Aristocracy101

Chapter 3

The crowd was wild.

Various conversations buzzed in the air, each one louder than the last.

"Is it really okay for a girl to propose?"

"Who cares? It’s the 21st century."

"I’d love to marry her if he doesn’t agree. Conquering the famous Ice Queen would be an accomplishment."

Lilian's heart raced. Looking around at the sea of judgmental and curious eyes, her anxiety rose. She spotted him across the room.

"Oli..."

"No," he replied, his tone firm and unyielding. "You know I have someone I like, Lilian."

"But you’re never serious! And I’m pretty sure you're going to break up with her. Why won’t you notice me?" Lilian shouted, her voice trembling as the tears she’d been holding back threatened to spill.

"We're just friends," he said coldly. "Always have been, and always will be."

With that, he turned and walked away, his mother’s voice calling after him.

"Oliver!!!"

But he didn’t look back, practically skipping away, carefree as ever.

Lilian stood frozen, surrounded by sympathetic and mocking stares from the guests. Unable to bear it any longer, she fled outside.

Once in her car, she slammed the door shut, and with shaking hands, drove to the nearest bar.

The celebration had ended in an awkward mess. The guests offered their condolences and paraded their sons around as if they were the perfect future candidates.

The Johnsons left quickly after promising to speak with their son and apologize for the incident. As the last guest finally left, Mr. Chen’s patience snapped. He flipped the table in frustration, startling Mrs. Chen.

"What has gotten into your daughter?" he growled.

"Confessing like that… Does she have no ladylike decency?"

Mrs. Chen didn’t flinch. "Oh, now she’s your daughter," she remarked dryly. "I didn’t hear you complaining when the guests were fawning over you."

"Where is she now?" he demanded, still fuming.

"I don’t know. She left a while ago and hasn’t come back."

"Call her back," Mr. Chen ordered. "Make sure she gets here quickly. If she’s not marrying that boy, we can always marry her off to someone better. Mr. Zhen’s son is a good option—31 years old, just divorced. He’s acceptable."

As he walked away to his room, Mrs. Chen remained standing, exhaustion written all over her face. She wanted Lilian to marry for love, to be happy—not to be constrained by the expectations of wealth and status. She’d agreed to Oliver because she knew how much Lilian had liked him since they were little, but now...

"Well, nothing goes as planned," she murmured as she kept dialing Lilian’s number, each call going unanswered.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

Sunshine Bar

"Bro, you literally just dumped the number one Ice Queen in town. You’ve got guts," Alex Brown, one of Oliver’s closest friends, laughed, shaking his head.

Oliver, annoyed and still simmering from the scene earlier, had come to the bar to let off some steam.

"You could’ve rejected her gently. You didn’t have to be so harsh," Noah Davis chimed in, his voice a little more serious as he took a sip of his drink.

The guys had known Lilian for a while since she became friends with Oliver. They knew she liked him, even if she had a cold, aloof aura. She was still nice, and they had always treated her like a friend.

"What are you going to do with that ‘green girl’?" Ryan Smith, the youngest of the group, asked with a grin. He’d never liked Bella after overhearing her talking behind his back some time ago. "If you don’t like someone, just say it! I hate those girls who pretend to be all sweet but then talk about you like dirt the second your back’s turned."

"Her name is Bella, Ryan," Oliver snapped, slightly irritated. "And nothing, she’s the one I’ve chosen to spend my life with."

"What?!" The group erupted in shock.

Even Noah, who was typically calm and composed, spat out his drink in disbelief.

"You’ve got to be kidding me," Alex gasped, barely holding it together.

"Of all the girls... why her?" Noah asked, still processing the news.

Oliver was thrown off by their reactions. "Why are you guys acting like this? You’ve never disapproved of me dating anyone."

"That’s because you were never serious about anyone," Ryan shot back.

Oliver let out a long sigh, exhausted from the looks and questions coming his way.