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Leonard’s smile vanished immediately.
“It’s not for my son? Mr. Wills, aren’t you here to attend my son’s wedding?” Leonard asked, looking a little embarrassed.
Dustin smiled and said, “Of course I’m here for the wedding, I’ve prepared a monetary gift for your son, and I’ve already given it to the reception staff.” Mr. Collins, if you don’t believe me, you may check with them.”
Leonard hurriedly said, “Mr. Wills, you must be joking. Why would I be fixated on the gift? It’s a great honor for me that you’re willing to attend the wedding. You’ve even brought a gift. You’re too formal, Mr. Wills!”
Leonard knew that Dustin was very affluent and would give at least 15,000 dollars as a gift.
Hence, Leonard hurriedly called Tyler and Hailey to come over. “Tyler, Hailey, come here and meet Mr. Wills.”
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Wills. I’ve heard a lot about you. You’re my idol!”
Tyler walked over and gave Dustin a handshake with both hands as he continuously tried to suck up to him.
Although the Collins were a powerful family, they were still a notch below those tycoons who would be included in the list of wealthiest families in the country each year.
“Oh, hello,” Dustin said somewhat perfunctorily with indifference.
Hailey was overjoyed, too, because she didn’t expect the Collins to have connections with such a wealthy man. Thus, she bowed to him and shook his hand with both hands too.
“Hello, Mr. Wills, I’m Hailey Camden. I’m so glad to meet you. I hope to have the opportunity to learn from you.”
Dustin glanced at Hailey and was a little surprised by how beautiful she was. Still, he simply nodded without saying anything further.
The eagle-eyed Tyler immediately noticed the gift box in Dustin’s hand and said, “Mr. Wills, is that a box of cigars you’re holding?”
Surprised to hear his answer, Dustin said, “Wow, Mr. Collins, you’ve got great eyesight. This is indeed a box of cigars.”
Tyler was curious to know what brand of cigar a bigwig like Dustin would give as a gift. Hence, he asked, “What brand of cigar is that, Mr. Wills?”
Dustin said, “It seems to be a brand called Gurkha, but I’m not sure either because my subordinate was the one who prepared it. Haha, pardon me.”
Tyler and Hailey were both shocked. “Gurkha Royal Courtesan Cigar? That’s the most expensive brand of cigar that costs $1.4 million a stick!”
The guests were just as taken aback by the staggering price of the cigar.
That was enough money to buy a load of cigars from other less expensive brands!
Dustin laughed and said, “It costs a little less than that, but you’re close. Haha. Mr. Collins and the newlyweds, please excuse me.”
Dustin walked towards the table where Jordan and Victoria were seated, with the cigar box in hand.
“Hello, Mr. Steele, Miss Clarke.”
Dustin walked over and handed the cigar box to Jordan as he exclaimed, “Happy birthday, Mr. Steele!”
Everyone was stunned to see Dustin give that million-dollar cigar to Jordan!
Dustin had at most given the newlyweds a gift of 20 to 30 grand. Yet, he gave Jordan such an exorbitant gift that cost far beyond tens of grands!
That just goes to show that Dustin wasn’t really there for the wedding but for Jordan!
Jordan took the box, got up, and gave Dustin a handshake. He said with a smile, “Mr. Wills, you’re too kind. We’re already business partners. You didn’t have to go through such an expense.”
Ace Corporation was now cooperating with Electron E-commerce, and it wasn’t Jordan’s first meeting with Dustin.
Watching Jordan and Dustin laughing and chatting with each other, Tyler felt like he had been slapped hard on the face.
The fact that Dustin would be so polite to Jordan, let alone give him such an expensive gift, would make no sense if Jordan was pretending to be the president of Ace Corporation.
Hailey was stunned too. “How is that possible…”
“Mr. Collins! Mr. Collins!”
At this moment, a middle-aged man who exuded an artistic aura called out to Leonard as he made his way over.
Everyone was stunned after taking a closer look at him.
‘Isn’t that the internationally renowned pianist, Evan Cadence?’
“Hey, Mr. Cadence! When did you arrive?”
Leonard was just as surprised. Evan Cadence was an internationally renowned pianist who, although, wasn’t among the top three in the world, belonged to the elite class of pianists in the world. He had attended various significant events like the Grammy awards and many others.
Leonard and Evan Cadence had met on several occasions previously, and they were no strangers to each other. Leonard had even tried to ask Evan to teach his children to play the piano.
Evan smiled and said, “I’m here to give you a gift.”
“A gift? There’s no need for that! I was going to invite you to play a wedding march for my son and daughter-in-law! We ought to be the ones paying you, not the other way around,” Leonard said with a smile.
Leonard then said to Tyler and Hailey, “This is Mr. Evan Cadence, a renowned world-class pianist. Hailey, I heard that you’ve learned piano since you were a child. In that case, you should have heard of such an elite pianist like Evan, right?”
Hailey was full of awe and admiration for Evan. She had been learning to play the piano since she was a child. Although she wasn’t a professional, she was at least aware of how impressive Evan was!
Incredibly excited, Hailey exclaimed, “Mr. Cadence, I’m so happy to meet you. It would really be an honor to hear you play a piece live!”
Evan waved his hand and refuted, “You flatter me. Has the wedding begun yet? If it hasn’t, can I play a little tune?”
Tyler hurriedly said, “Yes, yes! Some of the guests we invited have yet to arrive, and the wedding hasn’t begun yet. It would be great if you could play a song for the audio pleasure of our guests!”
“Alright then, please excuse me.”
After saying that, Evan actually walked towards Jordan’s table too.
To everyone’s surprise, Evan exclaimed to Jordan, “Jordan, my senior!”
“Evan, what are you doing here?” Jordan asked as he shook Evan’s hand.
Everyone was flabbergasted!
The internationally renowned pianist, Evan Cadence, actually said that Jordan was his senior!
The baffling thing was that Evan was clearly much older than Jordan. Yet, he said that Jordan was his senior.
Hailey’s jaw dropped in surprise.
Even Dustin, who was at the same table, was confused. He joked, “Evan, you’re so much older. Why did you call Jordan your senior? Don’t pretend to be younger than your age.”
Evan had also met Dustin before, so he chuckled and said, “Mr. Wills, you have no idea. I was admitted to a music academy in June 1997. I must have been 15 years old at that time, and I was taught by Gary Graffman.”
“Jordan, I mean, Mr. Steele, became Mr. Graffman’s student in January 1997. I joined five months later, so that makes him my senior!”
Jordan laughed and said, “I must have been less than two years old at that time. I can’t even remember, haha.”
Everyone, especially Hailey, was shocked.
‘Jordan started learning the piano from a famous classical pianist at the age of two?’
Geniuses like Evan Cadence were few and far between. Yet, he only became Gary Graffman’s student at the age of fifteen by virtue of his exemplary results.
‘How rich must Jordan’s family be?’
‘He became the student of a famous pianist soon after he was born?’
Hailey couldn’t help but swallow her saliva as she recalled Jordan’s piano performance during the superstar’s concert some time ago.
“I thought he started learning piano only in the past three years with the allowance I gave him. It turns out that he had started learning the piano since the age of two, from an internationally renowned teacher!”
The sense of superiority over Jordan that Hailey used to have all along vanished immediately!