Chapter 404
Unsurprisingly, Avery saw ire at the banquet, too. She was chatting with a group of wealthydies
while d in a navy blue embroidered silk gown, her hair tied into a bun. As she spoke softly with the
wealthy women, she was the textbook example of elegance.
To be honest, Avery had never seen any woman other than ire who carried such an extraordinarily
noble air.
She appeared refined and extinguished, but she was not arrogant and condescending like the other
wealthydies. Instead, she was amiable,passionate, and slightly regal.
For some reason, even though ire had once treated Avery as her nemesis because of Nicole, Avery
had never really hated her. Instead, she felt a strange sense of endearment toward ire.
“You''re so blessed, Mrs. Lambert. Your daughter has grown up in a blink of an eye! She''s gorgeous
and talented!”
“That''s right. Ms. Lambert is gentle, gorgeous, knowledgeable, and mild-mannered. Is she dating
anyone?” one of the wealthydies ventured.
“You guys are ttering me. Nicole isn''t dating anyone at the moment. If anyone has suitable
candidates, please introduce them to my daughter,” ire replied gently.
ire knew Nicole was a stubborn child.
Nicole was an innocent youngdy who had never fallen in love before, and her obsession with Cayden
had probably tricked her into believing that the man was the perfect other half for her.
However, as someone who was experienced in terms of rtionships, ire knew that although
Cayden was a rare genius, he didn''t love Nicole.
It was painful to be in a loveless marriage. Even if Nicole managed to marry Cayden, she would never
attain happiness.
As a result, ire was doing everything she could to assist Nicole in finding a suitable man to get
married to. She sincerely wanted her daughter to be happy.
Nicole, who was sitting by her side, seemed upset.
She didn''t understand ire''s intentions at all, as she was obsessed with Cayden. The fact that he
would never have eyes for her only made her fall harder for him.
To her, all the men present at her birthday banquet could never beparable to Cayden.
Resentment welled within Nicole as she watched ire ask the wealthydies to introduce a suitable
date for her. I knew it. She doesn''t want the best for me since I''m not even her biological daughter.
A bunch of negative emotions were swirling within Nicole.
For fear of losing control over her emotions, she quickly sipped on her ss of juice and tried to calm
herself down.
Reflected on the ss were two figures approaching her together. It was Cayden and Avery.
Nicole set her ss down as she watched the man she desired but couldn''t have walk through the
crowd, shielding Avery from being pushed around. He was treating Avery like his most cherished
treasure, and the sight of that rekindled Nicole''s anger, which had previously been suppressed.
Nicole''s gaze was burning with jealousy, and she felt as though she was going to explode.
After exchanging a few pleasantries with William, Cayden brought Avery to ire before greeting,
“Mrs. Lambert.”
ire stared at Avery in a daze.
Thetter was wearing a simple dress. Her light makeup entuated her exquisite facial features, and
her straight luscious hair was now wavy. As she smiled at ire, herrge gorgeous eyes seemed to
hold a story of their own.
For a split second, ire thought she saw her younger self in Avery.
Confused, she shook her head. This girl is Nickie''s love rival. Why would I think that she looks like me?
That''s a ridiculous notion.
At this moment, Cayden introduced Avery to ire, “Mrs. Lambert, this is Avery, the mother of my two
children. She''s going to be my wife soon and will be my only wife in this life.”
ire froze momentarily but quickly regained her senses and smiled calmly. “You don''t have to
emphasize this to me. Since you and Ms. Rumpley are in love, I''ll give you my blessings. Feelings
cannot be forced. I understand this better than you youngsters.” She then turned to Avery and
continued, “Ms. Rumpley, I didn''t mean what I said to youst time. Please ept my apologies.
Everyone is a guest here, so please make yourselves at home.”
Avery was surprised.
ire''s attitude toward her had clearly improved. Although the change in her attitude was somewhat
rted to Cayden''s assertiveness, Avery felt that someone like ire who was protective of her
daughter would not change so abruptly just because of Cayden.
Nicole remained silent. However, her thoughts were running wild. Her eyes were filled with tears and
jealousy, and she didn''t even hear what her friends were saying to her.
Cayden''s determined voice was the only sound echoing in her mind right then. She''s going to be my
wife soon and will be my only wife in this life. The only wife in this life?
Nicole scoffed coldly. His only wife, huh? Cayden, how can you be so sure that Avery will be your wife?
You guys might not even get married!
Around half past eight that evening, the Lambert family''s banquet officially began.
As the birthday girl, Nicole was dressed like a princess. She stood proudly in the spotlight next to
William and ire.
There was an exquisite twelveyer cake on the table next to them.
As the precious daughter of the Lambert family, she dly received blessings from all the wealthy
ladies and their sons and daughters. It was a blissful moment for her.
Then, Nicole performed a famous piano piece for everyone.
She was the center of attention as she stepped onto the makeshift circr tform, sat in front of the
expensive piano, and started ying, her hands that were wearing white gloves dancing gracefully
across the piano keys.
At that moment, she felt slightly nervous, even more nervous than when she went on stage to receive
her first acting award because the man she loved was present.
She adjusted her state of mind before proceeding to y the piano.
Although acting was her shoring, Nicole was rather talented in music, especially so when she was
ying the piece she was best at, Swan Lake.
Everyone apuded when the piece ended. Praises andpliments filled the air.
Cayden was cuddling with Avery as they sat in the corner. He poured her a ss of warm milk while he
sipped on his red wine.
“She''s good at ying the piano,” Averymented objectively.
N?velD(ram)a.?rg owns this content.
Although she didn''t know how to y the piano, she thought Nicole''s version of the piece was
beautifully and elegantly executed.
Cayden gave noments as he lightly tapped Avery''s nose. “Her ying is good butcks emotions.
She can win inpetitions, but it would be hard for her to do more than that.”
Avery smiled but said nothing.
Does this man know everything? Can he y the piano too?
It seemed likely as hisments sounded knowledgeable and convincing.
Meanwhile, ire felt proud to have such a talented daughter. Nicole bowed politely to the audience,
and everyone''s impressions of her improved immensely.
Suddenly, Nicole picked up the hem of her gown and walked over to Avery gracefully before saying
gently, “Ms. Rumpley, I heard you''re also talented at ying the piano. Why don''t you y a piece for
everyone?”