“Mom, what is written on the form?” Layla followed Averie around.
“It’s a form for family information.” Averie sat down by the table once she found a pen. “I didn’t have to fill out this sort of document back when I was a student, though.”
“Oh. Why is it necessary now, then?”
“Maybe the teachers are just trying to get to know you better.” Averie did not think that family background had anything to do with the students’ performance at school, but if the school said to do so, she might as well fill in the form. However, she hesitated when she reached the blank that was meant for the father’s name.
‘Should I put Elyette’s name on it?” she thought, “The teachers will definitely take extra care of Layla from now on if I put Elyette’s name here.’
After thinking it through for a moment, she decided to leave it blank.
Elyette stared at his phone after Averie hung up and felt terribly depressed. He couldn’t explain his past in a few words and decided that he could only wait until Jun’s wedding to explain it to Averie in person.
Averie twisted and turned that night, unable to fall asleep. Elyette did not have the chance to finish what he had to say, but he had not called or messaged her back since she had finished filling up the form for94 Layla.
If he did not intend on talking, she didn’t want to ask about it either because they were already in an argument; she was worried that continuing on the same topic would only bring further damage to their relationship.
At three in the morning, she finally drifted off to sleep restlessly.
She had a dream of Charlie, who had passed away recently. Inside her dream, she had just met Charlie and he was a respectful gentleman to her; suddenly, he grabbed onto her arm with a vicious expression and shouted, “Elyette Foster is a murderer! He is a murderer! Averie, stay away from him! Otherwise, he’s going to kill you next!”
Averie woke up from the nightmare. It was dawn outside the window, and she sat up to switch on the lights. The room brightened instantly and the fear within her slowly faded as she looked around her familiar surroundings. She picked up her phone to check the time; it was half-past six in the morning.
Her body felt like it was both freezing and burning at the same time, and when she raised her hand to touch her chin, she came into contact with a thick layer of sweat. Her heart was still throbbing from the dream and she knew that her phone conversation with Elyette triggered the nightmare. She had somehow filled in the blanks of what Elyette had not managed to finish.
It was not a random dream; Charlie had indeed said something similar to her in the past. The only difference was that he had not gone into the details at the time because he had only heard rumors.
In her dream, not only was Elyette a murderer, he was going after her life as well.
Averie felt as though there was a stone pressing against her chest and the suffocating pain overwhelmed her.
She got out of bed and walked toward the bathroom.
She kept consoling herself, saying that it was just a dream. Though dreams might come true, they were mostly far from reality. She had not wronged Elyette in any way, so why would he kill her?
If Elyette wanted to kill her to obtain custody of the children, he didn’t have to wait and could have done so at this very moment; if Elyette was going to kill her during an episode of his mental outburst, then that was what it was and she couldn’t possibly resist.
After a shower, she regained her composure and was no longer too frightened. She stepped out of the bathroom and went to the closet to retrieve a new set of clothes to change into. During the time she was in the shower, the sky had brightened up. She turned off the lights and went to open the curtains.
Instantly, her attention was caught by the golden-colored winter Jasmine on the wall of the yard. Her mother had planted those when she was alive. Ever since she had passed away, Averie would feel her mother’s gentle eyes on her whenever she saw the flowers. If only Laura was still alive, she would help to take care of Robert at home, in theed present.
She had always mentioned that she wanted to find a job once Hayden and Layla grew up, or else it would be too boring to remain at home. Averie had agreed at the time and told Laura to manage her finances in the future,
Averie had thought that Laura would be happy to hear it, but to her surprise, Laura completely gave up on finding are job.
She thought that she was too old to catch up with the ever-changing society, and was worried that she would make a mistake and slow Averie down instead.
Tears welled up in Averie’s eyes and soon rolled down her face at the94 memories. ‘It’s Wanda who killed my mother!’ She thought, ‘I want her dead!’ In the morning at Tate Industries, Averie called Shaun into her office.
“I told you to keep an eye out for any movements made by Wonder Technologies. What’s going on over there right now?” Averie asked.
“Wanda has hidden away from the public, saying that she has fallen sick. Right now, another stakeholder of the company manages all operations of Wonder Technologies,” Shaun said,” While you were recovering from childbirth, Wonder Technologies kept making huge moves.
They first bought out an online shopping platform that was about to announce bankruptcy, before establishing an alliance with dozens of enterprises… They are switching markets because they know that they couldn’t beat us in drones, so now they are trying to develop towards the electronics field.”
Averie remained thoughtful for a moment. “Has Wanda been kicked out of the game?”
Shaun shook his head. “No. The company might be switching to a different field, but the management style still belongs to Wanda. I heard from a friend that their goal is to list.”
Averie lowered her gaze and started thinking of ways to counteract. “Averie, have you ever considered listing the company? Your enterprise has been a huge success overseas but you haven’t had it listed yet.”
“Yes, I won’t consider it,” she said, “I can still make money without listing my company. There are far too many restrictions that come with being listed so I don’t like it.”
“Hahaha! I knew it. Quite a lot of people have come and asked me if we need investments and I’ve turned them all down; Wanda is the exact opposite of you, who kept trying to attract assets. She has to keep throwing money into the market if she wants to attract more consumers, so it’s kind of like she is paying for consumers… If she manages to become the number one in the industry and have her company listed, everyone else will lose to her.”
Averie studied the longing look on Shaun’s face and asked, “Do you want to work for her?”
“I won’t lie. Their HR did contact me, but I turned down the offer. Making money is important, but so is being happy at work. I prefer your management style, which just focuses on doing what we do best and not getting distracted.”
“I can feel myself wavering.” Averie confessed her struggle and said, “I wanted to take an eye for an eye. I want to kill Wanda and have her suffer a horrible death…” Shaun gasped. “Averie, I understand how you feel, but there will be consequences if you are caught. The company cannot survive without you, and your children need you. Karma will soon come for a woman as vicious as Wanda.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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