The CEO Gets What He Wants novel Chapter 423

It was seven in the morning at Kingrys when Cayden and Avery emerged from the inn to head back to Ackleton.

When she passed by the room next door on her way out, Avery threw a casual glance inside upon noticing that the door was left ajar.

There, she saw a long-haired girl dressed in a white bathrobe. The latter was leaning against a pink cushion while staring blankly into space.

Amidst the crisp rings of the large wind chime above her head, she could see the tear streaks left on the girl's beautiful face. The girl was lost in a daze and didn't seem able to hear anything at all.

When her gaze fell upon the girl's face, Avery was momentarily stunned, for she recognized her as the waitress from Azure Royal—Stephanie Quigley.

Just as she wanted to take a closer look, the antique door with flower motifs carved on it was slammed shut abruptly, blocking her curious glance.

She gave Cayden's arm a tug. “The girl next door looks like Stephanie Quigley.”

Cayden responded with a baffled look. “Stephanie who?”

Cayden, who never paid any attention to other women, didn't remember their faces, let alone their names.

Avery reminded him, “Don't you remember? She's the waitress at Azure Royal whose cat was drugged.”

That incident finally jogged Cayden's memory.

When he recalled how the woman's cat had hurt Avery, a grim look descended upon Cayden's face. “I have not held her accountable for her cat scratching you yet.”

At that moment, Avery sighed upon realizing that they seemed to be on different wavelengths.

“That was just an accident. That girl looks kind to me, so I'm sure she didn't do it on purpose. I wonder what she's doing here now. She seems to be crying. Do you think she's in some sort of trouble?”

Avery thought back to the commotion she heard last night when the girl was screaming in refusal. It didn't sound like she was playing hard to get. Instead, it felt as if she was crying hard from being raped.

Hence, the sight of Stephanie in the room next door triggered a burst of sympathy within Avery.

Given that they knew each other and Avery had a soft spot for Stephanie, the former was curious as to what happened and whether Stephanie was in any danger.

However, Cayden wrapped his arm around Avery's waist and led her out. At the same time, he commented indifferently, “Curiosity killed the cat, so don't stick your nose into the business of others. Don't worry. Security is tight here, and nothing dangerous will happen.”

“But...” His words failed to allay her concerns.

When he saw how Avery's gaze was fixated upon the room, Cayden carried her in his arms.

“It's time for us to go. Otherwise, we'll be late for work. I still have a pile of documents waiting to be signed. Have you completed your report for the presentation? Your department is having its quarterly meeting in the afternoon.”

“What? The meeting is this afternoon? But I have only completed half of it...”

“Exactly. That's why we have to hurry back and wrap up our respective work.” Cayden pursed his lips in satisfaction when he finally managed to get Avery's mind off Stephanie.

As someone lacking in empathy, he did not care for anyone else other than Avery.

Stephanie should already count her blessings that I didn't hold her accountable after her pet harmed Avery, so don't expect me to stick my nose into her business!

After an uneventful car ride to Ackleton, their car finally came to a stop in Trident Group's parking lot.

When Cayden turned toward Avery, who was in the front passenger seat, he saw that she had fallen into a deep slumber. The exhaustion on her face couldn't be any more obvious.

All this while, he never knew that pregnant ladies required a lot of sleep.

Just as he opened his mouth to wake her, he decided against it at the last minute.

Shaking his head in resignation, he turned up the heater in the car and reclined her seat with the press of a button. He wanted to make her sleep more comfortably by turning it into a simple bed.

Thereafter, he retrieved his briefcase from the backseat and pulled out a few documents to read.

It wasn't until a long while passed that Avery opened her eyes groggily.

After giving them a gentle rub, she realized she was lying down on the car seat while Cayden was working beside her.

Scratching her nose awkwardly, she apologized, “I'm sorry that I fell asleep again. I didn't mean to.”

“Don't worry about it. Did you manage to get a good rest?” Cayden inquired instead.

“You should have woken me. It's nine-thirty now. We're late by more than half an hour.” Avery knitted her brows when she saw the time.

“I couldn't bring myself to wake you when I saw how soundly you were sleeping. You're all that matters to me now. Work is secondary.” Cayden let out a soft chuckle.

His words came as a surprise to Avery.

She couldn't believe that the workaholic in front of her was capable of such sweet talk. On top of feeling moved, she felt guilty that she was unable to reciprocate how well he treated her.

Upon changing into her office attire, Avery returned to her office and began working on her report.

After spending the entire morning on it, she heaved a sigh of relief when she finished it in time for the meeting at two.

The design department's quarterly meeting was scheduled for that day since it was the last day of the quarter.

Cayden took the center seat, flanked by Kendrick and Wisteria on his left and right respectively.

As for the rest of their colleagues from the design department, they were seated according to their rank, filling the conference room to the brim.

Avery was a bunch of nerves, as this was the first time she had participated in a quarterly meeting. Even though she had spoken in front of a crowd before, she still couldn't help feeling nervous.

In fact, her anxiety intensified after watching how sharp and eloquent Wisteria, Cecelia, Trevor, and even Yulissa's presentations were.

“Avery, it's your turn.” Nina, seated beside Avery, gave her a gentle nudge to bring her back to her senses.

It was then that Cayden's deep voice rang out. “Please begin.”

Avery took a deep breath to calm herself down before walking toward the projector. There, she plugged her flash drive into the notebook and opened up the file to kick off her report.

“Good afternoon, everyone. I'm Avery Rumpley from the design department's second team. I would like to trouble all of you to look at the screen. What you see here is last year's Q3 report. The first slide shows you the total orders I have received. The second slide displays a summary of the revenue, while the third indicates the level of customer satisfaction we surveyed. The fourth slide is a list of my plans for the upcoming quarter. Now, let's go into the details...”

Avery's sharp suit and simple ponytail made her glistening eyes stand out from her face. Even though she wasn't wearing any lip gloss, her moist and tender lips exuded a natural pinkish tint.

Compared to her colleagues' run-of-the-mill presentation slides, Avery's was clean and minimalistic. With concise content and highlights where necessary, her professionalism was well reflected in it.

As her melodious voice echoed through the room, her presentation ended amidst thunderous applause after half an hour.

Kendrick gave her a thumbs-up. “Good job, Avery!”

Cayden was rendered speechless.

Since when were others allowed to praise my woman?

Taking in the praise and approving looks her colleagues gave her, Avery felt as if she was on cloud nine.

As for Wisteria and Yulissa, both of them eked out smiles that were devoid of sincerity.

In fact, a jealous glint flashed across Wisteria's eyes despite the smile she was wearing.

Despite her moment of glory, little did Avery know that a plot was being hatched against her.