Chapter 23
Zachary still had a lot of questions for Cayden, so he stood outside the bathroom and waited for his
father to finish showering.
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When Cayden was finally done, he walked out with a towel wrapped around his lower body, revealing
his well-built chest with water drops still clinging to it.
“Daddy, I''m sure Ms. Ery has her own parents, so why do you have to be the one to look after her?”
Zachary still could not figure out what Cayden meant.
The man then sat down with his legs open and wiped his short ck hair with a towel. “How old are
you, and how old is she?”
“Well, I''m five... I don''t know how old Ms. Ery is,” answered Zachary.
Cayden gazed at his son and continued in all seriousness, “You''re five, and she''s twenty-four, so you''re
neen years apart. Very soon, you''ll grow into an adult like me and have dreams and careers to
chase. By then, I''ll be a middle-aged man who keeps getting older by the day. The same goes for your
Ms. Ery. We''ll be as old as your grandpa someday. But before that happens, we still have a long way to
go. Along that way, we''ll go through sickness and other hardships, and men tend to be the support
women need in those times.”
To that, Zachary nodded understandingly, for he remembered his father telling him that every man had
to be dependable.
After giving it some thought, Zachary carried on with his questions. “But Ms. Ery will have a husband
and children in the future, right? Will you take care of both her and her husband?” Daddy must be a
very kind-hearted man if he''s willing to do something like that.
“Why would I do that?” In response, Cayden nced at coldly Zachary before standing up to throw the
half-wet towel aside. He refused to continue with their talk.
The man furrowed his eyebrows when he thought of Avery''s husband, Zayne.
Zachary lowered his head and pouted, wondering what he had said to upset his father.
Meanwhile, in Quakersville, Avery had no idea what time she had finally managed to fall asleep the
night before.
Because of her nightmares, she did not get any decent sleep and was gued with a headache in the
morning.
Even though her phone vibrated, she failed to notice it.
It was a WhatsApp message from Zayne: I''m guessing you''re still asleep, so I hope this message didn''t
wake you up. I''m sorry I can''t visit you today because I''m very busy. If you haven''t recovered from the
cold yet, remember to take your medicine. My mom made soup early in the morning and said it''s for
you, so I gave her your address. I''ll see you at work on Monday.
Since Avery was still asleep, she did not see the message when it was sent.
Outside the residential area, the rain clouds from the night before dispersed and gave way to a sunny
day.
Even though the sun was beating down, the temperature and humidity in the air were just nice.
With the soup poured into a vacuum sk, Isabe carefully held the container with her hand at the
bottom as she got off the bus. Then, she happily made her way over to Quakersville just ahead.
The residential area was quite old, but everybody expected it tost at least fifteen years since no
ordinary developers would have the means to develop the ce.
When Isabe entered the area, she saw several elderly men drinking coffee on rocking chairs and a
few women her age.
The women did not notice her, as they were busy gossiping.
One of the women, who wore a floral dress and had a fan in her hand, pointed at the house numbered
twelve behind her and raised an eyebrow. “I''ll tell you who the person is when we bump into her next
time. Tsk! I''m telling you. You really can''t judge a book by its cover. Since you guys have never seen
her, I''ll tell you what she looks like. The woman has a pretty pleasant face, doesn''t dye her hair, doesn''t
wear a lot of makeup, and doesn''t dress revealingly. Heck, she looks so proper that you''d never guess
she''s a homewrecker.”
“Keep it down, Deborah! What if you''re wrong?” questioned another woman, who thought Deborah''s
usation was baseless and was worried they would get into trouble for gossiping like that.
Deborah immediately popped a vein. With her fan pointed aggressively at the house, Deborah
continued, “You think I''m wrongly using her? I told you nothing but the truth. Just ask anybody in
this neighborhood, and they''ll tell you I''ve never wrongly used anybody of anything! Even if she''s
around now, I''ll tell you the same thing. I even know what her name is. Herst name is Rumpley, and
her first is Avery or something.”
Two women beside Deborah helplessly exchanged looks, for they knew how she liked to use others
without grounds.
Isabe''s hands on the vacuum sk trembled when she overheard the conversation.
“You mentioned the name Avery Rumpley just now. Why did you call her a homewrecker?” asked
Isabe straightforwardly after walking up to the group of women, who then turned to look at her.
“Who is she to you? I don''t recognize you. You''re not from this neighborhood, are you?” Deborah felt
somewhat guilty since she did not have solid evidence to prove what she had said was true.
Naturally, Isabe got upset after overhearing the gossip about her daughter-inw. “Who is she to
me? She''s my daughter-inw! Why were you gossiping about her?”
“So you''re that homewrecker''s mother-inw, huh?” Deborah sneered before lowering her head to look
at the vacuum sk in Isabe''s hands. “You don''t live with her, do you? And I''m guessing your son
isn''t always home with your daughter-inw, am I right? It''s funny how you try to protect her because
she probably doesn''t care how you feel about her bringing a random man home.”
The other women quickly pulled at Deborah''s shirt, trying to stop her from saying things she was
unsure about.
Isabe almost cursed at Deborah after listening to the woman. A random man? What random man?
Seeing how Isabe continued to look daggers at her, Deborah decided to carry on. “It''s not my fault
your daughter-inw''s a homewrecker. If you don''t want people to gossip about her, you should do
something to stop her from being so shameful.”
“Y-You saw them with your own eyes?” inquired Isabe while shaking as if she was electrocuted, half-
convinced.
Deborah pointed her finger at amppost nearby. “Of course. They had their hands all over each other
right there. Behaving like that out here in public is just disgraceful.”
“Maybe she was with my son.” Isabe still refused to believe that Avery had cheated on Zayne.
However, Deborah did not think a married couple would behave that way. “Well, I guess you''d know.
The guy was about six and a half feet tall. From the suit he was wearing, I can tell that he''s rich.”
Thud!
Isabe suddenly dropped the sk in her hands.
It was after ten o''clock when Avery finally woke up.
Her throat was as dry as the desert, so she got herself a ss of water before checking the messages
on her phone. Only then did she know that Isabe was nning to visit her.
When Avery realized that Zayne had sent the message almost three hours ago, she wondered why
Isabe had not arrived yet.
Worried that Isabe might have taken the wrong bus, Avery tried to call the woman to see if she could
be of any help.
“Sorry, the number you have dialed is unavable,” came an intercept message since nobody picked
up her call.