Considering that Dallas couldn't leave the country once he enlisted, Averi decided to take him to visit Cristopher during his summer break.
Cristopher was in good spirits. Upon seeing her, he waved and smiled. "Averi, come over and take a look at the new Japanese maple I planted—'Geisha.' It's similar to 'Ukigumo,' but even more pink. You came at the wrong time, though; the color's deeper now. Just last week, the leaves were still pink."
"How old do you think this one is? Must be decades old," Averi asked as she took over from Maeve, pushing Cristopher for a walk around the garden.
"Not bad, you know your stuff," Cristopher said with a touch of pride. "This one took me over two months to get. The four before it all died, and that French gardener tried to convince me to give up, saying it couldn't be done. But look, it worked." He smiled, clearly pleased. It was rare for something to make him wait that long.
Averi smiled in response.
Cristopher's love for flowers and women was the same—his desire to conquer was greater than everything else. Someone who truly loved flowers would have given up after losing two.
Cristopher eagerly showed her his spoils. He didn't like to wait, so he transplanted only mature trees. His backyard had been completely renovated.
Though his spirits were high and he was dressed impeccably, Cristopher looked much older. His charm, both physical and mental, had deteriorated in every way. The moment he embraced aging, he was no longer the Cristopher he used to be. Now, it seemed unlikely that he could attract young women, no matter how much money he had.
After taking a quick tour of the garden, Averi pushed Cristopher back toward the house to trim the potted plants, his only hands-on gardening activity.
Cristopher asked, "What's Santino been up to lately?"
Averi replied, "He's been at T Island. The resort there just launched."
"Has he been making things difficult for you at the board meetings?"
Averi smiled and said, "No, Dad, he's not like that." To be honest, she still kept her guard up around Santino, but as of now, he didn't seem to have any major ambitions.
Cristopher scoffed. "Someone who can't even control his own wife won't make any waves." With that, he snipped off a useless branch with a swift motion.
Averi remained silent, thinking to herself that Cristopher had probably seen the gossip.
Kayla had been disliked by Cristopher and lived almost like an invisible person, but now that Cristopher was out of the picture, she could finally make a bold comeback, frequently appearing at various social events. Each time she made an appearance, her clothes and jewelry had to spark some discussion. Johnathan had also been photographed several times holding hands with Kayla while shopping, which seemed to indicate that he had no objections to his wife's showy behavior.
Cristopher mocked briefly, then fell silent. After a long pause, he suddenly said, "He and Laila are both like Yoselin—sentimental."
He put down his scissors and stared into the distance, lost in thought. After a long silence, he sighed deeply and said, "I owe her an apology." "Averi, I'm sorry."
Averi listened quietly. The grievances of the older generation were beyond her to comment on.
Averi wondered what Yoselin would think if she ever heard this apology that came thirty years too late. Would she be moved? Or relieved? Or would it only fuel her resentment?
Averi didn't know much about Yoselin, except that she was the only daughter of the city's party secretary. Back then, she had fallen in love at first sight with Cristopher, who had been poor and penniless, and insisted on marrying him. After they married, Yoselin turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to Cristopher's affairs, even forbidding their children from bringing them up. It seemed clear she had loved him deeply.
But if she loved him, how could she not care? Yoselin had been raised in luxury, yet she passed away at the age of sixteen. It was hard to say that it wasn't somehow related to Cristopher.
Whenever Teagan brought up these old matters, her expression was always complex, mixed with disdain, contempt, and a hint of bitterness.
As for the bitterness, Teagan never spoke of it. It was her secret alone.
But Averi knew that if Teagan ever found out that Cristopher had personally apologized to Yoselin, it would only deepen her bitterness.
"Averi, what Laila did is unforgivable. But she's just confused, she's foolish, not evil beyond repair. Just let her stay in V Country for now."
"Alright."
Cristopher nodded and added, "Words shouldn't be spoken too harshly, and things shouldn't be done to the point of no return."
Averi replied, "Dad, I understand."
Laila was not to be feared, but acting rashly against her could provoke a backlash from Johnathan. As Cristopher had said, Johnathan was sentimental, and he would definitely react if his biological sister were involved. Perhaps in the end, Averi would come out on top, but in family infighting, there were rarely real winners—only those who lost less. As long as Laila stayed quietly in V Country, Averi wouldn't make a move against her.
Averi had once wondered if Cristopher's decision to "exile" Laila to Vietnam was partly to protect himself, afraid that she might retaliate and go after Laila.
This conversation gave her a clear answer: yes. If she had acted against Laila back then, it probably wouldn't have been so easy to take over the company.
Cristopher nodded and glanced at the inner room before casually saying, "A few days ago, Agustin Gregory called me, inviting me to his youngest daughter's wedding. You go in my place."
"Okay."
"I've heard the new son-in-law is close to the Hebert family, so Milo might be there too."
"I've run into Milo a few times before, nothing special," Averi thought for a moment and said. "Agustin sold off all his overseas businesses recently, probably in a hurry, so the price wasn't great. Dad, sometimes a setback is actually a blessing, right?"
She didn't believe for a second that Cristopher would bring up someone else's son-in-law without a reason.
Cristopher raised his eyes to look at her, saying nothing. Averi remained silent, letting him watch her. Finally, Cristopher smiled first and shook his head. "You..."
Averi smiled too.
It's true that it's good to be sheltered by a big tree, but you must also follow the direction it grows. A few years ago, they encouraged private companies to invest overseas, and Agustin was among the first to go out, acquiring many foreign companies and even building overseas production lines. But in the past two years, policies changed, and now Agustin has to be the first to sell off its overseas assets, going through all that trouble, only to lose money.
Cristopher never once asked who Dallas was. He only asked before dinner if Dallas had any food restrictions or if he ate snails. Dallas said he did, so Cristopher had Maeve instruct the chef to make baked snails for dinner.
Averi's identity had changed, so Cristopher's attitude toward her had naturally shifted.
In the past, she was his daughter, and her marriage had to be beneficial to the company. Now, she was the chairwoman, and it was fine if a marriage happened, but it wasn't as crucial anymore. Especially after the matter with the Hebert family, Cristopher had become somewhat disillusioned.
After dinner, Cristopher asked if Dallas knew how to play chess. Dallas said he did, and Maeve set up the chessboard.
Dallas spoke little, focused entirely on the game. After a few moves, Cristopher began to take it seriously, furrowing his brow as he put on his reading glasses.
Averi and Maeve quietly left, leaving the two men to concentrate on their game.
