Seeing that Abbie and Valeria had arrived, Gavin’s mood immediately lightened up. “Oh! They’re here!”
“Mmm.” Valeria nodded in greeting as her gaze landed on Paisley. Why was she here?
When she saw Talitha, who was sitting next to Paisley, Valeria was stunned. It was the woman who had bumped into her shoulder at the Wolf Group this afternoon!
When Talitha saw Valeria, she immediately stood up with a smile and said, “You must be Valeria! I’m sorry for what happened this afternoon! I’m really sorry, are you okay?”
“Hah! Can she be okay?” Abbie let out a mocking laugh and looked at her with disdain.
Gavin and Archer, who were oblivious to what had happened, asked, “What happened?”
Valeria didn’t want to make a big deal out of it, so she answered nonchalantly, “She accidentally bumped into me at the hotel this afternoon.”
“I really didn’t mean to…” Talitha said apologetically.
Valeria did not mention anything else, so Abbie spoke up for her. “Miss Anderson’s unintentional act caused a huge bruise on Valeria’s shoulder. What if she did mean it? Wouldn’t the upper half of her arm be crippled by now? Speaking of which, Miss Anderson has extraordinary strength. When did you pick up martial arts?”
Abbie’s words packed a punch, and hatred fumed in Talitha’s heart, but she put on a guilty look and said, “It’s all my fault. I have a small accessory on my bag. Maybe it’s because of that. I’m sorry, Valeria!”
She had been apologizing the whole time, so Valeria did not want to pursue it further. When Gavin heard Abbie’s words, his eyes were full of concern. “Did you go to see a doctor?”
“No, it’s no big deal.”
Hearing that she was fine, Gavin did not say anything else. Then, Archer pulled out the chair next to him and invited them to sit down.
Seeing him offer her the seat next to him, Talitha was envious. Sure enough, he treated his biological daughter differently as when she came in, he had been cold, but now he was so attentive towards Valeria. It was so annoying!
As she thought about it, she noticed that the cat and dog had perked up too. The two went to Valeria’s side as soon as she sat down, and the cat jumped onto her lap, while the dog sat next to her.
Valeria reached out to pat the cat’s head, and then the dog’s. Talitha looked at the scene in front of her with boiling jealousy. Those two animals never batted her an eye, but they were so nice to Valeria!
She was practically fuming, so she lifted her cup and took a sip of tea to calm herself down. Afterward, she saw Archer handing the menu to Valeria. “We didn’t know what you like to eat, so we haven’t ordered yet.”
Everyone’s eyes were on Valeria, so she could not refuse Archer. So, she took over the menu and handed it over to Abbie. “Abbie, you decide what to order.”
“Okay, then! I won’t hold back!” Abbie smiled and began to order some dishes. As Abbie ordered, Archer pushed some tidbits towards Valeria and said, “You should be hungry, right? Have some of these first.”
Valeria noticed the care and love in Archer’s gaze, so she had no choice but to eat some. On the other side of the table, Raymond was looking at her and Archer and she could see the envy in his eyes. Raymond had never experienced his father’s love, so he must be very sad by seeing Archer treat her like this.
Raymond was her biological brother! She couldn’t stand it anymore, so she quietly stopped eating.
Archer had noticed that Valeria was looking at Raymond too. As he looked at Raymond apologetically, he wanted to say something, but he couldn’t do it in front of so many people.
Paisley, on the other hand, had been watching everything unfold quietly. She and Talitha were close friends, so when she heard from Talitha that Valeria was Archer’s daughter, she was shocked and envious at the same time.
When she heard the news, she hadn’t believed it at first. However, after seeing how Archer treated Valeria now, she finally believed it.
After feeling jealous, she felt overwhelmed with joy. Since Valeria was Archer’s daughter, it was impossible for her to have a relationship with William, as he was her uncle now.
If that was the case, then Paisley would have a chance with William now, right?
As she thought about this, Gavin asked, “Where’s William?”
“He has something to do, so he’ll be late.” Valeria replied.
“Why don’t you call and ask him?”
“We don’t have to wait for him. He had asked us to eat first.”
“How can we not wait for him?” Gavin disagreed. “Serve the dishes only after William arrives.”
William? So Valeria and William didn’t break up? How was that possible?
Paisley looked at Valeria, Archer, and Raymond one by one. The Saunders family was not stupid, right? So how could they allow such a thing to happen?
Were they referring to the same William? But who else by Valeria’s side went by the name William, anyway?
Paisley’s doubts increased as Valeria picked up her phone to make the call. After she dialed the number, a ringtone was heard outside the door. Then, William pushed open the door and walked in.
Seeing William come in, Paisley turned pale instantly. Gavin said with a smile on his face, “William, you’re here!”
“Sorry, something came up, so I was late!” He said while walking towards Valeria with a smile on his face. Archer moved to the side to offer his seat to William while Andrew greeted him with a bright smile. “Uncle!”
Raymond saw William nod his head, but he did not greet him.
On the other hand, Paisley greeted him with a pale face, and he answered her kindly, “Hello, Ms. Anthony!”
Even though he greeted her, his gaze didn’t stay on her for more than half a second. Talitha, who was next to Paisley, was staring at William from the moment he stepped into the room. She knew that he was good-looking, and she had seen him from afar at family gatherings before, but they never talked. Today, as he was right in front of her, she felt as if her heart was about to jump out of her chest.
He was so handsome! How could someone be that good-looking!
Talitha gave him a gorgeous smile and was hoping that she could attract his attention.
However, she didn’t expect William’s gaze to merely sweep over her face for only a second. He simply nodded his head and turned away to look directly at Valeria.
Seeing the cat on Valeria’s lap, William was unhappy. How dare it sat on his wife’s legs! He reached out and took Oreo off Valeria as he said, “Shoo! Your fur is everywhere!”
After Oreo was taken away and was placed on the ground, it jumped back onto Valeria’s leg immediately. Then, William reached out to take the cat down once again.
Oreo was so angry that it jumped directly onto his lap this time.
He was speechless when he saw this. “Get lost! Go back to your master!”
Oreo didn’t want to leave, and this made Abbie laugh hysterically as she said, “William, this cat is challenging you!”
Seeing that William disliked Oreo, Valeria sighed and said, “You can’t be so violent. You should be gentle to it.”
She petted Oreo, who was on William’s lap, and said, “Oreo, go play on that chair over there. This guy is allergic to fur. If you and Mocha go play by yourselves, I will treat you both to something delicious later.”
Only then did Oreo jump off of William’s lap and it stalked away with Mocha. William sighed in relief and then looked at the fur on his body in disgust as Valeria took out some wet tissues to help him wipe his hands.
Looking at their loving interaction, Paisley’s eyes darkened with jealousy.