The CEO Gets What He Wants
Chapter 212
All of a sudden, Xavier's end went silent.
As Avery took out the utensils from the cupboard, she could not help but ask, “Is something wrong, Mr. Dartsley? Can you hear me speaking?”
A minute or two later, there was still no response from Xavier's end.
By then, her colleagues who were living upstairs had long woken up. The place was filled with people walking around. Christopher was even watering the plants while ranting aloud, “According to the weather forecast, the temperature is expected to drop by next Wednesday. We'll have to take these few pots of plants indoors. Does anyone want to adopt one or two plant babies? If not, I'll be taking all of them.”
The place was filled with so much commotion that Avery could not tell if there were any movements coming from Xavier's end.
By the third minute of silence, Avery decided to hang up the call. She assumed that Xavier had received a sudden task or that the signal was weak.
Right at that moment, however, Xavier's voice rang out from the phone again. His voice sounded a lot clearer than before.
“Sorry, Ms. Rumpley. The signal was very poor all of a sudden,” Xavier explained.
“It's okay. I guessed so too. I was just about to hang up.” Avery passed the plates to another female colleague as she spoke.
The colleague took the plates to the table.
“What did you say just now, Ms. Rumpley? I couldn't hear you clearly.” Xavier purposefully made Avery repeat the last line she said.
Avery was truly worried that the two children would have to face their father's wrath. Without thinking too much about it, she repeated herself. “I said, I'm just worried that he'll unload his temper tantrums to the kids.”
Xavier had always been perplexed as to why Avery cared so deeply for Cayden's children.
Nevertheless, he knew that it was between Cayden and Avery only. As an assistant, he could only follow what Cayden asked him to do. “Ms. Rumpley, to be completely honest with you, I have no idea whether Mr. Moore had lost his temper at the children when we arrived in Ackleton. However, I did hear that...” Xavier's voice trailed off.
“What is it?” Avery felt as though her heart was hanging on a tight string.
“What?” Avery's voice began to tremble. The children have not returned ever since they left to buy food?
Cayden continued to explain, “Even I just got the news this morning. Mr. Moore had a bit too much to drink last night and had fallen asleep in a hotel. He has not woken up yet and no one dared to wake him up.”
As he was talking, Xavier heard a panicked voice on the other end of the line.
Panic-stricken, Avery rushed back to Ackleton without a second thought. She just informed Christopher that she was leaving as he was in charge of the team without even taking the time to explain, “Sorry. There's an emergency at home. I need to go back.”
Christopher nodded without another word.
Who would stop someone from going home in times of emergency?
On the way back to Ackleton, Avery could not sit still for a minute. She kept dialing Cayden's number again and again frantically.
Alas, his phone had been switched off.
Meanwhile, on the other end of the city, the leaves outside the mansion had turned gold with a tint of red on their edges. It was a beautiful sight to behold.
From afar, three luxurious cars approached the mansion. The first and last cars were exactly the same, but the one in the middle had some slight variation. The one seated in the car was none other than the state secretary, William Lambert. He had just returned from a meeting in Beshya.
Claire got a phone call from him, then she and Nicole went downstairs to welcome William home.
Nicole took a step forward and helped William carry his briefcase. “The weather's getting chilly, Dad. Is it cold in Beshya? Please take care of yourself whenever you're away from home.”
William merely nodded in response before changing the topic. “Have you two eaten breakfast?”
“We know that you're coming back, so we waited for you.” As Claire spoke, she removed her husband's jacket and handed it to the housekeeper behind her.
The housekeeper then took the jacket and hanged it on the rack.
Meanwhile, another housekeeper started filling their bowls with warm oatmeal.
Whenever William was home, there would have to be a copy of the newspaper on the breakfast table. He had cultivated the habit of reading the newspaper since he was young just like all the men in the Lambert household.
Upon noticing the traces of tiredness on William's face, Nicole put down her spoon. “Mom, Dad, you two go ahead. I'm done eating.”
“Come on. You've barely eaten anything. You better not cut down on your food intake to lose weight, young lady. You should take care of your body.” Claire had mistaken Nicole's actions for being afraid of gaining weight.
“I was starving before Dad returned, so I snuck into the kitchen and ate two bagels before this,” Nicole pouted, embarrassed.
In return, Claire teased her by calling her mischievous.
“Shall I read the newspaper for you, Dad?” Nicole picked up the newspaper. “By the time I finish reading, you should be done with your meal. You should go rest upstairs after eating.”
A warm feeling rose to Claire's chest as she beamed at her daughter. She was immensely proud that Nicole had grown to be a filial child.
Nicole began reading the newspaper in full concentration. After all the years of being raised by the Lamberts, she had gotten a good understanding of the type of news that would interest William.
Whenever she read a passage that interested or concerned William, there would be a major change in his expression. Before long, Nicole had reached the business section of the newspaper.
Nicole knew that news related to Cayden would be mentioned in that section as she had read the newspaper earlier that morning.