Inside the Tates' living room, Wanda Tate gave an ultimatum to her stepdaughter, Avery Tate. "You can see your father on the condition that you either marry Elliot Foster or fork out one and a half million dollars. The choice is yours."Avery smiled coldly after hearing that. "You're pushing me to marry a man who is in a persistent vegetative state because you can't bear the thought of your daughter doing the same? And you're doing that just because you want the money? Well, keep dreaming if you think you can threaten me like that!""So, you're not going to make a choice then?" Wanda raised her voice and pointed at Avery. "Then I'll just end your father's treatment. Our family doesn't have much money left, so I might as well save it for your sister's dowry rather than spend it on a dying man. I'm still his wife, remember? I have the authority to stop his treatment at any time.”"How dare you!""Tch! If you want to save him, then do as I say and marry Elliot."Avery's expression tu

That night, Avery was sent to Elliot's mansion.It was located in the heart of the city's affluent district and cost over 150 million dollars.Before Avery could properly take in the mansion's layout, Mrs. Cooper had dragged her to the master bedroom.Her eyes were immediately drawn to the man on the large bed. She slowly walked over and carefully watched his face.Elliot's deep-set features stood out on his chiseled face, and he exuded a majestic aura of nobility.His skin was unusually pale from spending all that time indoors, but his handsome face made one unable to take their eyes off of him.If he were not sick, Avery would have never become his wife.Before he had been bedridden from the car crash, Elliot was a powerful figure in the country of Aryadelle. Sterling Group, which he headed, was one of the country's top ten corporations.He was rumored to be ruthless and tyrannical and had a legal business as well as deals with the underworld. Anyone who crossed him was bound

At eight the next morning, Mrs. Cooper took Avery to the old mansion to visit Elliot's mother, Rosalie Foster.The entire Foster family was in the living room when Avery arrived, and she proceeded to greet and serve tea to each family member.Rosalie looked pleased with Avery's manners. An obedient child would be easier to control."How did you sleep last night, Avery?" asked Rosalie.Avery's cheeks flushed as she said, "Quite well.""I have something for you, Avery," Rosalie said as she opened up a purple gift box and passed it to Avery. "This bracelet complements your skin tone. Do you like it?"Avery did not dare to reject the old woman in front of the whole family and immediately accepted her gift."I do. Thank you.""I know things are hard for you, Avery. With Elliot the way he is now, he can't treat you well. However, there's a way for you to benefit from all of this," said Rosalie as she began to reveal her plan. "Elliot is running out of time. He was always busy with wo

When Avery returned to Elliot's mansion, she was immediately taken to the hospital for a medical checkup by two doctors.If she was ovulating, they would extract the eggs from her body. Otherwise, they would give her a shot to stimulate ovulation."There's no need to worry, Mrs. Foster. This might hurt a little, but once you give birth to Mr. Foster's child, your position in the Fosters will be secure," consoled one of the female doctors.Avery lay on the bed as her heartbeat quickened."How long will it take to make that happen?""It's hard to say. If we're lucky, it would take three to four months. Otherwise, it might take forever," said the doctor. She then paused before adding, "You're young, so I'm sure this will go smoothly."Once everything was over, Avery returned to Elliot's mansion. As soon as she reached home, the first thing she did was check up on Elliot.He was lying motionlessly on the bed as usual, and she watched as a servant changed his clothes. The high-end be

Avery was so startled that she could not help but take a few steps back.Elliot was like a savage beast that had awakened from a deep slumber. There was nothing scary about him when he was asleep. When he was awake, however, there was a menacing air of danger around him.Mrs. Cooper walked out of the room and shut the door.She saw Avery—who looked like a deer caught in headlights—and said gently, "Don't be afraid, Madam. Master Elliot just woke up, so he might not be able to accept the news yet. Let's get you to the guest room for tonight, and we'll talk in the morning. Madam Rosalie loves you, so she might just be on your side."Avery's mind was in a frenzy. She had thought about how Elliot might die any day, but she never thought about the possibility that he might regain consciousness."Mrs. Cooper, my things are still in the room…" Avery said as she glanced at the door of the master bedroom, hoping to enter and take all of her belongings.Judging by the vicious glare that El

Measures had to be taken to save the baby because of the bleeding.The news hit Avery like a ton of bricks. She was in a panicked frenzy."Doctor, what if I don't want to keep the baby?"She was about to be divorced from Elliot, so that was not the time for her to be pregnant with his child.The doctor looked thoughtfully at Avery, then said, "Why don't you want it? Do you have any idea how many people can't have babies even if they wanted to?"Avery lowered her gaze as she fell silent."Why didn't your husband come with you?" asked the doctor. "Even if you don't want the baby, you should discuss it with him first."Avery's brows furrowed.Seeing her reaction, the doctor picked up her medical records. The doctor looked at Avery and said, "You're only 21? You're not married, then?""I… I might as well not be!" Avery said. They were about to get a divorce anyway."Surgical abortion isn't a simple procedure. Even if you want to go through with it, I can't fit you in today. Go ho

The computer was not password protected, and it started up in no time.It was so quick that Avery's heart skipped a couple of beats.She took a deep breath, plugged in the USB drive, then logged into her email.Once she was logged in, she quickly sent the file to her classmate.It was strange how smoothly everything went.She managed to successfully send off the file before noon.Avery did not dare linger another moment in the study. While she was about to shut down the computer, her hand trembled and she accidentally opened up a file.The file suddenly popped up on the screen, and she stared curiously at the contents with wide eyes.…Avery emerged from the study five minutes later.Mrs. Cooper let out a sigh of relief and said, "See? Didn't I tell you that Master Elliot wouldn't be back anytime soon?"Avery was a mess of emotions. It felt like she had discovered Elliot's dark secret.She should not have used his computer in the first place."Are there surveillance camera

Rosalie stood looking into the room from the opened door.Avery was curled up in a ball with her arms around her knees as she leaned against the wall.Her hair was down, and it was a mess.She looked up in a daze when she heard the commotion at the door."Avery! What happened to you?" Rosalie exclaimed. When she saw Avery's face, which was white as a sheet of paper, her blood pressure instantly shot up."How did you become like this? Was it… Was it Elliot? Is he abusing you?"At this point, there was a slight tremble in Rosalie's voice.Avery had lost a lot of weight.Her face was void of any color, and there were faint cracks on her dry lips.Her chest rose and fell unsteadily. She wanted to speak, but she could not find her voice.Mrs. Cooper walked over with a glass of warm milk and passed it to Avery."Have a glass of milk first, Madam. Don't be afraid. Now that Madam Rosalie is here, you can eat."Rosalie's brows furrowed furiously as she said, "What's that? Elliot isn

There was no sign of two gestational sacs during the last checkup.Avery could not believe that there were two babies inside of her a short week later.She held the ultrasound scan in her hands as she sat in a quiet daze on one of the benches in the hospital corridor.The doctor told her that the probability of being pregnant with twins was extremely low.If she had an abortion now, she might never be able to have twins again.Avery chuckled bitterly. All of this was the work of the Fosters' private doctors.When they had implanted the fertilized eggs into her, they had not mentioned that she was going to have twins.Perhaps in their eyes, she was nothing but a birthing tool for the Fosters from the beginning.When she began to bleed the week before, she thought that her period had arrived. When the Fosters' doctors found out, they thought that the procedure had failed. When Elliot said that he would divorce her after he had woken up, the doctors had never seen her again.The

The living room instantly fell so silent that one could hear the sound of a beating heart.Avery stormed back to her room and violently slammed the door shut.The loud bang rumbled through the entire mansion.This woman dared slam a door in Elliot Foster's house. She must not fear death.Everyone turned their gaze to Elliot. He looked calm and composed as if he was not angry at all.Normally, if anyone made a sound louder than 60 decibels in front of him, he would definitely frown.The sound of Avery's slamming door was at least 90 decibels, so why was he not upset?More importantly, the bottle of wine that Avery had smashed was nearly three hundred thousand dollars. They had not even had the chance to drink it yet.She broke it without even batting an eyelid."D*mn, I heard that Miss Tate's father passed away a few days ago. Seeing as she showed up in black, she must have just returned from the funeral!"Someone had mustered up the courage to break the silence.The woman in