“Have you forgotten that you have a son? He’s just as important, you know? If you don’t invest more time and effort on the boy, who’s going to take over your company in the future?” inquired John half-jokingly.
I seriously thought that John was trying to sow discord between Ashton and Audrey. After all, John wanted nothing more than to reclaim his place as the most important man to his niece. It doesn’t matter if it’s men or women. Both will do everything in their power to gain the upper hand when jealous.
“How I deal with my children is none of your business. For someone who has no daughters, you sure like to tell people how to raise theirs,” retorted Ashton straightforwardly.
Banters like that had been happening in the house several times a week over the past few years. Sometimes, it made me wonder if it was even possible to have the two men get along with each other.
Seeing how John was boiling with rage after Ashton’s goading, I decided it was best that I kept quiet and let the two duke it out.
It was not until the birth of John’s daughter that the tension between them eased up a little.
More importantly, as parents of three, Ashton and I realized that there were far more things that we had to put into consideration.
After the Wenville project, Ashton had to fulfill his promise to support Summer’s project in opening a bar. Neither the Moores nor the Stovalls dared to involve themselves in the industry, for they were afraid of the steep price they had to pay if they were to place their fingers in that pie.
After some thought, I suggested to Ashton, “Let’s have Joseph come over. I want to hear the information he’s gathered regarding the industry. After all, Summer is still underage, so I’d like to help her however I can.”
“Sure, tonight then. I’ve just ordered the man to work on controlling the public opinion. Summer should also be done with the cultural festival by then, so I’ll have her come over too,” informed Ashton.
“Okay, good.” If we could manage to be frank and always speak our minds like that, everything would become so much easier to deal with.
As soon as our conversation ended, a maid entered the house to inform, “Ms. Fuller, there’s a woman here to see you.”
“A woman? Who?” The maids knew the name of most of our guests, so naturally, I was puzzled when one of them simply addressed the visitor as a woman.
“She said that she’s Marcus’ wife,” answered the maid.
Oh, it’s Camelia! We haven’t had the chance to meet up yet since she got back.
“Let her in.”
“Yes, Madam.”
As ordered, the maid immediately went back to the guest but returned to me after just a brief moment. “Madam, the woman refused to come in and insisted that you go meet her in person.”
I was puzzled yet again when I was told that Camelia refused to come in.
“Is she alone?” I inquired as I stood up and made my way to the door.
“Yes, she is.” The maid nodded before cautiously reminding, “She doesn’t look well, though. It looks like she’s sick or something, so you should be careful, Madam.”
“Got it. I’ll take it from here.”
I could not help but pity Camelia when even the maid seemed to despise her. The fact that she used to be a kind and gentle person only made me pity her even more.
Camelia was not a bad person, so I did not think that she would intentionally harm anyone or purposely infect others with her sickness.
Knowing that Marcus had to be why she visited me, I had no reason to avoid her.
After glancing at Ashton and realizing that he had no intention of stopping me, I decided with confidence to go meet Camelia. “I’ll go see what she needs. Be right back.”
Without a word, Ashton just nodded in response.
Before I reached the door, I could hear Holden’s voice. “Mr. Fuller, we have been friends for a long time now, haven’t we? You should know better than anyone else how trustworthy I am in this sort of thing, right? Don’t worry. Your daughter is in good hands. If you want to open a bar, working with us is probably the best decision you can make.”
