“That's not...” Avery was getting tired of denying it. “Even if someone had secretly taken a photo, I'm
certain that you have the power to take the news down. I was just feeling a little worn out after a long
day of work and wanted to go home to rest...”
Cayden stared at her with a deep gaze as he closed the gap between them. “Even if someone had
taken some photos, I still wouldn't stop them. This morning, you appeared on the news with him as a
legally married couple. Jealousy has been raging inside my heart since then. You couldn't care less to
have appeared on the news with him, and yet you mind when it's with me?” With a low voice, Cayden
spat out the words.
Despite being taken aback, Avery lowered her voice, afraid that the children would overhear their
conversation. “That was just an accident. There's nothing to be jealous about. He was just being
childish.”
Dylan had absolutely no romantic feelings toward Avery. He had forced her to marry him purely to
mess with her. Even if he had a hint of feelings toward her, their dysfunctional marriage was nothing to
take pride in, much less to boast about.
Avery's nonchalance was perhaps due to her inability to put herself in Cayden's shoes. As a woman
herself, there was no way she could fully comprehend a man's jealousy. Because of that, Avery
decided to end the conversation, figuring it was best to avoid upsetting him and risking the children
being at the mercy of his temper.
She was truly worried that the children would feel aggrieved by him whenever she was not watching
him.
After all, she had witnessed multiple times with her own eyes the two children not daring to utter a
sound out of fear of their father.
Cayden might have lost his senses due to his jealousy, but Avery still maintained a cool head.
Her rationality told her that it was a bad idea to go with him.
“If I'm not given the chance to claim my rightful place at least once, I might never get over it.” Cayden's
expression darkened as he raised his gaze, catching the sight of Xavier approaching from afar. Before
turning to leave, he tossed Avery a threat. “If I run out of patience, I wouldn't mind sharing the photos of
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtus in bed with the media. Having a bad reputation for sleeping with my cousin's wife sounds like a
thrilling experience.”
With that, he promptly turned and left.
On the other hand, Avery was dumbstruck. Her grip tightened on the laptop case as she stared blankly
into space. Cayden's words echoed in her mind.
Photos of... How on earth does he get his hands on those?
Avery had always thought of herself as a light sleeper. During their passionate night together, Avery
was certain that neither of them had even touched their phones whenever she was awake. Not even in
the morning when they woke up.
So where did he get the photos from?
By then, Xavier had made his way to the car. As he approached, he greeted Avery with utmost respect
before entering the car and starting the engine.
As Cayden's assistant, Xavier only regarded his woman with reverence. Hence, it was not realistic for
him to treat Avery like a friend or even a colleague.
Even as the black Bentley drove off, Avery was still frozen in her spot.
Am I mistaken to think that I'm a light sleeper? Am I a heavy sleeper instead? How could I not have
known if he had woken up in the middle of the night to take photos of us?
The images of that night played in her mind. A blush crept up her cheek as she recalled Cayden's
stamina as she was about to faint from all the action. Perhaps he had snuck a few photos when I had
passed out?
On the way back to her room along with her colleagues, Avery sent Cayden a WhatsApp text
absentmindedly.
When did you take the photos?
For the next ten minutes, Avery kept a close eye on her phone screen every single second.
To her dismay, Cayden did not reply.
Have you seen my last text? If you really have taken the photos, I hope that you can delete them.
Avery hit the send button after she typed out the message.
She was tempted to leave him a voice message but decided against it at the thought of the kids or
Xavier overhearing the conversation.
After another half an hour, her colleagues started to prepare dinner. Only then did Avery let go of her
phone and washed her hands before helping out with making dinner.
It was already six thirty in the evening by the time they finished dinner, yet the sky had not turned dark.
There were still no replies to the messages she had sent. Avery guessed that Cayden was still furious.
Without another choice, she dialed his number.
I might as well enquire if he has yelled at the two kids simply because he's in a bad mood...
“Sorry, the number you have dialed is unavailable. Please try again later.”
As the automated voice sounded from the phone, Avery had no choice but to give up.
That night, Avery tossed and turned in her bed, unable to fall asleep.
Around nine o'clock in the evening, she received a WhatsApp text from Alina. Staring at Alina's profile
picture, Avery could not help but think that she looked nothing like her aunt.
Avery chatted with Alina for a while before ending the conversation with a text: I'll only be going back to
Ackleton with my colleagues this weekend. When I return, I'll be visiting Dad first, then I'll visit Grandpa.
I promise I'll send you video clips of them.
By eleven, Avery finally felt sleepy. However, it was not a restful sleep despite the drowsiness she felt.
The next morning, Avery woke up. Just as she was about to freshen herself up, the blinking notification
light next to her pillow caught her attention.
Nina had sent her a few texts.
Ery, are you up? I don't dare to call you just in case I disturb your rest. Text me back when you've read
my message.
You're on the news again. Seriously, are you still asleep? Are there no persistent gossipers waking you
up in your area?
Alright, alright. You go ahead and sleep. Sleep is good for your body. The news is just gonna make you
stressed anyways.
Once she had finished reading the messages, Avery immediately opened the browser on her phone.
The news regarding her was all over the internet with photos.
Without a doubt, the photos were taken yesterday. The photos showed the picture of the suburbs. She
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmwas eating takeout. Sitting next to her was Nicole, who was dressed in a simple outfit, as well as Dylan,
who was holding a child with a huge smile.
There were a lot of other people in the background, but they were not clearly shown in the photo.
Every website that she scrolled through had similar headlines and content. The news was focused on
one single point—Avery and Nicole were friends.
Avery was Dylan's wife while Nicole was a childhood friend of Dylan. The close relationship between
Nicole and Dylan could easily be counted as siblings. Naturally, that made Avery Nicole's sister-in-law.
Nicole's fans had been commenting on various sites, defending their idol. Nicole has only gotten
popular not long ago, hasn't she? Who has been stirring up trouble? That's a lot of shade! See?
There's photographic proof that their relationship is brother, wife, and sister. Their friendship has been
built since childhood. Their relationship is not as perverted as some of you have thought!
Avery could not be bothered by the comments.
In fact, she did not plan to pay it any attention. Besides pretending to have not seen anything and
focusing on her job, there was nothing else she could do about it.
However, she began to wonder if someone somewhere was having mood swings because she had
appeared on the news with Dylan again.
The thought made her worried. Unable to get through Cayden's phone number, Avery called Xavier
instead.
Although it was still early in the morning, Xavier had already dealt with a huge chunk of the news
online. Not that he had a choice. Cayden had made it clear that he was repulsed by the usage of the
word “wife” when describing Avery's relationship with Dylan.
Just as Xavier was doing some damage control, his phone began to ring.
He tossed a glance at Cayden, who had suddenly become a bigger workaholic since he had returned
to Ackleton last night. “Mr. Moore, Ms. Avery is on the phone,” informed Xavier.
Xavier had received the call because Cayden's phone had been switched off.
With the nod of approval from Cayden, Xavier picked up the call.
He answered every sentence Avery said as his phone was put on speaker on Cayden's desk.
Before hanging up, Avery said, “Sorry to bother you, Mr. Dartsley. I'm just worried that he'll direct his
uncontrolled temper to the kids...”
Upon hearing Avery commenting on his temper, Cayden fell silent.