The CEO Gets What He Wants

The young woman beside Cayden was gorgeous.

Wearing a purple dress, Avery looked like a graceful string of moving wisteria as she approached everyone.

What was particularly eye-catching about her was her crescent moon-shaped eyes that seemed to sparkle whenever she smiled.

Even though Claire had met all kinds of exceptional women, she was surprised when Avery appeared before her. For some reason, she felt a sense of familiarity with the young woman.

Claire was even more shocked when she noticed how much Avery's eyes looked like hers when she was younger. This must be fate...

Avery also felt a sense of closeness with Claire when she noticed the elegant-looking lady with gentle eyes.

The fact that Claire looked graceful yet approachable that day made it even more difficult for others to guess her age.

“Welcome to George's seventieth birthday celebration. This way, please,” the woman greeted Avery and Cayden.

Although Claire could not help but steal a few glances at the pair of eyes similar to hers, her attention quickly shifted to Cayden as soon as she saw him.

The tall young man before her had a majestic aura about him and was even more attractive in person than on the cover of magazines. Nickie sure knows how to pick them. However...

“Mrs. Lambert,” greeted Cayden with a courteous nod.

Claire sized up the man as his future mother-in-law, and the longer she scrutinized him, the more she grew to like him.

Nickie has a good eye for men because this gentleman is definitely a rare find. However, why did he bring a woman with him to George's birthday party? Is he unaware that Nickie has feelings for him? The woman could not help wondering why Cayden came with a plus-one.

Because of her protective instincts, Claire did not wish to see Avery beside Cayden even though she had a good impression of the young woman at first sight.

Claire lost her biological daughter more than twenty years ago, and during the worst time of her life, Nicole came into her life like an angel and temporarily relieved her from the pain of losing her child.

Having spent so many years raising Nicole, Claire had long regarded the young lady as her own.

Hence, it was only natural that she felt uncomfortable seeing another woman with the man her daughter had feelings for.

As a woman herself, Avery could sense the change in Claire's attitude toward her.

However, she did not understand why the elegant-looking lady would look at her with such hostility when that was their first meeting.

Unlike Avery, who felt uneasy then, Cayden did not think too much about the subtle interactions.

Instead, he walked past Claire with a gift box in his left hand and Avery in his right and exchanged greetings with William before heading toward George, who was enjoying a cup of tea.

Covering the table before George was heaps of presents like health care products and local specialties.

George was well-known for his honesty and uprightness.

Once, a bureaucrat brazenly presented George with a gift box stuffed with a large amount of cash to bribe the man. However, things did not turn out the way the official expected. Instead of accepting the bribe, George immediately ordered a search for evidence of the bureaucrat's corruption and sent the public servant to jail.

With that move, George made his determination to fight corruption loud and clear, causing those who considered buying him off to think twice about going anywhere near him.

Even though they thought about joining forces to bring George down, they knew it would be difficult because he was close to a certain big shot.

Those who wished to take shortcuts to success by buttering up George had no choice but to behave themselves before him.

That was one of the reasons Cayden respected George, for it was difficult to find anyone as incorruptible as the man.

Even after George had retired, he remained held in high regard by Cayden.

Cayden then greeted George as he presented the gift to the elderly man, “Happy birthday, Old Mr. Lambert! I wish you a long and prosperous life! Here's some local specialty pastry I bought while on a business trip. I hope you like it.”

“That's very kind of you, Cayden. You brought this all the way here because you know how much I enjoy pastries. I'm flattered.” George responded by laughing heartily.

Naturally, George knew that Cayden, a powerful man in Ackleton, was Jeffrey's grandson.

When George was young, he and Jeffrey were close. However, after one became an official and the other a businessman, the two slowly drifted apart due to their different political views.

Even so, George was impressed by Jeffrey when he learned how his old friend founded Trident Group from nothing.

Jeffrey's greatest regret was giving birth to Bruce, a son who was good at nothing but enjoying life. Even George despised his old friend's son.

The only meaningful thing Bruce did was give birth to an exceptional son, Cayden.