Chapter 264: The Birthday Banquet Turns
Their eyes locked, and in each other’s gaze, they saw the same thing—murderous intent. Shane was the first to look away, feeling his adrenaline spike.
"Well, that's not on me anymore," he thought. "This isn't something I can walk away from, even if I wanted to." He hadn’t expected Johnathan to be such a lovesick fool. Sierra’s stubborn eyes flashed through his mind, leaving him momentarily dazed. While he was zoning out, Johnathan had already stepped onto the stage with Mr. Wynn.
“Thank you all for coming. Today is my eldest grandson Sam’s birthday,” Mr. Wynn announced. Then he nodded at Jose, signaling him to come up. Once Jose was on stage, Mr. Wynn took both of their hands and placed them together.
“From now on, the Wynn family will rely on you both. Jose, listen to your brother.”
It was an official declaration—Johnathan’s identity had been confirmed. Gasps rippled through the room, but no one was truly surprised. With this kind of event, everyone had already guessed what it was leading up to. Then they heard Johnathan let out a low laugh.
“Grandpa, I really don’t like this,” he said, casually.
“Oh no,” Mateo muttered under his breath. He could already tell Johnathan was about to lose it. Mr. Wynn’s face stiffened. He hadn’t expected his grandson to make a scene now.
“Johnathan,” he said, lowering his voice.
Johnathan pulled his hand back and let out a sigh. He hadn’t planned to cause trouble. He was ready to play along, go through the motions, and get it over with. But his grandfather had crossed a line. Revealing his identity? Fine. Letting him inherit the Wynn family? Sure. But forcing reconciliation? That was never going to happen. He shoved one hand into his pocket and scoffed.
“Brotherly love and filial duty really don’t suit me.”
“Sam!” Mr. Wynn’s tone grew warning.
“I’d rather you call me Johnathan.” He gave a faint smile, turned, and stepped off the stage. Jose lowered his head, his expression unreadable. Knew it. I knew he wouldn’t play nice.
“You ungrateful brat, what are you doing?!” Chase snapped, his face dark with anger. He hadn’t expected his son to humiliate the family like this—especially in front of so many guests.
“Move.” Johnathan’s tone was cold. There was zero respect in his eyes. “If you don’t want an even bigger scene, don’t get in my way.” He wasn’t loud, but plenty nearby heard, and whispers immediately followed.
Mateo and the others exchanged glances, then rushed over.
“Johnathan, buddy, can we not do this today? Come on, let’s go punch something.”
“We’re with you, man. No slacking off tonight.”
“Let’s go all out. As long as we don’t die, we keep swinging.”
They surrounded Johnathan and quickly led him away. Watching his son’s retreating back, Chase couldn’t help but yell, “If you walk out now, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life!”
Johnathan paused. Mateo cursed silently. This guy’s been his father for how long and still doesn’t know when to shut up? Johnathan turned his head, his eyes icy.
“You never regretted anything all these years. Why the hell would I?” Then his gaze slid to Jose, and finally to Susie. “And you really had the nerve to bring them here today? Pathetic.” With that, he turned and walked away.
Susie’s lips parted slightly, her face going pale. Chase was shaking with anger, and Mr. Wynn suddenly looked years older. So it still didn’t work. He’d thought Johnathan’s agreement meant compromise. Clearly, he was wrong. The entire affair quickly became top-tier gossip among the elite—but no one dared leak a word. Shane hadn’t expected the night to serve up such juicy drama. He left with an amused grin.
“What do you think?” he asked.
“Doesn’t look like Johnathan and his father get along.”
Jade gave him a look. “I heard Chase remarried not long after his first wife died. The second son’s only about seven years younger than Johnathan. His first wife died twenty years ago, which means Johnathan was around ten.”