Find me in your labyrinth (Stella and Jonathan) novel Chapter 2940

Old Mr. Quintin raised his glass. “Jarvis, honestly, this toast should go to you. We owe everything to Gab for bringing Nana back—he's the real hero of our family!”

Mr. Carnes replied, “I’m glad you recognize that. So stop taking it out on Gab all the time!”

Old Mr. Quintin huffed. “If he ever mistreated Nana, I’d do a lot more than give him a look—you’d have to hold me back from letting him have it!”

Sylvia quickly laughed and said, “Grandpa, Mr. Carnes has never mistreated me!”

Gabriel glanced at her, his deep dark eyes unfathomable, the slightest hint of a smile on his lips.

Old Mr. Quintin took Sylvia’s hand. “Why are you calling him ‘Mr. Carnes’? That sounds so formal. He’s older than you—call him ‘big brother’.”

Sylvia met Gabriel’s gaze. Under the light, the delicate curve of her face was highlighted, the faintest pink at the corner of her eye like a brush of blush. She opened her lips, but no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t get the word out.

Georgia smiled to break the awkwardness. “Dad, Mr. Jarvis, no more toasting each other. We’re all family here—let’s just toast together. Let the wine speak for us.”

Everyone raised their glasses together, and the other guests around the room stood and joined in, raising theirs from afar.

Sylvia lifted her wine glass, but caught Gabriel watching her, his eyes narrowed in warning. She smiled and set the glass down, deciding to pick up a glass of juice instead.

...

Outside the banquet hall, Mrs. Winters and the other ladies had been unceremoniously ejected. Unable to vent their anger at the Quintin family, they unleashed it on Mrs. Winters instead.

“Mrs. Winters, what was that? In all my years, I’ve never been thrown out like this! This is humiliating!”

“That’s right, Mrs. Winters! If you want to find a daughter-in-law, at least do your homework. How could you not check her out first?”

“She wasn’t even the real Miss Quintin? And I actually believed her—serves me right for falling for that scam!”

The last to complain, Mrs. Lee, had even given Evelyn a gift. Thinking about losing both her pride and her money, she resented it even more.

Mrs. Winters was seething, her chest heaving. “Are you done yet?” she snarled. “You think I wanted to be humiliated like this?”

“Let me make this clear: everything you ever got from us—you’re giving it back. If you keep even a single cent, you’ll regret it!”

Shaking with rage, Mrs. Winters tossed Evelyn hard onto the ground. “Trash. Disgusting!”

Evelyn lay sprawled across the steps, her expression dark as she glared back. “You chased after me! I never sought out the Winters family. What right do you have to pin this on me?”

“How dare you talk back?” Mrs. Winters kicked her with utter disdain. “If it weren’t for you, Sylvia and Eugene never would’ve split up. It’s all your fault, you wretched homewrecker!”

Thinking about how Sylvia had been the real Miss Quintin all along made Mrs. Winters tremble with regret and anger.

Unable to contain her frustration, she aimed it all at Evelyn, as if she could vent her fury through sheer force.

Evelyn shook with pain, bursting into sobs.

Her crying soon drew over hotel security and guests, who began to scold Mrs. Winters for her behavior.