Valeria and the others arrived in Arcadia at eight in the evening. They were swiftly greeted by the transporter being courtesy of William having business here.
They got on the vehicle and eventually checked into the hotel. A table of mouthwatering dishes had already been prepared for Valeria and the guests.
It consisted of sausage bread, trout fillet, roasted pork with sauerkraut, alongside chicory and walnut salad. However, the meal would not be complete with a charcoal-grilled pork knuckle.
Valeria was not able to have a pint as she was currently pregnant. She had no choice but to enviously witness both Abbie and Braelynn enjoying their beer.
“How does it taste?”
“It’s so refreshing and tasty.” Abbie nodded in agreement and offered, “Would you like to have a small sip of it?”
Hayden and Gavin were in a midst of a conversation and turned their head around upon hearing about Abbie’s idea. They glared at her and said, “Abbie, you are not allowed to become a bad influence. Valeria, feel free to consume alcohol after giving birth. You are allowed to drink as much as you can in the near future.”
“Mr. Howard, please don’t take it seriously as I am just joking around,” Abbie defended and stuck out her tongue.
“You’re such an immature and spoiled child. You would definitely force this idea upon Valeria should I not be present today.”
“Mr. Howard, you have wrongly accused me! I am really just messing around with Valeria!” Abbie felt that she was not being fairly treated.
Valeria chuckled and tried to ease the tension, “Dad, Abbie is genuinely goofing with me and she is not one who crosses the line. Let’s not criticize her already.”
Hayden eventually put an end to this topic after listening to Valeria. He proceeded to serve food on Valeria’s plate and said, “This is absolutely divine. Do have more of it!”
Valeria did not refuse as she was starving. “Dad, thank you so much!”
Michael’s flight was an hour later than Hayden and the rest of them. He was being politely greeted by William’s men upon getting off from the plane, “Michael, nice to meet you! Mr. Howard, Miss Clark, and the others have already arrived and they are currently enjoying dinner. I shall send you there right now!”
Michael was being transported to the restaurant that Valeria and the group of people were currently at. He took a seat and had dinner alone instead of meeting up with them beforehand.
He had finished his meal and greeted them upon seeing Hayden and the others exiting from the private room.
Both Gavin and Hayden were taken aback by the presence of Michael. “When did you arrive?”
“Well, not long ago. I am here to settle some official matters,” Michael replied in a pretentious manner.
Hayden was not aware that Michael and Jaxon had been communicating with each other all this while. “We have just arrived as well. Where are you planning to spend the night? Would you want to reside in the same hotel with us?”
Michael swiftly agreed upon hearing about it. Valeria was utterly curious upon seeing Michael appearing out of nowhere. Wasn’t it too coincidental for him to have business matters here? Something fishy must be going on judging by how he arrived shortly after them!
She immediately called William upon returning to her room in hopes to clear up her confusion. The phone had been ringing for a long time before eventually being answered. Richard chuckled and said, “Valeria, hello there. I would like to notify you that William is dead drunk. Would you like me in becoming your messenger?”
Valeria was surprised upon hearing about it and asked, “Did he happen to have consumed alcohol?”
“Yes, you’re right. He had taken lots of wine and eventually let loose since you are out of the country. Valeria, I need to report to you that William has crossed the line. He hired someone to spend time with him apart from consuming alcohol. You need to give him a hard time, okay? He is a cunning person and has always been pretentious!”
Valeria burst into laughter upon hearing his claim. “Mr. Clark, are you sure my husband is the one that you are currently badmouthing?”
“Of course. Valeria, he had shared his feelings with me and told me lots of bad stuff about you. He said that you were as dominating as the fascist. You disallowed him to visit nightclubs, consume alcoholic drinks, and smoke cigarettes after taking your hand in marriage. He decided to go all-out in hopes to make up for his lost joy since you are currently not with him.”
Valeria would be out of her mind should she believe Richard’s words. She had never once controlled her husband and William himself was the one who decided to cut ties with drinking and smoking. She had nothing to do in interfering with William’s entertainment life. Richard was obviously trying to sow discord between them. She giggled and said, “Mr. Clark, do you happen to know what we are currently up to?”
“Nope, I have no idea about it at all.”
“We have safely arrived in Arcadia. We enjoyed our dinner and are currently planning to head out for a stroll. I should give you a heads up that men here are breathtakingly good-looking. There were countless men chatting with Braelynn despite walking for just a short distance. I have no idea what were they saying but Braelynn happens to be fluent in Latin. She was seen to be having a great time upon having a word or two with those handsome men.”
Richard immediately pictured the scene of charming men approaching Braelynn upon hearing about it. He felt depressed within a blink of an eye and asked, “Are you telling me the truth?”
“Of course. It is as clear as day that Braeynn had received the attention of charismatic men. However, she is not interested in them at all. She prefers Asian instead of foreigners.”
Richard was instantly feeling less bitter upon hearing about it. Valeria continued speaking, “I shall let you in a little secret. Braelynn’s boyfriend is currently on a business trip here. He has already made an appointment with her and we can finally meet him real soon. I’ve heard that her partner is a genius in his academic studies. He is also an attractive and talented man. I’m looking forward to seeing him in person!”
“Really? Since when was Braelynn in a relationship?” Richard refused to believe it. William had told him before that Braelynn was still single.
“Mr. Clark, you are such a humorous man. Braelynn is such a beautiful and competent person. It would be ridiculous if she is not popular, right? By the way, aren’t you aware that Braelynn used to work here before? Her boyfriend is a senior executive of a company here and they have met through work. Braelynn told me that her boyfriend is tall, attractive, and loyal towards her.”
Richard was so shocked until he had forgotten about his intention of sowing discord between William and Valeria. He was so jealous that he had also forgotten that he was using William’s phone in secret. He did not even notice William’s presence.
Richard turned his head around upon realizing that someone was patting his shoulder. William was staring at him with a blank expression on his face. “Why are you using my phone without obtaining my permission beforehand?”
“Well… Erm…” Richard was feeling awkward upon being caught red-handed. “You were occupied with something else just now. Valeria called you and I answered it on your behalf.”
“Honey.” Valeria shouted on the other side of the phone, “Richard said that you were having drinks outside and you kept badmouthing me about being too restrive on you. I heard from him that you even hired someone to accompany you during your drinking session.”
“Richard Clark!” William raised his voice.
“I… I’m just joking with Valeria! You need not take it seriously!”
“Get lost!” William snatched the phone away from Richard. He explained himself immediately as he was afraid that Valeria would be pissed off, “Sweetheart, it is unwise for you in listening to his nonsense. I can assure you that I’m not that kind of a person. I just genuinely wanted to have a drink with Richard, that fella. I neither drank over my limit nor I hired someone to accompany me.”
“I know that he is just spewing bullshit and I am well aware of your personality. Richard is just trying to deceive me. How foolish of him!” Valeria burst into laughter.
“My wife is absolutely intelligent!” William praised her and proceeded to ask, “Are you tired?”
“Not at all. We just finished our dinner and I had eaten a lot.” Valeria continued speaking in a gentle tone, “Honey, I have been missing you already.”
“I miss you too!” William answered dotingly.
“What should I do? I’m afraid that I would have trouble sleeping as I miss you dearly,” Valeria said coquettishly.
“I shall accompany you via video call until you eventually doze off, okay?”
“Alright! Let me hop into the shower first. I will have a chat with you after cleaning myself. You need to head home now and wait for my call. Do not linger outside any much longer even though that I trust you very much. You are an utterly charismatic person and I’m worried that bitches and whores would not let you off their radar! It is much better for you to stay put at home.”
“Duly noted!” William promised.