Hollywood Zenith

" You can say what you truly feel. There is no reason for you to afraid of this bastard! As long as I am around he wouldn't be able to do anything. Everyone feels the same, there is something fishy with how easily he meets with new people proclaiming as his girlfriend!" Mary really put Kate on the spot.

Everyone was also curious if Mary had some truth with how confident she was. It was indeed suspicious seeing him bring new girl every month like he was picking up new pet or something! Not to mention, they wouldn't say anything bad about him no matter how much elders pressed them.

Was he up to no good when it came to girls? Even if he is heir of the Rothschild family, if they found he was forcing them to do these things, Samuel wouldn't escape scotch free. He would be severely punished regardless of his position in the family.

" I would like to hear it. There was nothing about her in the reports." The queen also took her seat smugly looking at him. Samuel felt angry, if they want to take it out in him it was fine but why did they have to drag her into the mix?

" I-i" Kate couldn't even look at them. All the Rothschild family members were ready to hear her but they didn't expect the amount of pressure their curious eyes were exerting on her. Not to mention the unexpected presence of Queen, she started sweating in the middle of winter!

" I don't hate him!" She didn't know what to say. She couldn't profess her love in front of everyone so her only choice was to let it out with a yell shocking everyone.

" Kate! You don't have to listen to these heartless people. I am truly ashamed! I brought here to meet everyone but you....forget it. We are leaving." Samuel had enough of it. He knew his family was weird and he may be the weirdest of them but they didn't have to prove it by bullying a innocent girl!

" Especially you aunt. I never knew you were so jealous with my lifestyle." He didn't forget the instigator of all of this. Mary never seen Samuel look at him with those empty eyes. She thought she was doing good but she realized she put a massive wedge in their relationship.

" Son."

" We will go and get some fresh air." He supported her out of the room. They could see the disappointment in his eyes. They seemed to have taken the joke too far.

As soon as they left, Arthur came forward. He was looking at them with stern and cold eyes completely different from the reverence he usually had for them.

" It may be not my place to say it but I always remind everyone in this room to keep in mind the weight your words have infront of normal people. How can you bully a guest so ruthlessly?" His voice was louder like he was reprimanding a couple of kids.

" But we were only trying to know if he was doing something shady? What's wrong with asking few questions?" Mary fired back. She was more angry at herself seeing him upset at her but still she couldn't ignore the main problem. Some questions may be hard but they needed to be discussed, how else one learn anything?

" Why didn't you talk to her in private if you were so worried about it? Does it make sense to make a scene without even knowing about other people's circumstances?"

" But how would we know without asking her?"

" That's right. It's only right to ask it in front of everyone so that she could tell what's in her heart." Margaret and Kenneth added. On the other hand, Samuel's parents listened silently. They were only participating because they knew their love for their son would obscure their judgement.

" Seriously, sometimes, I don't know if you are joking or speaking what you really feel. Do you really feel he has heart to do anything bad to anyone?" Arthur facepalmed.

" That's the issue we can't tell."

Arthur sighed seeing they were still confused. He thought it was better to explain to them who Kate was before saying anything else. He began by telling her back story of her being losing her parents at young age.

The movie premier incident and how she didn't have anywhere to go during christmas. Samuel's choice to bring her home so that she could feel at home and also about her being nervous meeting everyone.

Arthur didn't know every detail but he was able to recite her life story in few sentences that included the recent run in with some pesky people trying to extort her business. He gave his honest opinion and whatever he learned about her past.

Meanwhile outside, Samuel walked with Kate back to the party. They avoided other guests but she looked horrified, even her makeup was slightly undone because of all the sweating.

She had seen how others like Mayra, Adele would talk about his family. They seemed close even discussing how they went out shopping right before Christmas. They seemed to love them while incidentally for her first meeting, there was a whole 'interview' set up making her realise that she must not be welcome.

She couldn't help but feeling that because there was a huge age gap between Samuel and her, they were hostile toward her. She didn't know what to do. How could she ever keep having him in her life if his family didn't approve of her?

" Kate, Kate.. Are you alright? Don't mind what they said." He also didn't know how to calm her. She was already stressed enough with everything happening in her life, there was no way she wouldn't sink into deeper hole overthinking everything.

" Sami! Sami! I heard what happened!" Suddenly they heard someone calling out to them. Kate turned to see a old lady rushing to their direction. It was her first time seeing her but with how casually she was calling out to him, she must be someone important.