I Hope You Will Never Regret

At the Martins residence, August Martins was talking to his brother-in-law, Edwin Parker, on the phone, “Brother-in-law, please don’t forget to bring Aunt Rose and Bridgette with you. I understand that they are not my sister’s favourite people, but I am fond of them. To tell you the truth, brother-in-law, there is something pushing me to have this birthday banquet for my daughter, as if I am bidding her farewell.”

August was so shocked when he heard his brother in law’s words and replied, “Brother-in-law, please don’t scare me. Nothing is going to happen to your family. The Lord will keep you until you see your great-grandchildren. We will see you in two hours’ time.” Then they hung up.

An elegant customized black Bentley SUV and a Silver Audi Q7 were parked in the driveway. Mr Martins called everyone to the living room for a prayer, and then they walked to the cars. Butler Bruce took the luggage bags from the helpers and put them in the SUV.

Aiden gave him his suitcase as well. Mrs Martins and Aiden walked to the Bentley. Hope and three other helpers followed them to the Bentley. Butler Bruce walked to the drivers’ side and got in the car.

Mrs Martins was happy that her husband and his precious daughter didn’t follow them in their car. However, Aiden was hoping that his father and his sister would join them in the Bentley. He looked at them with longing in his eyes.

Clayton walked to the Audi, and he opened the doors. He put their luggage bags in the car. Avery was carrying a suit cover. She sat between Grandma Rose and Aunt Bridgette. Mr Martins sat in the passenger seat. Clayton got in the car, and then he followed behind the Bentley.

In the Bentley, the atmosphere was gloomy, as if they were going to attend a funeral. Mrs Martins was looking at them with disdain in her eyes. Whereas in the Audi, the atmosphere was lively, they were chatting and laughing. They arrived at Richards Bay around 12 pm. Since the Parker family was already at the Ebenezer hotel, they went straight to the hotel.

The Prince family, the Collins family and the Black family arrived on Friday. Sandy came with her husband, Robert, and their daughter. The Shelton family arrived on Monday. Mia and Brad brought their nine-year-old twins. Edwin and Cathy beamed with joy when they saw the Martins family. They introduced them to their friends.

When Mia saw Elizabeth, she became upset, she refused to shake her hand. She looked at her with disdain in her eyes, but she didn’t utter a word. Elizabeth was puzzled because it was the first time, she had met Mia. She looked at her and asked, “Mrs Shelton, have we met before?”

Mia replied, “No but I heard a lot about you. Hence, I don’t want to shake your hand.” Elizabeth looked at Cathy coldly and said, “Refrain from talking about me behind my back.” Cathy smiled and replied, “Sister-in-law, I was telling Mia how beautiful my niece, Avery was. Then I mentioned your name in passing.”

Mia was mesmerized by Avery’s beauty and said, “I haven’t seen anyone so beautiful. Do you mind being my Goddaughter?” Avery smiled and replied, “Thank you, Aunt Mia, but I have to decline your request because Aunt Bridge is my Godmother. You are very beautiful yourself.”

Lily was jealous when she heard Aunt Mia asking Avery to be her Goddaughter. She didn’t want to share Aunt Mia with Avery because Aunt Mia was her mother’s best friend. She was aware that Avery was good at stealing people’s hearts. Aunt Elizabeth told her that Avery stole Uncle Martins’ heart, and he abandoned his wife.

Mia kissed Avery on both cheeks and said, “Cathy showed me your photo when you were five years old. I thought she was exaggerating when she told me that your beauty is unparalleled. When is your birthday?” Avery told her that it was the following day. Since Lily’s birthday was during the week, her parents decided to have her birthday banquet on Saturday.

The venue was lavishly decorated. The guests started coming at 1:00 pm to attend the Parker family’s daughter, Lily’s fourteenth birthday banquet. Edwin had invited influential people to his daughter’s birthday. Edwin and his wife, Cathy, were greeting the guests at the door.

Lily and Avery were at the presidential suite dressing up. Lily was wearing a red haute couture gown and eight-inch-high heels. Her make-up was impeccable, and her hair was tied in a bun. She was stunning.

Avery was wearing a custom-made knee-high blue dress and five-inch heels. Aunt Joy had prepared a custom-made silver-gray gown for her, but she refused to wear it because she didn’t want to steal the limelight.

Her curled long chestnut brown hair was falling loosely over her shoulders. She was gorgeous. A few minutes later, Aunt Mia came to fetch them.

When the banquet was in full swing, Lily walked to the stage and sat behind the piano. She started playing, the melody was beautiful. She captured everyone’s attention. When she finished, the guests clapped their hands. August looked at his brother-in-law and said, “Brother-in-law, my niece is very talented.” Edwin was grinning from ear to ear.

At that moment, Lily looked at Avery provokingly and said, “Avery, your turn.” Aunt Elizabeth told Lily that Avery didn’t know how to play the piano. She wanted to embarrass her in front of everyone. Avery froze when she heard her cousin’s words.

Mia was dumbfounded when she saw Lily gloating. She turned to Cathy and asked, “When did Lily become so scheming?” Cathy was dumbfounded. It was clear that Lily wanted to embarrass her cousin, Avery.

She wanted to stop Avery but her sister-in-law, Elizabeth, stopped her. Cathy was so disappointed in her daughter. Her sister-in-law was using Lily to embarrass her daughter.

Cathy looked at Bridgette with pity in her eyes. Bridgette smiled and mouthed ‘Don’t worry’. Cathy heaved a sigh of relief. She was looking forward to seeing her niece’s performance.

Avery smiled and went to the stage; she took the microphone from Lily and said, “You took me by surprise, cousin. It’s been a while since I last played. However, since it is your birthday banquet, I hope you will not be disappointed.”