Chapter 346 This Is Called Marrying Into the Family
Aaron tightened his grip on Evie's hand and said nonchalantly, "A friend's kid. They had something to do and asked me to watch her."
"Where did you get a friend?" Eudora questioned. "Isn't this Katniss's house? You just brought a child here to take care of?"
"Why do you care so much?" Aaron said impatiently. "It's just lunch. I can't make it today, how about tomorrow?"
He was eager to get Eudora out, and she noticed.
She felt something was off and slipped into the house while Aaron wasn't paying attention. The baby playpen, crawling mat, and various toys in the living room proved that this child wasn't just temporarily being watched by Aaron.
She lived here.
A child in Katniss's house?
"This is Matilda's child." Aaron placed Evie on the crawling mat and stood up to face Eudora.
He was already a head taller than Eudora, standing in front of her and completely blocking Evie from view.
"Is it appropriate for you to barge into someone else's house like this? Even if this were my house, you still couldn't do that."
Eudora tilted her head, trying to get another look at Evie, but Aaron moved to block her view wherever she looked.
When she changed her line of sight, Aaron moved again. "What are you doing? Trying to kidnap a child? If you scare her, I won't let it go."
His attitude made Eudora extremely dissatisfied. In her movements, she saw a photo on the cabinet.
In the photo, a woman was holding Evie.
It was taken during the day when Matilda was holding Evie. She had developed the photo and placed it in the living room to assert her ownership.
Eudora no longer focused on the child and turned to sit on the sofa. "I heard you skipped a grade and went to college?"
"Yes, didn't I tell you that last time we chatted on Facebook?" Aaron sat on the crawling mat, watching over Evie.
"What was your score? I heard from Katniss that your score was more than enough to get into TomorrowTech University, which should be enough for studying abroad, right?" Eudora said, seeing Aaron's silence, she knew she was right. She asked, "Then why didn't you go abroad? Is it because Katniss didn't want to spend that much money on you?"
Her questioning and dissatisfied tone made Aaron frown. "No, it's because I wanted to stay in the country."
He lowered his head, and Eudora had to bend down to see his expression when she spoke to him. "Why? Going abroad would add a layer of prestige. You could find a better job in the same amount of time, and your future salary could double. Why stay in the country? You don't see me, your sister, often anyway. What's the difference between being in the country or abroad?"
"It has nothing to do with you," Aaron said without hesitation. "I don't want to be too far from Katniss. I'm used to being with them, and it would be boring to be alone abroad."
Aaron was thinking about Katniss, not his biological sister, Eudora.
This statement almost made Eudora angry.
Remembering the purpose of her visit today, she took a deep breath and calmed her emotions before saying, "Fine, no matter where you are, given your situation of skipping grades, you could likely continue to skip grades in college. You could finish a three or four-year course in two years or even one year, right?"
Indeed, when he was admitted by skipping grades, he had met with the president of TomorrowTech University.
The president intended to help him complete his studies within two years, or even less time.
"What exactly are you trying to say? Just say it," Aaron looked up at Eudora.
"Then I'll be direct. After you graduate from college, come work for me at Synergy Global Corporation."
Synergy Global Corporation was currently short of people, especially since many top talents had been poached by Tristan.
Many of the current employees were not competent enough, and she needed someone as smart as Aaron.
Aaron decisively refused, "I'm not going. I promised Katniss I would work for her to pay off my debt after graduation."
"If you come to Synergy Global Corporation to help me, it's not like I won't pay you. With your qualifications after graduation, a million-dollar annual salary is not a problem. You could pay off your debt to Katniss in a few months."
Eudora said matter-of-factly, "Does she insist that you work for her? If so, I'll talk to her. She voluntarily took on your education expenses, and the agreement was for you to repay her, not to make such excessive demands!"
Her voice was a bit loud, and Evie, who had been playing on the crawling mat, was startled and hurriedly moved her body towards Aaron.
Noticing her panic, Aaron saw the innocent fear in Evie's eyes and quickly picked her up.
"Evie, it's okay. Uncle is here, don't be scared..."
He walked out of the living room with Evie, gently patting her back to comfort her.
He was much more gentle than when he was talking to Eudora.
Eudora, however, followed without any sense of propriety. "You don't need to get involved in this matter. I'll talk to Katniss. Did you have a written agreement? Show it to me."
Her voice remained high, and although Evie couldn't see her in Aaron's arms, she was still scared and kept waving her hands.
"Can you stop talking?" Aaron held Evie tighter. "You're scaring her! My business with Katniss is none of your concern. If you want to discuss my future employment, let's talk another day. Now, please leave!"
He lowered his voice to a near growl, then turned his head to softly comfort Evie, "Uncle will get you a teething toy, don't cry, Mommy and Daddy will be back soon."
Evie's eyes were brimming with tears, her mouth quivering, and tears were about to fall. She looked at Aaron with a gaze seeking comfort.
Aaron was very anxious seeing this.
"What are you doing?" Eudora said with dissatisfaction, seeing his familiar way of holding the child. "Are you just here to babysit for them? Those hands of yours are meant to sign contracts and make big money. What does it look like for a boy to be holding a child all day? I think you should come back. I'll cover all your college expenses from now on, and I'll also repay all the money you owe Katniss."
As she spoke, she took out her phone to call Katniss.
As soon as she started talking, Evie's tears began to fall continuously.
When Evie started crying, her eyebrows turned red, and her loud cries echoed throughout the villa.
Before Eudora could get through to Katniss, Aaron grabbed her phone and smashed it to the ground.
The phone shattered into pieces, but it still couldn't quell Aaron's anger.
"I'll say it one more time, leave!"
With that, he carried Evie upstairs, trying to calm his anger and continued to soothe Evie.
Eudora instinctively wanted to follow, her high heels clicking a few times, but Aaron suddenly stopped at the corner of the second floor and turned back, saying coldly, "Get out!"
That one word, that look of disgust, made Eudora's heart tremble.
She didn't continue to follow, watching Aaron's figure disappear around the corner of the second floor.
Evie's cries were muffled by the sound of the door closing. Eudora realized that Aaron had never been close to her, but at most, he was rebellious and hard to manage.
But now? He had reached the point of resenting and hating her?
It must be something Katniss said to him.
No, she had to get Aaron back to her side. Otherwise, the longer he stayed with Katniss, the less he would listen to her.
So, Eudora didn't leave. She picked up the broken phone and sat on the sofa waiting.
After dropping Sophia off at a mall near the hospital, only Katniss and Tristan were left in the car.
Katniss finally found a chance to talk to him alone. "What are you thinking? Giving me all the shares of Zenith Group, what about you?"
"What can I do?" Tristan said seriously. "Recover from my injuries. I'll rely on you to support me during this time."
"This time is this time, but what about the future?" Katniss retorted. "You can't just ignore Zenith Group, can you?"
Tristan was silent.
That was a tacit agreement.
"If others find out, what will they think of you?" Katniss had seen men who gave all their money to their wives, but she had never seen someone who truly had no money at all.
Real estate, shares, everything was in her name?
How would he stand in the business world in the future?
"How they see me depends on your status in the business world. If you're powerful, who would dare look down on me?" Tristan retorted confidently.
So, what was he...
Tristan turned to look at her, his hawk-like eyes meeting hers. "Evie has the last name Grey, so it's only right that you earn the money and support the family. I take care of the child. To put it nicely, I'm a stay-at-home dad. To put it bluntly... I'm a live-in son-in-law."
"The Forbes family has many rules, but none explicitly forbid being a live-in son-in-law. This doesn't prevent me from inheriting the Forbes family in the future... No, it means you will inherit the Forbes family for me in the future."
After Tristan finished speaking, he smiled, his eyes narrowing as he leaned back in the passenger seat. The sunlight slanted in, and he looked relaxed and content.
It was as if he could see the next twenty years, spending his days at home gardening, raising fish, and watching Evie.
"I..." Katniss wanted to find a reason to argue.
But he interrupted her with a legitimate reason this time, "Synergy Global Corporation is under your name. In the future, whether the Forbes family wins or loses, Travis won't be able to target Synergy Global Corporation."
But Katniss knew that was secondary.
The main thing was, he wanted to be a live-in son-in-law!
If Adelaide found out, could she handle it?
They arrived at the hospital, and she didn't have time to continue discussing the topic. She got out for her check-up.
An hour later, the check-up was done.
They headed back, picking up Sophia halfway. Sophia had bought a bunch of clothes for Evie and couldn't wait to show them in the car.
"Look, when it gets a bit colder, this little dress will be perfect. She'll be six months old then, and it'll look great when we can hold her up."
"And this one is for next summer. By then, our Evie will be over a year old and walking."
She had bought quite a lot, even clothes for next summer.
Katniss occasionally chimed in, and the smiles never left their faces in the car.
As they entered the villa's gate, Katniss noticed a familiar car parked by the roadside, but it passed by quickly, and she didn't pay attention to whose it was.
They carried their purchases into the house, and Katniss changed into slippers, calling softly, "Evie, Mommy's home."
As she spoke, she locked eyes with Eudora, who was sitting on the sofa.
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