CHAPTER 23-24

“SLV Corporation is a listed company and often participates in other projects. If the CEO’s secretary cannot even translate such a simple document, just by sitting by the computer and drinking tea, how could she become a secretary?”

“If our Lucy cannot be the CEO’s secretary, are you trying to say that a twenty-year-old brainless brat like you are able to?” Hannah was angry to the point where her words no longer made sense. “You’re just relying on the fact that Antonio spoils you and protects you! Otherwise, you would not have the qualifications to do it at all!”

“Aunt, don’t be so rash with your words. Earlier on, I simply took myself as an example. Although I studied overseas, my father felt that my abilities weren’t strong enough and arranged for me to further my studies in finance within the country. However, I’ve been dragging it until now without completing it, and I’ve never officially graduated. In addition, my age is indeed not good. I definitely won’t make use of Antonio’s wife’s position to mix into the company. The SLV Corporation isn’t a place where any ugly person can enter. What do you say?”

Ava smiled happily as she explained.

On the other hand, Hannah was mad to the point where her face was white.

What ugly person! She actually said that her precious daughter was ugly!

“Antonio! Look exactly what you’ve brought into the Sylvester family! She used such an attitude to speak to an elder!” Hannah’s anger was not light.

Antonio calmly curved his lips, looking calm. “Everything she said was what I wanted to say. Nothing is incorrect.”

“You! You…” Hannah’s eyes were filled with rage. “Antonio! When Lucy visited the Sylvester family when she was young, you always took care of her! Why is it that with these kinds of issues you are helping an outsider? What medicine did Ava give to you? She…”

Hearing this, Antonio’s expression did not change but in an instant he removed any close relation they could have had with the Sylvester family.

“In the Sylvester family, I am the host, and you are the guests. Rather than taking care, I was simply fulfilling the basic conduct of being a host,” he calmly said.

They kept mentioning the Sylvester family, but aside from having the Sylvester surname, were there any areas where they were related to Sydney’s Sylvester family?

All they wanted was a stable pillar in Sydney which was why they kept clinging to the most reliable foundation of the Sylvester family.

“Mom, let’s just leave…” From the document, Hannah could tell that her chances of obtaining the role of the CEO’s secretary were indeed small. She already felt somewhat ashamed and could only whisper to Hannah.

She was but a naive student who had just graduated from university. On the other hand, regardless of how Ava was insulted, she stood firmly by Antonio’s side complimenting him so well. Her hand was held in his from start to finish. Her face was also perfect.

Perhaps because Ava had received the highest level of education since young, regardless of what circumstances she was faced with, her performance was still calm and confident. Her temperament was not something any other girl could compare to. This caused Lucy to feel even more inferior. She wanted to leave quickly to prevent from being insulted any further.

“We’re not leaving! Why do you have to leave? We haven’t cleared this up!” Hannah raged. “Ava’s surname is not Sylvester! Who does she think she is? Let the Sylvester family be the judge!”

Lucy felt embarrassed by her mother who was pestering them endlessly and tried to use force to pull her out but could not move her. In the end, she could only stay silent with red eyes.

“Madam, I’ll send you back to your room to rest. It’s too noisy here.” Auntie Berta received Antonio’s eye signal and rushed forward to whisper by Ava’s ear.

Ava did not move. Her eyes met Hannah’s. Just as she was about to speak, Antonio squeezed her hands.

Antonio spoke calmly, “Ava is my wife. Her surname isn’t Sylvester? How did Aunt come to this conclusion?”

Hannah choked, freezing for a moment before arguing mindlessly, “At the end of the day, you will still get a divorce!”

Antonio leaned to the side, holding Ava’s hands, but his words were directed towards Hannah. As though pouring cold water over her, his tone was as cold as ice, “I respect you as an elder and did not humiliate you. Watch your words and don’t cross the line, if not, in the future, I may not be as kind.”

Regardless of silhouette, looks, background or his cold, quiet aura, the feeling that Antonio gave others was always calm, yet at the same time, it made it difficult for others to breathe.

Seeing that Antonio was truly angry, although it could not be seen from the surface, the tension in the air did become cold. Hannah could not help feeling a shiver running down her spine…

Ava watched this man who kept on protecting her. Her heartbeat increased.

She did not care much about the nonsense spouted by this woman. But Antonio’s protection made her feel as though she was safely kept within his wings. It was warm and secure.

“You’ve really grown up. Now you’ve learned to bully us, mother and daughter…” Hannah suddenly sounded as though she had been wronged, her voice weakening.

Antonio’s voice remained cold. “You won’t leave when we ask you to. Do you want to be thrown out?”

“Mom, even if we speak anymore there is nothing of benefit to us.” Lucy tugged on Hannah’s sleeves. “Don’t mention about Ava and cousin’s divorce anymore. Their relationship seems very good. Saying this kind of words, we are clearly in the wrong.”

Hannah gritted her teeth, lowering her voice to reply, “Stupid brat, what nonsense are you saying? Is your weak ambition beaten down after seeing how impressive they are?”

How was this nonsense?

Lucy raised her head and saw that Ava’s hands were continuously held in Antonio’s. The feeling that no one would be able to interfere was too evident.

Antonio never seemed like an emotional person. Today he actually got angry from protecting Ava… If they kept arguing any further, don’t even mention the Bellevue Hill, they may not even be able to enter the Sylvester family door anymore.

Hannah was not stupid. She could see that this situation was not favorable for her. It was fine to offend Ava, but if because of this they offended the Sylvester family, then the consequences would not be very good in the future.

Before Hannah tugged her daughter out off the door, she added on unhappily, “Ava, don’t be happy too early! Antonio is not as simple as you think. You may think that he treats you well, spoils you and protects you. But isn’t it all for the sake of benefitting from your family? After all, the woman that is really in his heart has already…”

“Mom!” Lucy saw Antonio’s gaze and froze in fear, busily cutting off her words and dragging her away.

The door opened and closed. The loud “peng” sound of the door slamming shut was shocking, and because of this, Ava paused in surprise.

Antonio remained calm, “Just idle words, no need to pay attention to them.”

Ava: “…”

She never said that she was going to pay attention to those baffling words.

“I didn’t scold you earlier because there were guests. The living room on the first floor is so chilly. You didn’t even put on a coat before coming down. Do you really plan for me to take a month of vacation to stay at home and watch you?” Antonio held onto her ice-cold hands; his tone slightly unkind.

“Cough, that, just now I took a glance at the document Assistant Shen brought over. It does seem rather important. Do you want to go to the office to settle it? I’ll…”

“You are the most important.”

“…”

Ava did not have the time to be moved by his words before she was brought upstairs. Without a coat, she was not even allowed to come downstairs.

Was this the stern husband that the legends spoke of?

—–

At night, Antonio went over to the main bedroom but did not see Ava.

He glanced towards the shut door of the bathroom. Although there was not much noise, the sound of water flowing into the tub could be heard.

He raised his wrist, glancing at the time.

After more than ten minutes, Ava still did not exit.

Ava indeed sat in the tub bathing. The water was hot, and after soaking for a while, her eyes became somewhat dazed, distantly glancing at the mist in the air.

In her mind, Hannah’s voice rang once more, “The woman that is really in his heart has already…”

Those kinds of words…

Hannah should have been making things up when she said that, right?

After all, in the entirety of her two lives, the Antonio she saw has always treated her well. Not only could she see it with her eyes, but she could also feel it with her heart.

Also, back then, for the sake of looking for reasons to cancel the wedding, she had already attempted to look into Antonio’s history. She had spent more than a month hiring others to investigate him in the dark.

Antonio was unpredictable, mysterious, and private. The number of bodyguards he had was also rather large, making it hard for her to find opportunities.

However, at the end of a lengthy investigation, what she found was that many women were chasing after him, loving him, and hoping to marry him. For the sake of meeting him, one even attempted to use suicide to threaten him. These women were celebrities of great family backgrounds and female idols that were high on the social hierarchy.

Yet, Antonio never once gave those women any opportunities. Even if they attempted to use death to threaten him, he still remained calm, giving them no attention whatsoever.

In front of women, he has always maintained an indifferent and suitable distance, making him difficult to understand and even harder to approach. His self-control and composure were remarkably restrained.

No!

That night he tortured her so much to the point that her voice became hoarse. Even then, he still did not let her off!

And yesterday, even though her fever was so high, he still managed to have a reaction!

Restrained my ***!

The bathroom door suddenly opened. Ava who was currently leaning against the tub in a daze looked up in surprise.She stared at the long-legged man who had directly walked in with shock.

Before the mist, the man’s tall silhouette was somewhat difficult to look at.

She blinked her eyes before returning back to her spirits, finally noticing that she had stayed in the tub for too long. She was so stunned that her reaction was somewhat slow.

“What are you doing? I’m showering.”

Her long wet hair was spread out across her back, like black seaweed. The little droplets of water on her face reflected the bathroom lights.

Antonio only glanced at her for a second before pulling over a bath towel and fishing her out of the tub. Ava did not even have the opportunity to protest before she was already wrapped in a bundle.

Without saying a word, he brought her out.

“Antonio, I’m showering. Why did you suddenly enter…”

“I already gave you nearly twenty minutes. Soaking in hot water for so long, do you want to faint in there again?”

Ava heard that his tone was unkind but could not understand why he was suddenly losing his temper.

She furrowed her brows. “Then you could have just called me from outside…”

Antonio placed her on the bed, tugging off the towel on her body.

Ava’s body suddenly felt cold. Realizing that she was not wearing anything, she rushed to roll around the bed and wrapped herself up in the sheets.

“Didn’t you ask me to help you bathe yesterday?” Antonio threw her towel to the side.

“But I can do it myself today..."

Antonio acted as though he did not hear anything, tugging the sheets on her body down. Due to his sudden overbearing behavior, Ava was at a complete loss as to what to do.

Could it be that because he could not sleep well last night, seeing that she was feeling better today, he was trying to seek recompense?

Antonio opened the blankets and placed her in it, calmly speaking, “Ava, trust is the most important factor between couples. No one’s empty words should be able to affect your emotions.”

His words were too calm. Ava glanced towards his light and clear expression.

Earlier on, when she was in the bathroom, she did overthink about the things she should not have thought about…

Could Antonio read minds? Or could he easily understand other people’s hearts?

“Don’t want to sleep? Are you fully healed?”

“…”

“If you don’t wish to sleep, why don’t we do other things.”

Ava’s hands that were placed on the blanket could not help but retreat slightly, “No! Not completely healed yet…”

Antonio bent over, reaching over to lift her chin and gaze at her.

Ava was just about to speak when he used the opportunity to lean down and kissed her.

The surprisingly deep kiss caused her to become somewhat dizzy. Only when her unclothed body shrunk backward under the blanket did he gently bite her lips, whispering next to it, “Sleep on the bed or sleep with me, choose one.”

With a whoosh sound, Ava rushed to cover the blanket all the way to her head.

Of course, she will sleep on the bed!

Such an abruptly overbearing Antonio, she was afraid that she would not be able to take it.

——

When she woke up, the sunlight spread across the bed warmly. She glanced toward the window while blinking and then picked up the phone to look at the time.

Antonio always woke up earlier than her. At this time, he should have already gone to the company. Yesterday, he specially stayed to accompany her, but this afternoon the company had a fixed weekly meeting.

After resting for two days at home, she was in good spirits as she went to wash up.

When she returned to the bedroom to change, the phone that was placed by the pillow rang. She walked over to glance at it and found that it was a call from the Clifford family.

Without trying hard, she guessed that her dad should have received the news.

Otherwise, based on his smelly and strong temper, he would not have called her for no reason.

“I heard that you bought two companies from Thomas Scott?”

“Hm.” Ava felt somewhat dazed after not hearing her father’s voice for a long time.

“Such a big issue, why didn’t you discuss it with the family? Thomas, that trash, he has never known how to do business! Right now, business property is not flourishing within the country. The two companies in his hands are on the brink of bankruptcy! Yet, you spent thirty million yuan for it. Such a company is not even worth one million yuan!”

“Dad, wait for me to return home before we discuss this issue.” Ava’s tone was calm. On the phone, she did not wish to argue about such things.

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