so slightly. For her parents to recognize him....why hadn’t she recognized him earlier?

Noah Kingston, her elder brother, whom she had always regarded as nothing more than a shadow of a person in their family, stood before her with an air of calm indifference.

With a casual shrug of his broad shoulders, he spoke up again. ’’Well, I don’t blame you, considering it’s been such a long time since I left the family.’’

Boom!

The words landed like a heavy blow both to Arabella and to the entire group of onlookers, who had been silently watching this drama unfold.

For Arabella, she did not expect this confirmation from the person himself.

Her last memory of him was of a frail and sickly elder brother, forever confined to his wheelchair. His eyes had been dull and saggy, like his spirit and life had been sucked out of from him. His skin had been pale, almost translucent like glass, and his once-weak body had been wrapped in the frailty of illness.

Arabella remembered the frequent blood-stained tissues, and the coughing fits that wrecked his fragile body. She had always regarded the sight in utter disgust.

Who are you?

The question almost slipped from her lips as she stood there, utterly stunned. This man before her was not her elder brother, the one she had seen as insignificant and always looked down on in the past.

Her elder brother was not this tall, well-built man with broad shoulders and a strong posture. This was not the same Noah Kingston who had been skins and bones, weak and fragile. His once-pale, sickly skin now radiated health, smooth and glowing in the light.

His eyes were now bright and full of life, sharp with intelligence, and brimming with a kind of quiet confidence that attracted attention.

This man exuded a presence she had never imagined her fragile elder brother would have.

Arabella could hardly believe her eyes as she regarded the new form of her once insignificant elder brother.