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Cayden cast a look in her direction, devoid of expression.
Caught off guard by his penetrative gaze, Avery was at her wits' end. Furrowing his brows, Cayden
stubbed out the cigarette in the ashtray and picked up his phone before striding out of the spacious
conference room.
There were two doors to the conference room, and Cayden deliberately avoided using the one she had
entered through moments ago.
Meanwhile, Avery remained on the spot like a motionless statue. After what seemed like an eternity,
she eventually regained her composure.
She put the headphones on after turning on the recorder and lowering the volume. Keeping her eyes
glued to the recording of the meeting displayed on the projector screen, she focused on taking notes of
the important points by typing nonstop on the laptop keyboard.
By the time Avery finished noting down the content of the meeting and returned to her office floor, it
was already almost four in the afternoon.
Meanwhile, Cecelia had been waiting for her for quite a while. She placed a cup of coffee on Avery's
desk and uttered gently, “I heard from Xavier that you've found your grandpa.”
Avery took the cup of coffee and placed it next to the laptop. “I feel bad for troubling you and Mr.
Dartsley. Anyway, I owe you a meal,” she uttered earnestly while turning on the laptop.
Cecelia teased her, “You don't have to feel so. After all, we were only helping our boss. You should
thank him instead.”
Dumbstruck, Avery felt her fingers stiffen on the keyboard.
Beaming ambiguously at Avery, Cecelia nudged her. “How're you going to thank him? Serve him well in
bed, huh?”
Even so, Avery's fingers remained still on the keyboard.
Sensing that there was something awry about her, Cecelia lowered her head intuitively, only to find the
latter had curled her fingers unknowingly. The drastic change in her countenance and movement
implied something serious was bugging her.
“What's wrong? Did you quarrel with Boss?” Cecelia questioned warily before recalling Cayden's
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtintimidating expression during the meeting earlier. In fact, no words could describe the grimness on his
face at that time.
In an instant, Cecelia could not help mocking herself for jumping to such a hasty conclusion earlier.
Initially, she assumed their boss only wore a look of sheer grimness during the meeting due to the
incident whereby Zayne drugged Avery with sleeping pills. The realization only dawned on her that it
was not the reason.
“There's nothing between Boss and me. Furthermore, I...” After much hesitation, Avery cast her head
down and mumbled, “I'm married.”
Cecelia gazed at Avery, bereft of speech.
After quite a while, she burst out laughing. “You must be pulling my leg! You're married? Hmph! How's
that possible? It's akin to my mom suddenly telling me she's not my biological mother, and I'm the
descendant of the royal family!”
“I'm being serious.” Avery looked into Cecelia's eyes solemnly.
Cecelia was rendered speechless again.
Huh? Avery is married? Am I hearing things? Cecelia was overwhelmed. Then what about our
omnipotent CEO of Trident Group? Countless socialites from prominent families are falling head over
heels for him, but he's unfazed. Not to mention, he's never closely acquainted with any woman all this
while. However, he takes a fancy to a married woman now! How preposterous!
Back in her seat, Cecelia tried to focus on work. Nevertheless, she could not help but fall into a trance.
How's it possible for Avery to be in a relationship with Boss if she's married? Could it be that Boss
couldn't resist Avery's charm and forwent his morals for her? Or perhaps, Avery has been feigning
innocence to make a fool of him till he finally found out she's already married? Was that why his
expression remained darkened throughout the meeting?
Meanwhile, Avery looked worn out as she buried herself in work.
Cecelia tilted her head to shoot Avery a glance. She could scarcely believe that the latter was two-
timing and that she had made a misjudgment all the while.
After a while, she texted Avery: If you have nothing on tonight, let's go for a drink together. Fearing that
the latter might reject her, she tried to sound casual by texting: Treat it as a token of appreciation to me
then. After all, I stood guard outside your place to keep an eye on everything for you while you were
tracking down your grandpa.
Avery replied: Okay.
When it was about time to call it a day, Avery stepped out to wash the coffee cup. Coincidentally, she
bumped into Nina, who was just back from carrying out her task.
Nina cut to the chase. “I'll drop by your place after work later. Let's have a chat, okay?”
Meanwhile, Cecelia approached them and suggested, “I've invited Ery for a drink at night. If you don't
mind letting me in on your conversation, how about the three of us have a drink together?”
Nina had nothing against Cecelia. Thus, she gladly nodded at once. “Sure.”
After work, the three young women went to a bar together.
“Is it your first time here?” Cecelia asked Avery curiously. Evidently, she was one of the frequent
customers there.
Avery nodded placidly.
Shortly after, the server served them beer.
Nina poured three glasses of beer before sitting down and starting to drink from her glass.
After quenching her thirst, she elucidated, “How's it possible for Ery to visit a bar throughout those
years? I saw with my own eyes how she has been leading a miserable life in Ackleton. Apart from
being mistreated by her stepmother, her father suffers from critical illness. Cecelia, there's a lot you
don't know about Ery. Anyway, I know her like the back of my head.”
Hearing that, Cecelia turned to look at Nina, who had just taken another sip of her beer. “So, does it
mean that you know Ery is married too?”
“Pfft!” The beer spurted out of Nina's mouth in an instant.
Stupefied, Cecelia took some napkins hastily and handed them to Nina.
Perplexed, Nina turned in Avery's direction. “You're married? How could I be oblivious to that? Who did
you marry?”
At the same time, she could not resist making wild guesses. Could it be that she has married Boss
discreetly?
“We obtained the marriage certificates a week ago. Please stop asking further. Anyway, Boss and I are
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmmerely in a working relationship,” Avery explained briefly, avoiding mentioning a single word about
Dylan.
Something came to Cecelia and Nina simultaneously. A week ago? Wasn't that the time when Ery's
grandpa went missing? Was there any connection between her getting married abruptly and her
grandpa's disappearance?
Half an hour later, there were already more than a dozen of empty beer bottles on the table.
Patting Avery's shoulder, Nina lamented, “I don't blame you at all. My brother only has himself to
blame. I bet you're unaware that h-he intended to...”
Her voice trailed off as she was utterly ashamed.
She had accompanied her parents to the police station after Zayne was taken there. The police told
them they had traced countless unsightly messages on her brother's phone. She finally realized her
brother's indecency after noticing those messages and pictures.
“What did he intend to do?” Avery asked inquisitively.
“Let's drop the subject. Everything is over now...” Nina poured a glass of wine each for Avery and
Cecelia.
Moments later, a ringtone sounded amid the melodious background music in the bar.
“Whose phone is that?” Nina asked around before telling Avery, “If I'm not wrong, it seems your phone
is ringing.”
Avery did not drink much. Nevertheless, she began to feel dizzy due to her low alcohol tolerance.
After whipping out her phone, she caught a glimpse of an unknown number blinking on the phone
screen before she answered the call.
“Ery, I don't care what you're busy with now! Come home right away!” Talia's authoritative voice
sounded from the other end of the line. Avery could even sense the stifled boiling rage in her tone.
“What's wrong?” Avery could not wrap her head around Dylan and his parents' attitude. Not to mention,
she wished she did not have to cross paths with them.
“Ha! How could you have the cheek to ask me what's wrong? I can't believe you are clueless about
everything! Old Mr. Moore is here and insists on taking you away with him. He claims that we've
abducted his granddaughter-in-law. By hook or by crook, you must come back now to clarify
everything! My goodness! I must have been blind to only see through you now!”
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