The Deceitful One

Being stared at by such a large group of people all of a sudden, Bryan felt slightly nervous as he gulped involuntarily. However, he still kept a faint smile on his lips and acted calm and composed on the surface.

A wide range of emotions could be seen in the gazes of the people, such as admiration, scrutiny, doubt, and, indifference. Bryan also noticed a few ladies, both old and young, casting flirtatious glances at him.

It was beginning to get awkward and Bryan was just about to greet everyone when all of a sudden a loud and cheerful laugh was heard followed by an enthusiastic male voice, "Welcome! Welcome, Mr. Lombardi! I am truly grateful for your presence here tonight."

Bryan followed the source of the voice and his gaze landed on a handsome middle-aged man with brown hair and brown eyes. He was wearing an ivory three-piece suit and a purple necktie.

His wavy brown hair was combed neatly and parted from the middle. Wearing gold-rimmed round glasses, this person appeared very noble and sophisticated.

However, Bryan had no idea who this person was. He was about to awkwardly ask the other person his identity but the man came forward and took the initiative to introduce himself, "My name is William Dyke. It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Mr. Lombardi!"

Bryan raised his eyebrow in surprise. He felt that now it all made sense for this person to so warmly greet him.

He extended his right hand out for a handshake and replied with a smile, "Pleased to make your acquaintance, Mr. Dyke."

William Dyke shook Bryan's hand and spoke gratefully, "I am eternally grateful for what you have done, Mr. Lombardi. If it wasn't for you, I don't know what my wife and I would have done. The Dyke Family shall forever be indebted to you!"

Hearing such honest and serious words come from William Dyke, most of the guests present at the banquet turned envious. After all, who wouldn't want a person of such stature as William Dyke to owe them?

Although William Dyke wasn't nearly as affluent as most of the nobles in Damascus, he was highly influential, had a lot of connections with other important people, and had a wide network.

Bryan didn't really care about what William said to him, he was just here for the food and drinks. He shook his head and smiled with fake modesty, "You give me too much credit, Mr. Dyke. I only did what any other person would have."

William's lips slightly twitched as he thought inwardly, 'This kid... The way he talks, does he want to become a politician or something?'

He then introduced Bryan to a beautiful middle-aged lady who was standing beside him. "Mr. Lombardi, this is my lovely wife, Lily."

The middle-aged lady had blonde hair and light blue eyes. Her facial features bore a striking resemblance to Fiona, who Bryan had saved at Kenny Adam's house.

Lily was currently wearing a low cut cream-colored long dress with golden flower patterns on it. Furthermore, she was wearing a sapphire studded necklace which further accentuated her beauty.

She looked at Bryan with a gentle smile as she stretched her right hand forward and spoke in a melodic voice, "Mr. Lombardi, thank you for saving my little daughter."

Bryan bowed like a gentleman and kissed Lily's hand, "You are welcome, Mrs. Dyke. My teacher always tells me that one should help people if they are able to."

Lily smiled brightly as she responded, "I have heard great things about Detective Watson. I am thankful for him to have nurtured such a chivalrous and brave student like you."

Bryan smiled politely on the surface but inside he was thinking, 'Kek, my teacher never told me that. I just made that shit up!'

His gaze then landed on Fiona, who at some point had arrived beside her mother, Lily. He smiled at her as he said, "Miss Fiona, I'm glad that you have recovered."

Fiona looked at Bryan shyly and replied, "Mr. Bryan, I would like to thank you again for rescuing me that day."

Bryan shook his head and smiled, "It was no problem at all."

He then continued to make some small talk with the mother-and-daughter duo. Then William snapped his fingers twice and called for a nearby waiter who was carrying a tray full of glasses of red wine, going around, and serving the guests.

William took a glass of red wine from the tray and offered it to Bryan. He then cleared his throat and spoke in a loud voice, "Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you all for coming here tonight.

I would like to take this opportunity to make a toast to this brave young man who brought the serial killer, Kenny Adams, to justice and rescued my precious daughter.

To Bryan Lombardi!"

"Cheers!" The crowd replied joyously in unison. Bryan too raised his glass and downed his wine. The banquet then continued in a cheerful manner. Many guests came up to Bryan to strike up a conversation with him and introduce themselves.

Bryan did not act arrogant or pompous, instead, he greeted everyone with a humble and cheerful attitude. This left a very good impression of himself on the guests present.

Of course, the reason why Bryan acted this way was that he felt it was pointless to act high and mighty in front of others.

He believed that if he made the people around him feel better, the world would return the favor. Why make enemies when you can make friends?

But more importantly, having an honest and good reputation made certain things very beneficial. For example, if Bryan happened to steal from any of these people in the future, they would hardly suspect an 'honest' and 'good' person like him.

About an hour later, Bryan was already beginning to feel drunk after having toasted with so many people. He excused himself from the group of people he was currently talking to and made his way to the bathroom on the second floor after getting the directions.

Inside the bathroom, Bryan struggled to stand straight while he was peeing. After finishing his business, he flushed the toilet, and then washed his hands in the basin.

After drying his hands with a towel that was kept inside a wooden basket beside the basin, he opened the door of the bathroom to go out.

However, to his surprise, he found a beautiful blonde middle-aged woman with light blue eyes standing outside. It was Lily Dyke!