Chapter 0317
Chapter 0317
Sonia's face stiffened. "He has to work overtime tonight. He's very busy."
"Even if he's busy, he still needs to eat, right? Oh, Sonia, you wouldn't be unwilling to let your boyfriend meet us poor relatives, right? Let me tell you, this won't do..."
Jocelyn's tone was somewhat dissatisfied, and Sonia's face became unpleasant.
She hurriedly exchanged a few words and returned to her room.
However, as soon as she entered, Joan followed.
Uncovering her displeasure, she scolded in a low voice, "Did you have a quarrel with Alex?"
Sonia hesitated, "I—"
Joan spoke sternly, "How many times have I told you not to quarrel with Alex? No matter the reason, quickly make up with him!"
"Bring him home for dinner in these few days. I have assured Jocelyn that I have a way to let her son become a secretary at Aether Corporation."
Joan kept nagging, but Sonia felt increasingly annoyed.
Several times, she wanted to interrupt Joan's words but was glared back.
Finally, when Joan left, the tension on Sonia's face immediately collapsed.
How could she bring Alex to have dinner with them?! She couldn't even see him now!
Alex was determined to drive her out of Aether Corporation.
Sonia was so frustrated that she didn't notice her phone, which she had casually thrown on the bed, receiving several consecutive messages.
Looking at that string of phone numbers, she felt even more annoyed. NôvelDrama.Org owns this.
But with no other choice, she could only pick up her phone and make a call.
The matter of Sonia giving confidential files from Aether Corporation to Horizon Holdings spread quickly within their circle, creating a commotion.
Even on Candice's side, she received inquiries from many people she had connections with in the past.
She uniformly denied any knowledge of it, pushing the questions back.
However, as the situation developed, it became much bigger than Candice had anticipated.
When Yana came over, she was carrying a few cakes and said they were a gift from her blind date.
The Landor family was determined to have Yana go on blind dates everywhere.
Hence, her father had arranged seven or eight blind dates for her in a single day.
Candice didn't eat much cake. She comforted Yana, "Arranged marriages are quite challenging."
Yana rolled her eyes when she heard this. "Marriage my foot. Only I get to decide my own life."
"But speaking of arranged marriages—" Yana paused while drinking water, looking at Candice, hesitating.
Candice sensed her gaze and asked, "What's wrong?"
After a moment of consideration, Yana said, "You know that Aether Corporation is not doing well recently, right?"
"I know."
The market in Dorrington was stagnant, and Alex had long shifted his focus to the Solaris market.
However, with Sonia's little issue, almost all the opportunities for Aether Corporation had been overturned.
Horizon Holdings took advantage of the situation to suppress Aether Corporation, causing the company's stock to plummet.
Yana said, "Since Aether Corporation's situation is now unstable, Alex's parents are also looking for a match. My dad mentioned it to me that day, and I retorted back at him."
Candice paused. "If the Elysian family wants to arrange a marriage, they should have no shortage of candidates."
After all, the Elysian family was a big household in Dorrington, and Aether Corporation was just a small company thrown to Alex by Daniel to let him practice.
Seeing that Candice didn't react, Yana clicked her tongue, "Why do you have no reaction at all?"
Candice's expression remained unchanged. "What reaction do you expect from me?"
Yana opened her mouth to say something but eventually held back, only uttering, "Do you know that the Elysian family has already found a candidate for the arranged marriage?"
Candice lifted her water cup, looking at Yana indifferently. "Stugan City's Ava Goodman's daughter, Nina Burgess."
Yana immediately widened her eyes. "How do you know?"
Candice didn't speak. She remembered the last time she had encountered Nina at Aether Corporation and what she had said.
She also knew how satisfied Helen was with Nina.
So, besides Nina, Candice couldn't think of a second candidate for Alex's arranged marriage.
Seeing that she genuinely didn't seem to care, Yana sighed lightly. "Boring. I thought you would at least have some reaction."
Yana and Candice had become quite close, and with Yana's straightforward personality, she didn't shy away from mentioning Candice's relationship with Alex.
Indeed, Candice didn't mind when others brought it up.
After all, it did indeed happen, so there was no need to deny it.
She did have a relationship with Alex, and she did have feelings for him. This couldn't be denied.
But so what?
Now, she no longer had those feelings.
When Shawn called, it was just in the evening.
Candice and Yana had planned to go for Mizuho cuisine that night when Candice heard the ringing phone. Answering it, Shawn's urgent voice immediately came through. "Candice, where are you?"
Candice asked, "What's wrong?"
"I'm alone here, can you keep me company? I'm old now, so no one wants me. No one can control me anymore!"
Shawn's voice clearly carried anger, and Candice also heard the honking noises in the background. Her expression was slightly tense. "Where are you?"
Shawn was in a small park in the city center. When Candice went over, Bruno was whispering something to him.
She walked over slowly. "Grandpa, why did you come to this side? It's windy here."
Shawn heard Candice's voice, slowly lifted his head, and on his old face was a sense of loneliness. He grabbed Candice's hand, sighed, and said, "Only you still care about me, good child."
She had an instinct that his tone was not quite right. She asked, frowning, "What happened to you?"
He shook his head and didn't say anything.
Bruno gave Candice a meaningful look, and she understood. She silently followed them.
Only when they found a nearby restaurant did Shawn grab her hand and sigh deeply. "Candice..."
She waited for his continuation, but he found it difficult to speak. In the end, he could only say, "Do you know about Alex's arranged marriage?"
She hadn't expected it to be about this. She nodded. "I do."
"This is absurd! He's a big man who can't make it on his own and has to find a woman to marry and support him."
Shawn's face was genuinely sad, and he looked at Candice with a gaze full of sorrow. It seemed like he wanted the final confirmation.
"Candice, since the day Alex brought you home, I've treated you as my granddaughter-in-law. I..."
Candice seemed to know what Shawn wanted to say. She calmly spoke, interrupting his words. "Grandpa."
She paused for a moment and continued, "Recently, the weather has gotten colder. You shouldn't stay in the park and catch a cold. It's not good."
Shawn's brows slowly knitted, and he coughed. "Candice, let me finish my words."
"I just want to ask you one last question. Is there really no possibility between you and Alex? He is about to get engaged. If you still have those thoughts—"
"You can tell me the truth. I don't believe that I have no say in the Elysian family."