Naya sighed while looking helpless. She pointed to the box Mrs. Graham threw away. “Dan, it’s normal for you to not know anything about jewelry. However, Mrs. Graham does.
“This is from one of the international luxury jewelry brands. No one can buy this black diamond brooch in any outlets in Glendale.”
Naya looked smug when she said that. At the same time, there was a victorious look in her eyes.
“Two days ago, my friend went overseas and I asked her to help me find this discontinued brooch from the outlet over there. She went through so many challenges to buy this. I just gave the one my friend bought overseas to Mrs. Graham. It’s obvious the one Miss Long gave Mrs. Graham is a fake.”
A fake?
Ava was speechless.
She was being accused of buying fakes again.
“Impossible. I went to the outlet to buy this with Ava. How can it be a fake?” Daniel sided with Ava without hesitation.
“It’s simple. She switched it and used a fake to exchange it with the real one. Then, she sold the real one for money. She doesn’t really want to give me a gift.” Mrs. Graham’s eyes were filled with contempt.
Ava clenched her fists. She had always been a straightforward person who would not choose to suffer in silence.
Back then, she would also yell at Kendrick without hesitation.
However, for the sake of Daniel and this relationship, she endured it.
“It’s fine. Even if it’s a fake, it still came from Dan’s girlfriend. You should accept it,” Old Master Graham chimed in all of a sudden, “Everyone’s here, so we can start dinner now.”
“Hmph.” Mrs. Graham scorned at Ava before turning around to go into the dining room while holding Naya’s arm intimately. They looked so close that it was as if Naya was already her daughter-in-law.
A few of Daniel’s relatives were also at the table, but they all ignored Ava. They did not even look at her. On the other hand, they were all talking to Naya with smiles on their faces.
“Naya, you’re so amazing for managing a charity organization at such a young age.”
“What an exceptional young lady! Dan will be so lucky to have you as his wife.”
“Exactly! Naya’s father is the famous big shot of the property industry in Glendale. His yearly income can compete with the Grahams.”
“I heard Naya’s father is discussing a project worth over one billion dollars with a huge tycoon from Y Country. If he manages to get the deal, then the Mendezes will be in the top five wealthiest families of Glendale!”
All of the relatives congratulated Naya before turning to Ava.
“Miss Long, what do your parents do? Are their annual salaries enough for you to buy a proper set of luxurious jewelry?”
Ava could tell they were purposely making things difficult for her, so she smiled magnanimously and said, “I don’t know what my parents do. They abandoned me in Glendale when I was five to go overseas.”
“What?” When Mrs. Graham heard that, her expression was grim. “So, you’re basically an orphan?
“Dan, you have to break up with her now! She doesn’t have money or social status! How can she be our daughter-in-law? Do you know how much influence family background is on a marriage? Naya has so many good attributes and she’s right here! Why do you insist on wanting a vain woman who loves buying fakes?”
Ava was only enduring all these for Daniel, but at this moment, she could not hold it in anymore.
She could not accept personal attacks.
Bang!
When Ava was about to get up, Daniel slapped his hand on the table in annoyance before getting up.
Everyone was stunned by Daniel’s sudden outburst.
“So what if she doesn’t have a proper family? Are you saying that a child from a broken family doesn’t deserve happiness or a happy marriage? Plus, do you think a child is capable of changing the decision of her parents?”
Daniel said sharply and grabbed Ava’s hand before swearing solemnly.
“Listen here, I won’t give up on the woman I love because of her family. If you want the Mendezes to be your in-laws so much, you should go and do it. But don’t involve me with irrelevant people.”
“…” Mrs. Graham was shocked when she heard that.
Daniel was always so refined and soft-spoken. This was the first time he had an outburst.
Then, Daniel grabbed Ava and left, leaving everyone at the table to look at each other in shock.
Naya pressed her lips into a thin line. This was the first time she was humiliated.
She was the only woman in Glendale who was compatible with Daniel, but now, she was defeated by this woman.
How would she be able to take this?
After Daniel sent Ava back to her apartment, he apologized for what happened.
However, Ava was not bothered at all. On the contrary, she was smiling happily.
Daniel did not understand why Ava was smiling and not mad. He asked nervously, “Why are you not mad? You weren’t mad at me at Grandpa’s birthday party as well.”
“Do you want me to be mad at you, Dan?” Ava asked with a smile. Then, she explained, “When I was sad and aggrieved, you stood up for me with no hesitations. To me, that’s the biggest acknowledgment and support, so that’s why I’m happy. Why should I be mad?”
After Daniel heard that, he felt more relaxed.
“Are you really not mad?”
“Of course not. Also, I want to make you a nice meal.” Ava walked to the open kitchen and started making dinner.
Perhaps she was in a good mood, so she only looked at Daniel and not the chair in front of her. In the end, she crashed into it.
Daniel hurried over to hold her waist. “Watch out.”
Ava let out a sigh of relief. After she stood up, she felt some warmth on her back and smelled the faint scent of bluebells. At that moment, her heart started racing.
“T-Thanks, Dan.”
Daniel smiled softly and got close to Ava’s ear.
“Call me Danny next time.”
“…” Ava felt her ears heating up. She looked up into Daniel’s expecting eyes and called out, “Danny.”
Daniel smiled and nodded. When she uttered that intimate nickname, Daniel could taste just how sweet love was.
…
The night was dark.
After Niamh put the children to sleep and handed her youngest son to Karen, she drove to the building again.
She missed Kendrick and still could not forget the pair of eyes she saw that day.
“Kendrick, you don’t even know what Pudding’s name is. Why did you leave me?”
She lowered her head to look at the man in the photo. Then, her vision started getting blurry.
She wanted to leave after a while, but when she lifted her head, she saw the face that was tattooed on her heart.
She sat in her car and looked at the man walking past while feeling at a loss.
“Kendrick?”
Niamh’s mind went blank as she looked at the man walking toward the building while feeling dispirited. His tall figure swayed gently in her teary eyes.
Niamh suddenly came back to her senses and stopped spacing out. She rushed out of her car and yelled at the man’s back, “Kendrick!”
The man slowed his footsteps while walking toward the building upon hearing her voice.
Niamh felt excited when she saw the man stop in his tracks.
She was running quickly toward the man when suddenly, two children who looked to be about six and seven years old appeared in front of her.
Niamh wanted to keep away from the children when one of them fell suddenly and started bawling.
The parents heard their child crying and came over. When they saw Niamh running away, they thought Niamh was the one who knocked their son over.
“You knocked my son over and you’re running away?” the child’s mother yelled aggressively at Niamh, grabbing her hand. “Let me tell you, if anything happens to my son, I’ll make you sorry for it!”
The woman warned furiously, but at this moment, Niamh was only focused on the man who was about to walk into the building.
She removed herself from the woman’s grip and imposingly threw a card on the woman’s face. “There’s a security camera here. You should look at the security footage before you accuse me of knocking your son over. If it’s me, then you can find me using the contact number on this card.”
“…”
The woman was shocked by Niamh’s imposing manner. When she was about to fight back, she heard her son clarifying, “Mom, I fell on my own. It has nothing to do with her.”
The woman’s face turned red in embarrassment when she heard that. Then, she grabbed her son and ran away.
However, when Niamh turned around to look in front of her again, the man was nowhere to be seen.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.