Chapter 134

Max's words left Hayden completely stunned.

They hadn't seen each other that long ago — why was Max suddenly so polite?

Seeing Max acting so humble and deferential, Hayden reached out to shake his hand with a smile. "Mr. Cooper, I never expected you to come to the Perez family home. By the way, what happened to your face?"

Max's mouth twitched. He was cursing inside: "You Perez people have some nerve. Yesterday David nearly beat my daughter and me to death, and now you're asking what happened to my face? Playing dumb, are you?"

As angry as he was on the inside, Max didn't dare say any of that in front of Hayden and the others. He forced a smile. "I made some mistakes and got a lesson from Mr. Jones and Ms. Perez."

As he spoke, Max scanned the spacious living room. Seeing no sign of David among the crowd, he felt a wave of relief, and his hunched posture straightened up a little.

"Mr. Perez, may I ask where Mr. Jones is right now?"

Elizabeth quickly stepped forward. "David just stepped out for a bit. What brings you two here today?"

Noticing the cold look on Elizabeth's face, Max's heart jumped. He bent forward again and said with a smile, "Ms. Perez, please don't get the wrong idea. My daughter and I came today to apologize to you, just as we agreed yesterday."

With that, Max turned and shot Violet a look. She immediately moved to his side. The two exchanged a glance, and then Max dropped to his knees in front of Elizabeth. "Ms. Perez, I've brought my daughter here to kneel before you and offer our sincerest apology, right here in front of your whole family."

Seeing this, Ava felt a surge of pure satisfaction.

Her face lit up with excitement as she rushed over to Elizabeth. "Elizabeth, am I dreaming? You actually pulled this off?"

With Hayden present, Elizabeth couldn't explain what had really happened yesterday. She just nodded, keeping up appearances. Then she said to Max and Violet directly, "Alright, I accept your apology. When can you transfer the company to me?"

Max answered without hesitation. "This afternoon — whenever works for you, Ms. Perez."

Ava jumped in right away. "Then let's do it now. Elizabeth, what are you waiting for? Tell them to get up. We'll go take care of the paperwork right now."

Elizabeth thought it through more carefully. David wasn't here, and if she followed Max and Violet out the door, they might have someone waiting to ambush them outside. The Perez family could end up on the losing end. To be safe, she said firmly, "I'll call you at two o'clock this afternoon. We'll meet up and go to the office together. Nothing else to discuss for now — you can head home."

Max and Violet got to their feet, still riding the relief of having survived yesterday. After showering Elizabeth with thanks, the two leaned on each other and walked out of the villa.

Once they were completely out of sight, Owen, Zane, and the others were all baffled. They had figured Elizabeth was just talking big, since the Coopers had Moore Chamber of Commerce backing them and would never bow down to the Perez family. But now it turned out Elizabeth had actually gotten them to submit. Just how capable was she?

As for Ava, she couldn't contain her excitement. "See that? Everyone take a good look. I always said Elizabeth's abilities put the rest of us to shame. The Cooper family just came to our home and knelt before all of us to apologize. What do you say now?"

Hayden broke into a wide smile, leaning back on the sofa with a hearty laugh. "Well, the Perez family has a real heir now! Elizabeth, since you're this confident about working with Hill Enterprises, you'd better give it everything you've got. Hill Enterprises struck a deal with Joshua this time — they've got a bright future ahead. If the Perez family can partner with them too, working with Count Thomas someday might not be out of reach."

It was clear Hayden was very impressed with Elizabeth's performance.

With so many people watching, Elizabeth couldn't say no. She agreed for the time being.

Before long, Hayden and the others left one by one.

As the room grew quiet, Elizabeth turned to her parents with a frustrated look. "Mom, Dad, don't you think you went a bit too far today? I already told you — the credit for getting the Coopers to come and apologize doesn't belong to me. But not only did you pin it all on me, you also told Hayden I'd do my best to land a deal with Hill Enterprises. How could you do that?"

Ava frowned slightly. "Elizabeth, if you ask me, you're still too naive. Whether it works out or not, just say yes for now. As for what comes next, you can talk it over with David. Didn't he say he's a security department manager at Hill Enterprises? If he could step in and replace Armando so quickly after joining, I'm sure he has ways to make this deal happen."

Elizabeth shot back, "But what if David was just making that up?"

Ava said matter-of-factly, "Even easier then. If he was lying, you've already done the Perez family a real service by getting Violet Culture Media for next to nothing. That gives you all the reason you need to go to your father and ask for a divorce."

Elizabeth felt a wave of helplessness. Before yesterday, she might have just gone ahead with the divorce. But David had saved her life yesterday. Divorcing him after that would be pure ingratitude.

"Alright, Mom, Dad — leave the rest to me. I'll handle it."

With that, she turned and walked upstairs, her expression heavy.

Ava leaned back into the sofa with a satisfied smile, picked up her cup, and took a sip of coffee. "Life is good," she said cheerfully. "Who says women can't match men?"