CHAPTER 36: CHAPTER 36: DAMIEN LANCASTER AND RACHEL SHAW BECOME THE LAUGHINGSTOCK OF THE NIGHT

Ivy Summers’ words were dripping with sarcasm.

She was the wife, yet Damien Lancaster couldn’t even remember her birthday, let alone arrange a million-dollar fireworks display.

And now he was setting off fireworks for another woman’s birthday.

Wasn’t this scene ironic?

At that moment, Ivy Summers suddenly felt that she was not the ridiculous one.

The ridiculous ones were them, one having an affair, one being the mistress, shamelessly flaunting their love for all the world to see.

Damien Lancaster caught the meaning behind Ivy Summers’ words, and his usually emotionless eyes showed a rare hint of guilt.

Rachel Shaw, on the other hand, thought Ivy Summers was envious of her.

She said to Ivy Summers, "Ivy, you can see it now for yourself, the fireworks Damien prepared for me are truly beautiful."

The intention to boast was too obvious, and Ivy Summers couldn’t help feeling slightly irritated.

"It’s almost time, almost time, it’s almost time," someone reminded, and everyone looked in one direction.

Every time Damien Lancaster prepared fireworks for Rachel Shaw, they were of a million-dollar level, unseen under regular circumstances.

Everyone picked up their phones.

There were even reporters nearby, all set up with cameras ready to capture this spectacular scene.

It was rumored that Damien Lancaster was also planning to propose to Rachel Shaw, and the reporters were like they had been injected with adrenaline, as this was definitely big news.

Rachel Shaw cast a cold sidelong glance at Ivy Summers and smirked, lowering her voice, "Ivy Summers, does this scene hurt your heart? If I remember correctly, Damien has never celebrated your birthday, has he? Oh, by the way, I forgot to tell you, Damien celebrates my birthday every year."

After Rachel Shaw finished speaking, she wanted to see a sad expression on Ivy Summers’ face.

But there was none.

Ivy Summers’ face remained extremely calm, "Rachel Shaw, you’re the most brazen person I’ve ever seen."

Rachel Shaw did not understand, "What do you mean?"

"As a mistress, openly flaunting your love with your lover in front of the wife, aren’t you the most brazen person?"

"You!" Rachel Shaw bit her lip, struggling to maintain a smile, "You’re just jealous."

Ivy Summers picked up a glass of wine, elegantly taking a sip, sighed, and said, "I’m jealous indeed. If I had your thick skin, you probably wouldn’t have a chance tonight."

Rachel Shaw was infuriated by Ivy Summers’ mocking words.

But she couldn’t flare up at this moment and had to endure it for now.

At 7:59 p.m., someone began to count down to the grand fireworks display.

Rachel Shaw adjusted her mood, standing beside Damien Lancaster with a face full of happiness, looking up at the sky.

"Ten!"

"Nine!"

"Eight! Seven! Six! Five! Four..."

Rachel Shaw looked joyfully at Damien Lancaster, "Damien, thank you, thank you for meticulously preparing this for me every year."

Damien Lancaster’s expression was calm, "I promised you before, it’s what I should do."

"One!"

As soon as they shouted one, everyone fell silent in tacit agreement, gazing expectantly at the sky.

Ivy Summers also slowly looked up.

Rachel Shaw’s face lit up with happiness, already imagining everyone’s envious faces.

But in the next second, she couldn’t find the words to smile.

The imagined scene of fireworks didn’t appear.

Silence fell...

There wasn’t a single trace of fireworks in the sky.

Ivy Summers raised an eyebrow.

?

Rachel Shaw’s expectant face froze, blinking while keeping her gaze on the sky, but no fireworks appeared.

An awkward silence spread.

Someone tried to smooth over the situation, "The fireworks must be delayed. Beauty is worth waiting for, let’s count down again."

"Yes, yes, it must be delayed."

At this point, no one wanted to spoil the fun.

Rachel Shaw stood in the spotlight; this little interlude made her face stiffen slightly. But she soon took the silence as a delay of the fireworks.

Used to being flattered and envied, she raised her chin in an unflustered manner, put on an expectant smile again, and naturally said, "Just a little delay, everyone, please wait."

Meanwhile, in the monitoring room, Nathan, Leo, and Sophie listened to them starting the countdown again, unable to suppress their smiles.

The crowd cheered and began the countdown again.

When they reached one again, everyone picked up their phones and looked to the sky, ready to exclaim ’wow’ in unison.

...

...

...

Silence.

Another long and heavy silence.

Rachel Shaw’s face first stiffened, then stiffened again. She forced herself to stay calm, looking up for another half minute, until her neck started to ache, when suddenly...

Swoosh...

Bam!

A sound of a delayed firework went off on the horizon. Those who had started to whisper excitedly lifted their heads, thinking the fireworks were finally here.

However, with one bang, only a thin wisp of smoke remained, then it vanished completely.

The crowd, "?!"

The magnificent million-dollar fireworks...

Just...

This?

Rachel Shaw’s smile, which she had again tried to lift, fell with no defense, her lips twitching. Finally, she couldn’t help but look at Damien Lancaster, "Damien, what... What is going on?"

Damien Lancaster’s handsome features darkened, his gaze sweeping toward Julian Jacobs.

Julian Jacobs also felt terribly awkward, immediately getting the hint and rushing to check.

Rachel Shaw tightened her fingers, glancing back at the crowd.

As expected, everyone’s expressions had changed at this moment.

After waiting for a supposed million-dollar fireworks display for several minutes, there was just one firework.

It was simply a joke.

Rachel Shaw felt that people’s gazes at her and Damien Lancaster were laced with ridicule.

Some people even whispered.

"Wasn’t it supposed to be a million-dollar fireworks display? Why just this? Is this a joke?"

"Indeed, look at Miss Shaw’s face... Heh... Could it be that President Lancaster didn’t prepare anything for her this year?"

"Who knows? Then what are they doing? Trying to amuse everyone?"

Rachel Shaw bit her lip, awkwardly clenching her fingers. At this moment, she saw Ivy Summers standing at the back.

Ivy Summers gently raised an eyebrow; even that firework made her feel awkward.

Perhaps even God couldn’t stand the sight of these two flaunting their love, or something else.

In any case, the pre-arranged fireworks didn’t light up.

Meeting Rachel Shaw’s gaze, Ivy Summers exaggerated her surprise, mouthing "Wow," "Such a spectacle."

Rachel Shaw’s face looked terrible, barely stopping herself from grinding her molars to dust.

Ivy Summers, watching the scene with a smile, suddenly thought.

This was bad.

Such a fireworks show could not generally go wrong, and Damien Lancaster’s people were thorough, unlikely to make such mistakes.

Unless someone sabotaged it!

Nathan, Leo, Sophie.

Ivy Summers immediately realized it must have been their doing.

At this moment, Julian Jacobs returned from his investigation, approaching Damien Lancaster, "Sir, tonight’s fireworks might not be able to be set off for now."

As soon as these words were spoken, Rachel Shaw’s face grew darker. She didn’t wait for Damien Lancaster to ask but spoke first, "What’s going on?"

"Those fireworks couldn’t be lit, it seems like it was deliberate sabotage," Julian explained.

"Deliberate sabotage?" Damien Lancaster frowned.

"That’s right."

Ivy Summers’ heart skipped a beat.

As expected, Damien Lancaster’s people were formidable, finding out so quickly.

These little rascals had disappeared without a trace.

To avoid being caught, like last time, and becoming collateral damage, Ivy Summers planned to slip away.

Yet the next moment, suddenly...

Swoosh!

Swoosh!

Swoosh!

The sound of fireworks ascending filled the sky, and more and more fireworks took to the air, dazzlingly lighting up the entire sky.

Just like everyone else, Ivy Summers turned around involuntarily; countless fireworks rose to the sky, followed by a "bang," and blue-violet fireworks overlapped, forming a river of stars, falling like a waterfall and illuminating the whole night sky.

Everyone watching was rendered speechless by the beauty.

Rachel Shaw saw the sky full of fireworks, her earlier unpleasant expression transformed immediately, smile appearing on her lips as she gave a smug look to Ivy Summers beside her.

Indeed, Damien Lancaster would never disappoint her.

"Ivy Summers, do you admit defeat? This is the love Damien has for me, something you’ll never have in your lifetime." Beneath the vast sky of fireworks, Rachel Shaw moved closer to Ivy Summers.

No one can resist beautiful things.

This scene also amazed Ivy Summers, her beautiful eyes full of starlight.

Rachel Shaw curled her lips, satisfied by the astonished looks from everyone around her, immensely proud.

However, in the next moment,

someone pointed at the fireworks in the sky, raising a question, "Look, what is that?"