This stumped Aurelia.
“Why… He doesn’t like it?”
“No!” Cordelia hurried to say, “I’m just curious. He’s my cousin and an award-winning actor with many fans in Centrolis. Why is he an uncle when it comes to you?”
Aurelia looked down slightly with a blush.
She gripped the glass and rubbed it with her finger anxiously, but the corners of her lips were discreetly ticking upward.
Why was he called an uncle? It was because Neil was a man who was mature, stable, and had a cold hint in her first impression, just like… the merciless assassins in mystery novels.
Back then, she genuinely thought he was an uncle she could not approach.
Later, the term of address became her special way of addressing him. She called everyone else by their names. It was only different when it came to him.
“Uncle” put distance between them and avoided suspicions from others.
The feeling was strange. She missed him when she did not see him but was afraid when she did see him, worried that others would see through her, so “uncle” was a way she carefully guarded her meek pride.
Aurelia chuckled.
Cordelia held her hand. She had long seen through everything.
“Oh, yeah.” Cordelia changed the topic. “Did you realize that our names are similar?”
“Huh?” Aurelia jolted.
“There’s a ‘lia’ in both our names. It means gentle!”
“Really?” Aurelia smiled embarrassedly. “I can speak the language but can’t spell, so I don’t know how your name is spelled!”
“It’s okay if you don’t know my name.” Cordelia pulled a piece of paper over. “You’ve got to remember Neil’s name, though!”
“Cordelia…”
“There, see!” Cordelia grinned. “Aurelia means the golden one, and Neil means victory or champion. You both are even more connected!”
Aurelia flushed red instantly. She bit her lips and slipped off to the side.
The doorbell rang then, and the maid went to open the door, but no one came in after a while.
Cordelia was puzzled but heard a vague commotion.
“What are you doing? This is my cousin’s home. I’m here to see my cousin-in-law!”
“Sorry, Ms. Baker. Mr. Hamerton has said that you’re not allowed inside this villa!”
“Stop assuming authority when you have none! Do you not know me?”
“Who’s making so much noise?” Cordelia came out with a hand on her back and snickered when she saw it was Ava. “Oh, it’s you, Ava. What can I help you with?”
Ava was going to speak when Aurelia, who was beside Cordelia, attracted her gaze.
This was the expert who had changed all the holes in the dresses to embroidered patterns in the blink of an eye!
She clenched her hands, nails piercing her palms, and her gaze turned vicious.
“It’s not a problem for me to say yes. Are you willing to admit that you were the one who did everything in front of everyone?”
Ava turned pale and could not speak.
Cordelia stared at her for a moment before she let out a snicker. She knew Ava would not possibly shoulder the responsibility when she was vicious yet cowardly.
Hannah loved her daughter and shouldered everything for her. Ava was actually sighing at her good luck that none of the incidents implicated her, so how could she possibly admit to everyone that she had done it?
“You don’t even have the courage to admit what you’ve done,” Cordelia said coldly. “Ava, Aunt Hannah’s raised you in vain. I feel sorry for her!”
Ava froze with trembling shoulders.
People said that the other party would play nice when one started to play nice first, but what was Cordelia doing today? What she said was a slap—no, a few slaps—to her face!
Did Zephyr no longer care about his uncle? Was the fool… no longer useful in the Bakers?
Ava shuddered.
No, she must not stay under Cordelia’s foot! If her mother had no position on the board of directors anymore, she would not have it good either. She would not be able to get a single cent of the Bakers’ assets anymore!
“Cordelia, you’re cruel!” Ava gritted her teeth. “Even if you don’t think about my mom and me, consider my dad! Grandpa dotes on him, and he was just speaking out of anger at the board meeting! I don’t believe he won’t give in when my dad curries favor with him later!”
“Whatever Uncle Noah wants to do, it’s his freedom.” Cordelia chuckled. “If he could really change grandpa’s mind, then… you wouldn’t be standing before me right now, would you?”
Ava was rendered speechless by the retort.
“Alright, Zephyr will be back soon.” Cordelia stretched and smirked like a fox. “You’d better leave soon so he doesn’t see you here. He had the bodyguards chasing Aunt Hannah out the other time… I’m not sure what he’ll do to you this time.”
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