His Ex-Wife Is A Billionaire (Evadne and Thaddeus) novel Chapter 48

Ever since the charity auction, Evadne had been holed up in her room, feeling pretty bummed out.

By the next evening, Cassius and Arnold had swung by the villa to check up on her. Even though Evadne chose to come downstairs to see them, she looked totally wiped out.

“Evadne, Suri filled me in on what went down at the auction.” Cassius looked at his sister's bandaged hand and couldn’t help but feel a twinge of pain. “How's your wound? Did Jason change your dressings? Still hurting? Any infection?”

“I can handle it myself; he’s got enough on his plate already; I don’t want to add to his troubles.” Evadne murmured, feeling pretty down in the dumps.

“Jason is becoming more and more unreliable! If we hadn't bumped into Suri on our way home that day, we wouldn’t have even known you were bullied by the Abernathy's at the auction.” Arnold said angrily, “I'm going to sue the Abernathys tomorrow, bro. Get our legal team on it. Let's hit them with defamation! They need to be taught a lesson!”

“Forget it; it’s not worth it.” Evadne said, her voice barely above a whisper, seemingly devoid of energy.

She knew that if this blew up, it would reach their dad’s ears. Even though he couldn’t interfere with her affairs directly, she didn’t want him worrying over her.

That being said, she wasn’t about to let the Abernathys off the hook.

Evadne looked at the wound on her hand, thought of the diamond bracelet she had been trying to fix for two days straight, and felt a surge of anger.

“Your brothers heard you were hurt, and they’re worried sick. They're all rushing back now.” Cassius hugged his sister, trying to comfort her.

“It’s just a small scratch! How can they abandon their work for such a trivial matter?” Evadne said anxiously.

She quickly whipped out her phone, ready to call her brothers.

“If anyone comes back now, I won't talk to them for a year!”

“You might not be able to stop Elvis Waverley, for he should be,” Arnold pointed to the sky, “on a plane right now.”

Evadne just shook her head helplessly. Her brother, always trying to outdo her with his surprise visits,

“Let him be; I’ve done my duty as a sister!”

After saying this, Evadne immediately said to Cassius, “Bro, take me back to Skyrim later; I want to visit the Starry Villa.”

Ever since Marilla stood up for Ilana, all the women of the Abernathy and Stirling families had been giving her the cold shoulder.

Life at home had already been tough, and now that she was being bullied outright, it was utterly miserable.

“You wretch! Did Ilana bribe you? Are you the spy she sent to sabotage us?”

After having a bit too much to drink, Glynnis went nuts, barging into Marilla's bedroom and yelling at her, “You seem so kind, but you’re really a sneaky snake! I used to think you were an innocent fool. I can't believe you were just playing dumb, waiting for a chance to stir up trouble; you've become so cunning!”

“I’m not cunning! I didn’t lie and Ilana didn’t bribe me. I was telling the truth!”

Marilla was frightened, clutching her favorite teddy bear. “You guys bully my sister-in-law. I can’t stand to see her being bullied!”

Glynnis grabbed Marilla's hair and yanked hard.

"Ouch, it hurts!"

“Who let you perm your hair again?! Did you forget what I told you? I said you're not allowed to perm your hair without my permission!” Glynnis was fuming, yanking Marilla's hair.

The truth was, she wouldn’t be this angry just because of Ilana. After all, it was Acacia who was wronged so it had nothing to do with her.

The reason she was so mad was because Jareth, the guy she had always had a crush on, had actually approached Marilla of his own accord and he had even patted her on the head with a smile.

Seeing all this, Glynnis was green with envy. She wished she could shave Marilla's head bald!

“I know what you're up to! You're not really trying to help Ilana, are you? You just want to play the good guy to get Jareth’s attention, don’t you?”

Marilla was in tears, at a loss for words.

“You just want to go against us; we despise Ilana, so you want to help her, just to stand out, to show your sense of justice?”

Glynnis’s face, usually so sweet and cute, was now contorted with anger. “Stop playing the innocent in front of me! You’re not fooling anyone; you think Jareth would fall for a dummy like you. Don’t flatter yourself!”

“What are you doing?” Alva rushed in, quickly pulling Marilla into her arms.

This kind of thing had happened so many times in the Abernathy family that none of the other servants dared to intervene.

But Alva was Thaddeus’s girl, a veteran servant of the Abernathy family known for her kindness, so she was the only one who dared to stand up for Marilla.

The bear was so dirty it was hard to look at, but Marilla didn't mind at all. She held it tightly as if it were a treasure, sobbing with tears streaming down her face.

Thaddeus wasn't a soft-hearted man, but seeing her cry so sadly, he felt a pang in his heart.

"If it's dirty, just toss it. I'll buy you a new one tomorrow."

"No, I only want this one. This was a gift from Ilana. It’s my favorite toy!"

Thaddeus was surprised; he didn't expect her to care so much about Ilana.

Marilla remembered Ilana's kindness, the hard days without her, the neglect from her father, the indifference of her mother, and the bullying from her sister.

"Brother!"

Marilla suddenly threw herself into Thaddeus's arms, crying out, "Can sister-in-law come back? I miss her so much. Can you guys not break up?"

Thaddeus's lips were slightly parted, his throat blocked by an indescribable emotion.

He ruffled her hair with his big hand but couldn't utter a word, fearing he would hurt her.

Just then, his phone rang.

It was a call from his grandfather, making his emotions even more complicated.

"Grandpa."

"Why can't I reach Ilana again?"

Hamilton was becoming more and more anxious and he sounded like he was about to cry on the other end of the line: "What's wrong with Ilana? I can't reach her recently! She hasn't visited me either! Did Ilana decide to ignore me? You bastard! If it's because of you that Ilana ignores me, I won't recognize you as my grandson anymore!"

"Grandpa, Ilana would never ignore you; don't overthink." Thaddeus massaged his forehead, his handsome face filled with worry.

"Go find Ilana for me! I want to see her! Hurry! Go find her!"