Chapter 916 Edgar: Shameless in the Pursuit of Love
Silverlight City, The Raymond Group
Ethan, who had been working himself to exhaustion barely seeing his wife, could finally rest. Brandon had returned.
"Have you heard? Mr. Russell took annual leave for his honeymoon," whispered one employee to another in the break room.
"My God, what lucky woman snagged someone as perfect as our Mr. Russell?" another responded.
"Who knows? There were even rumors that Mr. Russell had feelings for Mr. Douglas—staying loyal despite Mr. Douglas getting married. He's turned down so many headhunters just to stay at the Raymond Group."
The office gossip was reaching entertainment industry levels of absurdity.
In the CEO's office, Ethan gave Brandon a resentful look after being abandoned at the company for over three months.
"Well, well, Mr. Russell remembers how to find his way back," Ethan remarked sarcastically, tossing a stack of files onto the desk. "Now that you've returned, I suppose I can finally get some rest?"
Brandon quickly tried to appease him. "Yes, absolutely. Go home and rest—you look exhausted."
The past months had run Ethan ragged. Having grown up privileged, he wasn't accustomed to such hardship. Brandon had always handled most operational matters, with Ethan focusing primarily on strategic decisions.
Brandon's absence, however, had made Ethan realize just how valuable he was to the company.
"So, tell me. What were you doing for these three months and fifteen days?" Ethan asked, sounding like a neglected spouse. "I was starting to think someone had poached you with a better offer. If you wanted a raise, you could have just asked."
Jasmine, sitting nearby sipping coffee, struggled to contain her laughter.
"I own shares in the Raymond Group—where would I go?" Brandon smiled, flashing his wedding ring. "I got married and went on honeymoon."
Ethan eyed Brandon suspiciously. "Who has that kind of power over you to make you act so out of character?"
"Ethan, are you interrogating him?" Jasmine intervened to ease the tension. "Brandon, when will you introduce us to your wife?"
"You all know them. Not today—my partner's home packing. Maybe we can grab dinner together tomorrow," Brandon said casually.
Jasmine looked at Ethan in surprise. "We know her? My goodness, which lucky woman is it?"
Something seemed off to Jasmine—she couldn't think of many single women they both knew. But Ethan's expression suggested he might have figured it out.
"Who is it? I'm dying to know," Jasmine pressed.
Ethan covered her mouth with his hand. "Patience. We'll find out tomorrow."
With that, Ethan dumped all his pending work on Brandon and left with Jasmine.
Outside the office, Jasmine continued to wonder aloud. "Who could Brandon's wife be?"
Ethan cleared his throat. "I don't know either."
But he had an uneasy feeling about it.
At Avery's residence, her pregnancy was beginning to show, though not prominently due to her retroverted uterus.
Rhett hadn't dared stay at home since leaving the hospital. He'd given up on trying to control Avery, preferring instead to focus his manipulative tendencies on more compliant women elsewhere.
This finally gave Avery space to contemplate the current state of the Hawthorne Group. Owen and Kavi's relationship had resulted in most of the company's assets being frozen, leaving it in fragments. Recovering its former glory seemed nearly impossible.
Nevertheless, with Rhett's support, the Hawthorne Group was at least staying afloat. Avery and Rhett had always used each other—he wanted the Hawthorne Group shares through marriage, and she needed his connections.
The Hawthorne Group's upper management had largely accepted Rhett, as the Murray family was now their only remaining powerful ally. Everyone else was keeping their distance.
"When are you divorcing him?" Edgar demanded, cornering Avery in her bedroom doorway. "The baby will be born soon. You can't let my child call that scoundrel 'father.'"
Lyanna had brought Edgar to stay at Avery's house under the pretext of a break-in and caring for Rhett. With Rhett gone, Edgar was taking full advantage.
"Is it appropriate for you to be in my bedroom... brother-in-law?" Avery teased.
She enjoyed provoking Edgar, like taunting a large dog until it snapped.
Sure enough, Edgar grew angry, gripping Avery's chin and kissing her. "Avery, I can overlook everything else, but the baby and you must be mine."
Avery leaned against the wall, clutching Edgar's collar. "Patience. It's coming soon. Lily and Vincent have connected, and Rhett's getting nervous. I need to use Vincent and Lily to eliminate Rhett first."
For Avery, Rhett's usefulness was nearly at an end.
Edgar paused, seemingly understanding Avery's strategy. She had first used Rhett's greed for the Hawthorne Group to secure a marriage alliance, leveraging the Murray family's influence to keep the Hawthorne Group intact. Then she used her pregnancy to secure release from prison.
Now she was exploiting Rhett's paranoia and Lily's greed to turn them against each other, using Vincent and Lily to neutralize the threat Rhett posed.
Then she would use this conflict as grounds for divorce.
Everything was proceeding according to Avery's plan.
Edgar took a deep breath. No wonder Jasmine and Ethan had warned him that if Avery truly wanted to use him, he wouldn't stand a chance against her cunning.
He had once been willing to let Avery use him, but now he reconsidered. Avery was formidably intelligent and frighteningly clear-headed.
"Are you afraid?" Avery noticed the change in Edgar's expression. "Worried that I'm using you and this baby?"
Edgar averted his gaze, saying nothing.
"If you're scared, stay away from me," Avery said coolly.
She had always been capable of detaching herself from everything.
Edgar looked at her angrily.
What others perceived as coldness was actually Avery's self-preservation mechanism. Growing up as a Hawthorne daughter, she had learned that to get what she wanted, she could only rely on herself.
Fearing abandonment and loss, she chose to be the one who abandoned others first. Avery's philosophy was simple: if she hurt others first, they couldn't hurt her.
Avery looked up at Edgar. Despite her own fear of abandonment, she couldn't stop herself from saying hurtful things.
Edgar's Adam's apple bobbed.
Avery expected him to leave in anger, but after a long moment, he stubbornly replied, "I won't!"
His demeanor made it clear—he had no intention of letting her go, ever.
"I'll have Edward intensify the situation between Vincent and Lily," Edgar said shamelessly, embracing Avery for another kiss.
Suddenly, Lyanna's panicked voice came from outside, deliberately warning them, "Rhett! Why are you back so suddenly? You didn't even call..."
Avery frowned, and Edgar froze.
Clearly, it wasn't yet time to reveal the truth.
So Avery shoved the reluctant Edgar into the closet.
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