The CEO Gets What He Wants novel Chapter 465

After the kiss, Avery felt her body going weak. The pounding in her head was getting more and more unbearable.

The movements of the guests, the floral arrangements, the fountain, the music, and everything else in the hall were zooming in and out of her focus, overwhelming her senses.

The cheerful and joyful environment was a stark contrast to the sorrow she was feeling.

Avery turned to look at the crowd.

She caught sight of Jeffrey. His usual strict demeanor melted away as he chatted with the guests with a huge grin on his face.

Kendrick was even more excited.

Lily was there too. Even though she was not smiling, her mere presence exuded elegance.

Despite being the one who always objected to their marriage, even Allie was receiving the wishes and compliments from the guests on Cayden's marriage with a smile on her face, most likely due to the pressure from Jeffrey.

On the other side of the hall, Blake and Alina were beaming even brighter, overjoyed that their precious Avery had finally found her own happiness.

As Avery looked at all of them, all she wanted to do was to burst into tears. However, she knew that she could not even let a single tear drop slip at such an important moment.

Forcing down the lump in her throat, she lifted her eyes and scanned the crowd. Seated at the tables were a few of Cayden's friends, such as Robert, Jacob, and Xander.

The heirs to all of the finest companies were present without exception.

Cayden brought Avery around to introduce her to his relatives.

“This is my uncle.” Cayden pointed to an energetic man in his sixties.

“My cousins.” Holding Avery by her hand, he brought her toward a handsome young man and a lovely young lady.

“My younger cousin.”

He continued, “My dad's younger brother.”

One by one, Cayden introduced his relatives to Avery.

The Moore family had a massive business. It was no surprise that Cayden would have a lot of relatives. Avery had always known that the Moore family was huge, but before she was introduced to all of them, she had never truly comprehended how big the Moore family actually was. Fortunately, most of them were extended family. Only a few were closely related to Cayden.

Even though most of them were extended family, one could tell that the Moore family genes ran in the family. Every one of them was flawless in terms of their appearance. All the young ones were handsome and gorgeous; even the children and babies were visibly more good-looking than most people.

Seeing that Avery was getting overwhelmed by the sight, Cayden lowered his head and chuckled softly in her ear. “You only have to remember those closely related to us. As for the rest, you just need to remember their faces. We wouldn't cross paths with them so frequently in the future,” he reminded.

Avery responded with a perfunctory hum absent-mindedly. Turning her head around, she caught sight of William and his family.

Nicole was dressed exquisitely from head to toe and was staring straight at her.

Avery seemed to be able to detect the disdain and mockery in Nicole's smug look.

What shocked Avery the most was the fact that the woman who was threatening her to leave Cayden with the disk was sitting right next to Claire.

All of a sudden, the alarm bells in her head went off. How does that woman manage to get an invitation to our wedding? What's her relationship with William's family?

Inside the luxuriously decorated hall, countless gazes were focused on Avery, each one reflecting a different emotion. Some were filled with curiosity, some were evaluating, some were surprised, and some were jealous.

Cayden was the pride and joy of the Moore family. Naturally, people were surprised to find out that the person he was going to be engaged to was an insignificant commoner from a regular family.

On the stage, four big boxes were filled to the brim with the dowry. Piles of hundred-dollar bills were tied by beautiful ribbons and stacked neatly on top of each other.

Countless pieces of jewelry made of priceless gold and diamonds, along with the house deed of a mansion, were placed on the tables. There were so many things on display that it made the guests overwhelmed.

The crowd was in awe at the dowry. Only the Moore family could be so lavish with their money!

Moreover, the dowry made them realize that the Moore family viewed their newest addition to the family in very high regard.

Otherwise, they would not have given such expensive gifts and hefty betrothal money. The bride-to-be was just a commoner. They could have just given her a small wedding cash gift to get it over with, and there was no need for an engagement ceremony.

Contrary to the excitement buzzing in the hall, Avery could feel herself breaking into a cold sweat after seeing that Nicole had shown up unexpectedly to the engagement.

Her grip around Cayden's arm tightened as chills ran down her spine. Her cheeks had also paled despite wearing blush.

With great effort, Avery maintained the smile on her face and tried to stabilize her shaking knees as she followed Cayden to the center of the stage.

Even though it was just a few dozen meters away, her heavy footsteps made it feel as though she had trekked ten thousand miles.

Onstage, Jeffrey, as the elder of the Moore family, was the first to give a speech, thanking the guests for making time out of their busy schedules to attend Cayden's engagement ceremony.

After the speech, the emcee announced the official start of the engagement ceremony.

Cayden was exceptionally handsome that day. His demeanor was not as cold as usual. Because of his great mood, his gaze was warm and gentle whenever he looked at Avery, making his eyes even more attractive.

Holding Avery's hand in his, he stood behind the podium, towering over it with his tall figure. Facing the crowd, he uttered joyfully, “Thank you all for attending my engagement ceremony. I am beyond happy today, for I am about to be engaged to the love of my life. I had always thought that I was destined to live out the rest of my life in loneliness. I would have never imagined myself getting so lucky. She walked into my life and changed everything. She is a wonderful and kind woman, the source of all things good and warm in my life. I promise to cherish, love, and protect her with everything I have for the rest of my life. I want to especially express my gratitude to Grandpa and Aunt Alina for raising Avery. If not for them, my wife wouldn't have existed today, so to Grandpa and Aunt Alina, thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

The audience erupted into thunderous applause.

Blake and Alina looked at the man onstage. They had no doubt that Cayden would treat Avery like a precious jewel in his hand.

Bittersweet tears of joy shimmered on the edge of their eyes.

When Avery heard Cayden's short yet sincere and touching speech, tears welled up in her eyes, threatening to fall.

At that moment, she felt so loved that she had almost forgotten the pain she was feeling, all because of the genuine words that Cayden had said.

She knew that Cayden could be emotionless. Romance was never his strong suit. Whenever he was in front of a crowd, he would always be cold and silent. Yet, he had given such a romantic speech in front of so many people at that moment. That was something that Avery would never expect, even in a million years.

In that instant, Avery was lost in a whirlpool of emotions.

Holing a ring with a diamond the size of a dove's egg, Cayden got down on one knee and stared into Avery's eyes with a passionate gaze. “Avery, I want to have your hand for the rest of the journey ahead of us. I want to grow old with you, holding your hand through every storm and every sun and sharing all of my sweetest memories with you. Avery Rumpley, will you make me the happiest man alive and be my wife?”

Mesmerized by Cayden's gentle voice and expression, Avery felt her heart pound in her chest. I will! Of course, I will marry you and be the wife that you will love the most for the rest of your life!

Avery subconsciously stretched out her left arm, desiring for Cayden to put the ring on her finger.

Unfortunately, in the split second that she raised her head, she saw Nicole smirking at her icily.

Nicole turned to William and whispered something in his ear. Avery watched as William's relaxed posture tensed up as he frowned.

Suddenly, Nicole pulled out something that looked like a disk from her gown and walked past Claire to hand it to William.