Chapter 267
Chapter 267
The silence inside the car was deafening.
Three men stared wide–eyed, even Jason, who was driving, almost lost grip of the steering wheel.
“Evadne, what did you just say?” Cassius, always steady and composed, seemed also taken aback.
“Thaddeus says he regrets divorcing me. He wants me to give him another chance. This time he will court me.”
Evadne lifted her delicate face, her clear almond eyes gazing at Cassius, “Casslus, what does he mean by this? Is he confessing his feelings?”
Bennett and Jason both blurted, “No brainer!”
Immediately afterward, they chimed in again in unison, like two heads on the same neck, “Pff! What nerve!”
Cassius blinked, his brows knitting slightly.
“Cassius, can you believe it? The man who once tore our future apart now wants to court me, promising vows as if they were really true.” Evadne curled her lips into a forced smile. In the past, she would have wept for joy.
But now, her feelings were more of confusion.
Suddenly, it was like a desired doll from her childhood that she never received. As she grew up, even if she received a better, more expensive one, she couldn’t love it anymore. Moreover, why would Thaddeus court her?
She once treated him so well, but he never appreciated it.
Now she opposed him at every turn, repeatedly humiliating him, why would he?
“Late love is worse than weeds. Thaddeus’s confession is nothing but a pile of stinking crap!” Bennett gritted his teeth in hatred.
“Exactly, what was he thinking before?” Jason gripped the steering wheel tighter, echoing softly.
“Evadne, when you married him, you gave him everything. Have you forgotten the pain once the wounds healed? Now he sees you transformed into a billionaire’s daughter, adored by everyone, and you are at the peak of your life, stunningly beautiful. He’s upset, he feels regret. He thinks he was blind before, so he wants to win you back to fulfill his disgusting vanity!” Bennett’s handsome face turned livid as he bitterly accused the unfaithful Thaddeus.
“I wouldn’t say it’s vanity.”
Evadne rolled her eyes, “But you’re right Bennett, he probably finds me more attractive now, more interesting. After all, it was only after I reclaimed my Ashbourne family status that he started looking at me differently.”
“Huh, men are all vulgar creatures seeking novelty and thrill.”
Jason couldn’t hold back his anger, “He got tired of the pure and innocent Acacia, now he likes your style and your personality. He just changed his taste. Before he liked eating dirt, now he likes durian. Today he says he wants to court you, tomorrow he could be courting someone else.”
Bennett agreed, “Once unfaithful, always unfaithful!“.
Evadne raised an eyebrow, “I know the dirt represents Acacia. But who’s the durian? Explain that to me.”
Jason coughed awkwardly, “Miss Evadne, I was just making a comparison.”
“There’s nothing wrong with durian. It’s quite cute, the king of fruits, suits our Evadne’s character.” Cassius casually put in.
“But durians are spiky and stinky!”
“But the inside is soft, and it tastes sweet and fragrant.”
Cassius grinned, his fingertip brushing her nose, “It’s quite similar to our Evadne.”
“Humph!” Evadne turned her face away, pretending to be angry. It was a cute gesture.
“Evadne, no matter what, you can’t fall for Thaddeus again! Men are all the same!” Bennett fearing that she might rekindle her old feelings, persuasively warned.
“I am an exception, Mr. Bennett.” Jason weakly defended himself.
“Count me in.” Cassius also quickly declared his stance.
“Right right, the men of the Ashbourne family are definitely different.” Bennett hastily tried to fix his statement.
“Well, not all of them are good. There’s always one old man dragging us down,” Evadne, with her slender and fair legs crossed, teased.
The three men exchanged glances, the same name popping up in their minds simultaneously:
Emeric!
“No matter what!”
Suri, upon hearing Evadne’s request to save Thaddeus, her beautiful face flushed with anger.
This stepmother, who always catered to Evadne, firmly refused the request to treat Thaddeus.
“Suri, listen to me.” Evadne seemed helpless.
“There’s nothing to talk about.”
Suri waved her hand dismissively, her voice icy, “I remember everything Thaddeus did to you, not just me, but Myra and Aviana must remember too. Isn’t he the CEO of Abernathy Group? Let them figure it out!”
“Suri”
“Oh right, he’s surrounded by women. Why aren’t they coming to mourn their lover?” Suri’s words were extremely harsh, as if she wanted to bite Thaddeus to death.
“Suri, Thaddeus is a despicable man, but this time, he is my savior.” Evadne pulled Suri to sit on the couch, looking more like an elder than herself.
Suri frowned, “What do you mean?”
Evadne explained in detail about how she went to rescue someone on Misty Mountain, how she got into danger, how Thaddeus saved her, and how he got injured in the process.
After Evadne finished speaking, Suri’s hand, which was held by Evadne, turned cold. She was filled with fear!
“Eyadne, you little rascal! If I were your mom, I’d ground you and give you a good hiding! You sure have some nerve!”
“Only Cassius, Bennett, and Jason know about it. Emeric is in the dark.”
Evadne placed a finger against her lips, lowering her voice, “You have to promise to keep this a secret for me. I’m worried that if Emeric finds out, his blood pressure will skyrocket again.”
“I don’t feel like covering up for you anymore. Over the past three years of your messy relationship with Thaddeus, we’ve had to clean up so much mess for you, we might as well have an entire classified dossier on you!”
frritated, Suri tapped her forehead lightly. “I should tell your dad about this, let him handle you!”
“It won’t help if you tell him. Emeric would’ve controlled me if he could.” Evadne responded with a wide grin, looking utterly pleased with herself.
After another round of heartfelt persuasion, Suri, feeling helpless, promised to help her.
“Evadne, tell me the truth. Is this because you still have feelings for him?” Suri asked, concern creeping into her voice.
“No.”
Evadne’s response was firm and decisive. “I’m not a pig, and I won’t jump into a pigsty. I simply don’t like the feeling of owing someone.”
There was a moment of unease, but it quickly passed.
“That’s a relief. If you want to get back together with him, I guess you’ll no longer have a home.”
Suri gave her a chilling look, “What will you choose, your family or a jerk?”
Evadne rubbed her goose–bumped arms nervously.
“Evadne! Suri!”
Aviana knocked on the door and entered, “The dresses for Myra’s birthday party have arrived. Come and help pick one out! I don’t understand women’s fashion. I even wore jeans to my own wedding.”
“Okay, okay! We’re coming!”
Evadne, fearing Suri’s questioning, quickly pulled her along to find Myra.
The three women hurried to Myra’s room.
A row of mobile racks was filled with dazzling evening gowns, all limited edition, the latest fashion, truly a sight for sore eyes!
Rows of custom–made high–heeled shoes with diamonds embedded on the tips were arranged on the floor. Such extravagance!
Any other woman would be screaming with excitement. Selling the diamonds alone could buy a house.
But Myra, dressed in a simple, modest lavender sweater, sat on the couch, bewildered.
“Myra, what’s wrong? Your birthday is coming up. Why are you so gloomy?” Evadne sat next to Myra, wrapping her arm around her.
“Evadne, please talk to your dad for me. Cancel the birthday party.”
Myra sighed, “I’ve been nagging him for half a month. I said we could just have a family gathering at home. I don’t like eating out, and I don’t like entertaining so many guests. It’s tiring and costly. But Emeric won’t listen. What should I do?”
“Wow, Myra, you are showing off!” Aviana joked from the side..
“You sound a little bitchy!” Suri, with her arm around Aviana’s walst, joined in the teasing.
Evadne’s heart sank.
Growing up, Myra, to be considerate of her feelings, had always kept a low profile at home after she got together with Emeric. The only time she was visible was during meals when she was busy in the kitchen.
Back then, Evadne, even though she was too young to understand, knew that Myra was her mother’s rival. To protect her mother, she often created chaos at home, even rudely accusing Myra of many things.
She had always thought these women lacked self–respect, clinging to Emeric even though she knew he was married and had other women.
It wasn’t until later, when she had grown up, that she learned the truth from Cassius.
Years ago, when her mother was stricken with a serious case of lupus, Myra had unhesitatingly donated her bone marrow to save her mother.
That was twenty years ago when medical technology was not as advanced as it is now. Donating bone marrow was not risk–free, and Myra suffered from lingering pain due to complications.
Even though her mother eventually passed away, there was no denying that Myra had extended her life by a year, giving Evadne one more year of staying with her mother in her childhood Later, when she lost her baby with Thaddeus, it was Myra who stayed by her side, caring for her like a mother.
Gradually, Evadne stopped resenting her.
After all, who could hold a grudge against someone who has been genuinely kind to her for twenty years? Even her mother didn’t, so why should she?
“Myra, let’s go with Emeric’s plan.”
Evadne held Myra’s arm like a daughter, smiling gently, “It’s not just Emeric’s idea, but also mine. In these twenty years, you’ve never had a proper birthday. I’ve always felt guilty about that.” “Silly girl, what are you talking about!”
Myra looked at her in surprise, ‘It was my choice not to celebrate, it has nothing to do with you!”
“Then, can you fulfill a wish for me? Let us throw you a birthday party, okay?”
“Myra! Look at Evadne! Just stop worrying and go with it!” Suri and Aviana joined in, cajoling her.
In the end, Myra couldn’t resist the persuasion of the three women and reluctantly started picking out a dress.
“All these dresses are no good
Evadne crossed her arms, critically eyeing the expensive gowns, “So tacky. How could Emeric have such poor taste? He definitely didn’t inherit my sense of style.”
“It’s already good enough, Evadne,” Myra hurriedly responded.
“Not enough, far from enough.”
Evadne shook her head, her eyes shining with a proud light, “If you’re going to wear a dress, it should be a one–of–a–kind gown designed by a top designer, custom–made just for you. Myra, have you heard of Haron?”
“Haron?” Both Suri and Myra exclaimed in surprise.
Only Aviana, this tomboy, looked a bit baffled, but she also thought the name sounded familiar.
“Hmm, I invited her to design the dress for your birthday party. What do you think?” Evadne’s radiant smile shone in her eyes.
“Evadne, are you serious? Haron? The world–renowned fashion designer, Haron?” Suri stared at her in disbelief.
Is there a second Haron in the world?” Evadne retorted casually.
“Emeric once thought of having Haron design a dress for Myrie, but despite all his efforts, he couldn’t reach her. Evadne, do you have such a connection that you can invite Haron?”
A gin tugged at the corners of Evadne’s lips, and she chuckled inwardly. Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g
Emeric would never dream that Haron was right beside him, and she was the little girl he had raised with his own hands!
“Of course, Haron and I are old friends, I can ask her for a favor.”
With a secretive glint in her eyes, Evadne pulled Myra into a close hug. “Myra, on that day I want you to wear jewelry designed by Alea, a dress designed by Haron, and steal the spotlight. Let them once again witness the grace and elegance of the former queen.”
“Evadne.” Myra’s emotions were a whirlwind, and her eyes gradually reddened.
“Don’t worry. On that day, you will be the woman who makes all other women in the world green with envy!”