Chapter 10: I’m Not Embarrassed

Seeing Victoria in her sharp professional outfit with her outstanding presence, a flash of amazement crossed Ethan's eyes. Was this still the same Victoria who used to follow him around all day, meek and submissive?

Noticing Ethan's gaze, Sarah went crazy with jealousy. She immediately put on a fake face and deliberately linked her arm through Victoria's in a sickeningly sweet manner, "Victoria, leaving in such a hurry? Are you feeling too awkward seeing Ethan and me? It's really okay, I understand how you feel about being dumped."

How shameless.

Victoria shook off her hand in disgust and sneered, "Sarah, have you lost your mind? I was the one who dumped that scumbag Ethan, not the other way around. I'm about to get married - what do I have to be awkward about?"

The word "scumbag" made Ethan's face instantly darken.

Victoria turned the tables, her presence overwhelming, "You two cheating lowlifes don't feel awkward, so why should I - the one who walked away with dignity?"

"Since you insist I stay, fine then. I'll have a nice dinner with you two tonight! Call me when the food's ready."

With that, Victoria didn't even glance at them and went straight upstairs to her room.

Downstairs, Sarah was so angry she gritted her teeth, then quickly turned to Ethan with a wronged expression, "Ethan, don't be upset. Victoria is just that kind of bitter and mean person."

Back in her room, Victoria walked to the balcony and took out her phone to handle messages from work groups.

After replying to a few emails, a new WhatsApp message popped up from William:

[Free tonight? Want to grab dinner together?]

Victoria thought for a moment and replied: [Can't tonight, eating at home. But the meeting with your parents should be soon - my dad said he'll arrange it in the next couple of days.]

When William received this message, he was sitting on the sofa at The Ashford Manor.

Looking at the message on his screen, a rare smile of anticipation appeared on his usually lazy and casual face.

Although they'd only met a few times, this Victoria - who loved and hated boldly and didn't hesitate to take action - was really to his taste.

He stood up and walked over to Wayne, who was reading the newspaper, and spoke with rare seriousness, "Dad, I need to report something to you."

"What is it?" Wayne pushed up his reading glasses.

"My wife just messaged saying her family wants to arrange a meeting between both sets of parents in the next couple of days. Are you free?"

Hearing about meeting his in-laws, Wayne got so excited he nearly tore the newspaper!

"Free! Of course I'm free! Meeting my daughter-in-law is more important than anything!" Wayne beamed with joy. "William, I've had the meeting gift ready for ages - it's absolutely top quality!"

Seeing Wayne happy as a child, William felt inexplicably relaxed too.

Just as the two were enjoying themselves, William's older brother - and Ethan's father - Steven Ashford, walked in from outside with a dark expression.

Steven was nearly twenty years older than William. As the eldest son, he'd always worried that William would steal the inheritance of the Ashford Group. To guard against William, he'd caused plenty of trouble behind the scenes over the years. Even those rumors about William's "questionable orientation" and "playboy lifestyle" were spread by people he'd hired.

William had always been too lazy to deal with him, treating it like watching a circus clown perform.

"Dad." Steven first greeted Wayne, then turned his unfriendly gaze to William, putting on his big brother act, "When did you get back to the country? You didn't say anything in advance. What's wrong? Did you cause some mess abroad that needs me to clean up?"

Faced with Steven's condescending attitude, William smiled instead of getting angry.

He lounged lazily on the sofa, casually picked up a cherry and tossed it in his mouth, "Steven, you're worrying too much. I've been very well-behaved lately. But your son doesn't seem to be behaving so well."

"Yesterday Kyle and I were at the mall and happened to run into your son with some woman, leading two thugs to trash a high-end brand store."

Steven's face darkened sharply.

William continued in a mocking tone, "Steven, those who know would say the Ashford family has money and power, but those who don't might think the Ashford family has gone into the mafia business. You'd better hurry home and check - their compensation bill might already be at your doorstep."

Wayne's expression visibly soured.

Steven panicked and immediately defended Ethan, "Impossible! You definitely got the wrong person! Ethan's been so busy at the subsidiary lately he barely touches the ground - where would he find time to trash any store? William, don't spout nonsense in front of Dad!"

"Spout nonsense?" William chuckled.

He unhurriedly took out his phone, pulled up the video he'd taken outside the restaurant last night, and pushed the screen in front of Wayne.

To protect Victoria, he'd deliberately blurred her face, while Ethan and Sarah's faces were captured crystal clear.

In the video, Ethan was roughly grabbing Victoria's wrist, while Sarah stuck to his side like tape, calling out "Ethan" in an extremely affected manner.

After watching, Wayne was so angry his beard trembled.

Steven saw who was in the video and was so embarrassed he wanted to escape immediately. But his mind worked fast, and he stubbornly forced an explanation, "This isn't such a big deal. Young people, you know - having a little spat while dating is normal. Ethan is handsome and talented - having women actively pursue him just shows he's charming."

He tried to appease Wayne with "good Ashford family genes," and Wayne's expression did soften slightly.

William looked at Steven, cold mockery flashing in his eyes.

After not sparring for a few years, Steven's way with words had gotten even better.

It seemed this video alone wasn't enough - he needed to give him a stronger dose of medicine.