The Billionaire's Rental Wife Is A Hot Shot

"What do you mean?" Sophia asked, her sweet tone louder than she always used when her husband was around. Even William looked at Avery in confusion, not quite understanding her intentions.

"We have planned lots of fun activities and I am sure you would love them," Avery immediately corrected her slip of the tongue with a lie. She smiled fondly at the couple, further explaining how her team had planned in a way to intrigue the guests into buying their designs. Evelyn inwardly sighed in relief as Sophia seemed less suspicious, her usual kind smile reappearing on her face.

William got a bit bored of Avery’s chatter and looked at Evelyn, his expression carrying a hint of child-like expectations. Clearing his throat, he asked her, "Can I see Kiana tomorrow?"

Evelyn blinked in surprise. Though Elias usually briefed her over the calls in the past week on how fond William had grown of Kiana and how he kept nagging him to ask Evelyn if she could bring her over, it was still hard to get used to it. Kiana had even told her how he had calmed and taken care of her when they were hurt and resting in the hospital. It seemed like he didn’t just value his blood relations, and somewhere that gave her a false hope of being treated as his daughter again someday.

"I heard it was her mother’s death anniversary," William spoke again at Evelyn’s silence. "I brought over a few toys and chocolates she liked, give them to her on my behalf." He added, thinking she was reluctant to let her daughter be with him.

Sophia sighed inwardly, grateful that the little devil would not be coming back here again. She hadn’t left a moment to irritate her by bringing Gracia’s name when she was here last time, and it felt like fighting Evelyn’s little version for which she had no strength. But her relief was short-lived when Evelyn spoke to her father.

"I will bring her tomorrow after school."

William’s eyes lit up at Evelyn’s words and in what felt like a decade, he brightly smiled at her. "Thank you, Evelyn." He replied, the genuineness in his expression and tone shaking Evelyn’s heart.

The more she tried to not delude herself with hope, to be immune to the slow changes between them, moments like this made it difficult. For years she had been hoping for William to treat her warmly, and now when she no longer felt deserving of it, fate decided to grant her wishes. It was too cruel and twisted for sure!

Sophia gritted her teeth, her fists clenching tightly on her lap at their exchange. Forcing out a smile, she placed a hand on William’s arm and said, "We shouldn’t be troubling her anymore, honey. She is finally finding her happiness and might feel like we are trying to spoil it too."

"I think you feel that way than Evelyn, Aunt Sophie." Avery was quick to cut short the vile woman and show her the right place. "Right when you thought you finally got rid of her, she keeps returning to this place that its frustrating for you." She added, her words even making William look at his wife with a frown.

Sophia’s smile faded, replaced by her worry as William stared at her. She quickly shook her head and corrected Avery, "Why would I feel that way? Though adopted, she is still a part of this family."

Avery scoffed inwardly, specifically at the word adopted. Sophia was too thick-skinned that she had an urge to pull her hair and smash her head to the wall. Forcing out a smile, she decided to add fuel to the rage burning with Sophia. "Oh, then does that mean she is welcome here anytime?"

Sophia bit the inside of her cheek, finding herself caught in her web of words. "Of course. Evy can come anytime." She replied, feeling William’s gaze on her.

"Great! She will visit every weekend with Kiana." Avery added the last bomb, one Sophia couldn’t escape.

"That sounds great! Bring her every weekend." William beamed in joy, his affectionate smile making Evelyn smile too. She glanced at Sophia trying to maintain her smile, which made their visit a hit, and they could now leave in satisfaction.

But just when they end the conversation, two figures walk inside the mansion, their happy faces falling on seeing Evelyn sitting with others.

"She must be here to cause another trouble," Vincent muttered, his hold on Annabelle getting even more protective.

Annabelle sighed inwardly, being the devil who had sprouted such thoughts of hatred for Evelyn in Vincent’s mind. It was funny how a few months back, she would have been elated to hear such words from him, but now it was the exact opposite.

"Oh, what a surprise!" Avery beamed in pure bliss, happy to slap two more people that had ruined her best friend’s life for a few freaking months. "I wasn’t expecting to see you here, Vincent." She added, crossing her legs.

"Same here," Vincent replied in mockery.

"By the way, congrats on becoming a father. I am glad you found time for it while your company is falling right off the earth." Avery continued, her words slapping Vincent right on his face. She was merely stating facts that everyone loved to gossip about these days, especially on how quick he was to hug the so-called real daughter of the Wright family, Annabelle’s thigh after dumping Evelyn.

"What brings you here, Evy?" Annabelle asked Evelyn, cutting the fight. These days she found it less amusing whenever someone fought or even argued in front of her, and gave her a headache. Handling Sophia was already a pain in the ass and she had no energy to handle anyone else.

"We came to invite him to my company’s party," Avery replied instead, a smug smile spread on her face. "And you know what? You should come too. Who knows some of my clients might take a pity and throw a few pennies at you." She added, taking out another invitation card and threw on the table in front of them.

"Ms. Cartwell!" Sophia grumbled, not liking the way Avery treated Vincent and Annabelle. She hoped William to raise his voice too but to her shock, he simply leaned behind and looked through his invitation card.

Annabelle sighed, expecting such behavior from him. Though William was over the moon that she was pregnant and he would soon become a granddad, he had made it quite clear to her that Vincent would not be treated kindly until his family name was cleared and was out of losses. And she needed to endure it until Vincent’s grandfather handed over the 70% shares to her.

"We will think about it," Annabelle answered, gritting her teeth. Vincent was about to retort but she quickly stopped him, asking him to take her to the room since she was feeling tired.

Avery had the urge to show her middle finger as Vincent glared at her, his face fuming with anger, but held herself back. Once the couple was out of their sight, she decided to leave too.

"I will see you at the party, Uncle." Avery smiled at William and stood up to leave.

Evelyn also exchanged a nod with him before walking out to Avery. Sophia silently glared at their back, swearing to pay them back for today’s downfall at the party. Little did she know, Evelyn had planned a bigger shock for her.

Evelyn entered Avery’s car, buckling her seatbelt in the shotgun seat. Looking at her friend, she asked, "Did you have fun?"

"Too much!" Avery replied with a grin. They both chuckled before she drove out of the mansion gates.

On their way, both discussed the venue while Evelyn went through the guest list. Her eyes widened seeing a familiar name. Turning to Avery, she asked, "Mr. Igor is coming?!"

Avery chuckled and nodded in response. "Ronan confirmed he would be attending the party. I mean, why wouldn’t he? He is our top client." She replied, taking a turn toward their company.

Evelyn nodded and sighed softly. She already felt a headache imagining the battle between him and her dear husband. They would be glaring throughout the party, waiting for a chance to pull the other down and it would truly be an eyesore.

Avery glanced at her and teased her, "Why? Worried about your dear hubby being jelly?"

"More of him throwing wine at him." Evelyn joked, hoping such funny yet petty drama wouldn’t take place. It was a really important day for her and no one could mess it up. And just then, someone who could be a problem called her.

"Why is he calling me?" She murmured before picking up Damien’s call and putting it on speaker.

"Where are you?" Damien asked, his tone urgent and tensed.

"I am going to Avery’s company." Evelyn answered and exchanging a worried glance with Avery, she asked, "What’s wrong?"

"We found intels on Mariam and Reema’s death. Come to my basement soon." Damien replied, ending the call.