His Daring Wife| GYULISA

CHAPTER 168

After his speech, Jackson began to mingle with the crowd, a friendly, but coy as a fox expression on his face. He looked so laid back and companionable, many people found it easy to chat with him. His temper was very good, and he seemed to be the type of person that would always try to prevent a fight.

Lisa was surprised to see him behave like this. It seemed this young man has really changed throughout the years. This transformation was not a rare occurrence. She, too, had changed drastically within two years, but that was with the massive help of therapy and strict regimen in the military. What exactly happened to him for his easily-angered behavior to disappear into the air? Perhaps adulthood had truly changed him, but she highly doubted that.

Her eyes shifted to Mingyu who was listening intently to another man. His arm was still loosely wrapped around her waist and every few minutes, he would gently caress her sides while speaking. She found their conversation boring and gave his hand a light pat before walking to the food table.

Along the way, someone very familiar caught her eyes.

"Oh my, Jess, you're dress is very lovely! Is this part of Versace's new Spring collection?"

"This light pink, as soft as a freshly bloomed cherry blossom flower, suits your pale complexion perfectly!"

"Jess, I heard you were hospitalized a while back. Are you alright now?"

Sana smiled at the small child in front of her, who despite her very young age, had a major say in Conglomerate.

If there was anyone in this world who Jackson valued, it would be his younger sister, Ling Jessica. She was a prodigy whose academic skills got her very far in life. Even though she was just eight years old, Jess was already attending middle school with kids four years her senior, but exceedingly more intelligent than them.

Sana's calculative eyes skimmed over the boring socialites in front of her who was trying their best to appease Jess. She understood why they were doing this.

Jackson recently rose to his title as CEO, but there was not a single dating rumor about him. His wealth was practically endless and even if Ling Conglomerate suffered a fall a while back, they were still filthy rich and seeing as  Jackson made the company wealthier than before their fall, it was clear to many people just how outstanding this man was.

Many of the socialites wanted to date  Jackson, or even better yet, become the next Madam Ling. And who else would be better at appeasing the man aside from his highly treasured Jess, famously known for curbing her brother's tempers?

Rumors had it Jackson might've had good relations with his parents, but only love and care for Jess. Ever since she was born, he was always the one handling her celebration dinners and parties. His gift always outranked everybody else's. Whatever Jess wanted, her older brother would get for her.

Sana laughed inside her head. These women, they were all useless and stupid. Their empty compliments was not making Jess happy, instead, it was the other way around. This girl practically grew up in wealth, hearing compliments about her appearance was a daily occurrence for her.

Sana decided to outshine all of these socialites in her way of making Jess happy. She looked down at Jess and said, "Jess, I heard you did very well on the delivery of your speech in English."

At this, Jess's nonchalant expression changed. The boredom once occupying her eyes was beginning to disperse. "Oh, what about it?"

Sana gently smiled, one that was filled with love, the same one that many kids loved to see. "The teachers gave you high praises, that much was clear. But I loved how you used English metaphors instead of solely sticking to our idioms. They came harmoniously together."

Jess's eyes brightened. She tilted her head up, disliking how she was so short, but pushed the thought aside and said, "Which metaphor did you like the most?"

Sana felt her lips twitch. In reality, she had not heard Jess's speech, but overhead Tzuyu complimenting the young girl to Taehyung and advising him that it would be good to consult Ling Conglomerate.

She was not like these socialites who grew up with English on their belts because of their expensive tutors, thus, Sana did not understand English. It was embarrassing to admit, but she was trying her best to learn it, however, was failing...

When she was quiet for a while, Jess's previous happy expression was turning sour. So this woman was just lying to me all along? Why are adults all like this? They always use me to get close to Jackson-oppa!

Sana saw the thunderous expression forming on the girl's face and quickly tried to make up an excuse. "Uh well, you see—"

"Don't throw out empty compliments if you can't back it up." Lisa cut to the chase, entering the scene with a slice of triple-layer chocolate cake on her plate. She remembered seeing all of the snacks that Jess gave her had some variety of chocolate in it and figured the child must've enjoyed it.

Jess's soured face turned pleasant again, a childish glimmer lighting up her eyes. She was happy upon spotting the chocolate cake she desperately wanted to eat, but was prevented by these annoying crowd of societies who came up to her before she could even get her hands on a slice.

Sana internally frowned. Why was this woman here again? Why was she always going against every little thing I say or do? All I did was help Taehyung escape from a loveless marriage! Just for this very reason, she has to make my life hell? She's already clutching another big-thigh, so what was she doing here again? Can't you just leave me be?

"I was talking to her, it's rude to interrupt people." Sana kept her temper in check. She was in front of too many socialites and people that treat her with respect for being the current Queen of the Socialites. Not wanting her reputation and image to crack just because of a simple woman, she figured it was best to not snap at Lisa. Besides, why should I be petty like her and use anger to win people over?

"I assumed you were going to waste Jess's time with a gibberish excuse for why you can't remember the metaphors she used and decided to save both of you guys the hassle." Lisa folded her dress a bit so that she could bend down to Jess's height so the child didn't have to cram her neck so much.

She saw Jess eying the chocolate cake in her hand and let out a small laugh. "Here, Jess, I got this for you." She handed the cake to Jess whose entire eyes lit up as she gratefully took the cake.

Lisa watched Jess devouring the cake with a tiny smile on her face. So she was, after all, just a child...Even with the endless array of accomplishments and intelligence, every kid in the end, still wanted to be a child.

"Don't eat so quickly, I'll get you more." Lisa mused, brushing a stray hair on Jess's bangs aside.

The socialites smirked to themselves, expecting Jess to lash out at her for touching her hair. Everyone knew she harbored great hatred for people that randomly patted her head or touched her without permission. She was known for throwing a tantrum or smacking people for doing it.

"But Oppa said it's not good to eat so much chocolate." Jess relaxed around Lisa, for she knew the woman meant no harm.

At her reaction, the socialites' scheming smiles fell. They were completely blown away to see Jess wasn't furious or even the slightest bit mad! Their eyes snapped back to Lisa, their gaze filled with bitter envy. Of course, the previous Queen would be good at handling people she wanted to befriend. She always was!

"Indeed, it is not. But a little bit more won't hurt." Lisa winked before standing up to grab another slice of cake and then passed it to her before bending down to Jess's height again.

Seeing her behavior, Jess began to like this woman more and more. First, she gave her a cake and now, she was nice enough to always leverage their height...

"Quite frankly, Jess, instead of the speech delivered in front of the entire school, I liked the one you broadcasted on television more." Lisa mused, remembering the time she was browsing on television and saw the little girl giving a speech on the importance of children's mental health. She was surprised to see the young girl was a Ling, but figured, it shouldn't have been a shock to her, for the Ling was known to have a prodigy hiding in their house.

Jess's head snapped up. That speech was not as widely accepted than the one she delivered at school because it was such a controversial topic. Her parents had heavily scolded her for delivering it...