Raelyn felt like she had been punched in the face, but she managed to collect herself immediately, “You look like both your mom and your dad. You inherited both of their best qualities!”
Talitha, who had been talking sweetly to Gavin, took this opportunity to chime in, “Valeria is so beautiful. Her beauty took my breath away the first time I saw her.”
Valeria simply looked at her with a faint smile, “You must be kidding, Ms. Anderson. I only remembered you throwing your bag at me and badly bruising my arm when we first met. Had I really taken your breath away, as you put it?”
Talitha was flustered at this. Being the peacemaker, Raymond immediately tried to change the topic, “I think lunch will be ready soon. Grandpa had asked the kitchen to cook crabs today. We’re going to have a feast!”
“Really?” Talitha put on her act again. “I loved coming to grandpa’s house for crabs when I was a child, but I never get to eat them again ever since I went abroad. I can’t believe my luck today! Thank you so much, grandpa!”
However, Gavin answered her coldly, “You don’t have to thank me. I bought the crabs specially for Valeria and William. You two just came at the right time.”
Raelyn and Talitha were enraged when they heard this, but there was nothing they could do. Instead, Raelyn withheld her anger and said, “Valeria, now that I know you like crabs, let me treat you to some next time, okay?”
“It’s fine. I’m not good with strangers, so I’m not comfortable eating with people I’m unfamiliar with.”
Valeria’s blunt dislike for her made Raelyn feel embarrassed and awkward. Gavin didn’t utter a word, but Raymond interjected, “Valeria, Aunt Raelyn isn’t a stranger. She’s our family, and you’ll see each other often in the future…”
Valeria stared daggers at Raymond when she heard this, “I’m sorry? What did you say? Don’t you know that once someone is married, they’ll be leaving their family as well? Take both of us as examples. We’re family right now, but we won’t be anymore when we each get married in the future. We’ll just be relatives. If you insist that we’re a family, you’ll only be laughed at.”
Raymond turned bright red after being told off like that. Meanwhile, Valeria placed Oreo down from her lap and stood up, “Grandpa, is lunch ready yet? If it’s not, I’ll have to go first as I have something else to do later on.”
Gavin got up immediately too as he heard this, “Yes, the food is ready. Let’s go eat now!”
Then, the two headed to the dining room without inviting Raelyn, Talitha, or Raymond. Even though he had been told off by Valeria, he didn’t take it personally. Feeling bad for Raelyn and Talitha, Raymond tried to explain Valeria’s behavior hurriedly, “This is just how Valeria is, Aunt Raelyn. Please don’t take it to heart.”
“Oh no, don’t worry. I won’t,” Raelyn forced a smile. She used to be the apple in everyone’s eyes when she was still unmarried and living as a Saunders. However, no one seemed to take her seriously anymore these days, and it was all too infuriating for her.
However, Raelyn had to stay calm, or else she could easily ruin her plans in the long run. Besides, she could always make Valeria pay in the future.
Meanwhile, Valeria had lost her appetite as the people she hated were sitting at the same table as her. She didn’t enjoy the seafood as much as she was on her period. So, she hastily ate a few mouthfuls of vegetables, then put down her cutlery and left.
As Gavin saw her off, he said, “I’ll cook for you next time, and I won’t invite anyone else.”
“Thank you, grandpa! I’ll be leaving now.”
At the same time, William was in a meeting with his management department at Wolf Group International when suddenly, an out-of-breath Marcus barged through the door. He walked briskly to William’s side and whispered, “Hayden is here! He wants to see you.”
William frowned as he heard this. Sensing his displeasure, Marcus hurriedly added, “I told him that you weren’t in but he wouldn’t budge. He threw a fit, saying that he’s not leaving until he sees you.”
“Tell him to wait, then. I’ll see him after the meeting,” William shrugged. At his orders, Marcus turned around and left.
While Marcus went to deliver the news, Hayden was waiting in William’s office, sipping on his cup of tea leisurely. He even voiced his approval of the tea when he saw Marcus’s return, “What lovely tea you have here!”
Marcus forced a smile at this, “You can take a few boxes back with you later if you like, sir.”
“That would be lovely,” Hayden didn’t refuse. He took another sip before putting his cup down and asked, “Where’s William, anyway? Why hasn’t he come to see me yet?”
“As I said, William isn’t in right now. But I called him just now, and he told me he’ll be here soon.”
“Hah! Who are you trying to fool?” Hayden sneered. “He has grown quite a pair to leave me hanging, hasn’t he? Fine, I have plenty of time, anyway!”
Marcus didn’t know what to say to this, so he only smiled sheepishly.
Noticing how uncomfortable Marcus seemed, Hayden leaned back and asked, “You’ve been working for William for many years now, right?”
“Yes, for quite some time now,” Marcus answered firmly.
“Then what was last night all about?” Hayden asked. “Was William behind all that?”
Marcus feigned confusion at his question, “I’m sorry, sir. But I’m afraid I don’t quite understand what you’re trying to say.”
“Stop playing dumb already. I don’t understand how William could do this to Paisley! He has gone too far this time! I only found out about it this morning. How cruel!”
Marcus didn’t answer Hayden and only laughed nervously, “Hayden, would you like some fruits? Should I get some for you?”
“No, I don’t want any fruit! I want to see William! That heartless son of a… He shouldn’t have done that even if he didn’t like Paisley. How is she going to live with herself after this?!”
Marcus felt it necessary to clear William’s name, “Hayden, this is a misunderstanding. What happened last night had nothing to do with William.”
However, Hayden wasn’t convinced, “Well, if it has nothing to do with William, then who was responsible for it?”
“I have no idea, sir!” Marcus obviously wouldn’t reveal that it was Andrew behind this.
This made Hayden infuriated as he believed that the incident the night before had something to do with William.
William must have done that to damage Paisley’s reputation because he didn’t like her even though Hayden favored her.
However, Paisley hadn’t done anything wrong! William should not have gone all out on her like that.
Then again, Hayden couldn’t really continue rooting for Paisley right now no matter how highly he thought of her before. She had royally messed up and embarrassed herself yesterday night.
And someone with a damaged reputation like Paisley’s was definitely no longer a good match for William, who was the president of Wolf Group. Hence, he could no longer support Paisley.
Despite that, Hayden wasn’t willing to let Valeria marry William either. The Saunders family were bullies, and he wouldn’t allow them to harm William. So, he must separate William from Valeria no matter what.
He waited for an entire hour before William finally returned.
“What do you want, dad?” William asked.
“Can’t I come to see you without wanting anything from you?” Hayden glared at William.
“Well, you don’t look like you have a lot of time on your hands.” William sat down with a smile. Hayden looked at his talented son who was full of potential and was unable to comprehend why William would lie to him. Then, he angrily hit William on his arm and said, “You ungrateful child! How could you lie to your father like this?”
“Ow, that hurts!” William pretended to cry out in pain.
“You deserve it! You should be glad that I didn’t cut off one of your limbs!” Hayden huffed in anger.