Chapter 7

Leonard's eyes flashed with anticipation, and yet disappointment replaced the expression when he saw the caller ID flickering on the screen.

It was Ava. The second he picked the phone up, he heard her voice with a smile. She said, “Leonard, my grandpa’s birthday is coming up, and my parents put me in charge of delivering invitations. Are you free later? I’m just passing by the Anderson Group, and I’ll drop you off the invitation. We can have lunch together. What do you say?”

Leonard said indifferently, “OK.”

“Alright. See you later.”

After putting down the phone, he wasn’t at ease at all. Instead, he was even more irritated and depressed. He couldn’t read the files in his hand at all.

To his surprise, Ashley was so resolute this time and wouldn’t reach out to him whatsoever.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door.

Noah came in with a document and looked solemn. “Mr. Anderson, I just got the news that the land in the east of the city seems to be auctioned in advance!”

Leonard's expression changed, and he immediately said, “Go tell the project manager and the shareholders that a meeting will be held in five minutes.”

When Ava arrived, Leonard was still in the meeting. Noah received her.

“Ms. Walker, Mr. Anderson has just started a meeting. He asked me to take you to his office and wait for him.”

She smiled gently, “Thank you.”

Noah led Ava into Leonard's office, told her to tell him if she needed anything, and then left.

After the door was closed, Ava went to Leonard's desk. She was about to put the gold-plated invitation on the desk when she saw a red box on it and paused for a moment.

It looked like a jewelry box. Considering that her birthday was coming up as well, she wondered whether this was Leonard's birthday gift for her.

After a moment’s hesitation, Ava picked up the box.

She thought, “It’s his gift for me anyway. I guess taking a look won’t matter.”

Thinking, she opened the box and saw the necklace Leonard had bought at the auction in Setherville.

When she asked him who it was for, he didn’t say anything. Now she knew he wanted to surprise her.

Ava's mood suddenly brightened. She smiled, closed the box, and put it back.

Leonard came back from the meeting an hour later.

When he saw Ava, his eyes flashed with apology. “There was a last-minute meeting.”

Ava stood up with a gentle smile and said tenderly, “It’s fine. I understand. I ordered some food, and it should be here soon.”

“OK.”

“By the way, I’ve put the invitation on your desk. My grandpa’s birthday is next Saturday. Are you free to come?”

Leonard frowned. “I have to go on a business trip the next few days, and I may not be able to come back on Saturday. I’ll try.”

“Alright. By the way, have you heard from my sister recently? I’ve been calling her, and all I’ve got is a busy tone. Do you know where she is now?”

At the mention of Ashley, Leonard frowned, and his voice was a little cold. “What do you want with her?”

Ava pursed her lips and looked worried. “You know that things between my sister and the family aren’t that good. She was brought back when she was 16 years old, and then she has been feeling that my parents are biased. She had a fallout with them a while ago. It’s Grandpa’s birthday next Saturday, so I want to ask her to come back so that she can ease the relationship with them.”

After a few seconds of silence, Leonard said coldly, “I’ll tell her about it.”

Seeing that Leonard was reluctant to talk about it, Ava didn’t continue. She changed the topic and talked about something else.

***

No sooner had Ashley finished the plan than she received a call from Owen.

“It’s your grandpa’s birthday next Saturday. Come back!”

Ashley pursed her lips and said in a cold voice, “I recently found a job. I may be very busy and may not have time.”

When she finished, she heard Owen's furious voice. “What’s more important than your grandpa’s birthday? I don’t care. You must show up there next Saturday. You’d better come with Leonard!”

The Walker family was different now. A month ago, Liam had told Owen that Leonard must show up at his birthday party so that others would be intimidated and wouldn’t dare to plot against the Walker family.

Ashley thought about it. She figured that she indeed ought to tell them face to face that she and Leonard were going to get a divorce, as she wanted no extra trouble in the future.

“I see. I’ll try to make time for it.”

Owen hung up without saying anything else.

Olivia was somewhat displeased with Owen's behavior and frowned. “You already asked Ava to send Leonard the invitation. Then why did you ask Ashley to come with him?”

Olivia found it hard to adore Ashley, the daughter who had not grown up with her since childhood, even though Ashley looked like Ava a lot.

Back then, shortly after she gave birth to Ashley and Ava, a friend of the Walker family whom the Walker family trusted a lot suddenly came to the door, saying that keeping Ashley around would ruin the family.

Weighing for a long time, the Walker family finally decided to leave Ashley at the gate of the welfare home.

Unexpectedly, Ava suddenly fell ill at the age of sixteen, and none of the Walker family’s blood type was a match, so they had to get Ashley back.

Ashley and Ava were twins, so they were genetically similar to each other. The match was a success, and Ashley donated bone marrow to Ava. From that day onwards, Ashley stayed with the Walker family.

Yet every time they saw Ashley, their friend’s words back that year would come back to them, which always irritated them, so they had always treated her coldly.

Olivia was the coldest among all. When she learned that Ashley had been adopted by a rural family in a remote area, she figured that Ashley was nothing but a bumpkin who smelt like dirt. Whenever Ashley stood next to Ava, the daughter she had doted on for more than a decade, she felt uncomfortable.

Later, Ashley always went against her, and their conversation would always end within a minute. Their relationship became worse and worse.

And now, Olivia couldn’t even hide the disgust in her eyes whenever she heard Ashley's name.

Owen glanced at her and coldly said, “Don’t forget that Ashley is Leonard's wife.”

Olivia sneered, “If Ava had not gone abroad, would she have had the chance to marry Leonard at all? Now that Ava is back, and Leonard doesn’t like her, I say that they should get a divorce as soon as possible so that Leonard can marry Ava. It will be the best for everyone.”

Hearing her words, Owen frowned and could not help but begin to ponder.

Every time he called Ashley and indicated for her to talk to Leonard so that he could give the Walker family a hand, Ashley always turned him down, which made him very unhappy.

Ashley and Leonard had been married for three years and still had no kids. If Leonard did divorce Ashley and marry Ava, it would do the Walker family nothing but good.

Yet Owen was very cautious. He wouldn’t make a move until he knew what Leonard was thinking.

“Drop it for now. I’m warning you. Don’t say anything in front of Ashley before I say yes. Otherwise, if this thing gets big, I’m not gonna let you off!”

Olivia's expression changed, and then she said impatiently, “Fine. They are going to divorce sooner or later. I don’t bother to be the bad guy!”

After remaining silent for a while, Owen said in a low voice, “Be good to Ashley sometimes. After all, we owe her.”

Olivia's eyes flashed with disgust, and she coldly said, “You can be as good to her as you want. Don’t make me part of it. Ava is my only daughter! And don’t forget about what our friend said back then…”

“Olivia!”

Owen coldly interrupted her, looking furious, “I don’t want to hear that again, or there will be consequences!”

Olivia's face turned pale because of Owen's scolding. She only came back to her senses after Owen left angrily.

She had a lingering fear and hated Ashley even more. She figured that if it weren’t for Ashley, none of those things would have happened.

After finishing work in the evening, Ashley was just about to leave when Khloe rushed in.

“What’s your plan for tonight, Ashley?”