It was a blow to Elyette’s self-esteem but he did not express any anger or irritation. “Ever heard of Dutch courage? Try using your noggin a little and think for yourself why they drank last night.”
Averie immediately understood what he meant when he mentioned that.
“That’s a solution in the short-run but it doesn’t address the root cause. They can’t always drink before they…” She could not bring herself to finish the rest of her sentences. “It’s better than nothing. And since Jun won’t force it on Tammy, it had to be Tammy’s idea to begin with,” Elyette said while turning to Daniel. His voice became a little colder and he asked,” What did the little fatty say to you when he ran up to you earlier? He even tried hitting on my daughter again!” Averie was startled by the hostility coming from him. “Elyette, Daniel is only ten years old. Do you honestly think a child his age will do anything atrocious to our98 daughter?”
“That’s because you know nothing about boys nowadays. They’re precocious.” Elyette walked over to where Daniel was without waiting for Averie to persuade him. Before he even walked up to Layla, Hayden appeared and stood in front of her. “I’ve warned you to stay away from my sister!” Hayden frowned and said coldly to Daniel. Layla grabbed Hayden’s arm and explained softly: “Hayden, he asked me if I had a smartwatch, and I said I don’t have one.”
“Don’t get mad, Hayden! I’m not going to bully your sister. I just… I just want to be her friend. ” Daniel’s cheeks turned red and he changed the subject. “By the way, I asked your mom about your dad and she said that he’s coming today! Aren’t you happy that you can see him?” As soon as Daniel ended his question, Hayden immediately looked up and saw Elyette standing not far behind Daniel. Layla saw Elyette too.
Layla nearly blurted out ‘Daddy’.
At that point, her arm was yanked and she was whisked away, for Hayden had dragged her to the other side because he did not want to meet Elyette.
Disappointment flashed through Elyette’s eyes when he saw his son pulling his daughter away. “You look like a famous person, sir,” When Daniel saw Elyette, he immediately came to strike up a conversation.
Elyette understood that the fat boy was a social butterfly.
“The famous person you mentioned is over there.” Elyette pointed in Eric’s direction and turned around to find Averie.
“But I’m not talking about Eric! I don’t fancy celebrities!” Daniel ran up with Elyette. “Are you Elyette Foster, the famous businessman ? The tax you pay annually is higher than the GDP of certain countries! I’m such a big fan!” Elyette was speechless.
“Can I get an autograph, Sir? I’d love to look up to you as my idol, learn from you in the future, and strive to be a great person like you!”
Elyette looked at Daniel’s sincere look and felt a twinge of melancholy in his heart. Daniel looked at him like he was the greatest thing since sliced bread, but his son avoided him like the plague.
It was ironic.
“Sorry, I didn’t bring a pen today.” Elyette declined his request. Elyette knew that Daniel was the best student in Hayden’s class, which signified that he was Hayden’s classmate and competitor.
As Hayden’s father, Elyette did not want to leave Daniel with the impression that he was a kind adult.
“But I brought one!” Daniel said, then he took out a pen and paper from his pocket and handed it to Elyette. “Could you please sign it for me? Just write down ‘To Daniel Lewin, I wish you the best in your studies, and may you have a bright future ahead!’ You can sign it off with youred name!”
Elyette’s expression was cold and his body was a little stiff because he did not want to sign his autograph for the kid.
Averie just so happened to come over and glanced at Elyette. “Why are you so hesitant? It’s not like you’re signing a contract to waive your autonomy. Is it that difficult for you?” After saying that, she took the pen and paper from Daniel’s hand and said, “Could you repeat what it was you wanted him to write down? I’ll write it for you and get him to sign it.”
Daniel was so excited that he immediately repeated what he just said.
After Averie wrote that string of words on the paper, she handed it over to Elyette, who shot her a helpless look “Don’t you know that you shouldn’t be revealing your signature on a whim? Have you no sense of vigilance?” She signed her name on the paper barely seconds after he asked that question.
Was it really necessary to be so vigilant against a ten-year-old child? It was fine to have one’s guard up against a random child, but Daniel was Hayden’s classmate, and his teacher even said that Hayden did not interact much with other students and was only closer to Daniel.
Based on that circumstance, it really should not be that big of a deal to give Daniel an98 autograph. “You should limit yourself to spoiling your own children , Averie. Let the other parents spoil the other children.” Although Elyette was chastising her, he begrudgingly took the paper and pen from her and signed his name next to hers.
After handing the paper and pen to Daniel, he took her shoulders and walked away.
“The way you treated that kid was better than the way you treated me,” he said unhappily.
“Then why don’t you call me ‘auntie’ and I give you an autograph?” Averie teased him. “Don’t you think it’s weird to stare at kids rather than entertain the guests? You’ll be making a fool out of yourself in public.” He fro for a moment. “Entertaining the guests? How?”
“Your assistant is over there. Why don’t you go and ask him?” she suggested. Then, she looked at his palm on her shoulder, and asked, “Do you think I’d stop myself from arguing with you just because there are plenty of guests here today?”
Averie hit the nail on the head with that statement, because that was exactly what Elyette had been thinking.
In addition, he had also sworn himself to put on a good impression in front of all her close friends.
Although they had not yet fully reconciled, they were almost there. Other men-especially Eric— had better not hit on Averie again. He took his hand back and prepared to entertain the guests. Averie was still worried, so she said to him, “Don’t pull a long face today. Everyone here is a guest. You may politely refuse if you don’t want to toast or drink, but don’t make it too blunt. That applies to everything else. Like that boy earlier. He means no harm, so why do you have to make him unhappy?”
He committed all her instructions to memory.
“Got it. Just watch me.”
Averie saw him walking toward the guests, but she could not bear to take her eyes away from him.
It was not just because he changed, but because he had always been a source of fascination for her.
“Mommy, I want to eat cake! Come and help us cut the cake!” Layla ran over, took Averie’s hand, and pulled her to the children’s table.
Elyette’s watched his daughter drag Averie away and felt that his attention had followed along with them.
“Mr. Foster, Robert’s here too. He’s resting in the guest room,” Chad said, “You may check on him whenever you please.”
Elyette wanted to see Robert, of course, but he did not forget the task Averie had assigned to him.
As the father of the two little birthday kids, he needed to entertain the guests today.
“Do you think Averie has acknowledged me as the children’s father when she asked me to entertain the guests, today?” heed asked.
Chad had a startled look. “Even if Averie doesn’t acknowledge it, you’re still the children’s father! This is set in stone. It’s not something that needs her acknowledgment.” Elyette looked at him with disdain. “You have no idea how much her acknowledgment means to me.”
Chad opened his mouth to say something but kept quiet in the end.
It made sense since the employees all privately regarded their boss as an affectionate man.
Averie was his whole world, and her acknowledgment was more important to him than the acknowledgment in the eyes of the law.
“Do I need to toast with them?” Elyette asked. “I don’t know the guests very well and Averie didn’t tell me who’s who either.”
Averie did not tell her who those guests were, only that he should entertain them.
Chad helped him solve his issue. “You don’t need to toast with them. Just listen to their flattery and don’t put on an annoyed expression.” “Wouldn’t that offend them? They’re all Averie’s guests.”
“But you can’t hold your liquor, and if you drink too much, you won’t be able to entertain them anymore.” After a pause, he said, “If you listen to me, I can bet that they’ll go back singing praises of you to their98 friends.” Elyette followed Chad’s suggestion.
Chad was afraid that Elyette would be too tired to entertain guests all alone, so he joined along.
Mike was finally able to get some rest after entertaining them.
He sat down beside Averie and ate something.
“I wonder what’s going on in Eric’s mind at the moment.” Mike put a piece of cake into his mouth and looked at Eric.
Eric had been surrounded by his female fans ever since he entered the banquet hall that morning
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.
Leave a Reply