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Chapter 7
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Cassius Draven’s eyes flashed with anticipation, but the moment he saw the name on the phone screen, his expression turned to disappointment.
The call was from Adalyn Katz. As soon as he answered, her cheerful voice came through, “Mr. Cassius, my grandpa’s birthday is coming up, and my parents gave me the job of delivering the invitations. Do you have some time later? I’m passing by the Draven Group and can drop off the invitation and maybe have lunch together?”
Cassius replied indifferently, “Sure.”
“Great, see you then.”
After hanging up, Cassius felt even more irritable. The documents in his hand seemed impossible to focus on. He hadn’t expected Anastasia Katz to be so resolute, not contacting him at all!
“Knock knock!” There was a knock at the office door. Abdul Acevedo walked in with a serious expression, holding a document. “Mr. Draven, I just got word that the auction for the land in the east part of the city might start earlier than expected!”
Cassius’s expression tightened immediately. “Notify the project leader and shareholders. Meeting in five minutes!”
When Adalyn arrived, Cassius was still in the meeting, and Abdul greeted her.
“Miss Katz, the president’s meeting just started. He asked me to take you to his office to wait for him.”
Adalyn smiled softly. “Thank you.”
After guiding Adalyn to Cassius’s office, Abdul told her to call him if she needed anything and then left.
Once the door closed, Adalyn walked to Cassius’s desk. As she was about to place the gold–embossed invitation on it, she noticed a red silk box on the edge of the table, pausing her motion.
The box clearly looked like it contained jewelry. Thinking of her upcoming birthday, could this be a birthday gift from Cassius for her?
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After a moment’s hesitation, Adalyn picked up the silk box.
Since it was something he bought for her, peeking a little shouldn’t be a big deal, right?
Thinking this, she opened the box and saw the necklace Cassius had bought at the Seattle auction.
At that time, she had asked who he planned to gift it to, but he hadn’t said anything, Now she realized he intended to surprise her.
Adalyn’s mood brightened, and she smiled, closing the box and putting it back in its place.
Cassius returned an hour later after his meeting.
Seeing Adalyn, a hint of apology flashed in his eyes. “I had an impromptu meeting.”
Adalyn stood up with a smile, her expression gentle. “It’s okay, I understand. I’ve already ordered lunch; it should be here soon.”
“Alright.” “By the way, I left the invitation on your desk. My grandpa’s birthday is next Saturday. Can you come?”
Cassius frowned slightly. “I have a business trip in a few days, so I might not be back by Saturday. I’ll try my best.”
“Okay. Oh, by the way, has my sister contacted you recently? I keep getting a busy signal when I call her. Do you know where she is?”
At the mention of Anastasia, Cassius’s expression darkened, and his voice turned cold. “Why are you looking for her?”
Adalyn bit her lip, her face full of concern. “You know our family relationship has been strained. She was only brought back home at sixteen and has always felt our parents favor me. Things haven’t been great lately, and with grandpa’s birthday next Saturday, I wanted to invite her back to help mend things.”
After a few seconds of silence, Cassius replied icily, “I’ll talk to her about it.”
Seeing that Cassius didn’t want to discuss it further, Adalyn changed the subject.
Anastasia had just finished her proposal when she received a call from Gunnar Katz.
“Next Saturday is your grandpa’s birthday. You need to come back!”
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Anastasia pressed her lips together and replied coolly, “I recently got a job, and I might be very busy. I can’t guarantee I’ll have the time.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Gunnar’s angry voice came through, “What’s more important than your grandpa’s birthday?! No matter what, you must be there next Saturday. And it’s best if you come with Cassius!”
The Katz family was no longer what it used to be. A month ago, the old Mr. Katz had instructed Gunnar to ensure Cassius attended his birthday banquet to intimidate others and prevent them from plotting against the Katz family.
Anastasia thought for a moment. She and Cassius were going to get a divorce, and it indeed needed to be told to them in person, to avoid any future complications.
“Alright, I got it. I’ll try to find time to go.”
Gunnar didn’t say anything more and directly hung up the phone.
Safiya Francis was somewhat displeased with his actions. She frowned and said, “You’ve already asked Adalyn to send the invitation to Cassius. Why do you want Anastasia to bring it up again?!”
Even though this daughter, who didn’t grow up by her side, looked somewhat like Adalyn, Safiya just couldn’t bring herself to like Anastasia.
Back when she had just given birth to Adalyn and was still recovering, a feng shui master, whom the Katz family trusted deeply, suddenly came to them in person and said that if Anastasia stayed with the Katz family, it would bring disaster to the family.
After much deliberation, the Katz family decided to abandon Anastasia at the orphanage’s door.
Who would have thought that when Adalyn fell ill at the age of sixteen, none of the Katz family’s members‘ bone marrow matched. They had no choice but to bring Anastasia back.
Because they were twins, Anastasia and Adalyn had a high genetic similarity, and in the end, the match was successful. Anastasia donated her bone marrow to Adalyn, and thus, she stayed with the Katz family.
However, every time they saw Anastasia, everyone in the Katz family would think of the feng shui master’s words. There was always a thorn in their hearts, and their attitude toward Anastasia remained cold.
Especially Safiya, who felt that Anastasia, raised by rural folks in a remote area, carried a
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rustic odor. Seeing her standing next to the beloved Adalyn, who she had pampered for over ten years, made her uncomfortable.
Moreover, Anastasia never listened to her. Every time Safiya talked to her, she would get angry after just a few words. Their relationship deteriorated more and more.
Now, whenever Anastasia was mentioned, Safiya couldn’t help but feel disgusted.
Gunnar glanced at her and said coldly, “Don’t forget, Anastasia is Cassius’s wife now.”
Safiya snorted disdainfully, “If Adalyn hadn’t gone abroad back then, would Anastasia have had the chance to marry Cassius?! Now that Adalyn is back, and Cassius doesn’t like Anastasia, I think it’s best to get them divorced quickly and let him marry Adalyn. It’s best for everyone!”
Gunnar frowned upon hearing this and couldn’t help but start contemplating this matter.
Every time he hinted to Anastasia over the phone to put in a good word with Cassius, asking him to help the Katz family, Anastasia refused, which made him quite unhappy.
Anastasia and Cassius had been married for three years, and they still didn’t have a child. If they really got divorced and Cassius married Adalyn, it would only benefit the Katz family.
However, Gunnar was cautious. He wouldn’t take any drastic actions before figuring out Cassius’s thoughts.
“We’ll discuss this later. I’m warning you, don’t mention this to Anastasia before I agree. If things blow up, I won’t let you off!”
Safiya’s face changed, and then she replied angrily, “Got it. Anyway, they will divorce sooner or later. I don’t want to be the bad guy!”
After a moment of silence, Gunnar said in a low voice, “You should be nicer to Anastasia sometimes. After all, we owe her.”
A trace of disgust flashed in Safiya’s eyes. She said coldly, “If you want to be nice to her, you do it yourself. Don’t drag me into it! I only acknowledge Adalyn as my daughter! And don’t forget, that feng shui master later…”
“Safiya!” Gunnar interrupted her coldly, his eyes filled with anger. “If I hear you mention that again, don’t blame me for turning against you!”
Safiya’s face turned pale from Gunnar’s yelling. It wasn’t until Gunnar stormed out in
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anger that she regained her composure.
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She felt a bit scared but also more disgusted with Anastasia. If it weren’t for Anastasia, there wouldn’t be so many problems!
After work that evening, just as Anastasia was about to leave, Alivia Landers rushed in.
“Anastasia, got any plans for tonight?!”
