Chapter 371

Chapter 371 Updates on Ava
Joseph’s POV

As the day ended and I left the office, Eleanor’s attitude remained serious. Antonio promised to help me, saying he’d try to arrange a meetup with Ava this week. So I headed to George’s Restaurant to meet my friends at our favorite place, hoping they could update me on Ava.

“Look who finally decided to return!” Ryan stood as I approached. Everyone was already waiting.

“Gentlemen, it’s been too long.” I greeted each of them, surprised to see Nate there despite his incomplete recovery. “Nate, good to see you.”

“I wouldn’t miss your welcome back dinner,” he smiled, raising his glass.

“Glad to see you’re doing better,” I said sincerely.

“Eleanor nearly drove me insane. Did you manage to convince her not to resign?” Nate asked.

“Of course. I couldn’t survive without that crazy girl!” He laughed at my response.

“Good, because she couldn’t survive without you either!” Nate joked.

“Joseph, just ask what you want to know,” Draven gave me a knowing look. I couldn’t deny what interested me most.

“You all know me—” My words were cut short by the last person on earth I wanted to see.

“My dear son! Finally back from vacation!” My father approached with a mocking smile.

“Steward, pretend you don’t see me.” I was already seething.

“What an ungrateful son! You can’t treat your father this way,” he said sarcastically.

“My father? You’re not my father. You’re just a sperm donor. That doesn’t make you a father!” I replied coldly.

“You think you’re better than me, Joseph?” I saw a flash of anger in his eyes. “Whatever! Listen, boy,” he emphasized ’boy’ with disdain, “I want to make a deal with you. Meet me at the company tomorrow.”

“I don’t make deals with rats. Don’t even think about stepping foot in my company.” I responded, struggling to control my emotions.

“You know what, I’ll just say it. You’re going to give me twenty percent of the company shares, however you want to arrange it. Then, you’ll double my monthly allowance, and finally, you’ll provide a private jet whenever I need it. You’ll do all this and put it in a nice contract for us to sign,” Steward said coldly.

“You’re insane,” I told him. “I’ll never do any of that. In fact, I’m cutting off your allowance entirely.”

“Oh, you’ll do exactly what I want,” he said, leaning closer. “You know why? Because if you don’t behave, I’m going after that sexy little thing Ava and making her mine. Then I’ll send you a video of her giving me head, so you can see how much better I am than you.”

I couldn’t control myself. I threw a punch and hit him square in the face. I grabbed his collar while blood slowly trickled from the corner of his mouth.

“You touch Ava once! You don’t even look at her! I will crush you like the insect you are!” I threatened, but he just smiled wickedly. I knew my threats weren’t enough to stop him.

Restaurant security separated us. Draven managed to get the manager to throw Steward out, but before leaving, he shouted.

“Boy, you have one week to fix this!” With that, he walked away laughing.

After Steward was gone, I sat down as Luke placed a whiskey in front of me.

“Relax, Joseph. He won’t touch Ava!” Luke assured me.

“I’m not so sure, Luke. I know Ava wouldn’t willingly be with him, but he’s cunning. He could set her up or blackmail her. He’s scum, you all know that,” I said anxiously. “Now tell me how she’s doing.”

“That’s the problem. We’ve barely seen her,” Draven said, and I stared at him wide-eyed.

“She works at your company,” I said.

“Yes, but she’s changed positions, working on another floor now,” Draven explained. “You know I don’t have time to wander around the company.”

“What about you, Ryan? She was staying at your place.” I asked hopefully.

“She stayed less than a week. She wasn’t feeling well or comfortable. Then she convinced me she’d be safe in her own apartment, and with someone handling the security, I couldn’t stop her,” Ryan explained calmly.

“What about the girls? Don’t they say anything?” I asked.

“They barely see her. Even Nina rarely gets to talk with her,” Jace said. “She doesn’t attend social gatherings, and when Nina goes to her floor, she’s always too busy.”

“She’s been avoiding her friends? What’s happening? Why didn’t anyone tell me?” I complained.

“Don’t stress, Joseph. You chose to distance yourself and not talk to anyone, and we respected that. It seems Ava’s doing the same, and we’re respecting her choice too,” Nate said in that calm tone of his.

“You don’t know the worst part,” Draven shook his head. “Ava fired her security. She wouldn’t budge on that decision.”

“My God! She has no bodyguards. This is terrible! She can’t be unprotected.” I covered my face with my hands.

“We’re keeping a close watch. Howard has been quiet lately,” Jace tried to calm me down.

“Jace, Howard is the least of my concerns regarding Ava. Besides that idiot Steward who might do something terrible, there’s the threat from her ex-boyfriend,” I explained.

“You mean, her ex-boyfriend’s threats?” Jace asked curiously.

I told them everything, including the last letter I saw that directly threatened me, Ava’s mother, and Nina. Jace completely lost it after hearing this.

“What the hell are you saying? A psychotic ex is threatening my girlfriend and you’re telling me this now? Damn it!” Jace roared.

“Jace, there was too much going on. I thought you knew because Ava must have told Nina,” I tried to calm him down, but it only made things worse.

“She knew and didn’t tell me?” Jace was furious. “Fine, I need to have a serious talk with her.”

“I guess none of you know about Ava’s progress with Alpha Kenneth then?” I snorted, sulking like a rebellious teenager.

“Who?” they all asked in unison.

After his initial confusion, Draven said, “I remember Alpha Kenneth as a mature, stable Alpha who attended Caroline’s pack joining ceremony and our wedding. Most importantly, he’s nearly 50 years old. Ava wouldn’t be with him.”

I rolled my eyes. “You have some nerve saying that—you’re the one who invited him! That’s how Ava met him.”

After explaining everything I knew about Kenneth, I had to endure their teasing about how I’d returned from my trip just because I was jealous. Was it true? Absolutely. But I didn’t want to be their laughingstock because of it.

Just as dinner was finishing, Sophia came up behind me, nearly strangling me.

“Oh baby, I’ve missed you so much!” she cooed, wrapping her arms around my neck from behind.

“Let go of me, Sophia!” I said with no humor in my voice.

“I can’t, darling. I’ve missed you too much,” Sophia said in that whiny nasal voice of hers.

“Damn it, Sophia! I said let go!” I shook her arms off with more force than necessary and stood up. “I’ve had enough, guys. I’m leaving.”

“And you’re not the only one,” Ryan stood as well, spotting Vanessa standing nearby.