Echoes of Vengeance: The Sweet Wife's Perfect Revenge-Chapter 34: Innocent?

At Blackwood Residence,

It was half past seven in the evening when Mike Wilson drove the car into the luxurious, well-secured residential area of Velmora. The man behind the wheel looked calm, almost detached, as if the urgency of the situation hadn’t just punched him in the gut.

The car eased to a stop in front of the towering gates. A maid guided him through the courtyard to the patio, where Henry and Margaret were relaxing under soft evening lights.

Inside, Charles Laurent noticed Mike’s arrival and instinctively made his way to the patio. If Mike Wilson was visiting at this hour, something had to be wrong. He was concerned about Aveline.

"Chairman Laurent." Mike greeted Henry with respect and nodded politely to Margaret.

"Mike..." Henry motioned to the chair across from him. The visit wasn’t a surprise. Mike had called ahead.

Charles arrived, curiosity tightening his brow, "Assistant Wilson, visiting so late. Is everything alright?"

Mike turned to him with a nod, "CEO Laurent."

His tone was professional, but something about his stillness was off. Margaret, sensing it too, politely excused herself to give them space.

Mike reached into his blazer and produced the half burnt letters, offering them to Henry. "I wouldn’t have disturbed you if it wasn’t serious, Chairman Laurent." His voice was low and apologetic as the couple had returned early from a dinner date.

Frowning, Henry took the damaged letter. Charles stood behind him to read over his shoulder. As they scanned the words, Henry’s expression darkened from irritation to fury.

"That scoundrel..." He hissed.

Charles felt guilt simmer under his skin. It was his negligence that caused the trouble. But, he didn’t dwell on it. He asked Mike, "Who is behind Daniel Anderson? Why is this letter burnt?" His voice was firm.

Henry, who was brainstorming a solution, narrowed his eyes at Mike, waiting for answers.

Mike didn’t flinch. He calmly stated the story he came up with, "Manager Laurent had a few queries on Daniel Anderson’s reports. His contact number was off, his emergency contact is invalid. His sudden resignation was anyway suspicious, so I went to check his registered address."

He visited Daniel’s house right after dropping Aveline off at Sterling Villa. And then, he had carefully constructed the perfect, believable story.

"The house was vacant. Looked like he fled." He pointed at the letter and added, "I found this in the bin."

He had left just enough ashes behind to sell the story in case Henry called for an investigation. That’s likely high.

Charles reached for his phone to start taking action, but Mike interrupted, "CEO Laurent, I recommend we reopen the investigation internally without alerting the unrelated departments."

Charles paused.

Mike turned back to Henry, "Chairman Laurent, if I may suggest, we should correct the books legally. Disclosing the mistakes to selected investors would be beneficial before anybody weaponizes it against us."

The room fell silent. The weight of the suggestion sank in. It was word-for-word Aveline’s idea. And Mike made sure they knew just how serious it was.

Neither Henry nor Charles questioned Mike’s loyalty. They nodded in response to Mike.

The men shifted to the study, diving into strategy. They planned the dismissal of the Archive manager who had allowed unauthorized access, created an internal investigation team, and identified the most reliable investors to confide in. Charles scheduled a meeting with auditors and lawyers for the morning.

By eleven, Mike was preparing to leave when Henry, leaning back on his chair, let his composure crack. "Activate our network, Mike." His tone dropped, cold and precise. "Dig him out. I want every door he runs to be locked. When he turns back, he’ll have us waiting."

Mike froze for a moment. In his twenty years at Laurent Industries, he had seen Henry act swiftly and harshly, but rarely with this much venom.

This wasn’t business anymore. Henry was personally offended.

Mike nodded. "Yes, sir."

He wanted to be the one who found Daniel first.

Why did Daniel send the letter to Aveline, addressed to the orphanage, instead of Charles or Henry?

Did Daniel act on his own? free𝑤ebnovel.com

Was anybody behind him?

How did he dare to go against Damien?

As Mike stepped out into the sleepless night, something flickered in his eyes.

Aveline was so much like her father, private, loyal, indifferent to nonsense. But when provoked? When cornered?

They didn’t just defend.

They pull everything apart.

––––––

At eleven in the night, Sterling Villa,

Damien came out of the study as soon as the housekeeper informed him of Aveline’s return. He needed to speak with her. About the NexGuard event, the missing photos, anything that might confirm or dispel his suspicions.

Aveline, on the other hand, had two minds. Act hurt and be distant to panic Damien. Or pretend to understand and keep his doubts at bay.

She chose the second.

Smiling sweetly, as if surprised by his attention, she greeted, "Damien..." and hugged him, catching him off guard.

She hated it. But she hugged him anyway.

If he could act his role of doting husband, she could act as docile wife. Letting him taste his own medicine.

Damien: "..."

He blinked. Wasn’t she mad at him?

Why wasn’t she upset?

Though she is kind and understanding, his friends weren’t there anymore. She could ask him, yell at him, and maybe cry. But there she was, smiling and breathing a sigh of relief.

He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and another gently brushed her head.

Why wasn’t he able to understand her?

Suddenly, she winced, "Ahhh... these heels are killing me..." She gasped by the end of her words.

Without hesitation, he scooped her into his arms. Swallowed her breath quickly to keep from flinching, suppressing the sharp chill crawling up her spine.

"I almost had a heart attack." She laughed weakly.

He carried her to the couch and slipped off her heels in silence and gentleness.

She knew why he was doing it. He was serving her to get her forgiveness and understanding for removing her things from the living hall.

She tugged at his arm until he sat beside her. "I visited the cabana today. Oh my god, the view’s breathtaking." She said dreamily. Then pouted, "But Grandmother scolded me to scram." She giggled.

Yet his gaze barely softened, and he watched her carefully. He did get a call from his mother, stating her dislike towards Aveline and her actions.

Well, he wasn’t surprised that Aveline chose to have dinner with Eleanor because the previous time she had asked about Eleanor’s absence multiple times.

From the looks of it, his grandmother likes Aveline enough to bring her to the cabana where his mother wasn’t allowed to set foot. "Looks like you had fun without me." He said.

Aveline teased, "Why? Were your friends that boring?" Then feigned surprise, "I didn’t know you were friends with CEO Lancaster! I met him at his event yesterday. Were you there?"

Damien stiffened but masked it well. He watched her expectant gaze and assumed Aveline had no idea about his presence at the event. "I arrived late. Didn’t see you, but I noticed your name in the clientele."

He was so smooth at lying.

If she didn’t know his true colors, she would have swooned at his velvety voice, which undoubtedly soothes her. "It was just men talking. Boring. And I didn’t know anyone."

"Then why did you attend? Charles could’ve gone." He masked his interrogation tone with gentleness.

She shrugged, "He had a meeting with a foreign vendor." Then she whispered, "Dad was busy coaxing his angry wife because of me." And she sighed, "So I filled in."

Damien nodded, content that she wasn’t invading his business places. He caressed her head with a smile ghosting his face. With a wife like her, who needed surveillance?

She leaned into him, yawning deliberately, so that he spoke the obvious. Her body relaxed to his warmth, but her soul flinched. She swallowed it all.

The memory of Damien and Vivienne flashed behind her eyelids. It took everything not to pull away when his touch felt thorny and his spiced leather cologne disgusting.

Seeing her sleepy, he decided to clarify it, "Nina, the photos..."

"I understand, Damien." She cut in groggily, "Suddenly, a person invading your space feels uncomfortable. We’ve been married for just two months. We hardly spent time with each other to learn our likes and dislikes. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have made changes so quickly. We’ll take our time together."

Damien: "..."

Though there was a storm at the back of his mind due to business, he was relieved after hearing her.

Aveline stood, "I’m exhausted, Damien. I’ll go to sleep." Flashing a soft smile, she went upstairs but her jaw was clenched, so tight, her molars ached.

Damien watched her walk away, her soft voice, her harmless smile lingering

He didn’t know what to call her.

A fool?

Or innocent?

But he liked this docile, obedient Aveline.

His eyes found their wedding photo on the wall. And for a movement, unthinkingly, he smiled.