Chapter 169: Ignored by Easton

When Ellis saw the message, she was speechless. This was the first time she had seen such a request. What was this? Did he broadcast the message, or did he send it by mistake? Ellis did not reply and chose to ignore it.

Morty was a rich kid with rich parents. Did he really lack likes and comments on Instagram? Texting someone personally to like his post was ridiculous.

Carly pulled every string she could and leveraged all available resources, but after carefully filtering through multiple options, she realized there weren't many high-quality men of her adoptive daughter's age. In the end, she barely managed to narrow it down to a few potential candidates.

The first step in the selection process was introducing Ellis to these men. From a traditional perspective, it was essentially a matchmaking arrangement. Carly gathered all the candidates' information, intending to send it over at once. Unfortunately, she couldn't get in touch with Ellis at all. Calls went unanswered, and WhatsApp messages were blocked. Well, this was nothing new to her. She had seen it all before.

After Ellis had married Easton, she developed a certain temper. Ever since Ellis asked Easton for a divorce, she had not only developed a worse temper but had also become even more self-centered, doing whatever she pleased. She was completely out of anyone's control.

Since she couldn't get in touch with her, Carly figured Ellis was still sulking and had blocked all her contact methods out of spite. Rather than force the issue, she decided to put the matchmaking plans on hold and take a vacation abroad to unwind. Lately, she'd had enough of Easton's tactics. The ordeal had left her feeling utterly drained financially and emotionally. If she didn't take a break, she would never be able to shake off the shadow of his schemes.

Even though Carly had temporarily shelved the matter, gossip traveled fast. In no time, the upper-class circles were buzzing with two explosive rumors: one, that Mrs. Hudson had been replaced, and two, that Carly was already scrambling to find Ellis a new wealthy husband. While the latter made both women the subject of ridicule, the former played right into Victoria's hands, bringing her nothing but benefits.

At this moment, Victoria's chin was held high as she listened to the praises around her.

“Ms. Victoria, when are you going to invite us to your wedding dinner?”

“What, Ms. Victoria? It's Mrs. Hudson, stupid!”

“Right, Mrs. Hudson. We’ll be waiting for your invitation!”

Flattery naturally came with fawning expressions. Victoria glanced at the people around her, not letting the praise completely cloud her judgment. She remained clear-headed. Easton had never made her any promises, so she was still a long way from truly becoming Mrs. Hudson. She neither acknowledged nor corrected anyone when they addressed her as Mrs. Hudson, nor did she deny the assumption that she and Easton were on the verge of making things official. Instead, she skillfully changed the subject, and those around her sensed her intentions as well. They played along effortlessly.

The old Mrs. Hudson and the new one were worlds apart. Even before securing her position, Victoria had already received an endless flow of money, resources, and favoritism from Easton. Once she officially took her place, she wouldn't just be his favored woman; she would be the rightful lady of the Hudson mansion, wielding a very different kind of power than Ellis ever had. When compared, it was as if Ellis was the parasite leeching off Easton, but with higher materialistic values obtained.

After listening to all the praises and compliments around her, Victoria got an ego boost. She called Easton confidently and planned to invite him. He said that he was busy last month and didn’t have time. By now, he should be free to meet me, right? But then, he didn’t pick up the call.

In the silence of the car, the ringing phone felt unbearably loud. But Easton had no interest in checking the caller ID, nor did he want to draw attention to it. He simply let it ring over and over again. He was still thinking about Ellis. Stray, chaotic fragments of memories disrupted his usual composure. He ignored the call.

Was it intentional, or did he not see it? Victoria didn’t waste time overthinking it. Instead of second-guessing, she switched tactics and reached out to Easton’s new assistant, Taylor. “Taylor, could you send me Easton’s schedule?”

Even though Taylor saw Victoria as someone with a high chance of becoming Easton’s new wife, she knew better than to be careless. Easton’s schedule was classified information; leaking it could lead to major losses, and she wasn’t about to take the fall for that. Hence, she rejected Victoria. “Sorry, Ms. Victoria. I can’t send that to you.”

“Then do you know when Easton will be free?” Victoria had decided to know his free time in advance so that she could invite him personally. Perhaps women’s intuition was always more sensitive; Taylor felt that something was off.

No matter what, Victoria is Mr. Hudson’s first love. Such a special person should know his schedule, right? Aren’t they supposed to communicate with each other and always meet each other?

“Ms. Victoria, do you need something from Mr. Hudson?” She had to give a good answer based on Victoria’s words.

“I want to meet him. I plan to surprise him by suddenly showing up in front of him when he’s free.” Victoria knew that her sudden appearance wouldn’t be a surprise to Easton, but only by saying that would she fish for information from Taylor.

For some reason, Taylor wanted to remind Victoria that she had no right to enter and leave the company building as she pleased. So how was she supposed to suddenly appear in front of Easton?