Chapter 150

Chapter 150

Zane, however, stepped forward eagerly and grabbed David by the wrist, pulling him back inside with a big smile on his face. "David, don't mind Elizabeth — she's always had a temper, ever since she was little. Come on, come on, let's go sit down. I brought a good bottle today. We need to have a few drinks!"

Zane's attitude put Ava on guard immediately.

Once she calmed down, she noticed that both Zane and Quinn were carrying gifts. These two never came to the house without taking something on their way out — so why were they showing up with presents today?

Elizabeth was still fuming. When she saw Zane pulling David back through the door, she rushed over and blocked their path. "Uncle Zane," she said coldly, "if you want to drink, take him to your place. Don't come here and interrupt my work."

Zane and Quinn exchanged a glance, barely holding back their smiles.

Before coming over, they had assumed the Mason family already knew about the upcoming development in the south district lowlands. But now it was clear — this family had no idea.

Even better.

Zane pushed down his excitement and forced a stern expression. "Elizabeth, you're being way too unreasonable. David is your husband now — he's family. And don't forget, last time it was David who came up with eighty million dollars to bail out the Perez family. Who knows how much we would have lost without him. And yet you keep trying to throw him out. David has no one in Seabrook. Where is he supposed to go? You really want him living in a hotel forever?"

By this point, Ava was even more convinced something was off. Zane was definitely up to something.

The whole family used to treat David the same way — with barely any respect, except for Hayden. But today, Zane was calling him "David" like they were old friends, warm as a father talking to his son.

"Zane, it really looks like you need something from David," Ava said, watching him carefully.

Zane put on a look of righteous indignation. "I don't need anything from him. I just think David has been treated unfairly since he joined the Perez family, and I feel bad about it. That's all."

Then he turned to Mason with a reproachful look. "Mason, I'm not trying to overstep, but you're the head of this household. David and Elizabeth are having problems, and you know what Elizabeth's temper is like. Why won't you stand up and say something fair on David's behalf?"

David was confused too.

He had no idea what these two were after, so he said nothing and waited to see how things played out.

Mason's temple was visibly throbbing. "Zane," he said flatly, "aren't you sticking your nose a little too far into other people's business? When two young people argue, the elders stay out of it. And if you don't have anything important to say, I'm going to have to ask you to leave. You're not welcome here."

Afraid of slipping up — or of someone tipping off Ava and Mason before he was ready — Zane didn't hesitate. "Fine. I'll go."

He turned to David with a serious look. "David, come with me. My place isn't as fancy as this, but you can have the master bedroom. We mean it."

That only made David more curious.

These two used to call him a good-for-nothing. Now they were treating him like family. What was going on?

He had nothing better to do, so he nodded. "Sure. I've never been to your place. Good time to check it out."

Quinn broke into a wide smile. "That's what I like to hear. Honestly, we should've done this a long time ago. We've been meaning to have you over — we really have — but things at the company have been so busy. Today we finally had a window, and Zane wanted to sit down and have a real talk with you. Then we walked in and all this happened."

Ava stood there with her mouth half open as Quinn and Zane walked out on either side of David. She watched until the three of them disappeared from view, then turned to Mason. "What just happened?"

Mason looked just as baffled, his face tight. "How should I know? Since when is Zane so buddy-buddy with that kid?"

Ava shot him a look. "Quinn doesn't do anything without a reason. Something's going on. They came here for David, and they want something."

Before Mason and Ava could figure it out, Owen showed up at the front door with Aria, carrying gift boxes and a bottle of wine.

"Mason, Ava — is David home?"

They stared at each other. Ava's mind clicked into gear. She smiled and walked over. "Oh? Are you here to see David about something?"

Owen laughed easily. "Nothing in particular. I just had some free time today, and I realized David's been part of the Perez family for a while now and we've never actually sat down for a drink together."

Aria smiled and added, "And honestly, we haven't treated David very well. We came today to apologize."

At that, it wasn't just Mason and Ava who felt something was wrong — even Elizabeth, who had been ready to throw David out just minutes ago, could tell something wasn't right.

Elizabeth pushed her emotions aside and immediately thought back to the time David had taken an eight percent stake in the Cole Group right out from under them.

Had he been telling the truth when he said taking over the Cole Group would make money?

She didn't bother with Owen and the others. She went straight to her computer, opened a browser, and typed in "Seabrook."