Chapter 393: The Guests

"Boss!"

The moment Joel saw the venue, he froze.

"Wow..." His mouth slowly opened.

The employees behind Joel also looked around in amazement.

"What is this?!"

"Boss!"

"Miss Mara!"

"This is incredible!"

"We’re really doing this?!"

One employee even walked directly toward one of the photo displays.

"Wait."

"That’s me."

"Why is there a picture of me?"

The entire group immediately crowded around him.

"HAHAHAHA!"

"You look so awkward!"

"Your hair was so terrible!"

"Who chose this photo?"

The employee looked horrified, but still laughed with the others. While looking at them, Gray couldn’t stop the smile from forming on his lips. Within less than a minute, the quiet venue became lively.

After a few more minutes, more employees continued arriving. Each person who entered had almost the exact same reaction. They were surprised, excited, and in disbelief.

Many immediately started taking pictures around, while others gathered around the displays. There were also a few who walked toward the raffle section and began guessing the prizes.

The atmosphere quickly changed with the employee’s arrival. By now, the technical team had also finished fixing the screen, so there was already a good background that welcomed everyone.

"Boss!" Joel quickly appeared beside Gray after looking around for a moment.

"Hm?" Joel looked around the venue again before shaking his head.

"Seriously."

"What?"

"Thank you, Boss."

Gray blinked at the suddenness of it.

"For doing all of this." Joel continued to smile.

"It was nothing," Gray muttered before pointing at Mara, who was smiling beside him. "You should thank her instead."

The moment Joel heard that, he immediately turned toward Mara.

"Miss Mara."

"Hm?"

"You are amazing."

Mara nearly laughed. "Thank you, Joel."

"No, really." Joel looked around the venue again. "This is really incredible!"

A few nearby employees overheard the conversation and immediately joined in.

"Yeah!"

"Miss Mara did all this?"

"Seriously?"

"We knew it!"

Gray chuckled while watching the interaction. It didn’t take long before more people gathered around them. As time passed by, the venue gradually became fuller and fuller.

By 6:30, nearly half the hall was already occupied by the employees. Laughter and talks where everywhere as all the employees of the store gathered for the first time.

Everyone was wearing their outfit. Some even bought a new pair of clothes just to prepare for the event. It was obvious how everyone liked it.

As Gray was greeting another group of employees, the entrance doors opened once again. Several heads turned because of it. In there, a familiar elderly man entered first. Behind him were a few members of his family.

The moment Gray saw them, his eyes brightened.

"Mr. Conrad."

The old man immediately spotted him.

"Gray!"

Several nearby employees instinctively moved aside as Conrad approached. He was dressed more formally than the others. .

"Looks like you’ve done well for yourself." Conrad looked around the hall with a satisfied look on his face.

"Thank you, Sir," Gray muttered.

"But I know exactly who planned this." Conrad’s eyes immediately moved toward Mara.

When Mara noticed it, she bowed her head slightly.

"Good evening, Mr. Conrad."

"Good work." The old man nodded in satisfaction.

Mara happily said her gratitude at that. Meanwhile, for Gray, his eyes already landed on Selina.

Selina was wearing a simple but elegant dress. It was nothing extravagant, but she still stood out. Her hair was down tonight, and she looked nice.

When their eyes met, a smile appeared on her face. Gray smiled back at her. But before he could even approach her, a loud voice already called out for his name.

"Brother Gray!" Lily appeared right at Selina’s back.

When Gray heard it, he frowned.

"What are you doing here?" he raised a brow.

Lily immediately looked offended.

"What do you mean, what am I doing here, Brother?" she pointed at herself dramatically. "Sister Selina brought me here!"

Then she grabbed Eli by the arm and pulled him forward.

"And Eli too!"

Eli awkwardly raised a hand to wave it. "Hello, Brother Gray."

Gray blinked before looking toward Selina. The woman tried to maintain a straight face before failing.

"They begged me," she admitted with a chuckle. "I had no choice, okay?"

"Traitor," Gray muttered.

"What is that reaction, Brother?!" Lily’s eyes widened.

"You brought children to a company event."

"We are very responsible children!"

"Really?" He looked at Lily.

"Hey!" Lily protested.

This time, even Conrad couldn’t help laughing.

"You should’ve seen them earlier," Selina added. "They were looking at me with tears in their eyes." ℴℴ𝘮

When Gray heard that, he sighed. "That was because you take forever to get ready, Sister," Lily said confidently.

"You look beautiful tonight, Sister." Lily instantly changed her tune as she glanced at Selina.

"You’re really shameless," Gray shook his head.

Though honestly, seeing them here wasn’t bad at all.

The two children looked unusually well-behaved tonight. Lily was wearing a nice dress while Eli looked nice in his little formal clothes.

"Alright." Gray eventually turned toward them. "Just behave."

"We will."

"I doubt that...."

"We will!" Lily repeated.

Selina smiled and lightly patted Lily’s head.

"We’ll keep an eye on them, don’t worry."

"Alright," Gray nodded before looking at Mara.

"Mara, please guide them."

"I got it." Mara immediately nodded. "I’ll take everyone to their seats."

"Thank you."

Selina smiled. "See you later."

"Later." Gray’s gaze lingered on her for a second before he nodded.

Soon, Mara led Conrad, Selina, Lily, and Eli toward the reserved seating area. As they walked away,

Gray watched them disappear into the crowd before turning his attention back toward the entrance. Almost immediately, he noticed several new people entering the hall.

They were the important people behind the store. Because of it, he put on a good smile. He knew that he couldn’t let those important people just arrive and sit on their own.

And so, he walked towards one of the just-arrived guests and put on a big smile on his face.

"Mr. Fernard. Thank you for coming. I really appreciated it."