Not giving Claire the chance to refuse further, Charlie dragged her along toward the crowd and Kelly.

Kelly was at the center of the crowd, with each person holding their champagne flutes and listening to her speak eloquently. Even Miki could only watch her admiringly from the very edge of the crowd.

That was when she caught sight of Charlie and Claire approaching out of the corner of her eye, followed by Loreen and Miki's cousin, Sachiko. Her brow creased right then, and she stared at Charlie intently to watch how things would play out.

When Charlie reached the edge of the crowd and was about to call out to Kelly, Miki was smirking as she strode up and warned very loudly, "You're not supposed to be here, Mr. Wade."

She really didn't have to be that loud to persuade Charlie to leave, but she did so deliberately to draw everyone's attention and capitalize on the situation. Since her grandfather, the head of the family, was also present, she could use the opportunity to take Sachiko