The CEO Gets What He Wants

Isabella was like a mad woman, shoving and hitting Avery non-stop. As a result, Avery's hair was a mess, and several scratch marks appeared on her neck. Moreover, the cheek that Isabella had hit earlier was still hot with pain.

Isabella then grabbed Avery's hair tightly and cursed, "A woman like you should be stoned to death! Why are you so desperate for money? You're throwing away your dignity and pride for money! Who cares if you want to be someone's sugar baby, but you've wasted my son's life away! How are you going to pay him back for five years of his time?"

Unable to endure it in silence anymore, Avery pried Isabella's hand off her hair despite the pain before shoving the older woman away. "That's enough!"

The force of her push shoved Isabella over a meter away. Nevertheless, Isabella's face was still purple with rage as she jabbed a shaky finger at Avery. "You unfaithful woman! You cheating woman! Do you think that you're in the right?"

More and more people were starting to crowd around them.

One of the middle-aged women even came over to stop them. As she grabbed Isabella, she cried out, "Ma'am, don't be so mad. You can't listen to just one side of the story before coming to the conclusion of whether or not your daughter-in-law is cheating!"

Isabella knew who that middle-aged woman was.

It was one of the women who had been gossiping with Deborah about how Avery was bringing an unfamiliar man home.

"I know whether or not I'm falsely accusing her of cheating!" Isabella shot the middle-aged woman a glare. "Stop poking your nose in our family business!"

An embarrassed look crossed the middle-aged woman's face when she heard Isabella's retort.

Meanwhile, Avery had already entered her unit. She did not want to waste her time pointlessly fighting with Zayne's family.

The first thing she did upon reaching home was to turn on her laptop and log into the home rental website to look for a house.

Just then, the phone by her side rang.

Nina was calling her.

Avery picked up the call.

Nina sounded anxious as she said, "Ery, are you okay? I heard that my mother went to look for you! Did you encounter her?"

"I did, but it's fine now." Avery knew that Nina was worried about her and wanted to reassure the latter, so she gave her no details about what had happened earlier.

"Zayne and Mom are going to drive me mad!" Nina choked out, almost sobbing. "I'm going to come to you now. Please wait for me!"

Before Avery could tell her that there was no need for her to do that, Nina ended the call.

However, instead of calling Nina, Avery sent her a text message: Don't be mad. Everything will soon pass.

Nina's reply came swift, and it came with a crying emoji: You seem so nonchalant about this. My family really has wronged you.

Avery lowered her head. What can I do but try to stay unperturbed?

Almost an hour later, Nina finally arrived at Avery's residential area.

Once she rang the doorbell, Avery opened the door for her.

After entering Avery's house, Nina noticed something amiss with Avery's face. Stunned, she then hurried forward to check her cheek before widening her eyes. "Did my mom... hit you?"

Avery nodded.

"Is she insane?" Nina was at a loss for words. She frowned and continued, "I really think that both my brother and mother are mad. They'd rather believe a gossipmonger than the people close to them. They won't even believe what I said!"

The two entered the bedroom.

Nina then noticed the webpage that Avery had opened on her computer-a website for home rentals.

"Are you going to move?"

"Yes. I can only get my peace if I move away," Avery helplessly muttered.

Nina then went to grab a drink from the refrigerator before returning to the bedroom. After she skimmed through the information for the house, she said, "You should rent one with two rooms. I'll come and stay with you so the two of us can take care of each other."

Avery turned to Nina at that. She did not wish for Nina to move out just to keep her company.

She was scared that Nina's relationship with her family would sour because of that.

As if having read Avery's mind, Nina said, "Don't worry. I'm not moving out because of you. Honestly, I've been wanting to move out since my second year at university. My parents keep arguing all day long..."

Avery had never recalled a moment in her life where she saw both her parents together.

An interaction between her parents was a wish for her, regardless of whether they would be harmonious with each other or fighting with each other non-stop. That was something Avery was certain she would never be able to witness.

That evening, both Avery and Nina decided on a house.

The next day, Avery and Nina went to see the house. They then signed a contract, paid the rent, and moved in by the end of that day.

The day after that, Avery announced that they were going to clean up the whole place.

Worried that Avery's body would be unable to take the laborious work, Nina hired a cleaner.

"This is great. I finally have a space of my own," Nina blissfully remarked.

Avery was glad to change a place as well. The change of environment made the accumulating gloom in her heart fade away.

One week of holiday passed in the blink of an eye.

Avery had no choice but to lift her spirits and return to work.

To Avery's surprise, just as she reached the design department, she spotted Zayne by his desk.

Seemingly having sensed her presence, Zayne raised his head to glance at Avery.

That very glance made Avery feel uneasy.

Zayne had called her a wench the other day outside the room. Now, the look he was giving her was as vicious as the insult he had bellowed then.

Cecelia soon sent a group message to the others: Meeting at twenty minutes past nine sharp.

Thus, at twenty minutes past nine, everyone in the design department appeared on time in their conference room. Yulissa, the head of the design department, was a fierce woman who refused to bow to men. Therefore, it was not unusual for her to side with ambitious women.

During the meeting, they came to a conclusion about an important project. Yulissa then told Cecelia to be in charge of the personnel selection. As Cecelia liked Avery, Avery had the chance to join the project.

After the meeting ended, Avery went out with the others.

"Cecelia, hurry up and head to the sixty-second floor's conference room now with Ery," said Yulissa, who was on a call and was about to enter the elevator.

Cecelia did not even get the chance to ask why, but she knew that it must be good news. Hence, she quickly led Avery into the elevator and headed up to the sixty-second floor.

Thus, Zayne, who wanted to talk to Avery, had no choice but to go back to the design department first.

Someone was waiting on the outside of the sixty-second floor's conference room. When they saw Avery and Cecelia, they let the two in. After the two entered quietly, they sat down in an obscure corner.

The atmosphere in the conference room was tense, and Avery did not really dare to lift her head. The first thing she saw were the executives of the company, but as she was a new recruit, she did not recognize them all.

There were name cards on the table, and Avery noticed that other than the important members of the company, the business partners of the project were present as well.

A woman in front was explaining the advantages of the location of the project. On her right was the man who had the most power in the company.

Avery quickly averted her eyes from him.

The memories of Cayden's actions in her house were still fresh in her mind.

The meeting went on for two hours.

When it finally ended, it was lunch time.

The big shots were the first to leave, and the other employees later filtered out of the room. Avery never expected to encounter Cayden when she left the room.

Cayden was chatting amicably with two men and one woman outside the conference room.

Avery recalled that those three people were individuals with high standing in society.

Right then, Xavier looked toward Avery and stopped her and Cecelia from leaving. "Ms. Zuckerberg, I remember that you hold your drink well. Why don't you come along with us for the meal later on?"

Despite the fact that he was asking her a question, his tone was a commanding one.

Then, Xavier turned to Avery and said, "Ms. Rumpley, please come along too. It would be good to hear which direction the bosses are hoping to head in for the project."

As long as Avery remained an employee of the company, she had no reason to reject an invitation like that.

Just as she was wondering where to head next, she sensed someone staring at her. Turning around, she then saw Cayden looking at her. The man's gaze was intense, but she could not figure out whether it was joy or fury in his eyes.