Valeria arrived outside Howard Group half an hour later, but there was no sign of William.
She had no choice but to park her car before calling William, "Hey, I'm here, are you coming down
soon?"
"I'm coming!"
William answered as he grabbed his coat before leaving his office.
Steven, who had been working outside the door, looked up to William with a smile before greeting him,
"Are you leaving now, Sir?"
"Yes!"
"Sir Hayden has requested you to wait for him, Sir."
"What? Why do I have to wait for him?" William paused.
Steven sighed and scratched his head, trying to evade William's sharp gaze.
"He wants you to go to the company dinner with him and Ms.Anthony, but his driver's out running an
errand so you all can only leave later."
"Alright; William agreed readily, "I'll meet you all downstairs then."
Steven heaved a sigh of relief at his answer.He was fully prepared to deal with William's anger, but it
appeared that he got lucky as William was in a good mood today.
This meant that Steven had completed the task assigned to him, and he was relieved as he wouldn't
have to worried about being lectured by Hayden again.
Steven immediately called Hayden to inform him or the news after William had left.
Hayden was all smiles after hearing that William had decided to go along with his request, "All right, tell
Ms.Anthony to get ready and meet me downstairs too."
Meanwhile, Valeria, who was impatient, scowled at William as he came out of the front door and got
onto her car, "What took you so long?"
"We have to attend an event before going home tonight, looks like our conversation will have to wait
then"
William smiled before gesturing for Valeria to change seats, "I'll drive, move over to the passenger
seat."
Valeria did not refuse his request and moved across to the passenger seat, "Wait, what event are you
talking about?" she asked curiously.
"Well, it's compulsory for me to attend the company dinner so I decided to bring you along as my plus
one," William explained.
"Why do I have to attend your company dinner?" Valeria complained while pouting.
"Look, do me a favour alright? All we have to do is to have a meal together then we can leave" William
persuaded her softly.
"Fine!"
Valeria agreed easily, giving into William's persuasive words.She could not be mad at his gentleness in
the first place anyway.
"Oh right, Paisley will be attending the company dinner too"
William added casually after Valeria had agreed to his request, wanting to see how she would react.
"What does Paisley attending have to do with me?"
William was relieved that she was uninterested in Paisley, and he sighed a little before adding, "My
father will be there too."
"What? Your father will be there? I'm in trouble, do you know that both our fathers are colluding to take
over my mother's company?" Valeria groaned.
She was unwilling to go with William now since she knew Hayden was attending as well.
Valeria had only met Hayden twice when she had been together with Mason.
She remembered Hayden as someone who was extremely strict and he would always carry an
uninviting expression on his face.
"Tonight will be your first time meeting my father then.You know, even the ugliest wife would still have
to meet the in-laws."
"Watch your mouth, did you just call me an ugly daughter- in- law?" Valeria narrowed her eyes at him.
"Of course not, my wife is the most beautiful daughter- in- law that any father could have" William
praised before tilting his head to give Valeria a kiss.
"Don't do that in front of so many people" Valeria blushed quietly.
She was embarrassed by the affection that William was showing her .She knew that she had made up
her mind to be with William the rest of her life, and she would support him in all the decisions that he
made without hesitation.
Even though Valeria had put up a brave front, William was still worried that she was too nervous, "I'll be
with you throughout the night, all you need to do is one thing" he comforted her as he held her hand.
"What do I have to do?"
"Eat and drink all you want, I got your back!"
Valeria nodded and chuckled at his words, "I got it, it's not the end of the world anyways.I did fall in love
with his son after all, so I'll have to face the music someday."
Meanwhile, Lucas and Steven had escorted Hayden and Paisley out the front door.
"Do you see William? Didn't he say that he would be waiting for us downstairs?" Hayden questioned
while walking.
Steven looked around and saw William, who was in Valeria's car, "There he is."
Hayden's expression immediately turned dark when he saw where Steven was pointing.
Was the woman sitting in the passenger seat Valeria? Did he dare to bring Valeria along with him to the
company's party? William had also seen the four of them, so he and Valeria immediately got off the car.
Wrapping a hand around her waist, he smiled and greeted them, "I'll be going with Valeria, you guys go
ahead and take one car."
Valeria couldn't help but shiver as Hayden grunted and his cold gaze swept across her.
She forced a smile and greeted Hayden as well, "Nice to meet you, Mr.Howard!"
Hayden only snorted in reply to her greeting before moving past the both of them to his car.
Seeing Hayden's reaction towards Valeria, Paisley was secretly delighted.
This meant that Hayden did not accept Valeria as his daughter-in-law and she still had a chance as
Hayden favored her greatly.
With those thoughts, she greeted Valeria with a smile, "Nice to meet you, Miss Brown!"
Valeria was aware that Paisley was waiting for her to mess up, but she knew that she could not let any
of her frustrations show.
Instead , she replied Paisley with a broad smile, "Nice to meet you too, Miss Anthony!"
William's eyes flashed in anger when he saw Hayden not acknowledging Valeria, "My wife and I will be
leaving now, we'll see you there!"
He declared with his hand still wrapped around Valeria's waist tightly.
It was clear that everyone had heard William declaring Valeria as his ' wife’.Paisley's face had also
frozen awkwardly at the declaration.
It was no surprise that Hayden, who had been making his way to his car, heard the declaration loud
and clear.
How dare William call Valeria his wife without seeking his approval? Was William doing so to challenge
his authority just because Hayden had given Valeria a cold shoulder? That brat, he was rebelling
against him! Hayden stomped his foot as he was enraged at William's actions.
Lucas could tell from Hayden's expression that he was fuming.
After all, he had been under the guidance of Hayden for so many years.He knew he had to stop
Hayden from bursting into anger here since many people would gossip.He immediately caught up with
Hayden before holding his wrist, "Here Mr.Howard, let me help you get on the car."
Hayden knew exactly what Lucas on doing, but he did not comment any further on it.
Instead, he swung his face back to take one last look at William.
However, William was not even paying attention to Hayden.He was smiling gently while escorting
Valeria up to her car and he even helped her to buckle her seatbelt.
Hayden got into his car furiously, how could William care more about Valeria than himself? At this time,
William had already left with Valeria while Paisley was following behind Hayden.
"That ungrateful rascal! Doesn't he know that he's being bewitched?" Howard clenched his teeth in
anger.
Paisley felt awkward hearing the remarks coming out of Hayden's mouth, but this was another
opportunity for her to get into the good graces of Hayden.
She consoled him gently, "Calm down, Mr.Howard, you shouldn't waste your breath on this matter."
"She's right , you know how obstinate Sir William can be.If you go against him, he would fight back
even harder.Why don't you just let him be?" Lucas suggested.
Hayden felt offended, how could his own son be so rebellious, "I'll teach this brat a lesson when he
gets back home, how could he go against my wishes like this?"
Paisley was secretly pleased with how much Hayden disliked Valeria .
Valeria was a fool, she must have thought that she could be the daughter-in-law of the Howard family
just by dating William. However, as long as Hayden was still against their relationship,Valeria would
only get into more trouble. Paisley smiled in glee as she couldn't wait for the misery that would soon
befall Valeria.
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