Elyette came back rather suddenly, and judging from his expression, he did not look too happy.
Something must have happened again.
At four that afternoon, Henry made a surprise visit. It was as if he found out that Elyette was home and immediately rushed over.
Mrs. Scarlet went upstairs and reported news of Henry’s arrival to Elyette. “Master Elyette, I don’t think anything good will come out of Henry’s visit. Should I let him go?” Mrs. Scarlet asked.
Elyette walked out from behind his desk. “He already knows about my relationship with Nathan. Avoiding it won’t solve the problem.”
He walked downstairs and saw Henry standing in the living room with his hands behind his back.
Henry turned to Mrs. Scarlet and said, “Elyette and I have something private to discuss, so if you’ll please excuse yourself, Mrs. Scarlet.”
Mrs. Scarlet glanced at Elyette and took her leave.
“Elyette, I came to you today because I wanted to ask you regarding someone,” Henry went straight to the point.
Elyette did not ask ‘who do you want’ but instead, “What if I don’t?”
Henry laughed awkwardly. “I wonder how Mom would feel if she was still alive and saw us turn against each other.”
“Don’t put pressure on me using Mom’s name!” Elyette scolded. “You and your son killed her. You have no right to bring that up!”
“I have no right, you say? Where do you think my right came from?” Henry was breathing noticeably heavily. “At least I’m her biological son! What about you, Elyette? How long do you think you can keep up this lie? You’ve already taken over my brother’s life. Are you honestly going to imprison him illegally for the rest of your life?!”
“Imprison him?” Elyette was stunned by those two words. “And you’re saying that I took over his life? Do you think Mom’s hands are clean? She was the one who created this in the first place!”
“Even though she switched Adrian with you, I can’t continue perpetuating her mistakes. More so now that she’s dead. Hand Adrian over to me! He’s my brother, and I’m not dead yet! You have no business bullying him!”
“He’s just a silly kid. What use would you have for someone like that?” Elyette retorted. “Do you even have the financial ability to be supporting someone who doesn’t have a job? You can’t even guarantee your livelihood and that of your son’s. You only want Adrian so you can threaten me, right?”
Henry saw red. “Ask yourself whether I’ve ever treated you badly in all my years as your elder brother. I haven’t! I just want to reunite with my biological younger brother, so why won’t you let me? What grounds are you stopping me on?! You’re sitting at the top of the Sterling Group. Why would you be scared of an ordinary person like me? Do you really think I wouldn’t find some other way of threatening you even if I don’t bring him back with me?!” He roared.
The atmosphere in the living room was unbelievably tense, as if everything was hanging by a thread.
“It’s still possible for you to continue using this ‘Elyette’ identity, but please just let me bring Adrian home.” Henry lowered his voice with the intention of negotiating. “I… I just found out about it two days ago. My mind is all over the place right now, APIMKA;7 I don’t want to think about anything else for the time being. I just want to bring home my biological younger brother.”
Memories of the past appeared in Elyette’s mind when he saw Henry’s deflated expression.
He had never been close to Henry due to the huge age gap, but they were later able to live in harmony under their mother’s guidance.
Although they had long known that they were not biologically related, the affection built up over the past few decades was still genuine.
Elyette could just ignore Henry’s request to bring Adrian away, but in doing so he would anger Henry.
If Henry genuinely wanted to threaten him, there was no shortage of methods he could use to do
So.
Averie went to school later that afternoon.
When it came to comforting Hayden, action spoke louder than words.
After Averie arrived at the school, she contacted Daniel’s father through the contact information provided by the teacher.
Daniel had suspected that the teacher gave Hayden a high score and deliberately lowered his score, resulting in his grades being inferior to Hayden’s. If that matter was not resolved, Daniel would always use that against Hayden.
The teacher had assured Averie that Hayden was not given such a high score on purpose.
Averie then asked the teacher to provide a breakdown of Daniel and Hayden’s answers in the qualifying round in front of the entire class, such as the reasons why Hayden scored higher than Daniel and whether the grading was unfair.
After the teacher explained the reasons for the grading, she said, “Hayden’s father, Mr. Foster, invested money in our school to bring our curriculum in line with international standards. This move benefited not only Hayden but every single student in the class. With his financial resources and status, he could’ve just allowed Hayden to bypass the qualifying tournament and given him a shortcut to the competition.”
Daniel’s father’s cheeks turned red and he said to Averie, “Since the teacher has already explained that the grading was fair and just, I will hereby apologize to you for Daniel.”
“Your son’s words were very hurtful to my son, and I expect him to give a proper and personal apology to my son. You treasure your son, and so do I. With all due respect, this is a very poor display of EQ by your son. When my son got second place in the past, he never said anything bad about your son,” Averie did not mince her words.
Daniel’s father’s face soured a little. Daniel wiped away his tears and said, “I didn’t mean to.”
“I know you didn’t mean it. But Hayden had a severe falling out with his father because of what you said. You should always think about the consequences of your words before you say anything next time.”
Averie breathed a heavy sigh of relief after coming out of the school.
Daniel promised to apologize to Hayden the next time they met.
It was a positive result.
After Averie got in the car, she took out her cell phone and dialed Elyette’s number.
He answered at once.
“You don’t need to fret too much over Hayden. I’ve already explained it to his classmates. I’ll send Hayden to school tomorrow, and Daniel will apologize to him.” Averie remembered Elyette’s lonely figure when he left that morning and felt especially heartbroken.
He invested money into Hayden’s school behind the scenes and hired foreign teachers on a high salary. Those actions were all out of love for Hayden.
Hayden might not have understood it then, but when he becomes a father in the future, he might be able to finally understand Elyette’s painstaking efforts.
“That’s great news,” Elyette replied curtly.
“Where are you now? I feel like coming to you.”
“You should continue coaxing Hayden.” Elyette was in rather low spirits, and he did not want to show that to her or let it affect her.
“Okay. I’ll meet you tomorrow then.”
“I’m going to the wedding venue tomorrow,” he said.
“I’ll go with you.”
He hesitated but eventually agreed.
The next morning, Averie sent Hayden to school and left after Daniel had apologized to him.
Her wedding with Elyette would be held at a resort.
She drove to the resort and met Elyette there.
“You don’t seem too happy, Elyette? Are you still feeling down over what Hayden did?” She walked up to him and held his big palm tightly.
Elyette shook his head. “Henry took Adrian away.”
The expression on Averie’s face froze and she released his hand abruptly.
“Why did you let Adrian go with Henry?” She frowned. “Do you know what you’re doing? Do you think Henry will treat Adrian kindly after bringing him away?!”
“Adrian is Henry’s younger brother.”
“I know that! But I will bet my last dollar that he didn’t bring Adrian away because he wanted to take care of him!” Averie clenched her hGSJvuF;8s tightly and her body ran cold. “If I had known you’d let Henry take Adrian, I wouldn’t’ve brought Adrian to your house!”
“Do you see yourself as everyone’s savior, Averie?” Elyette looked at her coldly. “You wanted to save both Adrian and me, but are you able to do that?”
“Am I supposed to just sit by and watch you be persecuted?” Averie’s eyes turned red. “Henry might not be a bad person, but Cole will never let this opportunity pass.”
“Do you think I’m scared of him?” Elyette held her cold little hand. “Let them do whatever they want. It won’t affect me.”
“Are you sure you’re ready?” The unease in her heart disappeared gradually when she looked at his calm and steady expression.
“I spent a lot of time thinking about it last night. We can’t change the fact that all these things exist. We’ll have to face them sooner or later, so rather than being afraid, we should just face everything as calmly as we can.” He led her into the resort. “Nothing else matters as long as you and our children are by my side.”
Averie’s tense heart relaxed immediately at that moment.
“I’m glad you think that way, Elyette.” She took a deep breath. “We’ll be much braver if we spend every day as if it’s our last.”
“I don’t want to think that today is my last day,” he murmured. “I haven’t spent enough time with you, and I want to be by your side until my hair tums gray.”
“Hahaha! Let me let you in on a little secret,” she said cheerfully. “Remember that time I told you I was going to pull out your gray hair? I was lying. You don’t have gray hair. I just wanted to pull a few strands of your hair to do a DNA test.”
Elyette had a startled expression. “Should I thank you for just pulling my hair out instead of taking my blood?”
“It would’ve been too obvious if I took your blood. You’re a smart man, so you would definitely figure it out,” she said, then changed the topic, “After I pulled out your hair, I pulled out Cole’s too. He screamed in pain and it’s pretty hilarious now that I think about it.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that you gave me and Cole a DNA test? Were you worried that I couldn’t handle it?”
“You didn’t tell me that Nathan was looking for either.” She brushed her hand across the flowers in the pathway and a flash of white light appeared suddenly in her mind. “Did we forget to take a wedding photo?”
Elyette was stunned.
“Don’t all couples have a wedding photoshoot before they get married? At least that’s what I’ve noticed. Aren’t we going to lay out the wedding photos to show the guests during our wedding?” she asked.
Elyette said, “It’s not too late to have one now.”
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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